I have a degree as a metalworker, with specalisation degrees in silicone lathes and CNC machines and a degree as a car mechanic.
At the moment i'm following another specalisation course for repairing body work (Which sadly enough is a dying breed of workers as cars use more and more plastic lately.)
In the future i'm also looking at doing an electricians course and very likely to look into aero mechanics for smaller private airplanes.

That's right jack, i can actually do something useful!

Oh and in the future i may also look into getting a degree for welding lol.

Cheesecake, I believe this is for you:

Lol, never hurts to get some degrees, easy to get work that way.
And the specialisation degrees are just extra courses over a year added to the main course, still handy to have though

Yeah, luckily my university has a co-op program so I am guaranteed a job when I graduate. If you don't know what a co-op program is I can explain it.

Go ahead.

For all you people confused about TAFE:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_and_further_education

i have done middle-level applied education in the netherlands.
as a digital forensic expert.
And im currently working as a IT administrator by the dutch military

Omg ok the american school system goes like this.

Nursery school (under age 5) Non-mandatory
Kindergarten (age 5) Mandatory
1st grade-12th grade encompassing elementary school, middle school, and high school graduating high school around age 18. Mandatory
College/University- Non mandatory higher education where you get AA, BA, MA, and PHD degrees along with other things like getting an MD (medical degree). In the Us these vary from 2 year to 4 year. These are institutions which vary in price and the kind of degree you can get.

Okay so here's how a co-op works:
I attend my university for fall and spring semester for my first and second year of college. Then in the summer semester after my second year, I attend co-op. Then in the fall semester, I attend my university, then spring semester I attend co-op, and so on and so forth until I graduate.

A co-op is like an internship, except I get paid (and get paid pretty well). It is a program for engineering students so they get real experience in their field before they graduate and nine times out of ten, the company you co-op'd for will hire you full time when you graduate college.

In my case, I'm waiting until the fall of my 3rd year (fall of 2012) to go on co-op and I will be taking classes this summer. Basically, I never have summer break again. T-T

Ah we have that too sort of, pretty much paid internship.
I got put in a large factory that makes certain parts for cars though, wasn't really much fun.
I'm looking at work in a more private sector, less industrial kind and more custom requests from clients.

The German system works like this:

Kindergarten (3-6 Years age)
Elementary School (1st - 4th grade)
Secondary Schools
> Secondary Modern School (5th - 9th grade)
> Middle School (5th - 10th grade)
> Grammar School (5th - 12th/13th grade; that's being discussed by the government atm)
University

In Australia it's just

Primary School 5-11/12 years old
High School from 12/13 - 17/18 years old (depending on what state/school you're at)
Then TAFE and Uni are whatever age. :P

I think it's interesting just how different the education system is in each country.

Also want to add to Sarah's post that the final two years of high school aren't compulsory, you can leave as long as you are leaving to work full time, go to TAFE or to get an apprenticeship.

Over here it's

Kindergarden 3-6
Elementary 6-12
Secondary 12-18

After that you have a degree in what you chose and if you want you can go to university