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One big part of self improvement on this forum has been learning a trade, but finding a way to actually do that has been tricky.

Mike Rowe of Discovery's Dirty Jobs gave a fantastic interview here about the benefits of learning a trade - seriously take 8 minutes of your time and watch this - it's wonderful:

Mike Rowe's Trades Interview

He's also put his fame where his mouth is and created a foundation called

Mike Rowe Works

to help people begin the path to learning a valuable trade.

The education section, which is probably the most relevant part for forum members, is here:

Education for Trades from Mike Rowe

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Also note that the guy they have at the beginning of the segment has a Chemical Engineering degree from Cornell and is having trouble finding the kind of work he'd like, even though he's willing to move in a time of high commodity prices (Chem Eng has always struck as a feast or famine degree where you have to be willing to relocate). Maybe he's too focused on environmental firms - it's a bit ambiguous.

Legitimate STEM doesn't always pay off.