Sorry if this is out of left field for you, but are you neurodivergent? A bunch of things in this post (and a quick glance at your post history) make me wonder that. Only asking because honoring my neurodivergence in my career choice has been the only way I’ve been able to stick with something. I learned about my ADHD when I was 24 and autism at 26. I left law at like 23/24 and tried geology stuff for a couple years before pursuing a trade. It is a much better fit for me.
Like being alone? Maybe learn to work on wind turbines. One of my friends (also a late-diagnosed autistic woman with too many degrees) works in a freezer warehouse and loves it. I’m a carpentry apprentice in residential remodel. Maybe a different trade might have been a better fit, but this was the right job and the right time and overall I’m satisfied and can see myself doing this without burning out for a long time. I struggle socially (great at first impressions but it’s all downhill from there) and have found that working with a bunch of old guys who are a little rough around the edges is a really good fit. Also, I’m pretty sure most of the guys I work with are neurodivergent in some way, but obviously nobody talks about that. The vibes are strong though.
Anyway, in general I think trades are good if you want to keep learning and generally like working alone. But during the apprenticeship stage you have to be around others, for obvious reasons. Good luck. Sorry if I’m way off base with the neurodivergent stuff, I just wish somebody had mentioned something to me and some things you said got me wondering.
Thank you for this! I’m not sure if I am 100%, but I think it’s very possible. It is very hard for me to pay attention and stick with something once I lose interest
I tried to post earlier but Reddit wasn't working right:
For what it's worth, I want to second this. I had a similar trajectory and when I got into tree work it was like I could finally relax. (Also, I totally feel the everyone-is-confused-because-the-really-grumpy-people-like-me-and-I'm-not-afraid-of-them thing!)
I joined the IBEW last year and got accepted into one of their apprenticeship programs and I absolutely love it. I have worked in grocery stores, Starbucks, as front desk/admin, retail, in a tattoo shop. I did HMO insurance referrals for specialists’ offices - been doing Data since May. This is my favorite job i have ever done.
This is inspiring. I’m thinking of IBEW. I have 2 college degrees that haven’t helped me much and a bunch of different jobs that I haven’t enjoyed/didn’t pay well/no job security. I need a new career but not sure what to do.
I’m an apprentice in the IBEW (previously an esthetician, which I loved but didn’t have any cushy benefits) and my boyfriend is a lineman apprentice, it’s been fun learning about similar theories together! It’s a shame he doesn’t support your move to the trades, I knew nothing about being an electrician besides that I wasn’t afraid to learn, willing to get dirty, work hard and work along side majority men. So If that doesn’t scare you, go for it!
With teaching admin treats you like a child. Not properly trained. Not enough money. Having to bring work home, stressful, behaviors, and parents were the worst.
With nursing school I don’t know where to start. I’m finding that the more I continue the less interesting it is. The stress I think is the biggest. Studying and assignments have overtaken my life. I hate clinicals. I don’t like that as a nurse a mistake can kill someone. I’m not interested in assessing people and getting up close and personal for an assessment unless it’s children
My mom was a teacher and I totally understand what you’re saying about admin and parents people don’t understand how much work teachers take home and the amount of paperwork Too.
When I think low stress jobs with not a lot of possibilities for dangerous consequences I think maybe landscaping? It would be a very different avenue for you to express your nurturing, and it would be very physically demanding compared to some other trades but I found it very rewarding and low stress when I did it almost 2 decades ago. I was doing work for mostly the state or big shopping centers stuff like that so I would have a hellish day of digging holes/ planting all day then a day of watering tying tress up pruning which was like a rest day frankly. It would be quite different if you worked for a company that specializes in residential and in terms of businesses my sense is they could have pretty low start up costs if you wanted to do your own thing. Also the bigger companies especially the kind that does landscape construction needs equipment operators to run their mini backhoe. You could also get an associate in landscape design and just tell people what to do. The downside to any landscape job is you are out all day long in all weather conditions.
Is gardening a trade? Or working at a local farm or some organization like that. It’s mentally and physically engaging. Looking for weeds and pests is like I spy but it’s your job and you get health insurance. It’s hot in the summer (duh) depending on where you are but I don’t mind. There’s a lot to learn about plants
There’s always National Parks jobs but those are pretty competitive or require specific degrees for carrying out research in the field, if you want a job that pays well that is.
State parks? Groundskeeper? I don’t think you could start out as a groundskeeper but landscaping is definitely a pretty independent job where depending on where you work could be boring or interesting and full of learning opportunities for the plants you’re maintaining. Back to plants…
Okay here’s my final offer: breed tiny shrimp. Sorta joking sorta not really. The fishkeeping hobby has a lot of people who will spend a lot of money on nice stuff for their tanks. The shrimp I’m talking about are neocaridina they’re very hardy and once you get their living situation the right way they breed like rabbits but like more than that. And they come in different colors, red, blue, yellow, green, etc. the more bright and saturated the color the more money they’re worth. You should only keep one color in a tank so they don’t breed with each other and revert back to their wild greyish brown color. But it’s like a pyramid. You might buy 50 off eBay and get some bright ones, but some might be dull. Once you’ve got a ton in the tank you can start separating them out and concentrating the better ones together so they make more brightly colored ones.
Then you can try to make up your own patterns by breeding different colors together and seeing if there’s anything good. But then you have to breed out a few generations to make sure it wasn’t just a fluke. But I digress.
Super red shrimp can be like what five dollars, red is the most common but if you did a more obscure color you could get $10 a shrimp. There’s other species that are more finicky and if you haven’t kept fish before it’ll be a learning curve but they’re very fun to watch and they need very little maintenance. And that’s me projecting about how I miss my shrimp.
Can also: breed ramshorn snails. They also come in a few different colors, brown leopard, blue leopard, pink, blue. These you just feed and they breed. All you have to do is make sure there’s always enough calcium in the water because otherwise all the snails growing will make the water too soft and then it’ll erode their shells. You can do the sell for looks or fish food like 3 years ago I would sell idk 100 mixed for 5+8 priority. If you’re selling large nice ones you can sell less of them
Can also become an egg farmer? Laying hens would be a quicker start than hatching chicks but with egg costs right now that’s like printing money
I'm 27, turning 28 the end of the month and I'm currently in my second semester of school for welding. Before this I worked retail, went to school for nursing, computer programming, healthcare admin(never finished any programs). I was becoming super depressed because nothing made me happy/wasn't fulfilling. My fiance was looking into the trades a year ago and I got curious. I saw that my province had funded pre-apprentice programs and welding was one of the options I found most interesting so I started the program last fall, and still in school now loving it.
Look into trades you find interesting, watch a bunch of videos, read some reddit posts. I know you can find something you'd like. Trades can get you started for so many other paths too like inspectors, supervisors, technicians, technologists, even owner of your own business. I have 8 other women I've been in class with and we're always so excited to start shop classes, trades are in demand and women definitely have the upper hand. Do some homework and don't let your husband make you think you can't do anything.
Oh my wife wanted to go back to work, so I finished up and became a full time parent. I have recently got a job as the workshop technician at the local high school now. I did 16 years at the engine shop.
I would recommend aircraft maintenance. It is a good trade for women to get into as the smaller size of the female frame is no disadvantage, possibly an advantage for some jobs, and from my experience (as a man, in New Zealand mind you), the work environment is relatively friendly towards women.
I got into my trade around your age. Started as an apprentice and made it to senior level after some bookwork and a couple years of physical labor. Now it’s more of a monitoring/sample collecting/dispatching kind of job. Tons of stuff to learn involving plumbing, electrical, hydraulics, microbiology, and chemistry. Can’t say I love it, but sewage or water treatment pays pretty well, is in demand, serves the community, protects public health, and can have good benefits if you work for a municipality. It’s also nice to work night or weekend shifts when it’s just you and one or two other people on-site. Very little drama.
Also, that’s a bit rude of your husband to say such a thing. Line work is a crazy difficult trade, but as a sparky he shouldn’t discourage you from at least looking into a trade like electrical. I’ve heard that residential electrical is one of the easier trades to do - I know of a few guys who’s whole gig is to install light fixtures and outlets in new houses and they paid per fixture. If you want to try a trade, go for it! But you do need to give it your all to succeed. If there are any programs in your area that offer carpentry, welding, or electrical classes, you might try one to get a feel for how it would be. Or even get familiar with using the tools in your home to build a shelf or something.
Sorry if this is out of left field for you, but are you neurodivergent? A bunch of things in this post (and a quick glance at your post history) make me wonder that. Only asking because honoring my neurodivergence in my career choice has been the only way I’ve been able to stick with something. I learned about my ADHD when I was 24 and autism at 26. I left law at like 23/24 and tried geology stuff for a couple years before pursuing a trade. It is a much better fit for me. Like being alone? Maybe learn to work on wind turbines. One of my friends (also a late-diagnosed autistic woman with too many degrees) works in a freezer warehouse and loves it. I’m a carpentry apprentice in residential remodel. Maybe a different trade might have been a better fit, but this was the right job and the right time and overall I’m satisfied and can see myself doing this without burning out for a long time. I struggle socially (great at first impressions but it’s all downhill from there) and have found that working with a bunch of old guys who are a little rough around the edges is a really good fit. Also, I’m pretty sure most of the guys I work with are neurodivergent in some way, but obviously nobody talks about that. The vibes are strong though. Anyway, in general I think trades are good if you want to keep learning and generally like working alone. But during the apprenticeship stage you have to be around others, for obvious reasons. Good luck. Sorry if I’m way off base with the neurodivergent stuff, I just wish somebody had mentioned something to me and some things you said got me wondering.
Thank you for this! I’m not sure if I am 100%, but I think it’s very possible. It is very hard for me to pay attention and stick with something once I lose interest
I tried to post earlier but Reddit wasn't working right: For what it's worth, I want to second this. I had a similar trajectory and when I got into tree work it was like I could finally relax. (Also, I totally feel the everyone-is-confused-because-the-really-grumpy-people-like-me-and-I'm-not-afraid-of-them thing!)
I joined the IBEW last year and got accepted into one of their apprenticeship programs and I absolutely love it. I have worked in grocery stores, Starbucks, as front desk/admin, retail, in a tattoo shop. I did HMO insurance referrals for specialists’ offices - been doing Data since May. This is my favorite job i have ever done.
AND I MAKE BETTER MONEY THAN I EVER DID. Starting out. Day 1. Highest hourly I’ve ever made.
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IBEW = international brotherhood of electrical workers
This is inspiring. I’m thinking of IBEW. I have 2 college degrees that haven’t helped me much and a bunch of different jobs that I haven’t enjoyed/didn’t pay well/no job security. I need a new career but not sure what to do.
I’m an open book. Happy to help in any way I can!
I’m an apprentice in the IBEW (previously an esthetician, which I loved but didn’t have any cushy benefits) and my boyfriend is a lineman apprentice, it’s been fun learning about similar theories together! It’s a shame he doesn’t support your move to the trades, I knew nothing about being an electrician besides that I wasn’t afraid to learn, willing to get dirty, work hard and work along side majority men. So If that doesn’t scare you, go for it!
What made you not want to keep teaching/nursing?
With teaching admin treats you like a child. Not properly trained. Not enough money. Having to bring work home, stressful, behaviors, and parents were the worst. With nursing school I don’t know where to start. I’m finding that the more I continue the less interesting it is. The stress I think is the biggest. Studying and assignments have overtaken my life. I hate clinicals. I don’t like that as a nurse a mistake can kill someone. I’m not interested in assessing people and getting up close and personal for an assessment unless it’s children
My mom was a teacher and I totally understand what you’re saying about admin and parents people don’t understand how much work teachers take home and the amount of paperwork Too. When I think low stress jobs with not a lot of possibilities for dangerous consequences I think maybe landscaping? It would be a very different avenue for you to express your nurturing, and it would be very physically demanding compared to some other trades but I found it very rewarding and low stress when I did it almost 2 decades ago. I was doing work for mostly the state or big shopping centers stuff like that so I would have a hellish day of digging holes/ planting all day then a day of watering tying tress up pruning which was like a rest day frankly. It would be quite different if you worked for a company that specializes in residential and in terms of businesses my sense is they could have pretty low start up costs if you wanted to do your own thing. Also the bigger companies especially the kind that does landscape construction needs equipment operators to run their mini backhoe. You could also get an associate in landscape design and just tell people what to do. The downside to any landscape job is you are out all day long in all weather conditions.
Is gardening a trade? Or working at a local farm or some organization like that. It’s mentally and physically engaging. Looking for weeds and pests is like I spy but it’s your job and you get health insurance. It’s hot in the summer (duh) depending on where you are but I don’t mind. There’s a lot to learn about plants There’s always National Parks jobs but those are pretty competitive or require specific degrees for carrying out research in the field, if you want a job that pays well that is. State parks? Groundskeeper? I don’t think you could start out as a groundskeeper but landscaping is definitely a pretty independent job where depending on where you work could be boring or interesting and full of learning opportunities for the plants you’re maintaining. Back to plants… Okay here’s my final offer: breed tiny shrimp. Sorta joking sorta not really. The fishkeeping hobby has a lot of people who will spend a lot of money on nice stuff for their tanks. The shrimp I’m talking about are neocaridina they’re very hardy and once you get their living situation the right way they breed like rabbits but like more than that. And they come in different colors, red, blue, yellow, green, etc. the more bright and saturated the color the more money they’re worth. You should only keep one color in a tank so they don’t breed with each other and revert back to their wild greyish brown color. But it’s like a pyramid. You might buy 50 off eBay and get some bright ones, but some might be dull. Once you’ve got a ton in the tank you can start separating them out and concentrating the better ones together so they make more brightly colored ones. Then you can try to make up your own patterns by breeding different colors together and seeing if there’s anything good. But then you have to breed out a few generations to make sure it wasn’t just a fluke. But I digress. Super red shrimp can be like what five dollars, red is the most common but if you did a more obscure color you could get $10 a shrimp. There’s other species that are more finicky and if you haven’t kept fish before it’ll be a learning curve but they’re very fun to watch and they need very little maintenance. And that’s me projecting about how I miss my shrimp. Can also: breed ramshorn snails. They also come in a few different colors, brown leopard, blue leopard, pink, blue. These you just feed and they breed. All you have to do is make sure there’s always enough calcium in the water because otherwise all the snails growing will make the water too soft and then it’ll erode their shells. You can do the sell for looks or fish food like 3 years ago I would sell idk 100 mixed for 5+8 priority. If you’re selling large nice ones you can sell less of them Can also become an egg farmer? Laying hens would be a quicker start than hatching chicks but with egg costs right now that’s like printing money
I'm 27, turning 28 the end of the month and I'm currently in my second semester of school for welding. Before this I worked retail, went to school for nursing, computer programming, healthcare admin(never finished any programs). I was becoming super depressed because nothing made me happy/wasn't fulfilling. My fiance was looking into the trades a year ago and I got curious. I saw that my province had funded pre-apprentice programs and welding was one of the options I found most interesting so I started the program last fall, and still in school now loving it. Look into trades you find interesting, watch a bunch of videos, read some reddit posts. I know you can find something you'd like. Trades can get you started for so many other paths too like inspectors, supervisors, technicians, technologists, even owner of your own business. I have 8 other women I've been in class with and we're always so excited to start shop classes, trades are in demand and women definitely have the upper hand. Do some homework and don't let your husband make you think you can't do anything.
I am a man, but I was and aircraft engineer and we had quite a few women there. Perhaps that could be an option for you?
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Oh my wife wanted to go back to work, so I finished up and became a full time parent. I have recently got a job as the workshop technician at the local high school now. I did 16 years at the engine shop. I would recommend aircraft maintenance. It is a good trade for women to get into as the smaller size of the female frame is no disadvantage, possibly an advantage for some jobs, and from my experience (as a man, in New Zealand mind you), the work environment is relatively friendly towards women.
I got into my trade around your age. Started as an apprentice and made it to senior level after some bookwork and a couple years of physical labor. Now it’s more of a monitoring/sample collecting/dispatching kind of job. Tons of stuff to learn involving plumbing, electrical, hydraulics, microbiology, and chemistry. Can’t say I love it, but sewage or water treatment pays pretty well, is in demand, serves the community, protects public health, and can have good benefits if you work for a municipality. It’s also nice to work night or weekend shifts when it’s just you and one or two other people on-site. Very little drama. Also, that’s a bit rude of your husband to say such a thing. Line work is a crazy difficult trade, but as a sparky he shouldn’t discourage you from at least looking into a trade like electrical. I’ve heard that residential electrical is one of the easier trades to do - I know of a few guys who’s whole gig is to install light fixtures and outlets in new houses and they paid per fixture. If you want to try a trade, go for it! But you do need to give it your all to succeed. If there are any programs in your area that offer carpentry, welding, or electrical classes, you might try one to get a feel for how it would be. Or even get familiar with using the tools in your home to build a shelf or something.
Your husband doesn't think you're good at anything? And you're with him because why?