useful skills to have

[Srentiln]

Since we do have people here that are younger than me, I thought I'd give some advice on a few things to consider learning as they have saved me time/money quite a few times

1. Coding - Knowing even just PHP can help you a lot. Not only does it allow you to create programs to help you complete repeated tasks quicker, it also is becoming more and more desirable (from what I have seen) to employers for you to have some programming knowledge. If you know one, learning another is a lot easier since it is usually just learning a new syntax.
2. Sewing - You might not get into as involved projects as my backpacks (yup, I sewed my own backpacks from recycled pants), but are likely to need to do some mending or even just replace a button. I've saved a good number of shirts from the trash pile when a seam has failed with a simple stitch.
3. Soldering - This one can be a huge money saver once you know what you are doing. Last July, my G75VW's power jack fried. Because the product was no longer made and I used up the warranty on other repairs, would have cost over $600 through ASUS because they replace the entire motherboard (there is a potential of damage in other systems). The adapter itself is on its own board, but to buy a new pre-built board is in itself around $100. The power jack itself? ~$6. Because I learned to solder in one of my past positions, I saved $94-$594 swapping out the jack, and now it runs. I will caution against doing something like this until you know what you are doing. It is very easy to do more damage if you overheat components.
4. Public speaking - I know, sounds a bit common sense, but it isn't the same as holding a conversation. If you go into a technical field with a lot of jargon that you only understand if you are doing that work, you need to know how to explain things to the administrative end of the company.

Feel free to add on (serious) skills if you know of something that can be of benefit.

 

[cocacoakley]

5. Cooking! - It's something we take for granted when we're younger -- having a home-cooked meal with not just meat and carbs, but also vegis. If you can't cook you're going to eat out/order in/eat prepackaged meals,which are all more expensive and/or provide less nutritional benefits. It's daunting if you haven't cooked before and sure, maybe you'll confuse "clove" of garlic with a "head" of garlic once, but you'll quickly find that what you cook is enjoyable and even rewarding. Plus, in today's age, all you have to do is follow those 30sec facebook videos to make some fairly unique meals. Also it impresses potential mates.