What is the best trade to learn (highest, job, salary) - Jobs, employers, employees, hiring, resumes, occupations, government, laws, unions, contracts, workers, part-time - City-Data Forum

heeha · 10-16-2009, 10:46 AM

Out of all the trades out there, which one is the best in terms of job security, pay, and advancement? Electrician? Plumber? HVAC? Heavy Equipment Operator? Welding? Brick Mason? Auto Mechanic? Carpenter? etc?

mcb1025 · 10-16-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heeha

Out of all the trades out there, which one is the best in terms of job security, pay, and advancement? Electrician? Plumber? HVAC? Heavy Equipment Operator? Welding? Brick Mason? Auto Mechanic? Carpenter? etc?

I think you'll find a lot of the information you are looking for here: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition. Just keep in mind that the information provided does not guarantee you will have that salary, job security, or room for advancement.

annerk · 10-16-2009, 12:28 PM

Diesel Mechanic

grubbyhubby · 10-16-2009, 12:44 PM

Nothing is secure anymore it seems. I would say DO NOT go into furniture making or cabinetry. The trade is all but DEAD here in St. Louis and very difficult to make a living at, even in good times. Try electrical or as the last poster suggested, mechanic of some kind.

brother227 · 10-16-2009, 01:25 PM

I would stay away from being a machinist or machine shop work.It takes a long time to gain the experience needed for decent pay,plus manufacturing has become one the least secure areas to work in.

yellowsnow · 10-16-2009, 01:39 PM

I would become an electrician. When you hit journeyman, you can work for someone else or yourself. As much or as little as you like. There's always work out there.

Kansoku · 10-16-2009, 03:48 PM

i heard that the highest paying is being a lineman (climbing up poles and fixing the lines whenever there is an outage)

roncorey1 · 10-16-2009, 04:08 PM

Plumbing and/or pipefitting. Similar, but not always. Both pay well. Pipefitters seem to earn more.

Electrical, but not just commercial/residential. Get into industrial and/or utilities. Get some electronics courses. Substation/relay work is plentiful now, and in the future.

Energy and utilities are hiring right now and if I had to do it all over again I would have focused on that instead of manufacturing

.

Don't know where you are from, but check out your states apprenticeship website. Union websites are good also.
Good to see that not everyone wants to get into IT/programming and the medical field!

Good luck!

M3 Mitch · 10-16-2009, 04:26 PM

Depends on where you want to work and "what you are cut out for". I will say that a good certified welder, particularly one with a good mobile unit on a truck, is not going to go wanting for work, or money. In good times, you have construction, in bad times, repair. Not everybody is cut out to be a welder, though.

Linemen make good money, but, firstly, how are you with heights? Secondly, how are you with rolling out of bed to fix an outage at 0300?

Being an electrician or plumber, like being a welder, means you can work construction in boom times and repair in down times, but I don't see these guys doing as well as a welder in a "down" market.

annerk · 10-16-2009, 04:32 PM

Around here right now welders, electricians, and plumbers are all out of work.

Two things that have to be taken care of even when the economy sucks are transit buses (diesel engines) and back up generators (hospitals, jails, government, grocery stores, refridgerated warehouses). Learn how to repair one or the other of them, and get certified, and you'll never be out of work.