What's a good trade to learn considering political, social and economic trends?

[_bruce_]

Hehe, it's almost as if you're thinking anyone can just become a software developer. They can't. It's not something you can easily switch off from when you get home from work. It's a lifestyle. You have to love it to be able to do it to professional and commercial quality. You can be an electrician and hate your job, and still make a living from it. Not the same with software development. This is coming from a guy that used to write code for a living. It's hard if you don't love it.

Shhh.... don't spoil my trap  

[James28]

Shhh.... don't spoil my trap  

Aha 

You sir, are an artist and very smart man. And the trap is beautiful. It would provide many many months of laughs 

[ProudVirgin69]

You're right...and McDonald's burger flippers should make $15/hour.    

How about people start by seeking to do the best job they can do to "earn" more and better.  Spoiled western workers are the reason innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment capital have flowed away.  You're not "owed" anything by an employer outside the agreed upon wage for labor exchange.  You want more...then earn it.

I guess employers don't owe their employees safe working conditions either...all of these pesky OSHA regulations are cutting into profit margins.

[Teutonic Knight]

I was thinking more along the lines of electrician, or hospital work like radiology.

Uranium ore mining in Australia & you'll be into radiology + making good $.

[basil]

Since you say tickets I assume you're from Western Canada. In the central and eastern regions, they still call them licenses and Red Seal certifications.

Obviously everyone knows that the top rates go to tradespersons with a ticket or at least a first year apprenticeship in mining and oil operations. Which would mean a 3 week on, 1 week off rotation in northern Alberta or Saskatchewan. In northern Ontario there's mining work as well, and it pays very well. But all those jobs are grueling and require long hours. There's no such thing as a lucrative trade that isn't fucking hard. Most people who think they can do that year-round have no clue and wouldn't last long, even for 130k a year. Not to mention the legal mafia comes and seizes half your fucking money when you cross the six-figure threshold.

The underwater thing is a tough course with a fairly stringent matriculation process but you can find work with a few specialized oil companies, yeah. Wouldn't do it myself.

Lots of 2 week on/2 week off also.  Long hours, yes.  Grueling work, not a chance.  At least not in oil and gas.  As long as you show up and stay off the dope, you'll do fine.  It's all union work, and nobody's breaking a sweat.  If you've got half a brain and a backbone, you'll be running a crew in a year or two.  Half the workforce in the oilsands are degenerates that can't stay off the crack or coke for longer than a few days.  The entire place is a shitshow. 

[Montague]

The real answer is going to be mostly STEM majors, specifically things related to the medical field if you are willing to work at it, Physician Assistant and Nurse practitioner are two very lucrative careers and come with good satisfaction, radiology is also a good field as well as MRI tech but the first two I mentioned pay more. Ultimately though it depends on your interests and aptitude.

Physician Assistant programs are highly competitive to get into. You see a lot of medical school dropouts apply and get in over many other very intelligent applicants.

[Montague]

roofing is a trade    today alone I quoted 7 residential houses (re-roofs)

Try it Wiggs, good money.

I've never met a poor roofer - at least not one who owns his own company.

[Parker]

No reason for car payment. Buy it cash. Phone you can buy cheap or get it through work. Insurances, unfortunately, is a fact of life. I pay a good few 100 for mine a month.

The biggest 'expense' is people trying to live above their income levels. One missed salary payment and the house of cards comes tumbling down. It's stupid and you're an idiot.

Since you live in the UK, I think you understand something about Americans.
Say you have a kid who is 18-19 and living at home. Going to the local college or community college. They have student loans, and need to commute, and money is tight. One cannot afford to buy a decent car in cash, and pay for insurance, taxes, tags. Which means financing.
As I said, most car payments are around the $300 mark. And that is for a car costing a little over 16-20+k.
Who the hell is going to pay over 20k in cash for a car? Even a slightly used car with a warranty.
How are you going to buy a cheap phone, there is literally no such thing except for like Trac Phones. Or pay as you go phones...and how are you going to pay let your job pay for it? Remember we are talking minimum wage jobs now.
I do agree that some people live beyond their means...but think about it, $100 a month for a phone, when one is getting paid $7-8 dollars an hour. You have to pay for car payment, gas in car, insurance, food, rent, bills.
And  that is if you are living at home and single. That is not including if you have a child or other obligations.

As I said, painters can make $10-15 an hour. People who are making your food make less than a painter.

[T-REX007]

welding, electrician, plumbing, pipe fitter- skilled trades

[Roger Bacon]

I could see Wiggs driving a backhoe and eating cheeseburgers.

 

[Roger Bacon]

LOL @ all the posters here wanting jobs with protectionism (unions, licensing, regulations) otherwise its "hard work".

and that's the whole damn reason capital left the west and headed to Asia.  Our grandparents weren't afraid of hard work and making something of yourself...jesus christ.

Excellent post!!

[YngiweRhoads]

Power Engineering.

[Nirvana]

Nascar

[James28]

Since you live in the UK, I think you understand something about Americans.
Say you have a kid who is 18-19 and living at home. Going to the local college or community college. They have student loans, and need to commute, and money is tight. One cannot afford to buy a decent car in cash, and pay for insurance, taxes, tags. Which means financing.
As I said, most car payments are around the $300 mark. And that is for a car costing a little over 16-20+k.
Who the hell is going to pay over 20k in cash for a car? Even a slightly used car with a warranty.
How are you going to buy a cheap phone, there is literally no such thing except for like Trac Phones. Or pay as you go phones...and how are you going to pay let your job pay for it? Remember we are talking minimum wage jobs now.
I do agree that some people live beyond their means...but think about it, $100 a month for a phone, when one is getting paid $7-8 dollars an hour. You have to pay for car payment, gas in car, insurance, food, rent, bills.
And  that is if you are living at home and single. That is not including if you have a child or other obligations.

As I said, painters can make $10-15 an hour. People who are making your food make less than a painter.

I've moved to NZ in February btw.

And I agree with your post. It's a sad sad state of affairs. People fucking up their lives like that. Never rising above earning minimum wage.

[James28]

Grandpa didn`t have to worry about management buying robots to do his job.

Then you should be IN management. Only an utter fool works a position that's under constant risk of outsourcing or automation. I used to be an IT consultant until last Thursday. From tomorrow I'm in 'managment'. No guarantees I'll be employed for life but I won't be losing my job to the Indians or robots

[hrspwr1]

Then you should be IN management. Only an utter fool works a position that's under constant risk of outsourcing or automation. I used to be an IT consultant until last Thursday. From tomorrow I'm in 'managment'. No guarantees I'll be employed for life but I won't be losing my job to the Indians or robots

I own my company scooter. I was just trying to help our resident ancient alien Hebrew with some career options.

[Coach is Back!]

Why a trade?

You're single and have no kids. You can pursue whatever career you want. Go for it.

What's the matter with trade work? We need trade workers. There's no shame in it.

[Icelord]

Dicklord evincing his Wikipedia Warrior prowess in this thread.

 

Either help the brother out or shut the fuck up. This is a serious thread.

[Parker]

I've moved to NZ in February btw.

And I agree with your post. It's a sad sad state of affairs. People fucking up their lives like that. Never rising above earning minimum wage.

That is true. But, look at all the people in college waitressing, serving, or working at McDonald's.
Look at the high school student working at McDonald's. These jobs are often entry level, and those positions are usually filled with young people just starting out. Some of them maybe onto degrees where they are writing code, or other things.

Yes, I remember that you moved to NZ, hope all is well.
Now, onto trades. I believe that college is not for everyone. I also believe that one can learn (and possibly should) a trade even with a post graduate degree. You may never know when those skills may come in handy.
Nowadays, you have attorneys that can argue cases in court like a beast, but can't hang a picture on the wall. Nor change the oil in their own car...let alone where to put the oil.

[syntaxmachine]

Either help the brother out or shut the fuck up. This is a serious thread.

Please transmit precise spatiotemporal coordinates for incoming fisticuffs.

Actually, I see two glimmers of hope for Sir Wiggins:

i) the US federal government may converge toward a Euro-style social democratic model* where a more robust welfare state is very active in helping persons like him subsist. This process will probably take a few decades (if it happens at all), and thus won't be of use to Sir Wiggins until retirement age.

ii) Sir Wiggins' bitcoin holdings may dramatically increase in value as bitcoin adoption increases to the point where the digital cryptocurrency becomes a mainstream means of money transmission and/or store of value.

Extrapolating from current (incomplete) data leads one to believe he will ignore all of the suggestions in this thread and lead a transient existence wherein he hops from job to job, subsequently relying on a small amount of savings and the welfare state to live off of upon retirement.

*ala this article

[Roger Bacon]

Please transmit precise spatiotemporal coordinates for incoming fisticuffs.

Actually, I see two glimmers of hope for Sir Wiggins:

i) the US federal government may converge toward a Euro-style social democratic model* whereby a more robust welfare state is very active in helping persons like him subsist. This process will probably take a few decades (if it happens at all), and thus won't be of use for Sir Wiggins until retirement age.

ii) Sir Wiggins' bitcoin holdings may dramatically increase in value as bitcoin adoption increases to the point where the digital cryptocurrency becomes a mainstream means of money transmission and/or store of value.

Extrapolating from current (incomplete) data leads one to believe he will ignore all of the suggestions and lead a transient existence wherein he goes from job to job, subsequently relying on a small amount of savings and the welfare state to subsist in retirement age.

*ala this article

Looking forward to having a government that's willing to take all my money and spend it the right way so that people like Goodrum can retire comfortably.

Universal mediocrity here we come.  

[Marty Champions]

Electricians and plumbers are some of the laziest people I've ever met.  They rarely break a sweat and take home plenty.  It'd be some lean years getting there tho.

Most heavy equipment operators couldn't climb a flight of stairs.  I could see Wiggs driving a backhoe and eating cheeseburgers.

i agree i work circles around these people. it used to be id work on a house then a plumber would do his thing, then id find out what the plumber was making then id take his job by offering to do it for half as much , im no expert at plumbing still learning, have yet to do my first copper soldering

[Papper]

Hehe, it's almost as if you're thinking anyone can just become a software developer. They can't. It's not something you can easily switch off from when you get home from work. It's a lifestyle. You have to love it to be able to do it to professional and commercial quality. You can be an electrician and hate your job, and still make a living from it. Not the same with software development. This is coming from a guy that used to write code for a living. It's hard if you don't love it.

Exactly what I was thinking reading this thread!

It's not like you google "how to write code" and then you are a computer programmer lol

Takes mindset, talent, education or self teachings, experience to get a job et cetera

It's not like learning the registry at Mickey D

[Parker]

i agree i work circles around these people. it used to be id work on a house then a plumber would do his thing, then id find out what the plumber was making then id take his job by offering to do it for half as much , im no expert at plumbing still learning, have yet to do my first copper soldering

So, basically you doing a bad job, for half as much?
Leave the plumbing to the plumbers...because you could be sued for effing something up. You admitted that you are still learning.

Plumbers, electricians, HVAC, roofers and construction workers are also notorious for hard drug usage.

[Papper]

So, basically you doing a bad job, for half as much?
Leave the plumbing to the plumbers...because you could be sued for effing something up. You admitted that you are still learning.

Plumbers, electricians, HVAC, roofers and construction workers are also notorious for hard drug usage.

Interesting, this seem to coincide with my experience. Any link or hard numbers on that notion?