"Pick up a trade" and why it's stupid advice

[Syne]

When you tell some unemployed person to 'pick up a trade' what you're basically telling them is 'go find some people who will invest in your future' and 'go get a job'. It's insulting, it's small-minded, and it's arrogant because you are not volunteering to invest in someone's education and training or startup costs, you're just flippantly telling them to find someone else who will. It's literally telling an unemployed person to 'go get a job.'

So what does it take to 'pick up a trade' or get your Red Seal? 2-5 years of training in the field, 90% of which requires someone to hire you as an apprentice, and allow you to perform the other 10% which is course work. source. After that time period, where you're making close to minimum wage, you write a difficult certification exam. Then, your employer will probably let you go in favour of hiring another apprentice, which is incentivized by the government and the low pay that you commanded. It's at that point where the difficult work begins, as you seek work as a certified tradesperson. Now you're pitted against every other tradesperson in a race to the bottom to price your skills.

So where are all these tradespeople making great money?

They're called entrepreneurs. They've started their own business and grew it, utilizing an entirely different skill set from their layman's training to do so. They've had to save money, get bank loans almost definitely have had others invest in them (seeing a trend here?) to get their business off the ground. The ones that get public sector jobs are lucky and few and far between.

So the next time you tell someone to get a trade, be ready to hire them for 2-5 years and give them a bank loan once they get their seal.. Otherwise stfu. You have no idea what you're talking about.

[Elfer]

Here's another handy tip: "Move to Alberta"

Definitely a great option for someone with no car, no income, no remaining savings, no contacts in the area and no job lined up.

[tyreman]

I can't disagree with you at all so true.
Having owned(no longer) my own hvac shop master all fuel certified 4 over 22 years + worked for a few contractors long since gone who wanted to "make it big"
and I know pretty much how apprenticeship works though I assume I don't know everything

[mastercool]

It's really hard to get an apprenticeship unless you live in Alberta...so really unless you live there or are willing to move out there and actually can, chances are trades are not for you.

Again, I have to emphasize: It's incredibly hard for anybody to take you in. I know that the community college here in Manitoba has 3-4 year waiting lists just for the electrician pre-employment...which really only gives you a leg up in the hiring process...nothing more.

Also, if you check the Ontario HVAC forums for example, it seems that many (over 75%) of first year hires aren't hacking it through the first year on the job, so any employer should be wary of hiring any bum off the street.

[keano]

So in the awful workplace thread for offices, you say you'll link people to that thread that admonish you for being a career student. But, you detest the trades as an employment route too?

Impeccable logic Syne..,

[Syne]

I don't detest the trades as an employment route.. Not at all. I just detest people who treat trades like they are some sort of logical fallback for people who can't hack it as a paper pusher.

As for the other thread, there is no logical connection to this one, impeccable or otherwise. If you're implying that I must hate all employment, you're making a pretty big leap in logic yourself.

[TodayHello]

TLDR

I agree, pick up a trade. Best way to go.

[Mark77]

Syne, there's nothing wrong with telling some 17-year old straight out of school, to pick up some vocational skills.

However, I agree with your premise that it is highly problematic to suggest that everyone in the economy should merely retrain to chase the latest hot field du jour.

Tons of people chased low-level occupations in technology circa the late 1990s. You had used car salesmen taking a few computer courses and getting jobs in the computer industry. Then the bubble collapsed. Most didn't end up recovering in the aftermath. These days, being a Realtor is popular and they're a dime a dozen. Yet there's going to be a flushout there as well. In both cases, the professionalism of the sector was ruined in the aftermath, as well as the compensation, for not only the bad people, but also, the good people.

[TodayHello]

Mark makes some good points - the best trade to pick is engineering. The engineering trade employees a lot of people with a high mean average salary and lots of room for upward mobility.

[JK400]

But, if people are unemployed, why can't they just, pick up a trade?

[tyreman]

But, if people are unemployed, why can't they just, pick up a trade?

It isn't like picking up leaves it can take years to go thru the system

[beerbaron105]

When I was in school, the biggest push was for Tool and Die...that's where the money was..umm where are they all? (In Ontario)

[Syne]

When I was in school, the biggest push was for Tool and Die...that's where the money was..umm where are they all? (In Ontario)

Good question. My mom graduated from St. Clair College's tool n' die making program. She got a line job at a car assembly plant.. Then she lost her job and now she cleans businesses at night for minimum wage.

[tyreman]

I had a relative who was tool and Die but his plant closed.
He hasn't worked full time since part time jobs 2 of them thats all.

[tyreman]

Good question. My mom graduated from St. Clair College's tool n' die making program. She got a line job at a car assembly plant.. Then she lost her job and now she cleans businesses at night for minimum wage.

Canada is and has moved to a service type low pay jobs.
No benefits or extras

Most of the good paying factory jobs have gone over the pond or down to the States ,Mexico and won't be back.
This was predicted years ago even after the free trade agreement got initiated.