Prior to Pres. Hinckley's address to the Priesthood in General conference I had never really thought of the prophetic counsel to "get as much education as possible" as a divine revelation, but rather I regarded it as just "good advice". I've been trying to see how many others regarded the counsel as I did, or maybe they still do... Your thoughts?
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I think getting education is good. Notice he did not say, get as much college as you can. The world needs plumbers, mechanics, electricians, welders, and carpenters. Many of these people in the trades make more than college grads. Even they need to keep educating themselves. The more training and education you have the less likely you are to have to rely on someone else for support. Even in my job I still attend training and meetings all the time. I constantly have to learn new things. I also take time to learn about things I know little about so I that I know what is going on in the world. Getting as much education as possible does not mean that we should all be working to get a Masters or Phd. In my company our most difficult position to fill is that of equipment mechanic. I have guys with only high school diplomas who easilly make 50k per year working 40 hours a week when teachers with masters degrees who have to take their work home to grade barely make 35K. Guys that have the training and certifications can make really good money in the trades and there is a huge demand for those jobs. I know a guy with a degree in accounting and years of experience who was making around 35k at his job because of the area he lived in and electricians and plumbers were making twice that.
Of course you can't do much with just a highschool diploma anymore. With extra votech training or apprentiships they can have a career that supports their family well.
That is a very good observation. I think too many people in the church do assume it means ever advancing college degrees (with the ever increasing student loan debt issues that are part of that), because success is measured not only by your college degree(s) but in your level of business position.
Just heard that one of my nephews (who as an adult was finally diagnosed with a form of Apsberger syndrome -- one of the mild conditions on the autism spectrum) has decided he wants to go to welding school. I know a brother-in-law (who is an actuary) of mine and my father-in-law (who is a electrical engineer) probably won't be too thrilled because it isn't glamorous, but hey, the young man has absolutely no other prospects or skillsets and would not have the means (financially, socially, or academically) to be successful in traditional college and wasn't able to serve a mission for a couple reasons (not worthiness), and welding is good honest work and a skilled trade that can bring in some good money.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Trained welders make very good money and are in high demand. One of my favorite people in the whole world is the Bishop of a neighboring ward. I have known his family forever. Great people. The guy is an auto mechanic but he owns his own shop. He works on the cars himself and has usually one employee. He has supported his family and sent them to school. This guy has a heart of gold. One of my other favorite people was an old bishop who worked for the church in the Custodial service. The guy was as sharp as a whip and had done other jobs before that.
Sometimes people lose focus on what education means. I hope that young man who wants to become a welder gets support and not disdain from his family. It is good, honorable, and honest work. It requires lots of training and time to become good at it. I know a lot of guys that can weld but none of them have had the training to become welders. They can arc weld a piece of metal together but that is about it.
Just an FYI. The minimum wage for a mechanic who is required to have his own tools will be $16 per hour in California on January 1st. That's the minimum. Not too shabby for someone who has not even mastered the trade yet. That's twice what the regular minimum wage will be on January 1st. How many jobs can you make a minimum of $33,280 per year with no college. Most of these guys will get some overtime that will put them up to around 40k per year. Yet many people would rather work in retail?
A friend of mine graduated from college and was a manager at a large corporate farming operation. He quit he job there because he made more waiting tables at an upscale resturant with the tips. Of course he was able to jump past other applicants because of his education. He now owns his own business and works in sales as well. Not everyone can be lawyers and doctors and such. Nor should we look down upon those that get education and training for the less glamorous jobs of society.
I think getting as much education as possible also means in different areas and for different purposes beyond just that which will enable us to make a lot of money.
Sister Roper is a counselor with a master's degree. She has neither the need nor the desire to work outside the home. That education, in which we invested a lot of time and money, has improved our life in countless ways, especially with teenagers in the family.
I look at it this way: Investing in education, in whatever form that may take, seems much smarter than investing in the accumulation of material things. With education, when you die, you can take it with you.
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
I agree with you Roper. I think that if we have a "learning" attitude at work, we can learn new things all the time, and be more and more valuable all around...
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
The problem with having a "learning" attitude at work is that it requires more than just the desire to learn. It requires your employer to have a "training" mindset, and not just give it lip service. If your firm's modus operandi seems to be continuous improvement by means of constant reorganization and cutting costs, then training is going to be one of the first things to go, and with that goes employee loyalty and employee morale as it becomes ever so evident that it is "easier" and "cheaper" in the short term to just hire new people (or to hire temporary contract labor) with the skill sets needed on a project instead of training your existing employee base. And then, it becomes even easier to create a business model, structure, and strategy to off-shore the work because then it is all about getting even cheaper rates (ignore the logistical nightmare it creates). And in the long run, due to short term thinking, the firm ends up hurting itself as it loses experience and brain power to domestic competition.
I can honestly say, that in the nearly 8 1/2 years I've been with my firm, I have had no formal training in 6 years. Taking mandatory computer based "interactive" coursework on various topics does not constitute training in my mind, particularly when they are "refresher" type things that everyone in the company worldwide is required to take and has nothing to do with job skill sets or if it is simply an overview to a new "tool" or system being used. And the formal training I did receive over 6 years ago is useless because I was never given the opportunity to really use the skills.
Sorry, this is a sore subject for me and many of my employer's employees, because the firm used to have a reputation for providing world-class in-house training (and career advancement) in our industry.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
You know, the military may have screwy ideas about a lot of things, but training is one thing they do right.
For both officers and enlisted, rank advancement requires additional training, provided by the military. By the time someone gets to the senior Officer and NCO ranks, they have completed the equivalent of a master's degree in academic and technical coursework.
Unfortunately, because of the unending deployment stresses placed on our military, many of those highly-trained professionals leave the service and go to work in the private sector, where corporations get the benefits from all of that taxpayer-funded training. But that's another issue.
-- Edited by Roper at 00:11, 2006-10-18
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
You know, the military may have screwy ideas about a lot of things, but training is one thing they do right.
For both officers and enlisted, rank advancement requires additional training, provided by the military. By the time someone gets to the senior Officer and NCO ranks, they have completed the equivalent of a master's degree in academic and technical coursework.
Unfortunately, because of the unending deployment stresses placed on our military, many of those highly-trained professionals leave the service and go to work in the private sector, where corporations get the benefits from all of that taxpayer-funded training. But that's another issue.
-- Edited by Roper at 00:11, 2006-10-18
I'm not a big fan of the military training Roper. Our business is right next to a large military base and nearly every one of our hires that came from the military has not worked out. Out of all the former military we have hired only one has been worth it. The problem we have found is that there is too much down time in the military. Getting guys to go from working on aircraft when they have been standing around drinking coffee as supervisors to actually working in a production shop. I remember my last tour of AIMD (Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department) and was shocked to see everyone standing around doing nothing, playing cards, drinking coffee, etc. Come to find out that they had spent their budget so for the next 20 days they had no money to do anything so they sailors and marines were just standing around doing nothing. That's insane! So then they come to my company where we expect them to actually get a five hour job done in five hours, do quality work, and not stand around yacking and they can't handle it. My managers have had such bad experiences that they rarely even call former enlisted military guys in for interviews anymore.
The senior NCOs are the worst of the bunch. They don't know anything about our business or what we do but refuse to do anything other than management. I actually had a senior NCO tell me that to my face at a job fair. I asked him what he knew about our business, the equipment we worked on, our manufacturers, warranty policy, etc. He had no clue but was still firm that he was never going to go back to a non management job. His only hope was to get a job with Mac Douglas and do basically the same thing he was doing in the military. Overall it has been a dissaster hiring former military personell. I say this meaning no disrespect to those that have served. My own father in law is retired military. But it seems like the vast majority of these highly trained former enlisted guys don't want to work after they get out of the military.
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." I have a son who is learning that the hard way.
I applaud your son for serving. I hope he returns healthy and whole, and uses his military benefits to get as much education as possible. I doubt I would have been able to complete college without those benefits. Now that I'm a veteran, the Hazlewood Act is paying for my masters degree.
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The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
