My suggestions for well-paying careers

[Flame_lily]

I've seen a few thread in this forum about careers & here are my picks based on my observations.

1.Plumber - you can't go wrong. I paid close to $200 to get someone to change my showerhead. I paid $450 for someone to replace the faucet in my laundry room sink and the list goes on..... Hourly rate for these guys? $100/hr. Even assuming that 30% of that goes to equipment etc it's still a pretty penny. Anyone who's had to call them also know there's almost always a waiting list for service

2. Roofing and related work - I just spent about 2 hours calling roofing companies to replace the shingles blown away by the wind yesterday. Oh joy. 70% didn't answer their phones, I had to leave a message; 20% didn't do residential; 5% wanted to charge me $300 to look at my roof, $600 to get on the roof & $1K+ to replace anything (random guy on Kijiji) & 5% (last company I called) will send crew over sometime between today and tomorrow. Did I mention I called 5+ companies in the fall and they were either booked solid or promised to return my call but never got round to it?

Morale of the post? Studying Shakespeare may be fun, it may not pay the bills. USE YOUR HANDS.

[sockboy]

Trades make good money. There is no doubt about that. I don't know where some people got the idea that trades people don't make good money. Most union trades people make more than teachers/bankers and your average white collar worker. Many Engineers and Architects make less than the trades people on their work sites.

[Bullseye]

Trades are great when the economy is good, as it has been for years now, but just wait till a slowdown comes in housing and renovations. Half of those businesses will fold, and the rest will be begging for work.

A trade can go out of work and have almost nothing for literally years. I've seen it with my uncle, an electrician. Ended up moving back and forth across the country, taking any scrap of work the union could find for him.

[manho]

there are cons to the jobs you've mentioned though. Plumbing could stink, and there are various levels of plumbing licenses. I think to be a Master Plumber, you would have do a lengthy time of apprentice, then obtaining the certificate of qualification for 2 years. Replacing shingles isn't the easiest job. Imagine standing on the roof with direct sunlight at 25+ degrees, no wind, 8 hours day for 5 days.

btw. Did you try Alpine Roofing? I've had my roof done with them last year. I think they did a pretty good job.

[manho]

Many Engineers and Architects make less than the trades people on their work sites.

i've seen this as well

[Rehan]

Trades make decent money, but the people that come and do the work are usually just employees that are getting only a portion of the hourly rate you pay. The business owners are the ones making bank (and they often don't have to do the 'dirty work').

[Flame_lily]

btw. Did you try Alpine Roofing? I'm on Ottawa. I ended up with Rainbow Roofing. The person I spoke to sounded pleasant and knowledgeable unlike the others I've spoken to in the past.

I do agree that when the economy cools trades also cool but the other benefits are hard to ignore
1. Great for entrepreneurs - after 5 years one should be able to to it for themselves. Not for everyone but much easier than say a banker
2. Flexibility - if you own your own companies within reason of course
3. Unlikely to come out with a humongous student debt. Most people with a general undergrad have to either do a Masters or train in a particular field then climb the corporate ladder then maybe start a family
4. Shorter time to start earning a decent living; due to specialized training
5. Less "office politics" - I'm imaging since the job is task oriented there's less chances to interpersonal differences and people are not stuck in little cubes breathing each other's germs

[march9]

no social status and no respect, no sense of accomplishment

[sockboy]

The lack of "social status" and "respect" are what prevents a lot of people from going into these fields. I imagine it would become pretty easy to not care about these trivial things when you are earning 100k/year.

As for no sense of accomplishment?? I would say that on a day to day basis the work must be much more satisfying than sitting at a desk crunching numbers.

It is hard work though, and potentially dangerous. Definitely not for everyone.

[Bullseye]

no social status and no respect, no sense of accomplishment

My neighbour is a tradesman, his house is one of the nicest on the street, and bigger than most of them. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care about his social status, or what anyone thinks about him at all.

So I guess don't go into the trades if you are insecure and need peer approval to feel good about yourself. You'll just have your piles of cold hard cash to console you.

[UrbanPoet]

no social status and no respect, no sense of accomplishment

how so...?
Eventually these guys drive the same cars, same houses, and same things as the white collar office types.
On the weekends they'd probably get into the same clubs, same resturants, buying the same drinks. Well.. Maybe nto the same drinks... Maybe those "low status trade workers" prefer a domestic beer instead

[george benjamin]

no social status and no respect, no sense of accomplishment

How long have you been living in Canada for?

We don't have this crap here buddy.

Leave this "social status" disease which is rampant in some parts of the world (don't want to mention countries, but you know which ones).

[nogoro]

I paid close to $200 to get someone to change my showerhead. I paid $450 for someone to replace the faucet in my laundry room sink
Morale of the post?

here's another moral... DIY if it doesn't look dangerous. My dad's a total amateur handyman but the broken stuff at home is now "less broken" and won't need to call a pro. We get ready to dial 911 when he tries to do electrical stuff though

[little-fish]

no social status and no respect, no sense of accomplishment

Respect others how you wanted to be treated. End of the story

[TN_]

no social status and no respect, no sense of accomplishment

lol so wrong its funny