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Learning a Trade

bighooter

bighooter

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
1,660
Basically im 22. Unemployed and have no skills.
i have gcses thats it.

so life is looking more n more daunting each day. I'm going to go to college and learn a trade.

Options are: plumber, electrician, carpenter, bricklayer.

What trade do you think is best to get into it? Which is the easiest to learn?
What is the future like for these industries?

Cheerz ma dearz
 
bricklaying is labour intensive, probably the least technical of the lot.

if you understand and enjoy circuits and circuitry you might enjoy, it. id hate it.

plumber is great, requires very few tools to actually get started. equipment is cheaper to build with so less outlay as opposed to carpentry.

carpentry is in the end can pay the most money because through this you can go on to become a builder.
requires alot more tools to get started.

don't forget trades like cabinet making where more than likely you will be working from a factory rather than job sites all around your city.

another good trade depending on where you live would be a refrigeration & air conditioning mechanic. bit of a 'jack of all trades' trade as you do some electrical work, plumbing etc, relatively cheap start up costs and pays well.



if i were to go back and do a trade i'd be a plumber for sure.
 
I vote plumber too.

In Canada, it is (or was a couple of years ago anyway) a privilege to get a plumber apprenticeship - plumbers are in such high demand that some of them make more money than lawyers.

I tried my hand at carpentry in highschool and hated it. I guess I'm way too nervous around saws.
 
Which trade to pick is probably going to depend on your interests. Plumbing/Electrical will be more training while bricklaying and carpentry are going to be more labor intensive. I work as a Construction Laborer myself and have been on some bigger jobs where I was constantly surrounded by other trades, its all very interesting work, look at whats in demand in your area.
 
well im not limited to them options its just those are the courses at the college closest to me.

im thinking plumbing or electrics
 
lostNfound said:
another good trade depending on where you live would be a refrigeration & air conditioning mechanic. bit of a 'jack of all trades' trade as you do some electrical work, plumbing etc, relatively cheap start up costs and pays well.
Click to expand...

And, like prsnmalam said, it's REALLY fucking easy to rip people off for minor problems. If you go back through the pages of OD social, you'll see where a BL'er got hit for about $2000 for a very minor electrical problem with the AC.
 
^ i don't like this idea of getting into a trade to simply go around ripping people off.
If you are good at your trade and do your job properly and know how to properly quote a job, you shouldn't be ripping people off but should still be making a decent profit on a job.
 
I don't know how it is in other countries, but in Canada we still use the antiquated and highly irritating apprentice system.

Basically, it isn't just a matter of making up your mind and going for it. You actually need to be lucky enough to find someone willing to take you on as an apprentice, and more often than not, that somebody is family. So if you have no tradesmen in your family, you might never get an apprenticeship.

I believe welding is the exception here - and indeed, one that I consider exploring.
 
Hey dude try to shoot for a trade to become a electrician. Everyone is going to need electricity. It isn't that hard of trade to learn. You will learn some amazing things. Plus you can get hired on some of the major phone company's (AT&T) and travel to those huge cell tower's. It's cool because your out in the middle of nowhere, and usually on top of a mountain. Most of the time you are working by your self, and you will learn how to bid for job's and not get stuck with a hourly pay check!
-Good luck!
-D
 
Electricians do get paid a lot, which is good if you owe money. I'm spending my free time taking weekend courses learning how to edit films and audio, and write scripts for public service announcements, advertisements, and film. Only one of these carries an actual certificate I'll be able to market as a "trade," and that is how to expertly wield certain computer programs and hardware. If it's all the same, and you don't have any debt (and this is hard for me to say because I have a lot of it and am also unemployed) just do what interests you the most. I went to college and know a thing or two about finance, and from my experience in that world its really boring unless you graduated from a top-tier school.

So yeah, learn a trade but don't make money the only object. The money will come. Back in the mid-nineties, my now deceased uncle was making something lie 30 bucks an hour installing random electrical shit with his training, and he was working toward some next "master" level which would pay even more. It's a badass trade to learn, 30 bucks an hour is a shitload of money when you're getting overtime and it's the mid-nineties - I can only imagine what a certified electrician gets these days.
 
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