Good Career choices: Should I become a Geologist or an Electrician?

[pcgame]

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[madengr]

yeah please post soon especially what you mean by knowledge work

http://www.for-your-dream-career.com/The-Best-Recession-Proof-Jobs.html

This link is on recession proof jobs and he takes 3 economics guys and peter schiff is one of them. He gets his list from The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets by PETER SCHIFF

1. Engineering, because the abandoned U.S. industrial base will need to be re-tooled.
2. Construction, to rebuild the American infrastructure.
3. Agriculture, as we wean ourselves from imported foodstuffs.
4. Merchant marine, to transport goods to foreign markets.
5. Commercial fishing, because demand for fish is increasing in the U.S. even as foreign supply is declining.
6. Energy, because we’ll need to develop alternatives to fossil fuels.
7. Computers and high technology, one field in which the U.S. continues to lead.
8. Entertainment, another industry in which the U.S. should continue to dominate the world market.
9. Automotive repair, small appliance repair, and the like. It’s going to become more costly to replace items, making repair a viable option.
10. Tailoring and textiles, because imported clothes will become scarcer and more expensive.

Schiff quote.


Also I googled and found this: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/archive/index.php/t-224344.html?

Geophysics does sound cool btw.

Here ya go. I'd send it to you, but it's a ebook stuck on my iPad. Depressing read.

The Global Auction: The Broken Promises of Education, Jobs, and Incomes

http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/gener...IssuesWelfareState/?view=usa&ci=9780199731688

Description
For decades, the idea that more education will lead to greater individual and national prosperity has been a cornerstone of developed economies. Indeed, it is almost universally believed that college diplomas give Americans and Europeans a competitive advantage in the global knowledge wars.

Challenging this conventional wisdom, The Global Auction forces us to reconsider our deeply held and mistaken views about how the global economy really works and how to thrive in it. Drawing on cutting-edge research based on a major international study, the authors show that the competition for good, middle-class jobs is now a worldwide competition--an auction for cut-priced brainpower--fueled by an explosion of higher education across the world. They highlight a fundamental power shift in favor of corporate bosses and emerging economies such as China and India, a change that is driving the new global high-skill, low-wage workforce. Fighting for a dwindling supply of good jobs will compel the middle classes to devote more time, money, and effort to set themselves apart in a bare-knuckle competition that will leave many disappointed. The authors urge a new conversation about the kind of society we want to live in and about the kind of global economy that can benefit workers, but without condemning millions in emerging economies to a life of poverty.

The Global Auction is a radical rethinking of the ideas that stand at the heart of the American Dream. It offers a timely expose of the realities of the global struggle for middle class jobs, a competition that threatens the livelihoods of millions of American and European workers and their families.

Anyway, the plan, sold to us mudanes, was that the US would be the brains (i.e the knowledge work) while Asia would be the body doing the manufacturing. Everything would be hunky dory for everyone as long as the US educated itself to be the knowledge workers, hence the college scam sold on the mundanes, while Asian incomes would rise. The flaw in the plan is that the Asians are perfectly capable of doing the knowledge work as well, and the costs are allot less, coupled with the ease of outsourcing knowledge work via cheap global communications.

 

[Evangelical_Protestant]

No matter how bad things become, and no matter how technological society becomes, the world will always need plumbers. Theoretically electricity can be absent, but potable water/filtration and waste removal is mandatory for even basic societies.

I know it wasn't on your list, and being without electricity is nearly impossible even for the far distant future. But I just thought I'd share that fact!

As for me, I'm a painter, so I'm used to being absolutely worthless to the advancement of society. I would love to find a way to become a plumber though. Despite the poop.

 

[madengr]

Yeah, but waste treatment requires electricity.

 

[TheOraclePaul]

No matter how bad things become, and no matter how technological society becomes, the world will always need plumbers. Theoretically electricity can be absent, but potable water/filtration and waste removal is mandatory for even basic societies.

I know it wasn't on your list, and being without electricity is nearly impossible even for the far distant future. But I just thought I'd share that fact!

As for me, I'm a painter, so I'm used to being absolutely worthless to the advancement of society. I would love to find a way to become a plumber though. Despite the poop.

Do you charge cash at a lot of your jobs? I really find that aspect of the trades appealing. There's something about doing a job for straight up cash and feeling it in your hands that is just awesome (also, knowing the gov isn't taking a chunk of it is great!).

 

[kpitcher]

No matter how bad things become, and no matter how technological society becomes, the world will always need plumbers.
I know it wasn't on your list, and being without electricity is nearly impossible even for the far distant future. But I just thought I'd share that fact!

Coming from a family business with master plumbing / licensed mechanical contractor background I can say it compares to electricians, there is a vast different between city and rural work. I know large city unions can keep you busy if times are good, if times are bad things can and do get slow. There is a glut of trade workers out there in cities who price each other to the extreme lows. Even in my rural area companies pop up all the time. Many don't last for more than a few years (Like most small businesses) and it doesn't hurt the customer base overall. But in a larger city it's an even worse problem.

I know I did not go into the family business. Despite a very loyal customer base - and having a guaranteed income from a few hundred second homes to winterize and open up every year - I didn't want that as my career. Plumbing is a very physical job - at least the typical non-new construction only shops. While I'm not afraid to break a sweat but I don't know many old plumbers without back problems! I've had back surgery myself and I'm in my 30s. If you want to become a plumber there are plenty of non-union shops out there to work at. Most states require an apprentice style program but that's just a formality, you work a few years and can take a test to be a journeyman, a few more and you're a master if you pass.

With that said skilled trades will always be in demand. There is growing competition and far more "fly by nights" than ever but if you are a licensed tradesman you will be able to have a job earning money.

But if you're trying to figure out a career I'd follow the advice of others on here, focus on doing something you enjoy. Look at the job stats of both, figure out the money difference between the two, and figure out what you'd be able to get up every morning to do for a few decades.

 

[LibForestPaul]

whatever you do, make sure you are not too far removed from the teat of government