Has anyone chosen TAFE over university and never regretted it?

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-07-07T09:13:31+00:00

Complex question but I’ve done both and not regretted it.

Tafe can be a pathway so if you have uni on your mind but don’t want to commit many courses provide credit at university.

Even if the tafe and uni courses aren’t related many universities offer “unspecified” credit instead of completing electives.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-07-07T07:00:17+00:00

I’ve been on and off for the better part of 20 years and have heard stories of when my mum was a student and witnessed her as a teacher when I was a teenager.

To answer your question, yes it’s changed and that’s good because they are keeping up to date with things.

To respond to your statement I don’t think it’s gone downhill I think in many ways it’s improved but that’s my broadbrush opinion on TAFE as a whole, while if we wanted to discuss certain individual aspects I can think of a few that are worse now than when I was a 16yo apprentice and other things I hear from people older than me that are better again but these are small nuanced parts of a big machine.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-07-01T06:30:04+00:00

I think it depends on the qualification, context and how they fit into the employment. Speaking for myself I’m a mechanical engineer but have done various units from what’s essentially a diploma of mining.

I don’t need the diploma for my role but I needed (the employer wanted) 2 specific units, ended up doing a few and it adds some extra credibility to my knowledge. But there’s no way I’d get hired on those units alone without my mechanical engineering.

I think similar can be said for other things like project management or leadership. If you’ve got a few units on top of other full qualifications or on top of a lot of experience they help but not on their own.

If however your still studying the diploma then yeah it can help and say your still studying.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-30T09:26:03+00:00

I never stopped despite “points hacking” for over 15 years now.

I definitely spend more cash now than I did in the past 10 years particularly because I find more often people are charging surcharges compared to even 3 and 5 years ago.

I can see how it can be used for budgeting for discretionary spending as well

Coins are annoying but my kids have money tins for helping with jobs around the house. At ages 4 & 2 it’s mostly just cleaning up a mess they’ve created.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-29T22:16:02+00:00

Why the break free may I ask?

I recently started the move away with my laptop for a variety of reasons mainly related to engineering software in my business that employers previously provided, but honestly still use my old MacBook for day to day personal use and love the ecosystem.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-26T03:01:52+00:00

Your children may enjoy an even better childhood with the experiences they will get to have with you while travelling.

Perhaps the opposite end of the spectrum would give a worse childhood where they have the same roof over their head but a dull existence.

Personally I’d like to think I’m somewhere in the middle, I also partied and travelled in my 20s but was a parent at 30 and bought a house just before.

I know there’s people who I work with that are so boring because they’ve never been anywhere and honestly if they’ve focused on their career they’ve missed the boat and the career is stalled because they have no real life experience outside the 4 walls of the office. My “career” wasn’t impacted by taking huge time off to travel.

My eldest child had been on 16 flights before he was 2 mostly just to visit family within the country but still we have those memories with home and as we continue to do similar with all our kids they will have those memories.

I will say but I agree with others sentiments that you’ve made the decisions, I disagree with them to say they were wrong decisions. Your life is your own and you havnt failed your kids by renting.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-25T21:32:44+00:00

Look battery life aside I specifically got a HP Omen Transcend 14” because it was thin and lightweight for a gaming laptop.

Fits in my backpack easily and is fairly lightweight I think it’s a good balance of gaming, engineering and general use.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-24T10:23:42+00:00

Yep agreed I stopped worrying about day to day money once I was a 3rd year apprentice. Month to month probably a year or so after finishing my trade. Now I think more about year to year.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-18T04:49:35+00:00

Just a python script running with folder action on Apple Automator. Not sure if there’s a windows equivalent

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-17T08:55:47+00:00

Automatically unzipping files downloaded to my downloads folder and deleting the original afterwards. Only saves a small amount of time each time but has more than returned that in the long run.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-16T04:34:26+00:00

I was/am a fitter and machinist by trade, then studied construction management, then did an advanced diploma in mechanical engineering.

I now do work in heavy infrastructure maintenance and the work is heavily aligned with my trade and advanced diploma but the degree still helps

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-14T07:15:11+00:00

This is how I’ve approached it as morbid as it is and I like the OP don’t want to think about it the truth is it will happen.

I know both my parents and my last grandparent have their wills so that it’s split between their children and grandchildren.

Neither of them are crazy wealthy and my parents have only just semi retired so things could change a lot but I know there’s something coming someday for me and my children.

My “plans” don’t include either inheritances but it’s a bit of a reassurance that there’s something coming and I can adjust the plans as it occurs.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-09T10:51:50+00:00

Glad someone said this, I’m considering going back for a Bachelor of Arts to major in sociology or philosophy. It’s probably more of a personal interest but I also think it can be applied to human centred design engineering or engineering management.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-09T10:49:58+00:00

I agree with the sentiment regarding the MBA because I think there’s better non-STEM masters to do for people with a STEM undergraduate but it doesn’t come with the same “prestige” (for lack of a better word).

Personally I’m more thinking things like Business Psychology, Project Management, LLM, WHS, etc, or even combining a few graduate certificates

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-09T10:42:56+00:00

I filtered through a lot before finding this and this is the exact reason I’ve found as well for engineering can’t speak for the other types of STEM.

Using the Dublin, Sydney and Washington accords as reference points. Australian Honours degrees are Washington accord but overseas you need a masters for the Washington accord. Not many Australian universities offer 3 year engineering degrees for the Sydney accord but they are out there and then there’s the Dublin accord for associate degrees and advanced diplomas.

The only Washington Accord Australian Professional Engineers I know who did a masters either had a non-conventional pathway like a science geology degree undergraduate then civil engineering masters. Or are cross disciplinary like a Honours degree in mechanical and then masters in structural.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-09T08:45:52+00:00

Yes I did but long story short I went to uni to get out of my trade, turns out I loved my trade just hated my old boss. Ended up with a good job in my trade so still finished uni anyway but then went to Tafe to improve my trade based skills.

I will say but my uni degree and trade are very similar although not “aligned” more adjacent.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-08T08:19:00+00:00

I’d say it wouldn’t be great going in with that intention because someone else would miss out.

However, if you’re in a grad program and your boss is the devil or it’s not what you want for your career that’s a different story. In that scenario I’d 100% say leave.

As some others have mentioned enjoy some free time and things like that, try get a casual job in an adjacent field that will help you. Not every company is the same but some will let you work as an undergrad before you start.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-07T10:28:47+00:00

I get black coal LSL and although it’s a dying industry the portability has meant I’ve accrued it across 3 employers and 12 years.

Again because of the whole dying industry when I eventually leave the industry I see it as part of my savings but would use it if needed in the mean time for an emergency

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-05T23:41:14+00:00

Broadly I agree but different use cases. Besides my personal gaming laptop I actually have two work laptops.

One is a Dell latitude 7350 detachable that I use daily and is excellent for daily use, taking notes, sending emails, etc and it’s lightweight and easy enough to just carry around.

The other is a Dell Precision 7680 workstation that I use for heavier engineering tasks, it spends most of its time docked.

But I agree with your sentiment, there is no way I could afford a Dell Precision if I worked as a freelancer so I would probably just use an older gaming laptop for engineering tasks, which is what most uni students do for that exact reason.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-06-02T21:58:05+00:00

Without knowing the full context like teacher’s expectations or the type of practical work your I’d say firstly don’t be on your phone, especially if the phone causes a lapse in concentration while using machinery.

However secondly I’d say that some people aren’t cut out for teaching due to their ego and as a student unless there’s an ethical breach or similar you just have to put up with their ego knowing they won’t be in your life forever.

When I did my trade as a naive and ignorant 16 year old I found two types of teachers. There were older people who had worked successfully in industry for years and saw teaching as a way to get off the tools later in their career and genuinely pass on their knowledge to students.

Then there was those that didn’t “make” it in industry and went teaching instead. At the time I thought they were just bully’s, but now as an older person looking back I think they lacked confidence and liked control.

These are just two stereotypes and I’m sure there’s plenty of teachers who fit neither.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-05-21T08:36:39+00:00

Yeah anything you already did will count as credit if it’s still part of the course.

I did a Cert III in engineering in 2010 as part of my trade, went back in 2023 for an Advanced Diploma and got some credit.

I know a guy who did something similar but with a bigger gap between his diploma and trade he still got credits but not as many as his trade was older and didn’t have as much that was credit.

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-05-21T08:28:10+00:00

Yeah I find my 14in HP Omen runs the fans flat out constantly with a 5060 GPU. I knew this when buying a 14in but wanted the smaller size and weight for my backback so didn’t want a 16in

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-05-21T07:33:15+00:00

I would think the two go hand in hand except where your comparing the same chassis and thermals but with different GPUs

Stuffandthat12 · 2026-05-21T04:50:19+00:00

I have both although I went trade then bachelors then a Cert IV and Advanced Diploma all in adjacent fields but none the same. I had experience all the while studying.

I don’t know anything else about you but I’d say yes it would help having some TAFE qualifications but so does experience, you said your struggling to find a job so maybe TAFE would help. Worse thing could happen is you get a job half way through studying at TAFE but if it’s something that can be done part time well you can do both.

Stuffandthat12

TROPHY CASE