[SeeGeeWhy]

I dunno... sort of? I have a B Sc in mechanical engineering, a masters in business. I currently acquire small businesses to scale them to a size that would catch the attention of mid-market acquirers. Project management, manufacturing or distribution. Currently run a mechanical contractor and are in talks to merge with another similar group who does it under an LP structure rather than just using my own savings and personal guarantee as capital.

I maintain my P.Eng status ... pretty sure for an ego and status tool, as I rarely do any sort of engineering calculations or use my stamp. It pains me to pay those APEGA fees, but it does come in handy every once an awhile at meetings or to have clout in a conversation. I more or less project manage for the most part. The business degree I also somewhat use as a status tool as it helps me with credibility when speaking with bankers or investors regarding financing.

I have definitely felt the urge to continue my formal training, or to use a degree as a way to transition into a new sort of career. Maybe getting deeper into nuclear (specifically radiochemistry), hydrocarbon synthesis, or urban design would be very interesting to me and useful to the start ups that I am active with.

Yet my work experience has shown it would probably have been more useful to get degrees in human psychology and philosophy. I somewhat regret not getting into computer or software engineering, and often wonder if it would be worthwhile to do it at the end of my next career cycle... which would be early to mid 40s.

But honestly, the time it takes to go to school and go through all that to get the designation and then come up the learning curve on the job so that you could actually contribute... it really just feels like hiring people that do that already, but far better is so much wiser use of time. The rest would be... for academic pleasure and stimulating mental pursuit and maybe getting lucky enough to know people doing the research.

So much of the basic information is available through peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings, MOOCs, and podcasts and stuff theses days that it doesn't really feel like its worth actually going back to upgrade. The economic argument that it will pay back seems more tenuous than ever.

I am really at a loss to what to tell me kids. The future of education and work is very unpredictable.