I was a Mech. contractor in Maine for 34 yrs.
Our main work was supermarket refrigeration, HVAC - commercial only
Never, ever had any slow periods. Maintenance, time and material,
new construction. Pay scale for this part of the HVAC trade is thru
the roof.
Quit this part of the trade, started teaching at a Maine Comm. College
for 11 yrs. Taught commercial ref., HVAC [heat pumps, gas fired
equipment] and the Electrical side of the trade.
Any one of my students that was motivated, wanted to work in this trade
had contractors, sub-contractors hiring them in the 2nd half of the year,
offers of hr. wages, benefits, company truck, GAS CARD, starting the week
school ended.
Every semester, a percentage of my students were college graduates with
degrees they could not make a decent living with. Generally around 30 yrs. old
Occasionally, there was a female student, straight A's, hard worker in the shop.
