I am 30, and am just now considering using my GI Bill to attend university. My only problem, I don't know what will be in demand in 4-6 years... and I seem to have lost passions I once had prior to military service and the fuckery it played on my mind. Hoping to hear from the crowd some ideas about industries heading in the right direction.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.My grandson is seventeen and has every certification Microsoft has offered. He was fortunate to attend a school where, for the last three years, he has attended a community college at no cost. He finishes school in June and is headed to college to study computer science with emphasis in cyber communications. That field will offer him almost unlimited potential after he finishes college.
While that field is obviously growing, I'm not advocating it specifically. I just use it as an example. A little research shold help you pin down what you want.
As an aside, when I went to college (after the Navy using the G I Bill), at least 70-80% of my classmates changed their major at least once. Please don't be discouraged.
Grayghost
Level 6
Dec 23, 2018
0
Nursing will continue to be in high demand. Also anything in STEM.
Thank you for your service!
A2Jennifer
Level 8
Dec 20, 2018
1
Law enforcement. We need men like you.
MarkiusMahamius
Level 7
Dec 20, 2018
0
I have given law enforcement some consideration, but there is also a lot of red tape that comes with it, one of my reasons for departing the military. I still weigh the option in my mind sometimes.
GIS is booming. And only getting bigger. That’s Geographic Information Systems and you have it in your phone right now. I have my masters in GIS and there are way more jobs than people who can do them, many high paying.
ForesterJenny
Level 5
Dec 20, 2018
1
English or History degrees open a lot of doors to all sorts of careers, for some reason they are seen as indicative of intelligence.
LenHazell53
Level 9
Dec 20, 2018
0
Yeah in my city every waiter and cabdriver has a degree in English or history
university is not for learning a trade, in general. there are exceptions: medical school springs to mind! but if you want to learn a trade that will be in demand, i can't help you choose an appropriate industry but i can say trade school is a better bet. university is for becoming a better educated person who has developed new and existing cognitive skills, found out who he is and is on the road to being that, to the best of his abilities (i am speaking of you and that is why i have chosen a specific pronoun). i am not saying one cannot prepare at university for a career. i think i may have made it sound that way. i am just saying that you should not choose your course of action based on that, except for the exceptions, which should be clear. don't even choose a major in your first year. take the core courses and look around, see what's what. if you just choose an industry based on what no one really knows, namely what will be in demand in the future, you may find yourself unhappy in it, and then it won't matter what kind of material success you have in it. i know you found out a lot about yourself in the military; that is inevitable. find out the rest of it, the civilian self, find those old passions or new ones. don't just train. learn.
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genessa
Level 8
Dec 20, 2018
1
In our area, we desperately need welders...seems like equipment repair is a big deal...also, people to service ATM machines and digital gas pumps...they stop people on the street and ask if you would like a good job...
@thinktwice that is cool for people who have a talent and/or affinity for such work. it doesn't work as well for people who wouldn't do well in that field.
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@genessa of course...I think one has to match skills, interest, ability, etc. to a career...I was just giving suggestions ...I forgot to add accounting...it is a needed field in just about every business from big to small...I am retiring but I will probably still do some accounting the rest of my life just because I love it!
@thinktwice i am glad someone likes it! (not being sarcastic!) my guy tried it and he just hated it. to each his/her own, definitely. back to the topic: i am not saying there is no point in trying to find a trade. i just don't think university's sole purpose, or even main purpose, is to establish a trade, unless, as i've said, you're planning to go to med school (or law school, or something like that). university can be for so much more.
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@genessa I am all in favor of any advance learning as well as life long learning...but I also think we have to realize not everyone is university material...people have different kinds of intelligence, some working well with their hands and solving the problems of everyday while others use their brains to solve or provide research for future solutions, etc. A friend of mine has an MBA but hated working in an office...so he started his own little ATM repair business and loves it! He is out of the office, wears jeans, and drives his truck everywhere and meets so many people...ha ha ha each to their own...find your passion and find a way to make a living at it!
@thinktwice this is also true. i don't think it's necessarily true of the poster here. it sounds as if he is asking what to study at university, not whether to go to university.
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@genessa I know...I read his post 
...but given his age and military experience, and my experience in talking to young people about what to do with their lives, I wanted to provide an alternative that perhaps he did not consider because we generally have pushed everyone into college in our country and have so many that have found more satisfying work. With student loan debt being such a big issue here (not in his case, perhaps, since the GI Bill pays for some expeneses), alternatives was all I wanted to give.
@thinktwice if it hasn't changed since my dad came back from service, and it might well have changed but i don't know that, the g.i. bill covers it all. i'd say take advantage of it. that's a pretty valuable reward to turn down.
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@genessa The GI bill covers public universities but not all of private ones...it also does not cover out of state colleges, so if you live in PA and want to go to Harvard, it won't cover it all...It also covers expansive trade schools and alternative learning, such as online universities...I agree, it is a valuable benefit depending on how many years and rank you attained...my nephews benefited from their service and left college almost debt free.
@thinktwice these days that's rare. i wouldn't turn it down, even if it meant not going to harvard!
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@genessa It would be foolish not to take advantage of it for sure!
I don't know how that works today but when I was using this I was told to make PhD the goal. That way you can change majors and still be covered.
JackPedigo
Level 9
Dec 20, 2018
0
That is a wise way to go. I don't know that I'll go after a doctorate, but masters earn near top rate in their field.
@SoullessHeathen You don't need to get a Phd. That will only be a goal which may give you some leverage.
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