You brought up an interesting topic. My husband teaches a trade school of HVAC. There are jobs but employers are looking for certain ppl young and small built to do the grunt work. He can't tell that to his students though.

Going to school is tricky. I'm going to school but I plan on working part time in my field and continuing my education as I know it's difficult to get your dream job in nursing.

I only hope I find a group of ppl I enjoy working with:) that's really all I ask and to pay bils so I can just keep swimming:)

schools operate as a business i realized this after graduating from college. i have a degree still cant work in my field unless you have certs (cost too damn much) and 5 years of IT experience! i got my degree in 2010 and still looking for work.

You shed some light that has made me think. Thanks.

It sounds like before we commit to any kind of school or career choice we need to find a way to research what it takes to be successful in that field. We need to find out what the employers are looking for in applicants. "Is the degree or diploma" enough? Will there be additional requirements? Will we need to relocate? We want to know that we will be compensated for the time and money investment.

I quit my job in the accounting field, never had a degree. I was going to change careers but still work. I am having difficulty getting a new job as everyone wants you to have a degree regardless that your experience is way over what a degree would give! I worry that the cost of school would be burdensome if I can't find a job afterwards.

My son got a degree in Animation. He is now working at Home Depot. Sure he has a job, it barely pays for his living expenses and Sallie Mae keeps calling and calling and calling!

Nothing is as it seems. Yes, schools are in it for the money.

right now in this economy, a degree means nothing. i have a degree and the IT field wants work experience that wasnt the case a long time ago u were trained on the job with no experience. all of this researching is fine and all, but that doesnt substitute anything.

ive researched what are the "hot jobs" and saw the skills they wanted even with all of that ur still not getting hired spoken to quite a bit of people who got the skills but didnt have the work experience to back it up no matter how much volunteering they did it meant shit to the employers.

i keep up with the new stuff in IT, but that isn't gonna win the employers over that i do know. like i said schools operate as a business which is why they should have never been taken over by the gov a long time ago.

if u relocate, doesnt mean there's opportunity there either. i hate when people say relocate, did they forget that it still takes money to do that? companies aren't paying for relocation expenses anymore not like they used to and if they do, ur lucky and if u r gonna relocate, id have a big stash of money to fall on in case if u want move back to the state u left that would be a smart move.

I know what the IT field is looking, but it costs too much money for me and again wont substitute anything for work experience. it will just be another added bonus to the employer. i dont volunteer in the IT field, i volunteer at a library and i dont even get noticed by employers on volunteering. all i get is a good job but we are looking for experienced professionals, what a waste of a phone call!

for me, i stopped with the researching in other fields. i keep up with the bs that goes on with employers and do a lot of critical thinking when i am deciphering what they are saying u know in between the lines. other fields again cost money and time, all the degrees and other pieces of paper isnt gonna make u more employable in today's shitty economy and if thats the case, then all of us would be hired and there wouldnt be a sequestor.

Depending on field relocating can get some a job. I personally know of many that did this. I have kids in school so relocating to me isn't something I want to do only a last resort. Yea it takes money. Researching to me is talking to those in the field to get an idea what is really like. I do hate many colleges because if you don't research they tell you whatever to get you to enroll. I always research on my own. Economy does suck so its not like before when we could basically do what we wanted.

The best research is to talk to recent graduates. That's how I found out about medical records. Also you're so right about IT. I have a degree in that field. When I started companies trained. Now they get their talent overseas.

yep, IT positions going overseas. i see IT positions in AZ but they want a lot of experience. i had a company here who needed help asap but their IT contract was like 6 or 12 mos but they wanted 5 years of experience.

i remember reading somewhere a lady moved to VT i think for a job and the company went under within a year or two. she didnt know anybody in the state only her best friend was living there and she had to stay with her because she lost everything and had no way of relocating back to the state where she was previously living so now she is stuck!

this is why i dont wanna relocate who relocates without money or any backup money just in case? nobody knows now how long they are gonna keep a job while we are still in a shitty economy. i mean, u dont wanna be stranded in another state especially where u have no family or friends think about being stranded in a country ur working in and u definitely have no friends or family.

i saw a position with oprah's company in LA which was interesting but they didnt offer relocation expenses so i said oh well.

So true, Ladytiger. It's all scary. I've even heard of companies offering positions in other states, only to rescind the offer. It happened to a friend of mine. Her's, fortunately, was in the same state. Imagine if you quit your job and this happens. Now, you're unemployed. And there's no legal recourse. I'm just glad I'm a senior(56) and don't have years of this mess to figure out. I'm just tired of it all. You get a job and technology kills it or it gets sent overseas. Like watching one of those action flicks where the guy is desperately running on a bridge and looks back as the thing is collaspsing. At my age I'll just retire early. No point in going back to school only to come out in 4 years older and still jobless.

The fact is the economy is recovery but not the good jobs that paid well.