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I work everyday with trades. Plumbers, electricians, and heavy equipment operators are always in demand.They’re in high demand for good ones. Poor to average ones are a dime a dozen.


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Forget machinist, those jobs can be sent over seas. The building trades cannot be sent outside the country.

I was Exec VP of a large commercial MEP contractor and had my Master level HVAC, Plumbing & Gas Fitter cards. I would not recommend being a welder unless it is combined with plumbing and pipe fittings so when his eyes are shot, somewhere around 50 to 55 years old he can still work the pipes.

Being an HVAC Tech is a good career if he gets into commercial work, and that requires considerably more training than the average HVAC Tech wants to do. Most go into a certificate program in a technical school get a job with a residential/small commercial operation which will not pay as well as a tech trained to work on large commercial equipment. If he goes the HVAC route tell him to continue his education beyond just a HVAC Certificate from a Tech School or Community College. Get him to get on with a commercial contractor, a manufacturer such as Trade, Carrier, York, etc. and to take all the classes they will let him have.

If HVAC is not his cup of tea I would highly recommended the electrical/electrician trade. Typically an electrical installation is not a strenuous physically as a plumbing/pipe fitting install is, although there are exceptions. This means his career can be possibly be a little more productive late in life over the guys who are plumbers/fitters, just due to the stress and strain on the body. Todays electricians get to do some really cool installations with the computerized lighting controls, security systems and computer networks that modern building have today.

If my grandsons want to be in the trades I would recommend Commercial HVAC or Commercial Electrical as career paths.

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Originally Posted by Cariboujack
If I had it to do over again, I'd do something along those lines. First I'd consider joining the military and get trained in working on planes, electronics, or diesel mechanics, those guys pull down some coin. Also cross train in the medical field, either nursing, (never out of a job) or some specialty, like anesthesiologist, or xray technician, there's a lot of good jobs. Get trained in the military. Spend 20 years in, retire, start over with a new job, and retire again.


Military now is not the older form of military. It is super hard on the body. We have had several fellers in their early 40s die of heart attacks and a lot of that has to do with anxiety and combat stress. I support the military entirely and wish I could have served but the toll on the body and mind that it presently asks is more than considerable.

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Electrician, hvac, refrigeration, myself I took auto during school and construction and ended up in parts for our local transit and just retired after 45 years, was a good trade for me.


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Another idea, but not sure what to call it.

We have a guy that comes into my work and works on the big industrial motors
and drives. AC/DC all kind of crap I don't begin to understand.

He works for an electrical motor service, but he is their only guy who
understands all that stuff in use.
Travels all over the eastern half of the US+.
About to retire.
Our maintenance guy is wotried sick, nobody to replace him.


Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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Originally Posted by Jim_Conrad
Diesel mechanic.






I was reading a farm mag the other day during lunch and they had an article about the current lack of mechanics who could work on the latest computerized diesels.


We are 50 miles away from 3 major dealers and you constantly see dealer mechanic pickups going. And I bet over half the calls are about some stupid computer issue. Emissions or a sensor is out and shut everything down....


That said I would hate to be a field mechanic.

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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?

Join the miltary.
Get a skill maybe.
Sow some wild oats, get laid often.
See some of the planet.
Spread some american good will. Hahaha!!!
Grow up and mature some maybe if needed
Take some trade or college stuff while in.
Some of the trade jobs in the military have journeyman equivilant programs transferable to civilian employers.

Get out, go to a trade school or college again.
Or tansistion right into a job he has gained skill in
Use vet / gi bill stuff

Or stay in the military.



Everyone is different.
Let him find himself into something he wants to do.




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Bristoes bamboo thread brings to mind equipment operators.

The ones in this area are always busy and seem to do very well. They certainly charge a pretty penny.

I have no idea how that business works, but owning some equipment and a learning how to use it seems like a good way for a fella to make a career on his own terms.


“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”
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Ex-ray tech is a two year associate degree and they make big bucks.
A male nurse would be in demand.
Industrial sales pays a six number salary.
Service engineers for big equipment manufactures go all over the world company paid everything while their own paycheck goes in the bank.
Aircraft controller would be solid.
Corporate Internet security would be in high demand.
A gigolo could do well.


My other auto is a .45

The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
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What ever skilled trade a young person chooses to train in, it probably wouldn't hurt to maybe add some academic college courses to their resume, too, especially in business management and economics, in case they may want to try going out on their own at some point.




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If he stays drug free and chooses to learn as he goes, he can go into any trade nowadays and make it just fine. He needs to learn business skills and time management, as he will always be busy.

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I gunsmithed for a shade over a decade. Wonderful job that I enjoyed immensely. Horrible pay and nonexistent benefits all the while having to toe the line with .gov regulations. Wouldn’t recommend it as a career.

Put that behind me and got back into welding. Mostly structural steel but some pipe and petroleum jobs too. You can make a pile of money at it if you take the time to get good. It’s a package deal too, lots of Joes can sling a bead around something but lots more can’t cut and fit. A good bit of fairly complicated math involved in being a good fitter/fabricator. There’s also the fact that to make the bucks you need to be on the road. Chasing rigs, putting up structures, or on the firing line on the ROW welding out pipeline. Then there’s the toll it takes on the body, eyes, ears, lungs, and joints all suffer in the welding game. If a young fellow is inclined toward the wild side the pipeline and oil patch can be the Wild West and get a guy in trouble. Lots of drugs and wild women around the big money when you have 100 welders living in campers putting in a pipeline making $75 an hour. I still love to weld and fab but I could see that at my age and with a family it wasn’t the place for me to be in the long game.

I’m now a maintenance tech at one of the local power Co-ops. We do a lot of trades work with no one specialty. On any given day I can be called on to be a plumber, welder, electrician, carpenter, mechanic, lawn guy, HVAC tech, pretty much you name it and we do it. It’s a great gig and the pay and benefits are incredible for this area, I’m thankful every day that I was able to get on.

As an aside, everyone needs power. The electric company isn’t going anywhere for a long time, regardless of boom or bust. Every position at the place I work for is very well payed and stable with almost no chance of layoffs or cutbacks. We have truckers, heavy and light equipment operators, welders, warehouse guys, mechanics, construction workers, linemen, and myriad office type personnel from secretaries to attorneys. Bottom line is to look for something that’s recession proof. If I’d have skipped my first two trades and started where I am now I’d be retiring before I turn 50. At least I had a life of adventure when I was younger and I wouldn’t want to trade it.

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LIKE


Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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Originally Posted by MadMooner
Bristoes bamboo thread brings to mind equipment operators.

The ones in this area are always busy and seem to do very well. They certainly charge a pretty penny.

I have no idea how that business works, but owning some equipment and a learning how to use it seems like a good way for a fella to make a career on his own terms.


It’s not. Barriers to entry are too low in an industry built on secured debt. Market prices are set by players desperate to maintain cash flow for debt service on iron. It’s too easy to blow the business’ equity chasing\buying work. These two factors alone guarantee almost cannibalistic competition.

Exceptions are with the application of heavy equipment to solving complex problems in niche markets and/or having relatively exclusive longer term contracts with .gov, utilities, etc.


Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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one can't easily ship electricity all bundled up in the hold of a ship coming in from a foreign country.

that's one thing to think about.

another thing is that old people need all kinds of service providers..from house, lawn, personal, to trips to doctor, etc.

everyone wants the highest pay possible. that's a natural. but some jobs will always pay more than others.


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Originally Posted by TheKid
If a young fellow is inclined toward the wild side the pipeline and oil patch can be the Wild West and get a guy in trouble. Lots of drugs and wild women around the big money.....





Or smoke weed and build stuff in the mountains.

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Have him become an EMP repairman.


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I started at a university in mechanical engineering, I made it one year before I was told I couldn’t come back. I went to a tech school and wanted to be in the electrical program but it was full. Found that there was a 3 year option to start in refrigeration and AC for 2 years and come back for a third year for the electrical degree, so I took that route with the industrial electrical option.

I got both associates degrees and had job offers in both fields but turned down the plant electrician job at a sugar beet refinery because it was 50 miles from where I wanted to live with the then girlfriend. I took a job as an HVAC apprentice. It’s a good job but it has its slow times, especially the in between seasons.

Looking back I wish I would have went the electrical route but I’m to old to start another apprenticeship. HVAC is a good career but I would steer the young man towards electrical.

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It really depends on the young man, what his talents, interests and experiences are.

My recommendation is to do a stint in the military to get his head on straight, develop some self-discipline and experience what the real world is all about.

Perhaps he will find other interests as a result of venturing out past where he's already been. Plus the .mil has all sorts of jobs that could give him a foundation for a further career. And they'll pay for schooling after he gets out.


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No matter the trade he picks.

1. Show up everyday.
2. Show up and leave on time.
3. Work all day.


I don’t fire ppl. But can influence it.

Had to let one guy go, he was fugging up more stuff that he was sending out the door.


Dave

�The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.� Lou Holtz



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