Is learning a trade better than uni?

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

Is learning a trade (e.g. plumber, electrician, builder, joiner, plasterer etc) better than going to uni? Is it more useful than going to uni and possibly not getting a job in your field after?

Reply 1

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

Obviously uni is needed for certain jobs (e.g. teaching, dentistry, medicine, nursing etc etc etc).
But i think learning a trade is a valuable skill. There will always be jobs as people always need tradespeople. And you can still progress e.g. work for yourself etc. The earnings can be decent too. Id rather more people learnt trades etc than go to uni.

Reply 2

Mr ADB

If I had my time again I'd learn a trade rather than go to university. I'm in a job that does pay well but it's completely pointless and the skills I've acquired aren't really much use in the real world. Because it's pointless people care more about whether you can talk the talk rather than be good at the actual job.

With a trade there's always going to be demand for your skills if you're good enough. When you need a builder you don't phone them and say tell us about a time you had to overcome a challenge, you ask if they can do the job and how much will it cost.

Reply 3

ringi

Learning a trade is hard (but not impossible) if you don't have a family member in the trade. Few trades people will risk employing an apprentice, when they do they then need to take on more work to cover the wage. This addation work can put them over the vat limit, so increase their costs by 20%.

Military does train many trades, with a requirements for "return of service" that tends to be 3 years after the "phase 2 training".

The collage courses for trades tend to be filled with school dropouts who often don't turn up and are late for work experience placements even if they do turn up. If you are reliable, with great attendance, doing the required homework etc (eg you behave as a top A level student does), then you will be noticed as being worth employing.

But can you cope with spending 2 years in collage with badly behaved school dropouts? The course that require GCSE maths, science and English at 6+ with tend to have "nicer" classmates, (eg electrician rather then brick layer).

It not just the building trades, for example starting a dental nurce apprenticeship at age 16 and working very hard can result in being a dental practice manger at a younger age then many dentists are qualified while earning money from age 16 with no student loan repayments. (Likewise for Aldi store assistants starting at 16 becoming store managers by early 20s.)

Or move to Scotland to do Open University for practically free while working part time.

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Really depends on your goals! If you'd only be going to uni for the purpose of getting a job then yes honestly unless you had strong reason not to prefer trades work (or had e.g. a medical condition that might make some of those more difficult) then in the short to medium run a trade is likely to be better income. Particularly if you live in a cheaper location (i.e. not London/south) you might find a lifelong career in trade is enough to provide financial security and get you on the property ladder etc.

However if not and sometimes even longer term, you may find there is an upper limit on your potential income from a trade if you don't heavily go down the entrepreneurial route to develop your own business and hire other tradespeople, build your customer base etc - which some people might thrive with and enjoy a great deal, but others may prefer not to do! Grad jobs may be lower income initially but there may be more potential scope to develop long term career goals that go quite high on the corporate (or public sector) ladder(s).

Obviously though the thing uni provides in of itself (which people often seem to forget), is an education! It gives an opportunity to learn things you often may not have had the opportunity to learn before. It's also potentially a gateway to an academic career as well although that's realistic a very difficult route to pursue! The other thing uni can give is certain roles which require a specific accredited degree for professional registration purposes (e.g. medicine, teaching, social work, etc). Those kind of vocations might be what you're looking for or might not be!

I think unfortunately the needle moved from "everybody should be able to go to uni" to "everyone ought to go to uni" and that has itself devalued university study and diluted the purpose of it - many students see it purely transactionally as a way to get a piece of paper to (they hope/believe) guarantee them a well paying job at the end. Which wasn't really supposed to be the point of it!

Realistically it's an individual choice. Of course, there's no reason you can't start off going into a trade then go into uni later (or potentially vice versa) so it's not necessarily a mutually exclusive decision!

Reply 5

ringi

Teaching, nursing and social work can be done var a degree apprenticeship while working but practically needs a few years in an assistant job 1st.

Reply 6

meenu89

my now Husband started as an Electrician apprenticeship when he was 17 (2004/5), he wasn't good at anything academic and he just knew that he was good with his hands. studied and passed all his qualifications and has been a NAPIT registed electrican since 2012. most of his work is now from word of mouth and repeat customers, some of whom have always trusted only him and no one else... I would wager that he earns a bit more than some of his friends of did a Degree.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 7

random_matt

In 2025? Yes, AI is already taking thousands of jobs. I remember all the naysayers downplaying it and I love to say I told you so. I am referring to external websites/forums by the way.

Reply 8

WHO????

Original post

by meenu89

That's the thing, we all rather trust someone who has started early and clearly has experience and we would go to again rather than someone fresh out of Uni with nothing but a degree on paper.