I have been working as a pipefitter helper in a manufacturing shop for around 3 months now and I like the work and the management and my managers have been supportive about having me join the local apprenticeship. I am very interested, but am wondering what kind of life and can expect to build in the long term on this career path. I know that during the apprenticeship I wont have much say, but if I am able to make journeyman I am wondering about some things.

1) The hours. I'm currently working 6 10's per week, it's not bad but I wouldn't want to have that schedule for the rest of my life. How much control do you have over working hours as a journeyman? After you journey out can you realistically choose to work jobs for a few months then take a month or two off? Are there many jobs available to journeymen with more normal 40hr per week 9-5 hours?

2) Type of work. I would be starting the apprenticeship as a 2nd career and will be 40 when I finish. I am in good shape and am confident I can keep up with the more heavy labor throughout the apprenticeship and for years after, but at some point I am going to need to slow down. Are there opportunities in the career to get specialized in more computer based work when youre older and no longer able to do the heavy work as well? The foreman at the shop I am at now does a lot of work on the computer to organize jobs and set cutting parameters for our plasma torch and things like that, but is it realistic to think you can move towards that type of work in youre older age?

3) Money vs purpose. The majority of the journeymen I work with currently tell me they got into this career for the pay. Some of them had a lot of debt they needed to pay off, some started families and needed to make more so they could support them, and some just wanted to make as much as possible and buy big trucks and fun toys. I wouldn't be joining for any of that, I am single, debt free, already own my home, and am not really motivated to work for fancy cars and things. I am looking to get into this career to have more purpose then I had while working a standard desk job and to have more control of the type of work I do. I do feel more purpose in this type of work then I ever had at past jobs, but I wonder how much of that wears off after years of doing it, and if there is the ability to seek out different types of jobs in this career in order to keep learning new things and keep that motivation.

I am looking to make a change for the next half of my life and do work that I can keep learning new things at and with a variety of types jobs available for someone willing to travel. To have more control over my schedule and live a type of life where I bust ass for a few months then get a few months off, maybe through shutdown work, but also has to ability to provided a more normal schedule and less intensive work for when I get much older. I know this wont be the case during the apprenticeship, but are these realistic goals for a single, debt free journeyman in the long term?

I’m a 32F who would like to enter the trades as a career (the construction/building inspections route is end goal after getting years worth of trade experience). After hearing how challenging it is to get into local 98 (Philly) for wireman apprenticeship, I figured I’d apply for sound & communications especially since it’s not as taxing on the body.

However, I want some relevant experience in the meantime, even if it’s adjacent and I also want to prepare in case I get rejected. So I applied to a non union HVAC apprenticeship paying $18/hr (1.5x pay overtime).

At the same time, I’m in the hiring process (conditional offer stage) of becoming a PA state Correctional Officer Trainee for $23/hr (1.5x pay overtime).

I could just take the CO job and have more pay and wait for my time to apply for Local 98, or follow through with the HVAC apprenticeship.

The reason I apply for hvac was because I thought it would add points to my apprentice application at Local 98.

Any thoughts or opinions?

I have an interview tomorrow for a linemen position for a telecom company, and i noticed that one of the job requirements is “acceptable driving record”
Can a DUI that I got over 2 yrs ago affect my employment opportunity ?
I also have a ticket for using my phone while driving (also 2 yrs ago).

Do these incidents put me out of the race for this position ?

I went through some medical challenges before I graduated into high school and I’m now 23 and finally healed. I’m looking to make a career move into electrical rather than going for a 4 year degree.

I keep reading some of the horror stories of working with men within the field and is it really that bad? Is it only worse when you’re new and a woman? Or does it just stay bad? I have some really tough skin and had many brothers to deal with, but how did those instances/interactions affect you in the workplace or did it become a problem overtime?

I am also open to other jobs within trades. I was originally going to go to be a radiologist, but I just cant work in the hospital after being sick all those years.

So women in trades, especially the women in Canada, IM FULLY OPEN TO STORIES, ADVICE, ANYTHING. I just need to move forward in the best way because I feel like I’m just moving too slow, ya know?

EDIT: Thank you to the loads of responses, that I’ve gotten especially the advice, I’ll make sure I fart louder than all of you.

I don't want to bore you guys with my life story, but to keep it as short as possible I basically sort of wasted my entire 20s and even early 30s sort of just floating and bumming around, occasionally getting into trouble (nothing too serious). Held a couple of odd jobs/dead end jobs here and there at like restaurants and stores. I never went to College and I don't have any degrees, and I don't have any experience in the professional world and I never worked in an office or corporation, or any white-collar job.

On the upside, I never had any issues with alcohol or drugs or gambling, so I never had a vice in those things. I also don't have any debt. I've just literally been a bum most of my life and was a lifelong chronic video game addict, was my main problem, hence me wasting my 20s and first half of my 30s. Luckily, I have family and I'm not homeless, but damn I want to start something and get my life turned out and stop being a bum.

By chance, I just been hearing stuff about how skilled Trades are underappreciated in the U.S and how you don't really need a college degree to get into it, just training and a willingness to work and learn. But I'm a 35 year old male in the U.S so I feel like im a LATE bloomer. I mean, i assume most people who start out in skilled Trades start out young, right? Same with corporate world, etc. I've always been terrible at school and academics and hated every minute of it, but I've been told I always been pretty good with my hands. On a side note, everyone always hears about the coming of AI taking our jobs, but they say at least skilled trades will be the last to go out lol.

Would appreciate to hear your honest opinion and advice, thanks for reading!

should i accept the sheet metal union offer if i get it or stay in automotive and move up rn im just a lube tech and they’re talking about making me apprentice in a few months i have a baby due in january and I love automotive it just takes a while to make decent money where as a union apprentice you’ll be making a bit more I just need advice on what to do because i don’t want to be away in case of emergency once she gives birth

Im a second year electrician apprentice, and after some trial and error I'm starting to see what works best for me. I currently use the Tough built small electrician pouch - smaller that the journey man, and master electrician version of that pouch. I use the Milwaukee pack out back pack as my main carrying method. I do plan on upgrading to a Veto at some point, but that's another story. The small electricians pouch is fine. However, fully loaded it's more than I need for most of my tasks as an apprentice. My goal is to have a small pouch, that can fit 3-4 hand tools(lineman, dykes, 2 screwdrivers, channel locks). And keep a larger pouch/tote near by for those times I do need "that" larger/smaller specialty tool. I was thinking I would stay with Tough Built, but it seems there products I'm interested in, are no longer available. Can anyone offer any recommendations?

I was working on my shitty old car yesterday and whenever I do stuff now, I look at all the tools I have and how familiar I am with all of them and how I just automatically know which ones to use (I am even starting to be able to tell what size socket a bolt needs from looking at it) and it just frustrates me how I seem to have this aptitude for working with my hands and no real outlet for it outside of messing with cars

like I never went through ROP in highschool or anything like that and was a loser who dropped out and then went back to college to get a degree in Computer Science but like I just wished that it was not only something I discovered I like to do earlier but that I had gotten into it when I was young

and then I just wind up feeling frustrated with the amount of gatekeeping with all of the skilled trades, like when I applied to the stationary engineers apprenticeship it became obvious that it is pretty much only for a select few

l spend so much time wishing someone would just give me a chance to really learn a trade or something but apprenticeship programs are nearly impossible to get into in California and fucking nobody hires for non union, I don't even know where you would find entry level work for that where people would actually teach you the trade

I don't know I'm sorry I need to swap my entire fucking subframe because I curbed my car a few years ago trying to avoid an accident and I keep thinking about how normal people don't just think "oh well I could swap a subframe all I need is a truck to pick it up from the junkyard and an engine support bar"

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing well! I have a few questions if anyone can help me out. I recently received an acceptance letter for the Heavy Duty Technician program at Algonquin College, Ontario, Canada!!

1. Will this program help me secure an apprenticeship with a company?
   
2. After completing the program, will I be directly enrolled in an apprenticeship program?

I’ve noticed many job postings that require apprenticeship enrolment, which has left me a bit confused. I’m wondering if the program I’m about to enrol in is considered an apprenticeship or if it’s something related to the government.

I really appreciate your time and advice. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Thank you ! Have a great Day!!

GC here, small-to-mid crews. Every year I write off a depressing amount of tools and smaller equipment - some real theft, but a lot of it just disappearing. Left at a site, loaded on the wrong truck, borrowed and never returned, and by the time anyone notices it's long gone.

Tried the obvious stuff last year (sign-out sheets, assigning gear, better trailer locks) and none of it stuck because it all needs someone to do the manual step every single time. AirTags get recommended a lot but feel like a consumer toy for a real operation. For people running actual crews - what's your real loss number, and did anything actually move the needle?

I have done it all: Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, masonry, framing, cabinetry/finish, siding, roofing, irrigation, painting, farming, livestock, appliance repair, control systems, advanced solar design & installation. I am a "certified diesel technician" 🙄 but have never actually been employed as such. I know logistics, financial, budgeting, vendor sourcing and parts acquisition. ​I can (and have) design & build entire houses, barns, shops and sheds.

I have managed and owned multiple rental properties and teams within. I have 10's of 1000's of dollars worth of specialized tools for all of the trades, as well as money to purchase more as needed. I own a work truck, and several types of trailers.

My boss is retiring in a few years. I am extremely well paid for my skills, but will likely be replaced by cheap, incapable, alternative labor option, or my position phased out entirely when my boss leaves, in lieu of just calling plumber/electrician/hvac company etc when things absolutely fall apart, rather than daily/weekly maintenance & repair.

I put together a short troubleshooting video covering three PLC instructions that commonly cause “illogical” rung behavior in RSLogix: OTU, JSR, and MCR.

These are the exact issues I see techs run into on the floor — rungs that look true but won’t energize, routines that aren’t scanning, or logic that seems disabled.

Here’s the video if it helps anyone:
https://youtu.be/iAeWbBXtAGw

No sales pitch or anything — just a visual walk‑through for anyone who works with PLCs or wants to understand these instructions better.

I’m trying to become an electrician but I missed this year’s enrollment which was in April I’m based in Philly btw, the next enrollment isn’t until April 2027. Do I join trade school(it starts in August 6 and it’s 8 months long) and apply the union on April or just wait? I also tried to join the IEC apprenticeship I called contracts even walked in to ask if they hiring apprentice/helpers nothing yet.

How common/uncommon is it for workers in your trade to actually work the two weeks following a two week notice instead of just being walked off at the point of reception?

Hello, my husband is a HET apprentice in Alberta and started working in it in April 2024.
We lived in northern Alberta and he was working for a small company and had/still has a great relationship with the shop manager/foreman from there. The shop ended up shutting down and the boss offered to move him to their location in Central Alberta for a few weeks of work. The boss in central Alberta liked him and asked that he move down, so that’s what we did, and only a few months later the boss in central Alberta had a personal conflict with him and fired him. It was deemed a wrongful termination but my husband moved onto a different job very quickly after. Now the issue is that in all of this he did not get his blue book filled out by either boss from that company. He would bring it up to them and they’d say they’d look at it another time. And then proceeded to fire him before filling it out.
His new boss at the new job said he would help him to get those hours signed off on, and they had people from the apprentice board come in a couple weeks ago to go over everything and it all seemed to be going well, but I guess they sent something to the boss in central Alberta for him to sign off on hours, and that boss denied it. He has been nothing but an issue for us since he fired my husband in trying to get his hours signed off on. Is there anything we can do, or anyone we can reach out too because this was a lot of hours that he is now missing due to the boss having a personal conflict with him 😵‍💫😵‍💫
Any advice would be appreciated
(My husband is going to reach out to the boss in northern Alberta again as those hours were never signed off on either but that still leaves several months of hours unaccounted for)

I'm 27. I have an undergrad and masters degree tbh in environmental studies but bar health and safety the earning potential is limited and the job market in the UK is poor. Am I mad to consider a trade? I've mentioned it to folk and they've said wtf are you doing.

I was offered a job to work for FedEx as a electronic technician and I’m wondering if this is a good career path to follow, for context all my experience is in IT so if I were to accept this job I would be pivoting to a different field.

Is there any promotion opportunities outside of tier 1-3? If so what kind and is a degree needed? I currently don’t have one but if I need to get one I will.

it seems that becoming electrician is now the best decision that gen z can do. Everyone who is right now deciding a career should become electrician its the best career you can choose right now with all that demand.

There was never better time go get into trades.

I'm based in the Little Rock area. I've got my EPA 608 Universal certification, and I'm getting ready to apply for entry-level HVAC and electrician apprenticeship positions in Arkansas.

A lot of these applications ask for professional references, and since I'm just starting out in the trades, I don't have a deep work history to pull from yet. I'm trying to figure out the best way to line up solid references before I start applying.

I am in mass and I want to become an electrician, is anyone hiring? Delete this if I worded it wrong. Literally entry level, heat dont bother me tight spaces none of it. Hire me and bust my balls today

Massachusetts- Essex County

Trades

Hey all, I'm based in the Little Rock area. I've got my EPA 608 Universal certification, and I'm getting ready to apply for entry-level HVAC and electrician apprenticeship positions in Arkansas.

A lot of these applications ask for professional references, and since I'm just starting out in the trades, I don't have a deep work history to pull from yet. I'm trying to figure out the best way to line up solid references before I start applying.

A few questions for anyone who's been through this:

• Does it need to be someone from a related trade, or can references from past jobs (retail, warehouse, etc.) work for an entry-level/apprentice position?
• If you don't have trade experience, is it okay to use instructors, coaches, or others who can speak to character and reliability?
• How many references do hiring managers typically want, and do they actually follow up and call them?
• Any advice on how to approach someone and ask them to be a reference?

Does anyone have the reading list for the 421A program? I'm trying to find material to study for the C of Q but the school won't send me the list unless I'm a registered apprentice in the program.

edit: im in ontario canada

About to start my 4th year of my carpentry and joinery apprenticeship. The past year the fatigue has completely taken over me. I am physically and mentally fucked

Anyways to cope that isn’t alcohol, drugs, nicotine, caffeine or food????

Your help would be much appreciated.

Loves yous all xoxoxox