College Courses? (suggestions?)

[miller time]

I'm going to a local college and its prepaid (lucky me!), I plan to get my ASE's from gas to diesel, HVAC for AC, general contractor's license, a welding certification, and my Class A license or CDL (all endorsements). I want to be able to get a job anywhere, doing anything, being over qualified for a job is never a bad thing. I was wondering beside normal classes, are their any degrees or courses you would suggest i take or you wish you would have taken? Opinions and Experience is aprreciated.
Thanks Yall, and remember,
Don't Get Captured, Just Reload!

[oldcarnut]

being over qualified for a job is never a bad thing. I was wondering beside normal classes, are their any degrees or courses you would suggest i take or you wish you would have taken? Opinions and Experience is appreciated.

I would disagree just a little on the first statement.  It can be attractive to have a variety of qualifications to offer but also it can be held against you.  It would certainly be nice to have all that but I think I would have to list mainly certain applied skills to the job looking at.  To that I mean it may make someone reluctant to hire you, depending on the pay, knowing that you could only be with them a short while before you went somewhere else that paid more for more skills needed.  Have known several people told they were too over qualified for what they wanted to pay for.
Aside from that, I wish I had taken industrial electrical and electronics.  Seems to be a variety lot of jobs available with that background.  I'm almost 52.  I spent 15yrs machining stuff in a Naval Shipyard and then 15yrs more working repairing machinery for manufacturing auto parts.  I enjoy it. During that time I wasted years getting a BS in Business and an AS in Environmental, Safety, and Hazmat.  Both were free ,but the BS is useless to me and the other I can apply some doing what I do now. They look nice hanging on the wall  . However, I had taken the electrical side of things I could go and apply it a lot more places.  A lot of people can run and/or work on machinery.  A good electrician with a mechanical background can take himself almost anywhere.  If I had any advice to give would be take classes in something you can use and want to work in and learn all you can in all aspects of it.  Be the best at what you want to do.  The jack of all but master of none is nice sometimes but not necessarily putting yourself ahead in the employment game  

[RallyeMike]

ASE's from gas to diesel, HVAC for AC, general contractor's license, a welding certification, and my Class A license or CDL (all endorsements)

I don't think having welding certs and CDL on top of ASE's is over qualifying you. If you can get them quick, it's good to have flexibility in this job market. I don't think anyone is NOT going to hire you because you have CDL or can weld.

I wouldn't bother with the contractor's license unless that is what you know you will pursue. Unless you have experience and are prepared to be bonded and insured, its a waste of effort at this point. You can get it later.

I agree 100% about the electrical background comment.  Electrical knowledge is gold.

[RTDaddy]

I would suggest taking a business or contract law class if one is offered.  Especially if it is taught by a practicing lawyer.  Got more usefual everyday knowldege out of that then enough, especially if you think you might go into your own business or get into rental property.  And if it's a practicing lawyer teaching it, yo can get questions answered for free.     Can also come in handy when dealing with inheritances.  Do not ask how I know this.    Good luck.

"IF YOU'RE UNDER CONTROL, YOU AIN'T GOING FAST ENOUGH.'

[NHCharger]

I had my own construction business for 20 years. Now work for a commercial developer as the head job super. I have no degree in anything related to construction. I studied to be an accountant but realized after one year of college that I would go postal if I worked in an office every day. I saw a lot of great carpenters fail as business owners because they had no idea what it took to run a business.

Taking an accounting or business management class never hurts. It shows potential bosses that besides working with your hands you have the ability to think, which is becoming a lost art these days.

[stripedelete]

Sound advice from RTDaddy & NHCharger.  If you happen to get closed out of one those classes, you might find a business psychology (or just psychology) helpful. 

[miller time]

Thank you all for the great advice!
By saying I want to be over qualified I want to have enough skill to not be over my head at my job, and be able to go into which ever field is better at the time, I know all of the courses are not related, but I don't fore see any of those fields dieing off or shrinking too much. Lets say all the work in my town was filled and I couldn't get a job, I could jump into OTR with a trucking company a few counties away and make a decent living with out moving or driving 2 hours to work everyday. I am taking a few business classes, I would like to run a wrecker service with its own full custom fabrication and repair shop one day, but its not my first priority out of school. There is always work out there, you just have to find it and be willing to do it, (I turned down a few full time jobs when I was in Highschool while everyone cried their was no work and I don't ever want to be on wellfare or unemployment). I was going to look into the electrical when I looked into the general contractors lsc and get both at the same time, I figured it would be worth it for pulling permits and being able to do jobs for friends and myself/family for a decent price with out doing a patch job on it or anthing illegal or dangerous. I want to have quality training in a quantity of fields, or master of my fields

I went to the CDL orientation the other night which was a free no strings attached presentation, it really peeked my curiosity (salaries, benefits, some laws, etc.) one thing he told us if you have a standard licence and are stopped towing a trailor weighing more then 10,000lbs DOT can fine you big time, he had a student that got caught and got $7,000 in fines and then had to spend the $5,000 on the class just to go back to work! Since the line of private use and commercial can be blurred or ignored depending on the cop I don't want to take that chance. (We have a gooseneck horse trailor that weighs 18,500lbs empty)

Quick topic change, who's going to watch the super bowl? and what are your predictions?