# What useful skill should I learn? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039 "2016-12-18T15:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/21 "2016-12-19T17:11:09Z")
Home handymen (handypersons?) are worth their weight in gold and never without emplyment. I needed one, asked my plumber for a recommendation, called the guy who told me it wasn’t worth his time to come five miles to my house. I finally lucked into one. Plumbers are also never unemployed and I don’t think they are likely to be replaced by robots any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/22 "2016-12-20T00:09:39Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Then, find an organization in your city that teaches English to immigrants and refugees, and volunteer with them. They will train you and give you a certificate. Then, anywhere in the world, you would be qualified for any position teaching English as a foreign language. You already know the language with native fluency, but prospective employers would want to see some evidence that you have teaching skills. You can even get recruited while still at home, and have your passage and visa documents provided, as well as a (barely) subsistence job over there. You are going to need a four year degree from a university to legally teach English in Japan and Taiwan (and probably several other Asian countries). Some kind of “English Teacher certificate” is not going to get you any where in these countries… ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/23 "2016-12-20T00:56:11Z")
Sushi chef. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/24 "2016-12-20T04:22:52Z")
Truck driver or bus driver (even a school bus driver) - hey, you said you wanted to be mobile. There always seems to be a big demand for truck drivers. Are you single? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/25 "2016-12-20T08:40:04Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Not really. Very few people want to buy hand made wooden furniture when there’s an IKEA around. You would always be far more expensive then a local crafsman. Also, you need a workshop, invest in expenisve tools, and some wood materials have to be prepared for years before you can use them properly. Not something to do on the go. > > If you want to do develop some marketable skill that you can do online, from anywhere on the world, look at [fiverr.com](http://fiverr.com) and see for what skills there is a demand. Installing cabinets or fixing doors that stick are part of “carpentry”, too. My current rental has several doors which could use a fix. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/26 "2016-12-20T19:41:16Z")
Hiya Cuauhtemoc (how should we pronounce that and what does it mean?) I am a current subscriber to The Caretater Gazette and there is a wide variety of jobs for someone who wants to travel. frequently, someone who is honest and “handy” is all they are looking for. [http://www.caretaker.org/](http://www.caretaker.org/) it’s a good site because they don’t take ads. I’d be doing it myself except I am UNhandy 😛 and I currently have two dogs ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/27 "2016-12-20T22:50:49Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Truck driver or bus driver (even a school bus driver) - hey, you said you wanted to be mobile. There always seems to be a big demand for truck drivers. Are you single? Yeah. Did you see this? > [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > I have a college degree in nothing in particular, and a CDL ‘B’ with passenger endorsement that allows me to drive buses anywhere in America. The CDL has afforded me the ability to live and work in a lot of different places, so I don’t feel trapped anywhere, which is very important to me. But I’m getting a little tired of driving around in circles all the time. > [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > Hiya Cuauhtemoc (how should we pronounce that and what does it mean?) > I am a current subscriber to The Caretater Gazette and there is a wide variety of jobs for someone who wants to travel. frequently, someone who is honest and “handy” is all they are looking for. > [http://www.caretaker.org/](http://www.caretaker.org/) it’s a good site because they don’t take ads. > I’d be doing it myself except I am UNhandy and I currently have two dogs. It’s like “kwow-TAME-ock.” Actually, you gotta aspirate that second ‘w’, almost like “kwowph-TAME-ock.” I guess that name must have been significant to me sixteen years ago. Thanks for that link, but I can’t honestly call myself “handy”. You know those people who love to fix things, or even who can tell the difference between things that are working and things that aren’t? I’m not really one of them. Not naturally, anyway. I guess I could learn. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/28 "2016-12-21T03:04:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Welding and especially Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) thereof. Trust me. > > We can’t hire a level III NDE person where I work; they’re aren’t many available and those who are don’t want to move to what appears to be the middle of nowhere Canada. That is what I was going to suggest. My husband is a level III and can work just about anywhere. He’s trained a dyslexic friend to level II (I think… maybe just a I) but the level III stuff (military specs and training others) is what makes him marketable. One of his certificates is close to expiring and he has to decide if he wants to go for Points (from attending seminars or something) which don’t count in some states or go take the classes and tests again. Either way his company will pay to keep him certified. The last time it was just a test so I went along and hung out in the hotel room. My first and only time in St. Louis and I only got to see the Arches from a distance. Oh, and a double rainbow, Walmart and a Petco 😉 We couldn’t enjoy the nightlife the night before because he needed to study and rest. After the test he was mentally exhausted and we had the 6-7 hour drive home to go. Plus,we just wanted to get back home to the kids. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039/29 "2016-12-21T06:46:39Z")
Move to one of the states that has recently legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use and set up a cultivation facility or dispensary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-useful-skill-should-i-learn/775039.md?page=1)