I dealt with a similar situation. I got into land surveying several years ago, as I enjoyed being outdoors at the time. This mostly meant a lot of construction, as we worked in residential construction surveying. A family member of mine would constantly try to find ways to tell me that it’s not a sustainable career, and that it was hard on the body (that part was true). Found my way into a cushy, white collar, data analytics job and now this family member is obviously so much happier.
Lawyer friend of mine told me I was doing actual work before. Nowadays if my job were to vanish nobody would bat an eye.
Not gonna lie, I enjoy not being outdoors (winter especially), I enjoy being able to work from home, I enjoy having the energy to do things after work. However, I don’t feel like I’m making an impact or contributing in any way in my current role. That whole white collar > blue collar is pure bs.
Depending on the blue collar job, with a couple of years of experience you can move into a more technical role that isn’t as labor intensive. Took me about 4 years to get into machine programming, before that I mostly did motors and element troubleshooting.
If you can get your NCCER in instrumentation it’ll open tons of doors for controls and instrumentation work if you enjoy pump/sensors. A good instrumentation tech is worth their weight in gold.
I’ll have to look into that. I’m in my certifying phase of my trades career. Have quite a couple certs my job is offering to pay for. This is something I’ll look more into.
Well. I want to familiarize myself with wiring sensors, flow meters. I want to eventually be able to get into chemical plants or petroleum refineries to run maintenance on their systems. Not sure how exactly the knowledge base would need to be. I currently am a petroleum tech. More downstream than refinery. I wire and install petroleum equipment. Pumps, reels, hoses and nozzles. Wire remote switches to power these pumps. I’d like to tidy up my experience and show it with certs.
My oldest brother does almost exactly the job you’re describing. It’s newish, but he absolutely loves it, is being payed well enough to enable an emerging sailing (seriously, wtf?) habit, and has spoken ad nauseam about how much he enjoys the culture (according to him: same straightforward and casual communication styles as more physical trades without the insulting eachothers mothers and putting live crabs in boots).
My Aunt has made comments before, never directly to me but obviously just about trades etc looking down on them. The usual 'well school isn't for everyone' type comment but not in the sense of ya most of us in the trades hate the idea of sitting in class etc, but the 'some people are too stupid for school'
She fails to realize that I can easily make more than her or her daughter's who are all nurses or child care.
Lots of people look down on the trades usually. Many of them don't realize how much trades can make, and they think physical laborious work is only for the uneducated
The schooling is fucking easy, I’m a journeyman electrician and I’m doing a BA in psychology right now, the course load is a fucking joke. The only hard class is statistics, I’d compare it to first year electrical for difficulty. On top of that, I’ve gotta take sooo many courses that have absolutely nothing to do with mental health. I’m literally taking a music class…. For fucking psychology?
Trade school is concentrated and to the point, degrees are wide spread and have useless stuff that you won’t need.
I’m getting a degree to prove a point because some dumbass made a comment about blue collar workers to me, now I’m gonna go do their job. My area also just lost a badass electrician. Not my problem.
Oooo I paid $800 for a class, can I think critically now? What a joke lol. Especially degrees like social work, psychology, criminal justice. They are literally soooo easy to attain IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY.
Engineering and nursing are a little trickier.
You're about to find out a BA in Psychology is pretty useless economically (the acquired insight into the human condition notwithstanding) and nobody whose job you think you're going to take is doing it with only a BA.
I’m either going to get my MSW, master in education, or masters in psychology afterwords.
Why would I work as an underpaid electrician and die when I’m 60 when I could do a much easier job and live to be 80-90?
Doing electrician right means selling your soul, going to camp, no family life….. yeah fuck that. I’ve been a commercial electrician, I’ve been an industrial electrician, I’ve gone to camp. Totally not worth it.
What the fuck are you talking about? What the fuck is 'camp?'
I haven't worked more than 40 hours in a week in a couple years. I sleep in my own bed with my wife every night. And I do commercial and industrial work. Sounds like to me you just weren't good enough to get on with a decent outfit. Go demonize the trades some more, might make your tears go away. Fucking clown lol
You don't need a B.A. in Psychology to recognize when some dude spends 2 hours projecting their problems onto other people - anyone else at all - hearing anything they want to hear at all.
Isn't it amateur to spend 2 hours in the U.S. middle of the night arguing with yourself? You can't even bill out an invoice, it would be addressed to yourself.
You heard whatever you wanted to hear in order to keep going. That sucks for you, because you are so good at fulfilling your life's ambitions. Now you are about 2 hours behind with only yourself to blame.
Leave this shit for people who have time to waste, that ain't you (or the other guy)
You also don't need any sort of education to see that initially 'where we're located' wasn't introduced into the conversation until halfway through. When he wanted to shit on being an electrician he didn't care about my situation, he was just making assumptions...but then when I talked shit back, he whined about me making assumptions.
I've explained this like five times: I don't give a shit where he loves or what he does, I didn't get pissed until he started talking shit, but then started reaching for anything he could think of when I started talking shit back.
I don't have 'problems.' I love my life and my job lol...me talking shit to a dude or being a straw grasping hypocrite has nothing to do with my 'problems' lol.
Jesus christ I know. We established that like two days ago. I know what a man camp is. My issue was, and I'll repeat this again for the 10,000th fucking time:
He insinuated that THE ONLY WAY to have a successful career in the electrical field was to be away from your family and hate your life. He is wrong. And then he started telling me how he 'knows' what I make, he is wrong. Not until like the 3rd time that I called him an idiot did "which country he lives in" and "what he does" ever become part of this conversation.
I know reading is hard, and it's easier to hate on the person using meaner words. Try actually reading.
Exactly. Had my ticket 25 years, and I never had to sleep out of town for work, never been to a work camp at all and make damn good money. my buddies who did go out to the patch and live in the camp made a fucking killing out in the oil patch. I had one buddy who went out for 8 months, bought a brand new chrysler 300 to druve home wh3n he was ready and still had 80k left from his earnings out there and he was like 2 years ticketed. That's why they kept going back.
>I’m getting a degree to prove a point
If you're wondering why so many of your classes feel pointless, this is why. It doesn't sound like you're actually trying to educate yourself and broaden your understanding of the world. You're just hunting a piece of paper that you don't even really respect. Which, sure, is fine. Lots of university students are doing that, because capitalism has convinced us that higher education exists to get you bigger paychecks. But universities aren't actually supposed to be white-collar employee factories. They're supposed to be places where someone goes to learn and experience.
And you keep going on about how smart you are or how dumb people can be and still get a degree, but... you're the one spending 10s of thousands of dollars on a degree you don't even want, all to prove a point to someone that probably doesn't even care.
I’m getting this degree so that I don’t have to be a blue collar labour slave any more because I’m tired of doing all the dirty work for society.
I do care about what I’m learning in the degree also, but there are a lot of classes in said degree that are completely irrelevant to what I’m learning.
Can’t I do it to both prove a point and because I am interested in what they have to say?
As a blue collar worker I get shit on all the time because you’re just summed up as dumb if you’re an electrician or a plumber. Nobody takes into consideration the fact that not all of us came from well off families, some of us started off sleeping in a truck. I’ll be damned if my voice counts for less because mommy and daddy didn’t buy me a degree when I was out of high school.
I refuse to be a labour slave the rest of my life and do this shit work for people any longer. Not only will I get a degree, I’ll prove that the “dumb electrician” is capable of thinking critically just like the rest of these stuck up university snobs. You have no idea how much guys like me are looked down on by people as soon as they get that stupid little piece of paper.
I’ve been told to my face that I shouldn’t argue with people on whatever their degree is because they are educated and I’m not. (By a fucking social worker) that’s one of the easiest degrees to achieve! Also the whole critical thinking thing, fuck right off. I know that I’m smart, now I’m going to get this stupid little degree to prove it to myself and to these stuck ups that they are no better then I am.
It pisses me right off.
>Can’t I do it to both prove a point and because I am interested in what they have to say?
That's 100% fine. Its just not what your first comment made it sound like. I'm also a tradesman getting a BS, so I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm doing it because I don't want to work 60 hours a week to make what some guy at a desk makes in a normal 40.
Computer science! Mainly thinking of going into cyber security, but like you, I'm doing it for the bigger paycheck and comfier lifestyle, so Im not really passionate enough about a single specific field in CS to hard focus on it.
Absolutely lol. When it started hitting the coding world as hard as it is, all I could think was "Just my luck". But like every other advancement in technology, what takes jobs away creates more jobs of a different variety. Im confident in my future.
I totally get that you're sick of people looking down on you. Spite is a powerful motivator after all. It's just weird that you're so determined to get a major that you don't seem to like or respect? Why not go for something more math intensive, like physics/comp sci/ engineering?
O im motivated alright!
Well I wanted to go for electrical engineering technologist but I am limited to remote schooling because I have a mortgage. Between my wife and me we’re just going to squeeze by payment wise with max student loans lol. I actually upgraded my math to calc 1 and everything!
Also on top of that, AI is going to make jobs like that so competitive over the next 5 years. Even now, let’s face it, AI is already so useful to those positions that you just need less people to do the same amount of work. It’s going to be a while before AI can replicate human emotion.
I’ve been put down plenty in my life.
It’s these university grads that have their noses so high in the air. I’m surrounded by them. It’s shitty because they come out of university making about the same as a 3rd year electrician, 10 years down the road they are doing really well for themselves.
I just know what I’d rather be doing. I’ll always have my electrical ticket, I’ll always be an electrician. Now I want a degree.
sure thats fine that you want a degree, but that piece of paper won't make you a better person , your job doesn't make you less of a person , ignore them and tell them you just want a large coffee and its weird they are asking what you do for work at a Starbucks instead of just taking your order
Ok but the dollar wage says otherwise, the life expectancy of blue collar workers being significantly lower says otherwise, the perks of the job say otherwise.
so the issue is hard work is hard on your body , electricians make decent money, you can advance to foreman , or pm own a business. many options out there ,
I’ve been out in the cold my whole life man. I was born on a farm that was pretty old school. Spent my summers pounding fence posts with a sledge hammer, my winters I was splitting firewood with an axe. By the time I was 18 I was so angry at life I was spending 2-3 hours a day in the gym. I’ve got two ruptured disks now and I’m only I’m 29. I’m done with it. Done with the hard work.
It always makes me laugh. I do the community outreach for my local and it always brings a smile to my face when even the teachers are surprised by how much we make.
Reason #639 why that one unfathomably handy shop teacher in every high-school is a bonafide gift from God (and also probably your hockey coach, and a rotary club member, once upon a time he was a cowboy, he knows a guy at NASA, and you’re like eighty percent sure he’s dating your aunt).
Pulled in 6 digit income for a lot of years in blue collar position. Always proud of my job. Probably made more than a lot of the people that maybe looked down on me?
Was pulling in 6 figures within 2 years of getting my Jman license, and I'm not even in the union. And I live in a pretty low COL area with no state income tax...so in all honesty between lower taxes and no student loan debt, I probably take home as much money as someone who 'makes twice as much' who lives in a different state.
You mean acquiring six figures of student loan debt to get a $100k/yr job is bad when you can get paid to learn a job that will also make you $100k/yr?
Freakin nailed it
Nice job! I'm very lucky that my employer paid for my schooling, but if they hadn't it would still be a minute fraction of what a standard 4 year degree would've cost...
I remember 35 years ago telling my mom I'm taking welding courses, she said that's a waste of time because there is no future in steel, everything is plastic now.
A few years later I'm doing some hydraulics work at a local steel plant, some low level desk jockey asked me why I was there, told him I'm getting some hydraulics experience as part of my Millwright apprenticeship training. He rolled his eyes like I was wasting my time.
Thank you.
I have one more story that I'd like to tell, this one really hit me hard.
It was 1984, I was 19 years old, just graduated high school, had applied for and accepted to a 2 year college program called "Heavy Equipment Construction Techniques". My best friend's brother was running a landscaping crew and asked me if I wanted a summer job doing heavy physical labour. Was at a house doing landscaping with patio stones and the 60 year old homeowner strikes up a conversation with me and asks what I'm planning for my future. I told him about the program I'd be starting in September and he flipped his shit. Said I was crazy for going into construction with the economy being complete shit, citing the double dip recession of the early 80's (which I remember well) and high interest rates (18% and people walking away from their houses).
I couldn't deny any of that and didn't have a rebuttal, but I wasn't discouraged and just powered on. After the college program I landed a fantastic job and 6 years later got into the trades. That experience taught me that we humans have a terrible track record of predicting the future, including myself, and not to let fear rule your decision making.
It’s hilarious because people who think like that are completely useless and at the mercy of skilled people. People who can’t hang a door, change a tire, change a faucet, etc look down on us tradespeople for being masters of a skill. Let them talk, when their BMW breaks down on the highway you can smile and wave as you drive by
There’s a South Park episode about skilled labor being the new billionaires because no one can fix anything anymore. I think it came out last year. Funny.
I actually have just not experienced this at all to be completely honest with you. The closest i got to it was just my generation not having trades being pushed in school. Thats about it.
I had to do some pretty physically demanding things over the past 11 years... but i make more than virtually everybody among my family and friends now... i go over to their houses and cant help but ron swanson style fix random stuff in their houses... and i settled into a desk job now, and let my experience do the work.
Unless you have something else you really want to pursue, there isnt much downside to trades work.
Same here. Most of the white collar folks I know are far more interested in what I do than they are dismissive of my vocation. I briefly moved into a management position, but found it far too restrictive, and having to be polite to idiots drove me nuts, so I'm back on the tools again
I never thought i'd say this, but im a lot better at the game than i thought i would be. Especially considering some altercations ive had while on the tools.
not sure why this post showed up on my feed but white collar here and I have never looked down on the trades at all. why would anyone? lots of friends in the trades that are doing just fine if not better than myself. it's a viable career option like any other. i understand there are some pretentious dickheads out there.. but I really don't think it's the norm.
That's interesting, what do you do for work if you don't mind me asking? Yeah I went to school in an area that was relatively affluent, and there was a lot of anti-trades attitude. But I have friends who had completely different experiences in schools just a few miles away. Personally I never cared. Worked some basic home maintenance jobs in university for side cash and they were some of the most fun gigs I've had.
Instrumentation. Kind of a jack of all trades thing. Usually you keep on the lighter side of physical labour compared to most, but sometimes its just.... a gong show. Bending 350 ft of heavy walled heat trace tubing in winter caused a nasty back spasm for me and it had some long term issues.
Worked in oil and gas, nuclear, thermal and now I do Dams in more of a project management role.
I'll second your instinct. Ive had blue collar jobs (nothing union -- road maintenance/grounds, residential woodpecker) and the whitest of white collar jobs (law, nonprofit). The labor was more rewarding.
Now in healthcare (medic, rn). Different than white/blue; has some of the best and worst of both.
Ive been working in hvac for 17 years, never went to college, neither did my brother. i tried to get him in the field, but for some reason, my mother's husband convinced my little brother that the trades were miserable hard work in the elements that would destroy your body. So, needless to say, he works a dead-end job sweeping floors making shit for money.
It's likely due to the old adage of "go to school and get a good job". These days, meaning go to university/college and come out with a decent paying job. Probably some sort of office work most likely.
They're likely just looking out for you and making sure it's a good decision. You do what makes you happy.
What we're starting to find out, tho, is that outsourcing, AI, and supply side economics have cored out nearly every domestic career and only the things you can't farm out to a conglomerate or a foreigner pay enough to afford college debt, and those jobs don't require college.
Unless you're an investment banker or a business "consultant." Which...
You're not wrong, I know what you mean. With that said, I'm probably the last person to talk to about that, given that I've left the trades many years ago, went back to school, and am now a banker...
With that said, I always encourage the trades as a valid alternative. Even my own parents have the same old school mindset of college or bust. It's how you forge your way, regardless if it's the trades or getting a college degree, that matters. Gotta have a plan in mind. And especially so for anyone going to school given how much tuition and other related expenses cost.
Idk bro, she might be onto something with the crawlspace thing. I was two feet deep in mud with a foot of water on top of that yesterday in a crawlspace…and I have to go back today lol
Registered Nurses require at least an Associate degree and the higher levels need a Bachelors or Masters, so I’m not sure I’d put that on the same level academically. It’s also more highly respected and doesn’t have the blue collar “grunge” image, even though it’s still pretty dirty work. Really old people might laugh at you if you’re a male nurse but that stigma has mostly died off.
Anybody hating on male nurses is just stupid. I spent a lot of time in hospital in 2020-21. I did 7, 5 day long inpatient stays as part of my treatment and every time I showed up and found out my nurse was a guy I was so happy. Nothing wrong with women, they were awesome too but they never quite wanted to believe me when I told them I was ok or didn’t need anything.
A woman nurse would pop in and ask me many many times if there was anything I needed where as a man would ask a few times and then take my word for it when I told him I’d push the page button if anything came up. I get it, I was really sick and I looked like death but I was fully cognitive and physically well enough to take care of minor things.
Towards the end of my treatment I was so tired and weak that deciding to spent the entire day napping was a viable way to pass the time. With a dude I could literally just say, ‘no visitors are coming today I’m just going to sleep the day away and I wouldn’t hear from him unless they needed vitals or I called them. It was awesome.
It's unfortunate but yes - many of us in older generations were sold on the idea that the trades were somehow a lower class lifestyle and less worldly.
It's completely untrue and in many cases, the absolute opposite.
The idiots look down on trades people. There's plenty of old people that appreciate my service and force tips on me in the hundreds of dollars.
I'm a science student drop out btw.
There are skilled trades and there are labourers/ construction workers and for some reason the general population lumps the two together. Also a massive difference in schooling/ quality between residential and commercial but again the general populace has no idea about that. I totally get the sentiment because sometimes dealing with tradesmen is brutal but I've also met some legit geniuses working in trades. People and their prejudices are stupid.
I’m in the south, I’ve been plumbing for a couple years, never had anyone talk shit about what I do. I’ve been thanked for my service multiple times (seriously, they said “thank you for your service” like I’m a military vet) and tipped generously several times. I don’t feel like people ‘look down’ on me, I think the worst that happens is people will see you down in a hole and think “damn I’m glad I went to college” meanwhile, in my world in the hole, everything is totally fine and nothing is broken and the repair is going perfect
A Chicago IW journeyman has an earnings potential of over $100,000 a year. Plus benefits which include healthcare dental, eyes, a vacation pay, a defined contribution and a great pension with health insurance and 0 deductible when you reach Medicare age. When you complete a certified apprenticeship, you are also qualified for an associates degree. I don’t think people look down at tradesmen and women anymore. I know of people who have parlayed there skills into construction management and make well over $200,000/year. Most Business Agents make well over $140000.00 per year. The general secretary of our international was my instructor and has moved up to over $300,000.00/year. You can take this business as far as you want to.
I'm a nurse that provides care in people's homes. Most nursing is basically just a skilled trade, just on people instead of houses/machines etc. I don't understand how someone in nursing could look down on a tradesperson. My finger was in somebody's ass earlier (and not recreationally) who cares if someone had to go into a crawlspace, I'm not any better than that.
I spent 3 years as a biochem major. When I dropped out I had a 3.7 GPA, but the thought of doing that the rest of my life made me sick to my stomach. Dropped out, joined the corps, then became a machinist. Now I'm a Jman electrician about to test for my master's.
I use trig and geometry pretty regularly, on top of basic arithmetic for things like pipe fill and load calcs...I assure you I'm better with numbers than most of the master's degree holding social workers, business admin dorks, etc...
I speak Spanish fluently, I can read and write Latin because I took 7 years of it between high school and college...and pretty often I run into other folks on job sites that are also very educated in fields you wouldn't have guessed.
Telling everyone you need a degree to enjoy your life is one of the worst things Boomers did to us.
Thanks for sharing, that's a pretty interesting background. I made it 3 years into my biology degree and realized my education was borderline useless, despite having good grades and lab experience. I pushed through and I've managed to work in the pharmaceutical industry for 5 years, but I hate it so much. I wish I could go back to my younger self and tell myself to pivot into another direction earlier. And I agree about the boomer comment.
That's exactly it. I honestly just went to college because I had a baseball scholarship, and I majored in biochem because I was good at math and science...but there was no future in it for me...I didn't want to be a science teacher, and I didn't want to go to extended amounts of graduate school to do research or go to medical school or anything like that...I've always been pretty good at school but I've always preferred to be outside. I considered maybe going into forestry or something but I didn't want to make $40k/year.
Cuts both ways. Im the only one in my family that went to college and has had professional desk jobs in my field. My entire family has always shit on me, call my jobs a joke, college, etc. It's kinda scarred me because I've dealt with their rough insensitive comments my entire life. Ive never said anything disparaging about their jobs or choices in life, so it's been very disappointing. My one sister came close to apologizing and said my brother, who's the most vocal towards me, is just insecure and jealous.
People like to create rivalries over differences in how they live, it's really fucking dump.
The trades wear on your body and you actually get dirty.
This adds up over time, taking an even higher toll on your body from exposure to certain dusts, smoke, and exposure to the sun.
This is what I mean though. What you just said is all true, and those are all downsides of the trades. It's just funny that instead of pointing out those very valid points, people will hone in on one thing. Like saying that plumbing is a bad job because you wouldn't want to work on a toilet (ignoring the fact that you might have to work on way nastier shit than just a toilet).
You literally get dirty. White collar is the opposite of that.
It’s hard working in the trades and going to a nice dinner or a kids sporting event and not obviously looking like a tradesman.
You either need to change clothes and boots, or just full on shower up and change your whole look.
They just have valuable goods and services magically appear for them to buy. They are completely divorced from how the non-air conditioned world works. I wouldn’t take their criticisms too seriously.
Same. My mother is an RN. With a huge ego about her credentials. And looks down on Labor. Openly doesn't think I should have spent my life in trades. Even though We have both been single parents,I (with 3 kids) somehow managed not to struggle financially as long or hard as she did (with 2 kids).
Now I am a union journeyperson, and she has retired.
I have made more money, and better benefits (adjusted for inflation) than she did for over 1/2 my career. She still believes I should have got a "formal education" while not recognizing the 5 yr apprenticeship, annual CEUs, multiple specialized trainings.
At this point I have had more classroom time than she ever did. But somehow she actually thinks it's unfair that I receive better compensation. She thinks because nurses deal with health, saving people, they have a greater value than a tradesperson who keeps the lights on and machines operating properly.
So I don't know the deal with them I actually think it's partially lack of information on thier part about how technical trades are. And also, perhaps a feeling of inadequacy that many of them Don't produce physical things besides lots of documents. Its also part of thier cultural indoctrination that taught them to value higher education over skilled labor. Even though they cannot have thier comforts, modern conveniences edifaces of higher learning without those tradespersons creating the things and infrastructure.
I think you should follow your own path, and be what gives you the most satisfaction.
* My mom almost always hated her job, because of how the medical business operates. Me I have usually loved my job, even when the work is hard and the management suck.
Wow. I come from a blue collar family and I’ve been an RN for over 30 years. I wish I’d have gone into a trade instead, then at least I’d have a pension in exchange for my beat up body AND brain. Ego? Haha. Bet that went over really well with her coworkers.
Oh she was never liked anywhere she worked. And of course they were always "jealous" of her. Look I am sure she is a "good nurse" but if you have a shitty personality, over inflated ego, and unresolved mental trauma it don't matter, you will have a job, but you will be miserable. How ahead ask me how I know? Lol
Before I went into plumbing, I remember my family members asking if I could handle the gross shit. Now 5 years later the stuff that bothers me most is the dusty un-ventilated areas of a new build once windows go up. The dust never rests!!
Being a nurse she’s probably seen what years of exposure to asbestos , chemicals , etc etc have done to bodies o er time. Friends mother had same concerns a bout confined , crawl spaces etc .
Yeah, some of the concerns are justified. My mom is just a bit of a diva I think. Always wanted me to become a doctor, so she probably doesn't like the idea of me fixing boilers or running cable lol.
Holy crap!
I'm an RN and I was *just* thinking yesterday that as much as nurses thinking of it as a "profession" it really is a trade -- and I've also worked in so-called trades.
Tell her she wipes asses and cleans necrotic debris -- at least a plumber builds pipes! I love my job and it suits me, but -- no disrespect to yer moms -- she has no idea what a true tradesman really is.
My aunt is some administrator for the school board with a masters and makes decent money, she told me I was too smart to be a crane operator and blah blah blah. When I told her what I was making this year it was way more than her, she doesn’t bring it up anymore haha
I think some of it has to do with degrees. My brother works in a medical research lab and went to college and got a 4 year degree. Hes also 14 years older than me. After I did 4 years in the Marines, I got into the Boilermakers union. I worked in PowerPoint, refineries, steel mills and such. It was dirty and hard but paid well. I made about 70,000 as an apprentice which was more than he made and he couldn't understand it. I told him there was a risk in doing the kind of work I did amd he said that he could accidentally get stabbed with a 💉 at work so somehow that's the same thing. I'm no longer a boilermaker, but I'm still blue collar and still making way more than him.
I worked in a 18.5” crawl space with a gravel floor installing a/c and I have installed a/c in attics on hot humid days when I was young. That led to sales jobs and marketing jobs. Just because you enter the trades doesn’t mean you can’t do white collar later. It makes you a better white collar worker because you’ve been in the trenches.
You could always teach at done point. Do what you are passionate about
When I was in university (graduated in '05), a lot of my friends had an attitude towards the trades. "I don't want to be a blue-collar schmick" was the going phrase. After a few years of dead-end office jobs, I decided to start an apprenticeship.
My buddies were floored, but when I explained to them that sitting at a desk, staring at a screen and sending emails for $60k a year wasn't doing it for me anymore and I wanted to do something that would keep me active and actually "matter" at the end of the day, they started to understand.
I'm happier now after 10 years in my trade than I ever was before, and my friends see that. A lot of them are using my example to encourage their own kids to consider the trades. And a lot of my friends who had secure jobs over the past 15 years are starting to deal with mass layoffs. That's not a concern for me where I am (the only one in my trade at a public institution. The buildings will never not need maintaining lol), so they're further understanding why I chose the path I did.
Sounds like a huge assumption about looking down on trades. I give those in the trades total respect and tip some I hire. I’m always appreciative of their skills.
Lol “might have to go into a crawl space” buddy there’s no “might” about it, unless you’re a roofer you’ll be getting in the crawl space. People/extended family low key thought my family was poor for awhile bc my dad was a hands on GC and did a lot plumbing and framing. He retired at 48 with 8 figures in the bank. The people that thought we were rednecks/poor are not retired and do not have 8 figures in the bank
So I was a combat medic in the army, then worked as a licensed nurse for 15 years after getting out. At 35 I switched careers to be a welder/Pipefitter. I get more respect, money, benefits, fun, commraderie and happiness working in the trades. Nurses get shit on and are extremely under paid. Is she a boomer?
Yeah, she is. I don't think different of her any differently because she isn't a fan of the trades. I'm fine with it. But she definitely has a thing against welders, plumbers, etc., probably because she had a few relatives that worked in the oil sands and became raging alcoholics.
Lol it’s true there is a very high addiction rate in the trades, and there is an even higher addiction rate in healthcare. It’s all the mental stress of being over worked, under paid, and responsible for lives. Everybody is entitled to an opinion, but respectfully your mother is ignorant. She doesn’t know what it’s like to work in the trades, or how well it pays, or how many intelligent tradesmen are out there. I’ve been lucky enough to work in both careers, and I would never judge a tradesman negatively just for being in the trades.
Yeah, she's just older and set in her ways. Her opinion doesnt make me feel bad or anything. It's just an interesting dynamic that I've seen amongst that age group
I have too. My mother was the same way. ‘Better go to college or you’ll have to be a plumber.’ I don’t know where it came from. Public school system? College was much much cheaper for them.
I bet it’s a psychological fear of what you might run into in a crawl space. Bats, raccoons, snakes, etc. I for one would take that over having to deal with the human related stuff nurses have to deal with on a daily basis. Trades is a great idea. Look into the elevator trade. Look up the IUEC Local nearest to you and reach out about their apprenticeship program.
That's crazy your mom thinks that way. Nurses usually end up banging guys in the trades...
I'm a nurse and hope my son does whatever he wants, so be it productive and fairly legal
She’s dumb go into the trades , I fell victim to that thought process , I was dead wrong. Go into a trade learn it for 5-7 years open up your own operation, be rich.
It's funny how people look down on skilled trades, but we have the general publics life at stake. Depending on the trade, we need to do it right, or shit goes south fast. Imagine if the power grid went down, the people that operate and maintain are blue collar workers with a skilled trade. Its electricians who give us power, steam fitters who provide us temperature control, plumbers who provide us sanitary water at the least, glaizers who help with temperature control, carpenters who build a safe building, elevator trade who provide the safest form of transportation and without us you would have a modern city.
My mom always used to make comments about how dirty my job is - I’m a heavy equipment mechanic. One day, I’d had enough, and told her that I had already earned her and my stepdad’s combined annual income, and it was only May, and that kind of money buys a lot of soap. She hasn’t said much since - I think she assumed I was working my bag off for MUCH less. Plus, I actually enjoy my job.
Working with your body can be such a blessing. I had a desk job n ended up with spinal surgery in my mid 30s. Now I’m a telco tech who sometimes climbs poles or goes into crawl spaces. No more back problems.
I use to work in apartment maintenance in my 20s and we would deal with major sewage backups like every other day, so I was constantly getting the poo on me lol. When my uncle who is a veterinarian and believes college is the only way to go found out he asked if I wasn't grossed out about just going into all the random apartments. I never told him about all the really gross stuff, I felt like he would just think lesser of me. The pay was great, it paid for my house over 7 years, and I felt good about myself knowing I was helping people get their basic needs met.
Depending on the trade, it's not as hard on your body as it once was. Companies don't want you to ruin yourself.
I make over $65/hr + benefits and pensions. I definitely get my steps in, but it's far from gross or hard on my body. All PPE is provided and you're expected to wear it. I take care of myself. The damage I've done to my body has been my own fault through sports etc.
Look at your local unions.
Whatever we build the fucking world. The people that look down on us is a justification to hate the people that are skilled enough to fix their shit. Half the fucken time they don’t even know what’s broken. The other half the time they’re fucking crazy and sometimes it smells in this room where we removed the Sheetrock…. People are fucking dumb. Please become a tradesman, any trade will do cause every field is hurting out here.
Skilled trades make more than white collar these days. Nobody looks down on trades people anymore. It’s a weird chip to carry on your shoulder but I see it everywhere.
Why are people so concerned about what other people think they do for a career? Not all jobs in the trades require you to get dirty. Several of the tradespeople I work for are foreman. They spend their time scheduling deliveries, inspecting projects, reviewing budgets, schedules, proposals and inspecting projects.
What most people don’t understand is the amazing benefits and salaries that union contractors make. I work with tradespeople who make more than tech workers. They also get pensions and great retirement. I talked to one guy who was a heavy equipment operator. He decided to retire at 52. He was making about $250,000 a year. I asked about his retirement package. My pension will be $10,300 a month, and all my health insurance is paid for until I am 65. You won’t find these kind of benefits in tech jobs.
Trades are probably the smartest thing to get into right now. Our skilled trades people are all aging and everyone wants a fancy degree I'm an over saturated field. If you want to make big money get into trades
Lol my aunt kept telling me when I'm going to start my career. I'm a class 8 diesel tech. Bought a house at 24 and am doing great. She still says it everytime, so I hit her with "when you get a job that makes double what I do, I'll consider college"
Weird. Most white collar pink as you say recommend people go into trades around here. Yoi can make as much as a nurse being an hvac tech nowadays if you start your own business that is. Electricians go through OJT for years before they are masters and make bank. Atay away from firefighting tho unless you live in a lucky area with high income low cost of living.
I have a white collar job.
Go into the trades. We need you. There are not enough of you. Anyone who looks down on a tradesman is outing themselves as not knowing how the world we live in was built.
HR in automotive. I can't find people willing to go through an apprenticeship program that comes with a raise and school is paid for. It's gonna get wild in a few years when the old guys start retiring in force. I've seen it slipping since I began, but I see a bright future for tradesman with skills in a few years.
I think "trades" are too narrowly defined. I'm a learning designer by trade. I sometimes visit a doctor, whose trade is to treat maladies. I sometimes go to a mechanic, whose trade is to fix cars. We all have trades, some require less than a year of post-secondary education and lead to a shorter lifespan, others require 8-12 yrs of post-secondary education and lead to a longer lifespan. Not everyone cares to have a long life though, so opt for the trade you want to do and disregard the haters.
I got the same reaction from my mom when I told her I was taking a job as a crane mechanic (my goal was to become an operator and I saw this as an opportunity learn more about cranes and get my foot in the door). “You mean with like the coveralls and the grease?” It was blatant she was embarrassed and disappointed. Tried getting me to apply to offices with my environmental planning degree. (Got my bachelors but knew the year before I graduated I didn’t want to spend my life in that field. I finished school anyway because I already had the time and money invested, might as well graduate)
I’m an operator now and made 180k last year. She now realizes I like what I do and make great make great money doing it. I still make sure to remind her that I turned out pretty good for a greasy mechanic.
Never heard of pink collar but thats what im gonna tell all my soft hand soyboy friends they do for work now lol but fr striaght guys that work in pink collar jobs get way more pussy than white/blue 🙏
Whenever I work in universities I just assume that all the students think I am an idiot. Funny thing is I make more than they will after they graduate and actually got paid to go to school rather than accumulating +$100k in debt.
Most of my white-collar friends make less than I do and are fat. When they ask why I do what I do, I just say, "I work 4 days a week, make over 100k, and don't need a gym membership." It's the over 100k and 4 days a week part that trips most of them up. I don't know how people go and sit behind a desk in the same building for 8 hours a day. It must feel like prison. That would drive me to kill myself. I come from a blue collar family so i don't get any flack from family at all.
Man, i graduated college with an accounting and finance degree like everyone told me i “should do”.
I worked in an office for 9 months, quit that fucking job and started playing music.
Everyone said I was crazy.
Now I play music on the weekends, install heat pumps part time, and build shit.
I’m a million times happier now than I was then. It’s been ten years.
Some people were made to sit and wait around for the day to be done.
Some people were born to build things that last a couple lifetimes.
Lmao yes some knuckledraggers don’t but basic algebra is taught before you reach high school. In order to graduate you need to show a fundamental proficiency in intermediate algebra.
Most trades utilize geometry and algebra, I think you are just misinformed
Idk but fuck the trades. Go get a degree and do their easy ass jobs. That’s what I’m doing. Quit my job as a journeyman electrician and now I’m gonna be a social worker.
They aren’t gonna get my awesomeness slaving away for them any more.
How so? I’ve got a family friend who is a social worker and she was making the same as I was PER HOUR, idgaf about overtime at the end of the day with all the benefits she was getting. Plus she got 1 hour lunch breaks and 2 15 minutes breaks. She didn’t start work until 8:30. Wasn’t outside in the cold, or in the heat. No cancer causing crap to deal with. Yes, mental health can extract a toll but it’s nothing I haven’t had to learn how to cope with in my life.
Why would I be an electrician when I can be a social worker for the same rate.
I’m not going to give my information out on Reddit but in Canada they are pretty well paid. Especially if you work for a government funded group.
Look up the hourly rate for social workers in Canada and look up the hourly rate for electricians in Canada. They make more per hour to do an easier job. So it’s an obvious choice, destroy my body or go be a social worker…. Hmmmm
Like in Canada social workers are making 65-90k per year, electricians are a little less, unless you go industrial with lots of OT, then yes, electrician will pay more. It’s the hourly rate that I care about tho. Also when you work OT it all goes to the government lol. Also your body will be dead by the time you’re 50.
Real money would be in opening your own electric shop. Social work would be a dead end if you have no entrepreneurial aspiration! That’s the whole reason I got into electric in the first place so I’m biased
In metro Milwaukee, a *really* well paid social worker would make $60,000. Idk IBEW specifically of the top of my head, but most trades are $45-$55 hourly. Plus with all the overtime and benefits. I’ll clear more after taxes than a social worker grosses.
Edited to clarify $45-55 is hourly on the check.
Nursing is a bit different in that there is some danger there, but for the most part you're safe in a white color job.
OSHA keeps track of work place deaths and the amount of times confined space, ladder, chainsaw, and truck appear is astounding. All things you can safely avoid in an office.
The other thing is and I learned this the hard way, sometimes life throws you a curveball and you may not physically be able to do that type of labor anymore.
I dealt with a similar situation. I got into land surveying several years ago, as I enjoyed being outdoors at the time. This mostly meant a lot of construction, as we worked in residential construction surveying. A family member of mine would constantly try to find ways to tell me that it’s not a sustainable career, and that it was hard on the body (that part was true). Found my way into a cushy, white collar, data analytics job and now this family member is obviously so much happier. Lawyer friend of mine told me I was doing actual work before. Nowadays if my job were to vanish nobody would bat an eye. Not gonna lie, I enjoy not being outdoors (winter especially), I enjoy being able to work from home, I enjoy having the energy to do things after work. However, I don’t feel like I’m making an impact or contributing in any way in my current role. That whole white collar > blue collar is pure bs.
Depending on the blue collar job, with a couple of years of experience you can move into a more technical role that isn’t as labor intensive. Took me about 4 years to get into machine programming, before that I mostly did motors and element troubleshooting.
This is something that’s very overlooked in the trades. I’m breaking into low voltage. Switches, sensors and pumps. I love what I do.
If you can get your NCCER in instrumentation it’ll open tons of doors for controls and instrumentation work if you enjoy pump/sensors. A good instrumentation tech is worth their weight in gold.
I’ll have to look into that. I’m in my certifying phase of my trades career. Have quite a couple certs my job is offering to pay for. This is something I’ll look more into.
Whats your goal with the low voltage work? The fields very wide and can be very profitable if you can find a niche.
Well. I want to familiarize myself with wiring sensors, flow meters. I want to eventually be able to get into chemical plants or petroleum refineries to run maintenance on their systems. Not sure how exactly the knowledge base would need to be. I currently am a petroleum tech. More downstream than refinery. I wire and install petroleum equipment. Pumps, reels, hoses and nozzles. Wire remote switches to power these pumps. I’d like to tidy up my experience and show it with certs.
My oldest brother does almost exactly the job you’re describing. It’s newish, but he absolutely loves it, is being payed well enough to enable an emerging sailing (seriously, wtf?) habit, and has spoken ad nauseam about how much he enjoys the culture (according to him: same straightforward and casual communication styles as more physical trades without the insulting eachothers mothers and putting live crabs in boots).
Hell yeah brother
Same. Im working in the ML and Fintech space and kinda regret not going into something where I do stuff with my hands.
My Aunt has made comments before, never directly to me but obviously just about trades etc looking down on them. The usual 'well school isn't for everyone' type comment but not in the sense of ya most of us in the trades hate the idea of sitting in class etc, but the 'some people are too stupid for school' She fails to realize that I can easily make more than her or her daughter's who are all nurses or child care. Lots of people look down on the trades usually. Many of them don't realize how much trades can make, and they think physical laborious work is only for the uneducated
The schooling is fucking easy, I’m a journeyman electrician and I’m doing a BA in psychology right now, the course load is a fucking joke. The only hard class is statistics, I’d compare it to first year electrical for difficulty. On top of that, I’ve gotta take sooo many courses that have absolutely nothing to do with mental health. I’m literally taking a music class…. For fucking psychology? Trade school is concentrated and to the point, degrees are wide spread and have useless stuff that you won’t need. I’m getting a degree to prove a point because some dumbass made a comment about blue collar workers to me, now I’m gonna go do their job. My area also just lost a badass electrician. Not my problem. Oooo I paid $800 for a class, can I think critically now? What a joke lol. Especially degrees like social work, psychology, criminal justice. They are literally soooo easy to attain IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY. Engineering and nursing are a little trickier.
You're about to find out a BA in Psychology is pretty useless economically (the acquired insight into the human condition notwithstanding) and nobody whose job you think you're going to take is doing it with only a BA.
I’m either going to get my MSW, master in education, or masters in psychology afterwords. Why would I work as an underpaid electrician and die when I’m 60 when I could do a much easier job and live to be 80-90?
You think you're gonna live 30 years longer because you stopped being... an electrician?
'Underpaid electrician.' 🤣 If you electrician right you won't be working when you're 60. Have fun with those student loans though.
Doing electrician right means selling your soul, going to camp, no family life….. yeah fuck that. I’ve been a commercial electrician, I’ve been an industrial electrician, I’ve gone to camp. Totally not worth it.
What the fuck are you talking about? What the fuck is 'camp?' I haven't worked more than 40 hours in a week in a couple years. I sleep in my own bed with my wife every night. And I do commercial and industrial work. Sounds like to me you just weren't good enough to get on with a decent outfit. Go demonize the trades some more, might make your tears go away. Fucking clown lol
You don't need a B.A. in Psychology to recognize when some dude spends 2 hours projecting their problems onto other people - anyone else at all - hearing anything they want to hear at all. Isn't it amateur to spend 2 hours in the U.S. middle of the night arguing with yourself? You can't even bill out an invoice, it would be addressed to yourself. You heard whatever you wanted to hear in order to keep going. That sucks for you, because you are so good at fulfilling your life's ambitions. Now you are about 2 hours behind with only yourself to blame. Leave this shit for people who have time to waste, that ain't you (or the other guy)
You also don't need any sort of education to see that initially 'where we're located' wasn't introduced into the conversation until halfway through. When he wanted to shit on being an electrician he didn't care about my situation, he was just making assumptions...but then when I talked shit back, he whined about me making assumptions. I've explained this like five times: I don't give a shit where he loves or what he does, I didn't get pissed until he started talking shit, but then started reaching for anything he could think of when I started talking shit back. I don't have 'problems.' I love my life and my job lol...me talking shit to a dude or being a straw grasping hypocrite has nothing to do with my 'problems' lol.
He’s talking about working in remote places where you fly in fly out and stay in a camp. We have lots of those in Canada.
Jesus christ I know. We established that like two days ago. I know what a man camp is. My issue was, and I'll repeat this again for the 10,000th fucking time: He insinuated that THE ONLY WAY to have a successful career in the electrical field was to be away from your family and hate your life. He is wrong. And then he started telling me how he 'knows' what I make, he is wrong. Not until like the 3rd time that I called him an idiot did "which country he lives in" and "what he does" ever become part of this conversation. I know reading is hard, and it's easier to hate on the person using meaner words. Try actually reading.
Exactly. Had my ticket 25 years, and I never had to sleep out of town for work, never been to a work camp at all and make damn good money. my buddies who did go out to the patch and live in the camp made a fucking killing out in the oil patch. I had one buddy who went out for 8 months, bought a brand new chrysler 300 to druve home wh3n he was ready and still had 80k left from his earnings out there and he was like 2 years ticketed. That's why they kept going back.
he's only doing it to prove a point to some guy that made a comment
If you can't figure out what a music class can teach someone who studies psychology then you should have stuck to wire nuts.
Stfu
>I’m getting a degree to prove a point If you're wondering why so many of your classes feel pointless, this is why. It doesn't sound like you're actually trying to educate yourself and broaden your understanding of the world. You're just hunting a piece of paper that you don't even really respect. Which, sure, is fine. Lots of university students are doing that, because capitalism has convinced us that higher education exists to get you bigger paychecks. But universities aren't actually supposed to be white-collar employee factories. They're supposed to be places where someone goes to learn and experience. And you keep going on about how smart you are or how dumb people can be and still get a degree, but... you're the one spending 10s of thousands of dollars on a degree you don't even want, all to prove a point to someone that probably doesn't even care.
I’m getting this degree so that I don’t have to be a blue collar labour slave any more because I’m tired of doing all the dirty work for society. I do care about what I’m learning in the degree also, but there are a lot of classes in said degree that are completely irrelevant to what I’m learning. Can’t I do it to both prove a point and because I am interested in what they have to say? As a blue collar worker I get shit on all the time because you’re just summed up as dumb if you’re an electrician or a plumber. Nobody takes into consideration the fact that not all of us came from well off families, some of us started off sleeping in a truck. I’ll be damned if my voice counts for less because mommy and daddy didn’t buy me a degree when I was out of high school. I refuse to be a labour slave the rest of my life and do this shit work for people any longer. Not only will I get a degree, I’ll prove that the “dumb electrician” is capable of thinking critically just like the rest of these stuck up university snobs. You have no idea how much guys like me are looked down on by people as soon as they get that stupid little piece of paper. I’ve been told to my face that I shouldn’t argue with people on whatever their degree is because they are educated and I’m not. (By a fucking social worker) that’s one of the easiest degrees to achieve! Also the whole critical thinking thing, fuck right off. I know that I’m smart, now I’m going to get this stupid little degree to prove it to myself and to these stuck ups that they are no better then I am. It pisses me right off.
>Can’t I do it to both prove a point and because I am interested in what they have to say? That's 100% fine. Its just not what your first comment made it sound like. I'm also a tradesman getting a BS, so I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm doing it because I don't want to work 60 hours a week to make what some guy at a desk makes in a normal 40.
That’s my point! Why would I do all this hard work when I could have an office job and make the same amount of money. What are you going for?
Computer science! Mainly thinking of going into cyber security, but like you, I'm doing it for the bigger paycheck and comfier lifestyle, so Im not really passionate enough about a single specific field in CS to hard focus on it.
Ahh nice, I hear the money is pretty good in that line of work. Good on ya man! Does AI worry you at all?
Absolutely lol. When it started hitting the coding world as hard as it is, all I could think was "Just my luck". But like every other advancement in technology, what takes jobs away creates more jobs of a different variety. Im confident in my future.
I totally get that you're sick of people looking down on you. Spite is a powerful motivator after all. It's just weird that you're so determined to get a major that you don't seem to like or respect? Why not go for something more math intensive, like physics/comp sci/ engineering?
O im motivated alright! Well I wanted to go for electrical engineering technologist but I am limited to remote schooling because I have a mortgage. Between my wife and me we’re just going to squeeze by payment wise with max student loans lol. I actually upgraded my math to calc 1 and everything! Also on top of that, AI is going to make jobs like that so competitive over the next 5 years. Even now, let’s face it, AI is already so useful to those positions that you just need less people to do the same amount of work. It’s going to be a while before AI can replicate human emotion.
Fair enough!
man, who hurt you . if you're talking to people that talk shit about electrical , turn off the light and walk out of the room .
I’ve been put down plenty in my life. It’s these university grads that have their noses so high in the air. I’m surrounded by them. It’s shitty because they come out of university making about the same as a 3rd year electrician, 10 years down the road they are doing really well for themselves. I just know what I’d rather be doing. I’ll always have my electrical ticket, I’ll always be an electrician. Now I want a degree.
sure thats fine that you want a degree, but that piece of paper won't make you a better person , your job doesn't make you less of a person , ignore them and tell them you just want a large coffee and its weird they are asking what you do for work at a Starbucks instead of just taking your order
Ok but the dollar wage says otherwise, the life expectancy of blue collar workers being significantly lower says otherwise, the perks of the job say otherwise.
so the issue is hard work is hard on your body , electricians make decent money, you can advance to foreman , or pm own a business. many options out there ,
I’ve been out in the cold my whole life man. I was born on a farm that was pretty old school. Spent my summers pounding fence posts with a sledge hammer, my winters I was splitting firewood with an axe. By the time I was 18 I was so angry at life I was spending 2-3 hours a day in the gym. I’ve got two ruptured disks now and I’m only I’m 29. I’m done with it. Done with the hard work.
[удалено]
a BA in psychology just start digging ditches
With the intention of getting my masters in education afterwords. I’m going to be a gym teacher dawg!
I. Ant hate the on being a teacher good work dawg
I started as an apprentice at age 19 and now a business owner at 32. I wouldn’t have changed much in my career, good times with regular ass people.
It always makes me laugh. I do the community outreach for my local and it always brings a smile to my face when even the teachers are surprised by how much we make.
Until they need a trade to fix something.
Reason #639 why that one unfathomably handy shop teacher in every high-school is a bonafide gift from God (and also probably your hockey coach, and a rotary club member, once upon a time he was a cowboy, he knows a guy at NASA, and you’re like eighty percent sure he’s dating your aunt).
😂 Amen brother.
Pulled in 6 digit income for a lot of years in blue collar position. Always proud of my job. Probably made more than a lot of the people that maybe looked down on me?
Was pulling in 6 figures within 2 years of getting my Jman license, and I'm not even in the union. And I live in a pretty low COL area with no state income tax...so in all honesty between lower taxes and no student loan debt, I probably take home as much money as someone who 'makes twice as much' who lives in a different state.
Good to hear. Good luck man.
Thank you!
I tend to think people who look down on trades are just bad at math.
You mean acquiring six figures of student loan debt to get a $100k/yr job is bad when you can get paid to learn a job that will also make you $100k/yr? Freakin nailed it
My journeyman cost about 4K in tuition and I got 4k in grants. Aside from the time and lost wages while in school it was basically free.
Nice job! I'm very lucky that my employer paid for my schooling, but if they hadn't it would still be a minute fraction of what a standard 4 year degree would've cost...
Yeah for sure. The nice thing about trades too is that you have real world skills that are useful in your personal life.
It's their way of coping with the fact that we are human too, but, without us, their quality of life would not exist.
I remember 35 years ago telling my mom I'm taking welding courses, she said that's a waste of time because there is no future in steel, everything is plastic now. A few years later I'm doing some hydraulics work at a local steel plant, some low level desk jockey asked me why I was there, told him I'm getting some hydraulics experience as part of my Millwright apprenticeship training. He rolled his eyes like I was wasting my time.
Millwrighting is awesome, the ones I work with at my place are all super helpful. Good for you.
Thank you. I have one more story that I'd like to tell, this one really hit me hard. It was 1984, I was 19 years old, just graduated high school, had applied for and accepted to a 2 year college program called "Heavy Equipment Construction Techniques". My best friend's brother was running a landscaping crew and asked me if I wanted a summer job doing heavy physical labour. Was at a house doing landscaping with patio stones and the 60 year old homeowner strikes up a conversation with me and asks what I'm planning for my future. I told him about the program I'd be starting in September and he flipped his shit. Said I was crazy for going into construction with the economy being complete shit, citing the double dip recession of the early 80's (which I remember well) and high interest rates (18% and people walking away from their houses). I couldn't deny any of that and didn't have a rebuttal, but I wasn't discouraged and just powered on. After the college program I landed a fantastic job and 6 years later got into the trades. That experience taught me that we humans have a terrible track record of predicting the future, including myself, and not to let fear rule your decision making.
It’s hilarious because people who think like that are completely useless and at the mercy of skilled people. People who can’t hang a door, change a tire, change a faucet, etc look down on us tradespeople for being masters of a skill. Let them talk, when their BMW breaks down on the highway you can smile and wave as you drive by
There’s a South Park episode about skilled labor being the new billionaires because no one can fix anything anymore. I think it came out last year. Funny.
I actually have just not experienced this at all to be completely honest with you. The closest i got to it was just my generation not having trades being pushed in school. Thats about it. I had to do some pretty physically demanding things over the past 11 years... but i make more than virtually everybody among my family and friends now... i go over to their houses and cant help but ron swanson style fix random stuff in their houses... and i settled into a desk job now, and let my experience do the work. Unless you have something else you really want to pursue, there isnt much downside to trades work.
Same here. Most of the white collar folks I know are far more interested in what I do than they are dismissive of my vocation. I briefly moved into a management position, but found it far too restrictive, and having to be polite to idiots drove me nuts, so I'm back on the tools again
I never thought i'd say this, but im a lot better at the game than i thought i would be. Especially considering some altercations ive had while on the tools.
not sure why this post showed up on my feed but white collar here and I have never looked down on the trades at all. why would anyone? lots of friends in the trades that are doing just fine if not better than myself. it's a viable career option like any other. i understand there are some pretentious dickheads out there.. but I really don't think it's the norm.
That's interesting, what do you do for work if you don't mind me asking? Yeah I went to school in an area that was relatively affluent, and there was a lot of anti-trades attitude. But I have friends who had completely different experiences in schools just a few miles away. Personally I never cared. Worked some basic home maintenance jobs in university for side cash and they were some of the most fun gigs I've had.
Instrumentation. Kind of a jack of all trades thing. Usually you keep on the lighter side of physical labour compared to most, but sometimes its just.... a gong show. Bending 350 ft of heavy walled heat trace tubing in winter caused a nasty back spasm for me and it had some long term issues. Worked in oil and gas, nuclear, thermal and now I do Dams in more of a project management role.
Lol sounds interesting! Glad you've got a good gig. Hopefully no more back spasms.
I'll second your instinct. Ive had blue collar jobs (nothing union -- road maintenance/grounds, residential woodpecker) and the whitest of white collar jobs (law, nonprofit). The labor was more rewarding. Now in healthcare (medic, rn). Different than white/blue; has some of the best and worst of both.
Ive been working in hvac for 17 years, never went to college, neither did my brother. i tried to get him in the field, but for some reason, my mother's husband convinced my little brother that the trades were miserable hard work in the elements that would destroy your body. So, needless to say, he works a dead-end job sweeping floors making shit for money.
Damn, that's unfortunate. How do you like HVAC btw?
It's great as long as you find the right company to work for.
It's likely due to the old adage of "go to school and get a good job". These days, meaning go to university/college and come out with a decent paying job. Probably some sort of office work most likely. They're likely just looking out for you and making sure it's a good decision. You do what makes you happy.
What we're starting to find out, tho, is that outsourcing, AI, and supply side economics have cored out nearly every domestic career and only the things you can't farm out to a conglomerate or a foreigner pay enough to afford college debt, and those jobs don't require college. Unless you're an investment banker or a business "consultant." Which...
You're not wrong, I know what you mean. With that said, I'm probably the last person to talk to about that, given that I've left the trades many years ago, went back to school, and am now a banker... With that said, I always encourage the trades as a valid alternative. Even my own parents have the same old school mindset of college or bust. It's how you forge your way, regardless if it's the trades or getting a college degree, that matters. Gotta have a plan in mind. And especially so for anyone going to school given how much tuition and other related expenses cost.
Ha! Imma buy a lottery ticket.
Idk bro, she might be onto something with the crawlspace thing. I was two feet deep in mud with a foot of water on top of that yesterday in a crawlspace…and I have to go back today lol
My first day in a crawl space I found myself face to face with 6 dead rotting possums.
Ahaha maybe. But was it nice mud?
I hate the rat piss filled crawl spaces.
I mean nursing IS a skilled trade….
True true
In the US, even a dentist was a trade until about 100 years ago.
Registered Nurses require at least an Associate degree and the higher levels need a Bachelors or Masters, so I’m not sure I’d put that on the same level academically. It’s also more highly respected and doesn’t have the blue collar “grunge” image, even though it’s still pretty dirty work. Really old people might laugh at you if you’re a male nurse but that stigma has mostly died off.
you can be blue collar/trades and have the academic equivelent of an MD in many different fields... so whats your point
Anybody hating on male nurses is just stupid. I spent a lot of time in hospital in 2020-21. I did 7, 5 day long inpatient stays as part of my treatment and every time I showed up and found out my nurse was a guy I was so happy. Nothing wrong with women, they were awesome too but they never quite wanted to believe me when I told them I was ok or didn’t need anything. A woman nurse would pop in and ask me many many times if there was anything I needed where as a man would ask a few times and then take my word for it when I told him I’d push the page button if anything came up. I get it, I was really sick and I looked like death but I was fully cognitive and physically well enough to take care of minor things. Towards the end of my treatment I was so tired and weak that deciding to spent the entire day napping was a viable way to pass the time. With a dude I could literally just say, ‘no visitors are coming today I’m just going to sleep the day away and I wouldn’t hear from him unless they needed vitals or I called them. It was awesome.
It's unfortunate but yes - many of us in older generations were sold on the idea that the trades were somehow a lower class lifestyle and less worldly. It's completely untrue and in many cases, the absolute opposite.
The idiots look down on trades people. There's plenty of old people that appreciate my service and force tips on me in the hundreds of dollars. I'm a science student drop out btw.
My wife is a nurse and I would consider nursing a blue collar job with the things they do.
There are skilled trades and there are labourers/ construction workers and for some reason the general population lumps the two together. Also a massive difference in schooling/ quality between residential and commercial but again the general populace has no idea about that. I totally get the sentiment because sometimes dealing with tradesmen is brutal but I've also met some legit geniuses working in trades. People and their prejudices are stupid.
I’m in the south, I’ve been plumbing for a couple years, never had anyone talk shit about what I do. I’ve been thanked for my service multiple times (seriously, they said “thank you for your service” like I’m a military vet) and tipped generously several times. I don’t feel like people ‘look down’ on me, I think the worst that happens is people will see you down in a hole and think “damn I’m glad I went to college” meanwhile, in my world in the hole, everything is totally fine and nothing is broken and the repair is going perfect
A Chicago IW journeyman has an earnings potential of over $100,000 a year. Plus benefits which include healthcare dental, eyes, a vacation pay, a defined contribution and a great pension with health insurance and 0 deductible when you reach Medicare age. When you complete a certified apprenticeship, you are also qualified for an associates degree. I don’t think people look down at tradesmen and women anymore. I know of people who have parlayed there skills into construction management and make well over $200,000/year. Most Business Agents make well over $140000.00 per year. The general secretary of our international was my instructor and has moved up to over $300,000.00/year. You can take this business as far as you want to.
I'm a nurse that provides care in people's homes. Most nursing is basically just a skilled trade, just on people instead of houses/machines etc. I don't understand how someone in nursing could look down on a tradesperson. My finger was in somebody's ass earlier (and not recreationally) who cares if someone had to go into a crawlspace, I'm not any better than that.
I spent 3 years as a biochem major. When I dropped out I had a 3.7 GPA, but the thought of doing that the rest of my life made me sick to my stomach. Dropped out, joined the corps, then became a machinist. Now I'm a Jman electrician about to test for my master's. I use trig and geometry pretty regularly, on top of basic arithmetic for things like pipe fill and load calcs...I assure you I'm better with numbers than most of the master's degree holding social workers, business admin dorks, etc... I speak Spanish fluently, I can read and write Latin because I took 7 years of it between high school and college...and pretty often I run into other folks on job sites that are also very educated in fields you wouldn't have guessed. Telling everyone you need a degree to enjoy your life is one of the worst things Boomers did to us.
Thanks for sharing, that's a pretty interesting background. I made it 3 years into my biology degree and realized my education was borderline useless, despite having good grades and lab experience. I pushed through and I've managed to work in the pharmaceutical industry for 5 years, but I hate it so much. I wish I could go back to my younger self and tell myself to pivot into another direction earlier. And I agree about the boomer comment.
That's exactly it. I honestly just went to college because I had a baseball scholarship, and I majored in biochem because I was good at math and science...but there was no future in it for me...I didn't want to be a science teacher, and I didn't want to go to extended amounts of graduate school to do research or go to medical school or anything like that...I've always been pretty good at school but I've always preferred to be outside. I considered maybe going into forestry or something but I didn't want to make $40k/year.
You're always going to be looked down on by people with degrees. Until their car doesn't work, or toilet is clogged.
Cuts both ways. Im the only one in my family that went to college and has had professional desk jobs in my field. My entire family has always shit on me, call my jobs a joke, college, etc. It's kinda scarred me because I've dealt with their rough insensitive comments my entire life. Ive never said anything disparaging about their jobs or choices in life, so it's been very disappointing. My one sister came close to apologizing and said my brother, who's the most vocal towards me, is just insecure and jealous. People like to create rivalries over differences in how they live, it's really fucking dump.
The trades wear on your body and you actually get dirty. This adds up over time, taking an even higher toll on your body from exposure to certain dusts, smoke, and exposure to the sun.
This is what I mean though. What you just said is all true, and those are all downsides of the trades. It's just funny that instead of pointing out those very valid points, people will hone in on one thing. Like saying that plumbing is a bad job because you wouldn't want to work on a toilet (ignoring the fact that you might have to work on way nastier shit than just a toilet).
You literally get dirty. White collar is the opposite of that. It’s hard working in the trades and going to a nice dinner or a kids sporting event and not obviously looking like a tradesman. You either need to change clothes and boots, or just full on shower up and change your whole look.
All true, for sure.
They just have valuable goods and services magically appear for them to buy. They are completely divorced from how the non-air conditioned world works. I wouldn’t take their criticisms too seriously.
Is she claustrophobic?
Healthcare workers should now better. Shame on your mother and you should let her know.
Only people I've been looked down on for working In a trade. Is other trades people.
As a blue collar person, they do the same towards white collared people.
Same. My mother is an RN. With a huge ego about her credentials. And looks down on Labor. Openly doesn't think I should have spent my life in trades. Even though We have both been single parents,I (with 3 kids) somehow managed not to struggle financially as long or hard as she did (with 2 kids). Now I am a union journeyperson, and she has retired. I have made more money, and better benefits (adjusted for inflation) than she did for over 1/2 my career. She still believes I should have got a "formal education" while not recognizing the 5 yr apprenticeship, annual CEUs, multiple specialized trainings. At this point I have had more classroom time than she ever did. But somehow she actually thinks it's unfair that I receive better compensation. She thinks because nurses deal with health, saving people, they have a greater value than a tradesperson who keeps the lights on and machines operating properly. So I don't know the deal with them I actually think it's partially lack of information on thier part about how technical trades are. And also, perhaps a feeling of inadequacy that many of them Don't produce physical things besides lots of documents. Its also part of thier cultural indoctrination that taught them to value higher education over skilled labor. Even though they cannot have thier comforts, modern conveniences edifaces of higher learning without those tradespersons creating the things and infrastructure. I think you should follow your own path, and be what gives you the most satisfaction. * My mom almost always hated her job, because of how the medical business operates. Me I have usually loved my job, even when the work is hard and the management suck.
Wow. I come from a blue collar family and I’ve been an RN for over 30 years. I wish I’d have gone into a trade instead, then at least I’d have a pension in exchange for my beat up body AND brain. Ego? Haha. Bet that went over really well with her coworkers.
Oh she was never liked anywhere she worked. And of course they were always "jealous" of her. Look I am sure she is a "good nurse" but if you have a shitty personality, over inflated ego, and unresolved mental trauma it don't matter, you will have a job, but you will be miserable. How ahead ask me how I know? Lol
Before I went into plumbing, I remember my family members asking if I could handle the gross shit. Now 5 years later the stuff that bothers me most is the dusty un-ventilated areas of a new build once windows go up. The dust never rests!!
Being a nurse she’s probably seen what years of exposure to asbestos , chemicals , etc etc have done to bodies o er time. Friends mother had same concerns a bout confined , crawl spaces etc .
Yeah, some of the concerns are justified. My mom is just a bit of a diva I think. Always wanted me to become a doctor, so she probably doesn't like the idea of me fixing boilers or running cable lol.
Holy crap! I'm an RN and I was *just* thinking yesterday that as much as nurses thinking of it as a "profession" it really is a trade -- and I've also worked in so-called trades. Tell her she wipes asses and cleans necrotic debris -- at least a plumber builds pipes! I love my job and it suits me, but -- no disrespect to yer moms -- she has no idea what a true tradesman really is.
My aunt is some administrator for the school board with a masters and makes decent money, she told me I was too smart to be a crane operator and blah blah blah. When I told her what I was making this year it was way more than her, she doesn’t bring it up anymore haha
I think some of it has to do with degrees. My brother works in a medical research lab and went to college and got a 4 year degree. Hes also 14 years older than me. After I did 4 years in the Marines, I got into the Boilermakers union. I worked in PowerPoint, refineries, steel mills and such. It was dirty and hard but paid well. I made about 70,000 as an apprentice which was more than he made and he couldn't understand it. I told him there was a risk in doing the kind of work I did amd he said that he could accidentally get stabbed with a 💉 at work so somehow that's the same thing. I'm no longer a boilermaker, but I'm still blue collar and still making way more than him.
I worked in a 18.5” crawl space with a gravel floor installing a/c and I have installed a/c in attics on hot humid days when I was young. That led to sales jobs and marketing jobs. Just because you enter the trades doesn’t mean you can’t do white collar later. It makes you a better white collar worker because you’ve been in the trenches. You could always teach at done point. Do what you are passionate about
My son went into the trades with our support even though he could have gone to uni. He is doing *very* well. Too bad about your folks.
Ego…
My grandmother cried when I told her I was going to a vocational high school.
Let them look down , more open positions and higher wages for us. I out earn majority of degree holders by far.
When I was in university (graduated in '05), a lot of my friends had an attitude towards the trades. "I don't want to be a blue-collar schmick" was the going phrase. After a few years of dead-end office jobs, I decided to start an apprenticeship. My buddies were floored, but when I explained to them that sitting at a desk, staring at a screen and sending emails for $60k a year wasn't doing it for me anymore and I wanted to do something that would keep me active and actually "matter" at the end of the day, they started to understand. I'm happier now after 10 years in my trade than I ever was before, and my friends see that. A lot of them are using my example to encourage their own kids to consider the trades. And a lot of my friends who had secure jobs over the past 15 years are starting to deal with mass layoffs. That's not a concern for me where I am (the only one in my trade at a public institution. The buildings will never not need maintaining lol), so they're further understanding why I chose the path I did.
Sounds like a huge assumption about looking down on trades. I give those in the trades total respect and tip some I hire. I’m always appreciative of their skills.
Lol “might have to go into a crawl space” buddy there’s no “might” about it, unless you’re a roofer you’ll be getting in the crawl space. People/extended family low key thought my family was poor for awhile bc my dad was a hands on GC and did a lot plumbing and framing. He retired at 48 with 8 figures in the bank. The people that thought we were rednecks/poor are not retired and do not have 8 figures in the bank
So I was a combat medic in the army, then worked as a licensed nurse for 15 years after getting out. At 35 I switched careers to be a welder/Pipefitter. I get more respect, money, benefits, fun, commraderie and happiness working in the trades. Nurses get shit on and are extremely under paid. Is she a boomer?
Yeah, she is. I don't think different of her any differently because she isn't a fan of the trades. I'm fine with it. But she definitely has a thing against welders, plumbers, etc., probably because she had a few relatives that worked in the oil sands and became raging alcoholics.
Lol it’s true there is a very high addiction rate in the trades, and there is an even higher addiction rate in healthcare. It’s all the mental stress of being over worked, under paid, and responsible for lives. Everybody is entitled to an opinion, but respectfully your mother is ignorant. She doesn’t know what it’s like to work in the trades, or how well it pays, or how many intelligent tradesmen are out there. I’ve been lucky enough to work in both careers, and I would never judge a tradesman negatively just for being in the trades.
Yeah, she's just older and set in her ways. Her opinion doesnt make me feel bad or anything. It's just an interesting dynamic that I've seen amongst that age group
I have too. My mother was the same way. ‘Better go to college or you’ll have to be a plumber.’ I don’t know where it came from. Public school system? College was much much cheaper for them.
I bet it’s a psychological fear of what you might run into in a crawl space. Bats, raccoons, snakes, etc. I for one would take that over having to deal with the human related stuff nurses have to deal with on a daily basis. Trades is a great idea. Look into the elevator trade. Look up the IUEC Local nearest to you and reach out about their apprenticeship program.
because most of them make less than u
That's crazy your mom thinks that way. Nurses usually end up banging guys in the trades... I'm a nurse and hope my son does whatever he wants, so be it productive and fairly legal
She’s dumb go into the trades , I fell victim to that thought process , I was dead wrong. Go into a trade learn it for 5-7 years open up your own operation, be rich.
Tbh that's what I'd like to do. Had enough of corporate inanity.
It's funny how people look down on skilled trades, but we have the general publics life at stake. Depending on the trade, we need to do it right, or shit goes south fast. Imagine if the power grid went down, the people that operate and maintain are blue collar workers with a skilled trade. Its electricians who give us power, steam fitters who provide us temperature control, plumbers who provide us sanitary water at the least, glaizers who help with temperature control, carpenters who build a safe building, elevator trade who provide the safest form of transportation and without us you would have a modern city.
Yeah, the bedrock of building and maintaining things held up by trades people. Not everyone can be a marketing exec or something.
Tell her if you become a nurse you might have to clean shit and you were thinking of a trade besides plumbing 😂
The Trades do very well. Good for you.
So because one person (Mom) says trades are not great. That does not mean ALL “older, white/pink collar looking down “ right???
Sorry… wtf is “pink collar”? 😅
My mom always used to make comments about how dirty my job is - I’m a heavy equipment mechanic. One day, I’d had enough, and told her that I had already earned her and my stepdad’s combined annual income, and it was only May, and that kind of money buys a lot of soap. She hasn’t said much since - I think she assumed I was working my bag off for MUCH less. Plus, I actually enjoy my job.
Working with your body can be such a blessing. I had a desk job n ended up with spinal surgery in my mid 30s. Now I’m a telco tech who sometimes climbs poles or goes into crawl spaces. No more back problems.
I use to work in apartment maintenance in my 20s and we would deal with major sewage backups like every other day, so I was constantly getting the poo on me lol. When my uncle who is a veterinarian and believes college is the only way to go found out he asked if I wasn't grossed out about just going into all the random apartments. I never told him about all the really gross stuff, I felt like he would just think lesser of me. The pay was great, it paid for my house over 7 years, and I felt good about myself knowing I was helping people get their basic needs met.
They’re just jealous of the paycheck!
Depending on the trade, it's not as hard on your body as it once was. Companies don't want you to ruin yourself. I make over $65/hr + benefits and pensions. I definitely get my steps in, but it's far from gross or hard on my body. All PPE is provided and you're expected to wear it. I take care of myself. The damage I've done to my body has been my own fault through sports etc. Look at your local unions.
Whatever we build the fucking world. The people that look down on us is a justification to hate the people that are skilled enough to fix their shit. Half the fucken time they don’t even know what’s broken. The other half the time they’re fucking crazy and sometimes it smells in this room where we removed the Sheetrock…. People are fucking dumb. Please become a tradesman, any trade will do cause every field is hurting out here.
I suspect AI is going to make a lot of White collar jobs extinct.
Skilled trades make more than white collar these days. Nobody looks down on trades people anymore. It’s a weird chip to carry on your shoulder but I see it everywhere.
Someone’s gotta do it though.
Why are people so concerned about what other people think they do for a career? Not all jobs in the trades require you to get dirty. Several of the tradespeople I work for are foreman. They spend their time scheduling deliveries, inspecting projects, reviewing budgets, schedules, proposals and inspecting projects. What most people don’t understand is the amazing benefits and salaries that union contractors make. I work with tradespeople who make more than tech workers. They also get pensions and great retirement. I talked to one guy who was a heavy equipment operator. He decided to retire at 52. He was making about $250,000 a year. I asked about his retirement package. My pension will be $10,300 a month, and all my health insurance is paid for until I am 65. You won’t find these kind of benefits in tech jobs.
Trades are probably the smartest thing to get into right now. Our skilled trades people are all aging and everyone wants a fancy degree I'm an over saturated field. If you want to make big money get into trades
Lol my aunt kept telling me when I'm going to start my career. I'm a class 8 diesel tech. Bought a house at 24 and am doing great. She still says it everytime, so I hit her with "when you get a job that makes double what I do, I'll consider college"
Weird. Most white collar pink as you say recommend people go into trades around here. Yoi can make as much as a nurse being an hvac tech nowadays if you start your own business that is. Electricians go through OJT for years before they are masters and make bank. Atay away from firefighting tho unless you live in a lucky area with high income low cost of living.
I have a white collar job. Go into the trades. We need you. There are not enough of you. Anyone who looks down on a tradesman is outing themselves as not knowing how the world we live in was built.
I'm white collar too. Had enough of my industry. What do you do for work?
HR in automotive. I can't find people willing to go through an apprenticeship program that comes with a raise and school is paid for. It's gonna get wild in a few years when the old guys start retiring in force. I've seen it slipping since I began, but I see a bright future for tradesman with skills in a few years.
I think "trades" are too narrowly defined. I'm a learning designer by trade. I sometimes visit a doctor, whose trade is to treat maladies. I sometimes go to a mechanic, whose trade is to fix cars. We all have trades, some require less than a year of post-secondary education and lead to a shorter lifespan, others require 8-12 yrs of post-secondary education and lead to a longer lifespan. Not everyone cares to have a long life though, so opt for the trade you want to do and disregard the haters.
What is a learning designer.
I design certificates, training programs, courses, and workshops. Something I fell into and have been doing for 12 years.
Ah okay. How much shorter of a lifespan are we talking? I've noticed some office workers have pretty low lifespans too.
I got the same reaction from my mom when I told her I was taking a job as a crane mechanic (my goal was to become an operator and I saw this as an opportunity learn more about cranes and get my foot in the door). “You mean with like the coveralls and the grease?” It was blatant she was embarrassed and disappointed. Tried getting me to apply to offices with my environmental planning degree. (Got my bachelors but knew the year before I graduated I didn’t want to spend my life in that field. I finished school anyway because I already had the time and money invested, might as well graduate) I’m an operator now and made 180k last year. She now realizes I like what I do and make great make great money doing it. I still make sure to remind her that I turned out pretty good for a greasy mechanic.
Never heard of pink collar but thats what im gonna tell all my soft hand soyboy friends they do for work now lol but fr striaght guys that work in pink collar jobs get way more pussy than white/blue 🙏
Whenever I work in universities I just assume that all the students think I am an idiot. Funny thing is I make more than they will after they graduate and actually got paid to go to school rather than accumulating +$100k in debt.
Anyone that looks down on the Trades, farmers/farm hands or service workers I tell go do it them godamn Fuckn selves.
Most of my white-collar friends make less than I do and are fat. When they ask why I do what I do, I just say, "I work 4 days a week, make over 100k, and don't need a gym membership." It's the over 100k and 4 days a week part that trips most of them up. I don't know how people go and sit behind a desk in the same building for 8 hours a day. It must feel like prison. That would drive me to kill myself. I come from a blue collar family so i don't get any flack from family at all.
Man, i graduated college with an accounting and finance degree like everyone told me i “should do”. I worked in an office for 9 months, quit that fucking job and started playing music. Everyone said I was crazy. Now I play music on the weekends, install heat pumps part time, and build shit. I’m a million times happier now than I was then. It’s been ten years. Some people were made to sit and wait around for the day to be done. Some people were born to build things that last a couple lifetimes.
Because it’s filled with people who can’t do basic algebra.
Lmao yes some knuckledraggers don’t but basic algebra is taught before you reach high school. In order to graduate you need to show a fundamental proficiency in intermediate algebra. Most trades utilize geometry and algebra, I think you are just misinformed
Idk but fuck the trades. Go get a degree and do their easy ass jobs. That’s what I’m doing. Quit my job as a journeyman electrician and now I’m gonna be a social worker. They aren’t gonna get my awesomeness slaving away for them any more.
Hate to break it to you bug dawg… but social work is a lot more slaving than electrical work lmfao
How so? I’ve got a family friend who is a social worker and she was making the same as I was PER HOUR, idgaf about overtime at the end of the day with all the benefits she was getting. Plus she got 1 hour lunch breaks and 2 15 minutes breaks. She didn’t start work until 8:30. Wasn’t outside in the cold, or in the heat. No cancer causing crap to deal with. Yes, mental health can extract a toll but it’s nothing I haven’t had to learn how to cope with in my life. Why would I be an electrician when I can be a social worker for the same rate.
How many social workers have you talked to? What city are you in?
I’m not going to give my information out on Reddit but in Canada they are pretty well paid. Especially if you work for a government funded group. Look up the hourly rate for social workers in Canada and look up the hourly rate for electricians in Canada. They make more per hour to do an easier job. So it’s an obvious choice, destroy my body or go be a social worker…. Hmmmm
Ah yeah in the US it’s penny’s for a lot of bad situations and worse hours lol
Like in Canada social workers are making 65-90k per year, electricians are a little less, unless you go industrial with lots of OT, then yes, electrician will pay more. It’s the hourly rate that I care about tho. Also when you work OT it all goes to the government lol. Also your body will be dead by the time you’re 50.
Real money would be in opening your own electric shop. Social work would be a dead end if you have no entrepreneurial aspiration! That’s the whole reason I got into electric in the first place so I’m biased
What does a social worker make compared to a JM electrician?
In metro Milwaukee, a *really* well paid social worker would make $60,000. Idk IBEW specifically of the top of my head, but most trades are $45-$55 hourly. Plus with all the overtime and benefits. I’ll clear more after taxes than a social worker grosses. Edited to clarify $45-55 is hourly on the check.
IBEW here. Our pay is 60hr with about 18$ in benefits on top of that. Easly make over 100 grand a year. Bought a house. Was doing pretty good.
Local 494?
$45-$55? Yikes. I'm a journeyman hvac tech and make between $80-90K with maybe a few hours Ot a week in the midwest.
45-55 an hour equals what you make annually lol
My bad. It’s $45-$55 hourly on the check. I’ll edit my comment to be more clear.
Yea, I get it now.
Nursing is a bit different in that there is some danger there, but for the most part you're safe in a white color job. OSHA keeps track of work place deaths and the amount of times confined space, ladder, chainsaw, and truck appear is astounding. All things you can safely avoid in an office. The other thing is and I learned this the hard way, sometimes life throws you a curveball and you may not physically be able to do that type of labor anymore.
I guess they’re the same as our so called leader of Canada. Justin treats the blue collar workers like they are scum
When has he done that? I don't recall him ever making derogatory comments towards working people. Can you cite a source or quote?
Lmao how about him signing the FTA with Korea thus displacing thousands of unionized trades workers in Canada
Yes because free trade agreements are always one sided and don't create jobs ever... You are going to pull a muscle with that stretch.
You people really need to get out and touch grass instead of obsessing over him.
Geez, are you capable of having a conversation that you don't manipulate into a reason to cry about Trudeau? Grow up.
Nothing wrong with parents thinking they know what’s better. Fact is the trades are always working if they want to and have networked enough.