What are some good 1 year college programs

In My Humble Opinion
1

Or failing that, books on 1 year and 2 year degrees.

I have heard CAD is a good program with a good wage. So is HVAC technician. What about Mechanical engineering technology or industrial engineering technology certificates? These can be transferred into A.S. or B.S. degrees in mechanical or industrial engineering technology degrees. But I have heard the engineering field is not a good one to go into anymore. What about the health fields like medical assistant or pharmacy assistant? Auto maintenance 1 year degrees? What about blue collar degrees (plumbing, carpentry, electrician, etc). There has to be a book on all the degrees.

2

So you have already given up on becoming an RV nomad ? :dubious:

3

All things in their own time.

Here are a couple of websites listing vocational degrees

http://www.4education.us/

http://www.rwm.org/rwm/usamaplink.htm

I notice that Ivy Tech (the state community college) isn’t listed in their directory for some reason. Ah well.

Of all these options what are some good ones for

  1. Low stress work
  2. Job demand
  3. Job location freedom (ie there being enough openings that you are able to work in many different towns or cities so you can have some freedom in which city you choose to live in)
  4. Wages (preferably $10-15/hr).
4

Post again if you’re seriously thinking about going into engineering. I’ll write more advice.

Based solely on my experience:
If you want to be a CAD opertator learn both AutoCAD and one of the more popular 3-D CAD modelers (Pro/Engineer, Solidworks, etc.). It will help to have a basic understanding of algebra and geometry. W/out also having an enineering degree the pay is still pretty decent and as far as engineering goes it’s one of the more versatile types of work (i.e. you could go from working for an auto manufacturer to an HVAC manufacturer to a furniture manufacturer). Very few prefessions w/in engineering offer that kind of career mobility. You could also move around the country, but you would most likely have to pay your own expenses (there are almost always CAD guys locally, so companies aren’t as likely to pay to fly someone in for an interview or to pay someone’s moving expenses). As engineering goes it’s relatively easy and low stress (though that depends on where you work). As everything else, more and more CAD work is being sent overseas, but it still seems to be pretty decent in the US.

5

My fear with a job like CAD is what you mentioned, overseas distribution. I fear that too when I look at certificates in industrial or mechanical engineering technology.

The good thing about some of these certs is they are transferrable. An LPN degree (which I don’t want) can be transferred into an ASN, then a BSN. a certificate in industrial or mechanical engineering technology can be transferred into an A.S. or B.S. in these subjects. So that is another factor that is important, but its not majorly important.

What else can you tell me about CAD work? I hear the pay is around $30k a year, but if the travel and moving expenses come to 5-10k a year then it is not nearly as good of a deal.

I seriously considered engineering technology (I’m not dedicated enough to get a real engineering degree, just an engineering technology degree) before I decided on my current degree. But the job market for A.S. degrees in these subjects scared me off.

6

Well, I’m not an economist, but I’d say anything besides medicine, law, retail, or government work is in danger of being moved overseas. If you want an idea of the job market for CAD operators look on monster.com and see how many postings there are. In my limited expereince the companies that moved their CAD work overseas are learning the hard way that it ws a bad idea.

The pay can vary a lot. Like most other corporate jobs you don’t make the big bucks unless you move into management. If that’s your goal I’d say the most you can usually expect is to manage the CAD team, but who knows. If you learn a 3-D CAD modeler you’ll make more money. I can’t really describe the market right now, but get on monster.com, pick the city you want to live in, and look for CAD jobs or Design jobs that require knowledge of Pro/Engineer (aka Pro/E), Inventor, or Solid Works, and see how much they pay. I think 30k/year would be a bit low, I would expect they’d be in the 40k-50k range depending on location. If you only do AutoCAD, I’d guess 30k-40k is about right, but I don’t really know.

You’ll be working with engineers, which are an odd bunch. You’ll work mainly with other men who are lacking in social skills, don’t care much for culture, and live for their jobs. You should be able to find work both in the city and in the country, which can’t be said for a lot of jobs in engineering. If you want to parlay beng a CAD operator into being a full fledged engineer it could definitely be done, some companies might even pay for your education if you agree to work there for a certain number of years. There is a field of engineering called Design Engineering, which is kinda like a glorified CAD operator but pays more.

I meant pay to travel to interview and move. If you travel for your job, they’d better pay for it, otherwise quit immedately. That is a down side, say you want to move to Chicago from LA, you’d most likely have to find your own way to Chicago to interview, because there are always CAD guys locally, and it’s not that specialized a job. On the upside, there’s CAD work everywhere, so if you want to move someplace, you should be able to find a job there.

God luck. Post again if you want any more info.

7

:dubious: Hold on there pal…

(looks around at the guys at work… )
Nevermind

8

Does a person need an A.A.S. in CAD or will a technical certificate suffice? I am willing to move but i’d like to live within a 100-150 mile radius of my family so I can visit them easier.

9

My neighbor’s brother is a radiology technologist. Got a two-year college degree. Started at about $38,000 and will be making $45,000 in about 2 years.

10

Yeah, all the 2 year medical tech degrees seem pretty good. Even the 1 year medical degrees pay about $10-13/hr.