r/skilledtrades

29m, decided that joining a trade is my current best path towards bettering my life. However, I have a bad ankle from playing sports in my teens. Never got it checked and let it healed on its own.

It becomes unbearable to walk if I kneel and crouch all day. I can still kneel and crouch here and there. Just not for 8 hours straight (or even 2). I have walked 22k steps and worked 16 hr shifts before so walking isn't an issue.

What are trades I can get into that doesn't involve too much crouching and kneeling?

Thanks in advance

So far I have two interviews today. One is with Keyence, for an office job as an SDR, and one was with a branch of Davey's- landscaping tech then transition into grounds crew. I got the card for their office as my first degree was in wood tech, and currently I'm working retail, so I have no qualms.

I also am on the wait list for a carpenter's union, the sheetmetal union, and for a chimney tech position- a local company does chimney cleaning, repair, and installation. No idea if that is a growing position but it pays better than stocking shelves. I tried the IBEW but was turned down for being color blind.

A friend just gave that advice and it kinda makes sense, I can see it, I just don't want to be overly judgey. After all, I've heard from a lot of older tradesmen to keep your car and clothes neat, to gain the trust of clients and set yourself aside.

I will note so far Keyence and the IBEW had very well-kept facilities and employee vehicles were old, but in great condition, or new and in great condition.

At Davey's, their office was in a real rough part of town and the vehicles made mine look mint.

Carpenter's and sheetmetal was mixed

Thanks again guys for any advice and comments!

I cant get into any union and no "plumber helper" jobs are hiring me. Can a general laborer for a cobstruction company be a good way to build experience? I am 18

So im an electrician and ive been with this company for 2 years now. I got enough hours for my bloc 2 at the moment but boss only wanted me to go in January. 2-3 weeks ago I talked with him to ask for a pay of a bloc 2 since I’ve got the experience and he’s the one not wanting to send me. He said no at first then said he will see what he can do. 2-3 weeks go by and I get no update, not my job to chase so went and applied at a competitor. Got the 2$ raise and then talked to my boss and he was pissed.

Living near Pittsburgh, Just turned 40, I don’t know much about any trade. Trying to start life over but got a kid at home now and makes it tough to go back to school with our schedules. Have a restaurant and hospitality background but been stuck in retail for awhile after many surgeries. Got an appt on Thursday to visit a trade school. Grasping at straws. I don’t know anyone personally in the trades, but few people Ive talked too are early 20s and joined unions first, atleast a few did. Where I grew up in the Florida, I never knew anyone in a Union, wasn’t a thing. Parents were teachers, but no union, brothers a detective, not in a union. Any input would be great, need a starting point. Was maybe considering something electrical or something that doesn’t take till Im 50 to get good at or make $. Willing to learn. Just gotta make a change

I am 49. Damaged my back and not able to work anymore. I have owned my business for 20 years. Always worked alone. No employees to carry on business. Looking to sell to another mechanical contractor, that will take me on, use my masters and contractors licenses and have me manage his plumbing division.

What should I charge hourly/ annually for use of my licenses, and my labor rate?

Edit for clarification: sorry still on some strong pain medicine, my brain tends to finish my thoughts before I finish writing them. I do have a mechanical contractor I am working with, I guess it doesn't hurt to share the opportunity with others in case someone else sees more value in the situation.

Hey everyone, I just got an offer from IES to be an electrician helper. The pay is decent and the per diem is decent as well. I wanted to know if anybody works for them and if so do they provide housing? The job location is in Lubbock Tx and i’m like 4-5 hours away from the job site. I’ve been trying to get my foot in the door as an apprentice or helper for a long time. I just want a little info before I accept the offer. Thanks in advance!

I’m new to the trades and in retrospect i feel like i should’ve expected this- but meth and alcohol are seemingly so common?? Maybe it’s just a rough place I’m at now, but is that usually the norm?

Hi I’m a 32(m) and I’m interested in field
Of fire alarm technician I’ve been reading about it and the process to become doesn’t sound to lengthy like other trade profession ( could be wrong, correct me if I am). I’m trying to break out of my line of work and make more earn a better salary, My question is what is the best route to become one. I live in Ontario and there are two college that offer the cfaa program but I’ve also read that lotta people also go through the cfaa website it self through order line. Im just looking for some advice from some career veterans, who can push me in the right direction.

Ps I don’t have a by experience with electrical work but I’m willing to learn.

​​ I applied for the local plumbers union about a month ago and I'm waiting on my interview. I'm a veteran and I'm supposed to get priority.

I've been in high level IT for 12 years and want to switch careers and retire from the union in 28 years or so.

I know it might sound like BS but I've always been interested in plumbing and I've always thought back to it and regret it not doing it sooner.

What are some cons about being in the union? Things like being laid off and so you have to go back to the hall and wait for work. And how do you navigate that?

How do you make yourself valuable and desirable to contractors?

It might seem like a outrageous goal but I'd really like to have my plumber contracting license by the time I'm done with my apprenticeship. I don't want to start my own shop or anything like that. I just want to be as effectual as possible. Would that make you more desirable and less likely to be out of work for a long stretch?

What are some downsides that people may not know about?

Same Physics, Different Paychecks: What Are the Skilled Trades Like Around the World?

I’m an HVAC/R contractor in the United States, and something occurred to me recently that I honestly haven’t thought much about before.

The refrigeration cycle is the refrigeration cycle whether you're working in Utah, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, Brazil, or anywhere else.

A compressor still compresses refrigerant. A bad capacitor is still a bad capacitor. Electrical troubleshooting still requires understanding electricity. Finding an intermittent refrigeration problem still requires experience.

Yet the economic value placed on the person who knows how to diagnose and repair these systems can be wildly different depending on where that person was born.

Here in the US, skilled trades have become increasingly valuable.

A competent HVAC technician, electrician, plumber, refrigeration technician, welder, etc. can make a very respectable living. If you become a licensed contractor and build a successful company, the ceiling can be much higher.

Customers routinely pay hundreds of dollars for relatively ordinary repairs and thousands—or tens of thousands—for larger projects.

Part of that is obviously the cost of living and purchasing power. But I think there's more going on.

Labor is expensive here.

Skilled labor is even more expensive.

There aren't enough genuinely competent technicians in many trades, and modern infrastructure absolutely depends on them.

That creates an interesting economic situation where sometimes it makes more sense to replace something than repair it.

A technician spending six hours rebuilding a component could cost more than simply installing a new one.

But I've watched technicians from lower-wage countries repair things that most American technicians wouldn't even consider repairing.

Motors get rewound.

Circuit boards get repaired at component level.

Compressors and mechanical assemblies get rebuilt.

Parts get fabricated rather than ordered.

Equipment that would have been condemned here gets another five years of life.

And that makes complete economic sense too.

If labor costs relatively little but imported equipment and replacement components are expensive, suddenly spending eight hours repairing something instead of replacing it is completely rational.

It also makes me wonder about the social status of skilled trades around the world.

America spent decades telling kids that success meant going to college and getting an office job.

Ironically, we're now reaching a point where a really good electrician, plumber or HVAC/R technician can out-earn plenty of people with college degrees.

And tradespeople can turn those skills into businesses of their own.

But I know attitudes toward manual labor and class can be very different elsewhere. India is particularly interesting because of the historical relationship between occupation, class and caste, although obviously modern India is far more complicated than reducing occupations to a caste system.

So I'm genuinely curious to hear from people outside the US:

What is life actually like for skilled tradespeople where you live?

How much respect does a really talented technician receive?

Is it considered a legitimate career, or something people are expected to escape from if they have the opportunity?

Can a technician realistically become middle or upper-middle class?

Can someone start as a mechanic/HVAC tech/electrician and eventually own a successful contracting business?

How formal is training? Apprenticeship? Trade school? Mostly learning from another technician?

And I'm especially interested in the technical side:

What do you repair that technicians in wealthier countries usually replace?

Because I suspect there's a massive amount tradespeople from different countries could learn from each other.

An American technician might have $20,000+ worth of specialized tools and access to virtually any replacement part but rarely repair something at component level.

A technician somewhere else might have a fraction of those resources but possess fabrication and repair skills that would embarrass us.

Same physics.

Same machines.

Same fundamental skills.

Completely different economics.

I'd genuinely love to hear what the trades look like where you live—especially from HVAC/R techs, electricians, plumbers, mechanics and refrigeration technicians outside the United States.

TL;DR: The physics of HVAC/R, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work don't change across borders, but the economic and social value of the people doing that work can vary enormously. In the US, expensive skilled labor often makes replacement cheaper than repair; in lower-wage countries, technicians may repair, rebuild, or fabricate things we'd simply replace. I'm curious what skilled trades actually look like around the world—how tradespeople are paid, respected, trained, and what they repair that Americans typically throw away.

20 years in the trade, new to Ottawa — how do you build a name here? I run a small crew doing interlock, indoor renovations, property maintenance and seasonal clean-ups. Between us we’ve got about 20 years in the trade. The work has never been the problem. Where I came from, one job led to the next — a neighbour told a friend, that friend called me, and I never had to explain myself. Ottawa is a different story. I’m starting from zero here and it’s humbling to be good at something and have no one who knows it yet. So I’m asking the people who’ve done it: how did you get established in this city? Who’s actually worth talking to — property managers, general contractors, builders? Any groups or trade associations worth joining, or ones that are a waste of money? I’m looking to move into bigger jobs,

How do i get into that?

Living in Florida been a painting for 6 years looking to make a move to New York in the next 2 years but I don’t necessarily want to stick with painting out there. Any advice on what the trades are like out there? I’m looking at electrician or plumbing work try and get a head start down here for a year or two. Are unions near impossible to get into there?

(Sorry if I’m posting in the wrong place)

This isn't like a jab or attack or anything, I'm mostly just curious. I've been working with a few different trades now for a few months on our bridge teardown/reconstruction project and it's made me a bit confused. We've had carpenters build the railings/staircases on the work bridge, assemble the concrete forms, pile drivers drive the pile, and underwater divers work to cut the concrete underwater on the old piers. All of this work is claimed by the carpenters. The only other trades that I've seen in months are us (two crane operators plus our oiler), laborers picking up trash and filling grout, and rodbusters laying rebar a few times.

The pile driving I can kind of understand because theoretically they might drive a wooden pile, but these guys are welding and working with big sheets and pipes of metal all day every day for months on end. Why is that not an ironworker's job?

And even more curious is the underwater concrete cutter divers. Carpenters? Are you sure?

The carpenters also assemble and disassemble the concrete forms and basically take over the entire process of putting a pier up besides the rodbuster rebar and then laborers which handle the pour itself. Then the carpenters take over again. Just seems like a lot of work for one union is all.

I live in hot humid South Texas. Summer time, I’ve worked in attics, outside doing underground pipe, flowing fire hydrants, fire pump roof tests, and chemical plants with boilers underneath in the open sun. In the plants it’s full PPE, FR clothing, long sleeve, boots etc. Most of my construction is in the heat. I can’t stand cold, not even 40°F. I run/workout in the open sun during summer. I ran a 50K this month in the heat and it wasn’t very hot to me. I sweat, and hydrate but I’m not bothered that much. Being covered in sweat is normal for me. The only nice thing about 60°F is my socks don’t get wet.
You would think I want cold weather, but I don’t. I hate it, it’s miserable and I’ve lived in cold, snowy states. I spent a winter in Ontario, no thank you.

I'm looking for some real-world experiences from people working in trades/field service in Ontario, particularly GTA, Canada

I'm considering a non-union, full-time trade with:

• $24/hr for field work
• $21.50/hr for "Travel/Warehouse" time
• Warehouse time = loading/unloading equipment, preparing materials/equipment, working at the warehouse, etc.
• For GTA projects, the company says 1.5 hours are paid for mobilization & demobilization
• For projects outside the GTA, they pay 1 hour for every 100 km based on round-trip distance

I'm trying to understand how this compares with other trades.

For people working in the trades, how does your employer handle travel time?

1. Is travel time usually paid at your normal hourly rate?
2. Is it paid at a separate/lower travel rate?
3. Is it unpaid?

I'm specifically asking about company site → job site → company site travel during the workday, not the normal commute from home to work.

I'm also curious about overnight/out-of-town work. This position apparently requires occasional overnight assignments, and the company says it provides the hotel/accommodation and meals.

For those of you who regularly travel for field work:

• What level of accommodation (hotel like holiday inn or motels like roadside motels) is normally provided?
• Are meals usually provided directly, reimbursed, or paid as a per diem? If directly, is there a certain limit or cap? or it's just like a simple McDonalds set or other fast-food combo?

Are the conditions generally considered a reasonable/standard arrangement in the trades?
I'm mainly looking for real-world experiences from different trades and companies, rather than one specific legal answer. I'd really appreciate hearing how it is here.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I am an American living in Germany. Germany has the Ausbildung system where you are an apprentice and get free trade school for 2-3 years and recieve a certificate at the end of it. I am wondering if any of these programs will make me more able to ge tinto the trades or work in the trades back in the USA. I was wondering if American tradespeople know anything about the transferability of German Ausbildungs into the American trades. Thanks! I could not find anything about this online so I thought I would ask here.