Originally Posted by elelbean
Unfortunately, I've got a few useless college degrees and can't offer him any advice. Have a young nephew about to graduate HS next year and is thinking of a career in the trades. Can any guys here recommend a trade you think will be around in the future and offer decent career prospects for a young person?


Pipe lining while he is young and unmarried. Pipe fitting/welding pays the most. Unions pay more than non-union. Equipment operators are next on the pay pecking order and a good hoe hand is worth his weight in gold, and will never be unemployed against his will. The work ethic he will learn on the pipeline will serve him the rest of his life, in whatever field he decides to work. Both of my boys transitioned into pipeline (out on the ROW) as young bachelors, and they are now entrenched in Houston with handsome paying (project management and estimating) jobs, and are at the top of their game.


"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee