Career options

WITH thousands of students currently struggling or having dropped out of university, I believe they would have been far wiser to choose another path.

Now I am not telling everyone that they should not go to university, I just think people should think three times before they enrol and consider their options.

Because of this ‘everyone to university’ herd mentality that teachers, parents and the media promote on young people, there is a shortage of skilled workers like welders, carpenters, plumbers and electricians, the practical skills they don’t teach at university.

As a result such trades can command salaries of $100 per hour for their work.

I’ve heard of welders with a couple of years experience getting $160 per hour and finding their first job within a couple of hours of qualifying.

Whereas there are people who have spent $250,000 pursuing a PhD or Masters who no one wants to employ because they are overqualified.

Such students end up working at McDonald’s or as baristas doing something they could have done straight out of high school.

These people are now regretting the decision they made to get a degree and the endless years they wasted in lecture rooms when they could have been working in the real world.

Whatever path you end up choosing, be aware that there are many paths to the life well lived and going to university is not the only way.

There is no gun pointed at your head saying you must get a degree to be successful. In fact in this modern world today far fewer students should be going to university, lest the university administration keeps jacking up the tuition cost to meet the demand. — DAVE FREDERICKS, Toowoomba