u/RudeArm7755

Hey everyone, I'm just hoping to hear some suggestions for roles or industries that I should try looking into as a potential career change to get out of the trades?

I'm 34, currently working as a commercial roof plumber on around $120k but have never enjoyed being in the trades since starting my apprenticeship as a plumber 10 years ago.

The work itself is 'okay' (for now) but the general toxicity of the industry has been wearing me down over time and i'm increasingly aware of how physically hard the toll of the job itself will become as i get older.

Previously I got most of the way through a fashion design degree before dropping out of it after also realizing it just wasn't the industry for me.

After uni I worked in a couple of galleries and antique stores and despite loving the experience, I chose to switch into plumbing for the higher salary and job security.

I've always been creative, hands on and have enjoyed problem solving and am very much a people person.

I'm prepared to go back to uni or tafe to completely reskill for another field but I've been struggling to zero in on areas that seem promising.

I've been crying since finding out yesterday that a wonderful high school art teacher and friend of mine passed away.

He was one of the kindest and most genuine people i've ever known and between his empathy and the refuge from bullying his art room provided, i credit him almost completely for saving me during some of the darkest days of my life.

We lost touch about ten years back after i bombed out of fashion school and was too embarrassed to tell him i was going to go into the trades instead of the arts like i'd always wanted.

I always meant to catch up with him again and really wanted to see how he was going, but didn't end up contacting him until late last year when we were both feeling too sickly for a catchup. Apparently he was sicker than he let on and i never realized how serious things were.

Finding out he's passed after a long battle with cancer has rocked me and has left me feeling like a gigantic piece of shit. There's so many things i wish i could say to him and so many art projects that i'd love to show him and now its too late.
I just came home from the funeral and hearing so many stories from people that really spent a lot of time with him these past few years has hammered home how much i missed out on due to my stupid embarrassment, pride and frankly, due to just not maintaining the friendship enough

Hey everyone, i'm looking for a bit of support and guidance at the moment...

I'm a few years into transitioning and currently working as a commercial roof plumber in Melbourne and i'm feeling increasingly depressed about being in the trades and being surrounded by a constant stream of casual bigotry passed off as worksite banter.

I came out at my previous company and although people seemed nice at first, the deadnaming, misgenderings and eventually jokes started up pretty quickly. I left on what i thought were good terms at the end of last year but after an attempt to beg forgiveness and return was pretty much flat out told there was no space for me because i'm trans.

I'm now in a new roofing job and earning a much higher pay, but have had to go deeply back into the closet for fear of facing similar repercussions. The people at this company are openly bigoted toward lgbtq people and hearing their remarks daily is making me feel so much worse about my situation. As with most trade companies there's no HR or any sort of sympathetic management i can turn to so i'm kind of on my own there.

Soooooooo! For anyone that has been or is currently in the trades and dealing with a similar environment....do you have any suggestions for how i should push forward from here?

Otherwise, for those who left the trades, what did you end up going into and how do you find your new industry to be like?