Retraining

[philipwhite]

MercuryNews (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/8867533.htm?1c) had an article this week on retraining and the effect it has on careers. The article details the vicious circle of training for a postion that has shortages and then finding out that there are no openings for that position by the time your qualified.

"And workers who are used to jobs with high levels of pay and responsibility may find it hard to land a comparable position in a new field without experience."

I think a large percentage of college graduates are running into the wall trying to find new jobs because the job market is just not there and no one wants to train or hire people without considerable experience.

[YaSO]

What kind of training is required to get a job in defense industry? It's not that I'm embracing this war in Iraq or the last one, but if you just put your personal view on armed force aside, defense industry gets pretty big contracts every 5 years or so. I also feel like skills required to get jobs in the industry are somewhat the same throughout years. Am I misunderstanding?

[philipwhite]

I suppose you just need security clearance and experience in whatever area they are looking for. Arms industry is huge and they employ people from all different educational backrounds. It doesn't take a ph.d to paint bombs.

[YaSO]

I was thinking what industry is most stable in a long run and most lucrative. Political issues aside, defense industry seems to be showing some stability over the years. As former US President Ronald Reagan passed, some people brought back the debate over reaganomics. A big part of reaganomics was to increase defense spending, and that's exactly what the current administration is doing. I was thinking that, maybe, defense industry is where you get full training, full benefit and what have you ...