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It's bound to come up in almost every conversation about this topic online nowadays but skilled trades can be great. Especially if you plan to own your own serv

It's bound to come up in almost every conversation about this topic online nowadays but skilled trades can be great. Especially if you plan to own your own service business. I'm talking Electricians, Plumbers, HVAC technicians, etc. Competition is low. If you show up on time, present yourself well, and you don't show up to work under the influence, then you can be in the top 10% of the workforce easily. I worked in the trades for about 6-7 years before switching to software engineering. I took a paycut for my first job in software. I was making $80k in a low cost of living area working in the trades. First year was $55k, on the job training was provided. Downsides are: - Weekend work is typical - On-call is typical - Hard labor, working in the elements. Freezing conditions and/or 100*F + days working on HVAC equipment is rough. - Non-trade folk will commonly talk to you like you're not intelligent. Not a lot of prestige Upsides: - Learn valuable hands-on skills. Can be applied to your own home to save money - Physical job = built-in exercise - Low competition - Easy to parlay into a business

Jugurtha 7y ago
>Competition is low. If you show up on time, present yourself well, and you don't show up to work under the influence, then you can be in the top 10% of the workforce easily. I'm still infatuated with a mason who worked at our house one time. I doubt he ever really existed. Dreamy. Let me walk you through this romantic 50 Shades of Cement... He rang the bell and I opened the door. He didn't look like a mason: well dressed, clean shaven with impeccable combed hair and a case for tools. I showed him to his floor. He brought pencils and markers, rulers, a compass, etc. The guy reminded me of my course in industrial/technical drawing. I lived a floor downstairs of the floor he had to build. He was punctual, consistent, and silent. I didn't hear a thing while he worked and yet I would go up at the end of the day and appreciate the progress he was making. I didn't find broken bricks or sloppy cement/sand/water traces. It was clean and precise, and the guy was a ninja. I didn't have his contact information but I would have referred anyone and everyone to him, whether they had something to build or not. I must have told this story like a grandpa tells tales of his youth.
- CoffeePython 7y ago
  There are some truly amazing people in the trades. Some of the absolute best problem solvers I ever met, I met in the trades. I'm talking masters of troubleshooting. Breaking things down into component parts, understanding how systems work together, and being able to pinpoint what exactly was causing the underlying issue. People who just had to know how everything worked. People with knowledge of Refrigeration, electrical troubleshooting, PCB repair, etc. Working in the trades gave me strong troubleshooting skills.It also gave me an appreciation that a lot of folks in our industry seem to lack for our blue collar brethren. Blue collar != dumb/uneducated.

Jugurtha 7y ago

>Competition is low. If you show up on time, present yourself well, and you don't show up to work under the influence, then you can be in the top 10% of the workforce easily. I'm still infatuated with a mason who worked at our house one time. I doubt he ever really existed. Dreamy. Let me walk you through this romantic 50 Shades of Cement... He rang the bell and I opened the door. He didn't look like a mason: well dressed, clean shaven with impeccable combed hair and a case for tools. I showed him to his floor. He brought pencils and markers, rulers, a compass, etc. The guy reminded me of my course in industrial/technical drawing. I lived a floor downstairs of the floor he had to build. He was punctual, consistent, and silent. I didn't hear a thing while he worked and yet I would go up at the end of the day and appreciate the progress he was making. I didn't find broken bricks or sloppy cement/sand/water traces. It was clean and precise, and the guy was a ninja. I didn't have his contact information but I would have referred anyone and everyone to him, whether they had something to build or not. I must have told this story like a grandpa tells tales of his youth.

CoffeePython 7y ago
There are some truly amazing people in the trades. Some of the absolute best problem solvers I ever met, I met in the trades. I'm talking masters of troubleshooting. Breaking things down into component parts, understanding how systems work together, and being able to pinpoint what exactly was causing the underlying issue. People who just had to know how everything worked. People with knowledge of Refrigeration, electrical troubleshooting, PCB repair, etc. Working in the trades gave me strong troubleshooting skills.It also gave me an appreciation that a lot of folks in our industry seem to lack for our blue collar brethren. Blue collar != dumb/uneducated.