You’ve probably heard some people talk about how beneficial trade schools can be. They say that trade school education can help you find a fulfilling career, increase your earnings, and lead a more enriched life.
Now, those sound like some very lofty claims. Changing your career and your life for the better surely can’t be as simple as going to trade school, can it?
If you’re ready to put the work in, trade school can absolutely make a huge difference for you. Let’s explore some of the ways trade school can deliver those meaningful benefits to students.
Unbeatable Flexibility
Trade schools offer students a level of flexibility that makes them accessible and convenient, even for busy parents or employees. You can generally apply at any time through rolling applications without worrying about restrictive application deadlines.
Once you’re ready to start, you often won’t even have to wait until a new spring or fall semester, like with colleges and universities. You could be getting the job training you need for your dream right away with open enrollment at a trade school near you.
Less Waiting
For many people, spending four years pursuing a college degree is simply a time commitment that isn’t feasible.
Most trade school programs can get you ready to go into your desired field within months, not years.
Hands-on Training
The time spent in class at trade school is as productive as possible. Students learn relevant skills that apply to their chosen field through some lectures but mostly hands-on training.
It’s the kind of education that sticks with you and can be put to work almost immediately out in the real world. You won’t have to wait long before you can keep up with the other pros on the job. If you consider yourself a hands-on learner and don’t get much out of sitting in a chair being talked at four hours, trade school could be perfect for you.
These are some of the ways trade school is different from other options available to those looking to make a positive change in their lives. But what are the concrete benefits you can expect to see as a return for your investment in trade school?
Career Advancement
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of trade school is becoming qualified for a high demand job that offers room for advancement.
With the skills and certifications you gain at a trade school, you won’t just be ready to enter the job market but to keep advancing within it, too.
If you feel stuck at a dead-end job, a trade school education can be the perfect way to quickly transition to a much more fulfilling career that will give you room to grow as you hone your craft more and more.
More Money
The salary potential of trade school graduates is significantly higher than those with just a high school diploma or less. The average salary of a trade school worker isn’t even much lower than a worker with a bachelor’s degree, just $11,000 less according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That’s an excellent return on the relatively small monetary investment required to go to trade school.
There are a variety of high-paying professions you can enter with a trade school education such as a construction manager with an average annual salary of $95,000 and an electric power line installer and repairer with an average salary of $65,000.
While money certainly isn’t everything, a higher salary can go a long way toward improving your life and the job satisfaction you feel in your career.
More Stability
Job security is a major concern for professionals in many industries but trade school is one way to feel much more secure in your position. The trade careers that trade school prepares you for are harder to outsource to other countries given that they require someone to be physically present in a given location. While no career can come with a hard guarantee of job security, a trade school education can help you land a job that is more likely to weather the storm of hard times than others.
Additionally, as people in skilled trade jobs get older and retire, there is a greater demand for professionals with those skills to take their places. According to research from NPR, there is a serious shortage already of qualified tradespeople that is only likely to grow. That’s good news for the people who are ready and able to do those jobs.
The job you get as a result of your trade school education should be able to support you (and your family) for life. That’s a career (and personal) benefit that’s hard to beat.
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