Quote:
Originally Posted by opendoor
Yeah I'm not sure why people are surprised that jobs in trades aren't more popular or encouraged by parents. They can be great and lucrative careers for the right people, but the fact of the matter is they can also be hard on the body, often require you to work in an uncomfortable environment (out in the elements or in confined spaces), are dangerous at times, usually require you to work in the middle of nowhere if you want to earn top dollar, are generally more subject to suffering during economic downturns than a lot of other jobs, and if you ever suffer any kind of serious injury or end up with any kind of disability your career is potentially over.
And a lot of the work is pretty mind numbing to be honest, at least in construction which is what I'm most familiar with. Building stuff start to finish like a shed, garage, or even a house can be fun, but that's not really how it works for most trades. If you work in a commercial or industrial setting you're more likely to be installing concrete forms for 6 months or pulling kilometers of wire. And if you do work in residential you're more likely to be throwing up one cookie cutter house after another and having to deal with the extremely cavalier attitude towards safety that usually exists on residential sites.
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The reason some parents don't encourage their kids to go into the trades are because of the misconceptions that surround them. Concrete form work and residential framing aren't trades. Trades are government certified. They are highly skilled and technically trained people. They are people who take an apprenticeship, and go through years of hands on training and months of class theory in a technical institute. Once you pass your final exams, you become a journeyman/person. This is not easy. These people have very well paying jobs, and if they are decent at there trade, will move up the ladder and off the tools. Not to mention the fact, it is very rare for a tradesperson to pay someone to work on their car, house, boat etc. We barter amongst ourselves. I have been paying into RESP's for both my daughters since they were born. Both do well in school. If they choose university, good on them. If they choose the trades, my heart would swell. The trades desperately need more females.