Getting a private pilot certificate. Was fun, but after going to every airport within range, not sure it was worth it.
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2026
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Even if you don't end up using it, the process of learning something often shapes us into who we are. So it's tough to say something isn't worth the effort.
For example, I learned to read sheet music when I was younger and taking piano lessons. It took a while and I don't really use that skill today since I mostly play by ear or tab (fretted instruments). However, I appreciate understanding what the notes mean and think it made me more musical overall.
Cursive I guess.
I got a bunch of software certs for when I was first job hunting and now they either no longer exist or have been so changed that the certs don't matter.
certs are scam.
but they pad your resume and make test companies a lot of money.
Depends on the cert and the environment you are already in.
For example, I'm an IT Consultant, we kind of rely on 'professional certs' to get work at client projects, especially if a project is covering specific niches and we have consultants that have certifications within those niches.
Also, many of the more mainline certs can definitely be worth getting (especially in the early career stages), as a quick example some of the CompTIA certs like Networking+ (a colleague got his job with us solely with that cert btw)
I'm a trained electrician. Despite taking and passing a reputable school for it, I can't get licensed to do it in my state because you have to have 2 years apprenticeship. You get an apprenticeship you have to go through a school supported by the union. The only school supported is the one they own.
Despite being fully capable of wiring a building to code, installing a solar array or electric car chargers I can't do shit with the information and it way a year and $2k fucking wasted.
Anyway to get credit via past knowledge? Like, test out of apprenticeship if you can? You may be able to prove experience via hours worked on timecards.
Any chance you could get licensed in another state using what you know (without an apprenticeship) then seek licensing in your own state via some kind of reciprocity agreement with your home state?
That's not useless, that's a corrupt state.
Not your fault at all.
are you anti union or just anti this one school?
Probably morse code. It was required for my ham radio license back in the day to read it at 10 WPM. I put quite a few hours into learning it through the koch method.
At the end of the day I'm just not very interested in getting a lot of contacts. I just like building and tinkering with radios.
I ruined my diaphragm learning how to burp my ABCs
It was only sort of worth it
I can't learn skills I don't like to learn. As time wasted having fun is time well spent, I never learned a skill not worth the effort of learning it.
Can't think of anything.
Life's a journey, not a destination.
I learned one of the major orchestration tools (puppet), dabbled in the second (chef), and got a third running everything in my home lab (ansible). I refused to learn the 4th (salt). I figured my time was better spent learning python.
All the useless mathematical technics from studying physics at university. Now working in software engineering, I barely use more than highschool math, sometimes.
Instead of spending weeks writing down equations I wish I had learned more about science history, breakthrough experiments, other sciences etc.
Those maths are only useful for a tiny percentage of the students that will eventually become theoritical physics researchers.
It's the curse of studying science in France, it's unnecessarily math heavy.
EE here and the math was hard. Barely touch any of it now, but I miss it and I wish it was more practical. Maybe it was in training me to be very precise and methodical.
But in solid state physics, having the math to follow and understand maxwells equations, e=mc^2, and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Priceless.
I got my Realtor's license without realizing just how much it cost to break into the business. I did it for a year, and then dropped it.
That's the only one I can think of. Typically, I don't learn on spec, I learn as I go, "on the job". So, what I'm learning is directly applicable to what I need to do.
For instance, I recently refurbished an old, cheap desk. I learned to apply laminate with contact cement. It's not hard, but it was my first time doing it. A few weeks later I'm at a counter at a business and they have laminate that is separating from the base, and I knew exactly why. They told me that someone had been hired just a few weeks earlier to repair the same problem, and it happened again. I knew how to fix it right, but I didn't need a job so I just commiserated with them.
What’s expensive about breaking into the realtor business? Advertising for a customer base?
The crowbar.
Cursive handwriting
I really can't think of any that weren't worth the effort. Some took more effort than others, but even if they don't make me any money, I don't regret learning then.
I got half of my A+ certification before deciding fuck this and going into a different career. I can code very simply, I have very basic networking skills, and I use none of it. I'm amazed at people who can do it but I am not cut out for IT anything I don't think. Too much work.
I'm a big believer that computation should be a skill we learn in school. I think a lot of normal people would benefit from being able to make some simple scripts in python for personal use or even just for fun. I hope you don't always think that the coding skills are useless <3. That said I agree the networking stuff you can throw out the window! I know enough to know that I will never fully understand how network topology works. Every time I get to the /24 or whatever that's called my eyes start rolling.
As a network guy at work, it took me a long time to grok it, but now it amazes me how poorly these concepts are usually taught. They're actually fairly straightforward in concept. Oh well, it means I have a secure job, and most people don't really need to know.
Is organic chemistry a skill? I took that class twice and still feel like it barely left an imprint on me. Other than having a fight or flight reaction to benzene rings.
Otherwise, electrical wiring at a very basic level. I’m never going to be confident enough that I’m not going to burn the place down to do it on my own, and what I did learn I don’t really have a use for. Basic electrical safety knowledge is really all you need to get through day to day life.