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This is why blue-collared work is never as coveted as office work even though pay is comparable and higher than some office jobs. No one is willing to admit outloud that people in offices LOOK BETTER in collared shirts, cardigans, and slacks. These clothes just look more powerful and superior than jeans and steel toed boots.
This is in the eye of the beholder. I have college degrees, and yet I was always attracted to guys in work uniforms and rugged clothes, whose hands looked like they had held something other than a pen or a cell phone. Hard work and muscles make guys look manly. In my opinion.
Not everyone is college bound. Lord knows we need more psychology undergrads and such but we also need people that can work. For every college grad making 100k+ I assure you there are 99 making under 30K
Not everyone is college bound. Lord knows we need more psychology undergrads and such but we also need people that can work. For every college grad making 100k+ I assure you there are 99 making under 30K
I was a tool-and-die maker/moldmaker before I went to engineering school and got my degree in mechanical engineering. Second best move I ever made. I went from stagnant wages/foreign competition forever breathing down my neck/layoffs/no ac factory floors to steady employment at three to four times the wages.
I had a guy come to see why my refrigerator was warm and he charged $80 for less than an hour's work. But we HAD to pay it because we don't know anything about refrigerators. Trade people really do have the equipment and knowledge.
You're missing the point i.e. not everyone wants to spend their life working a trade; some see it as a dead-end/boring job, just as some tradesmen see a professional white-collar career as a 'pile of dead bodies' (as noted previously by Stealth), lol.
Point being - people make their own choices relative to their own interest, ability, opportunity and so on; advocating one over the other is futile. That said, in order for tradesmen to have 'knowledge' (as stated in your post), they, too, must further their education in some way (and know how to present themselves/communicate). In other words, it circles back around to education (of some sort) as key, no matter the individual choice.
The people in this thread who keep trying to sell themselves on the notion that it's a regular thing for tradespeople to make $400hr. and $150 large per year. Those people are overrating the trades big time and selling a reality that does not exist.
The posters who beleive tradespeople are underachievers and that anyone who can count to ten can make it big in the trades is equally nuts.
The people in this thread who keep trying to sell themselves on the notion that it's a regular thing for tradespeople to make $400hr. and $150 large per year. Those people are overrating the trades big time and selling a reality that does not exist.
The posters who beleive tradespeople are underachievers and that anyone who can count to ten can make it big in the trades is equally nuts.
Good post. I work in a field where I have access to some of people’s financial data and I can’t say l’ve seen people making $150k regularly. I do see people making high 5s with an occasional low $100s in a trade, but it is not like people are rolling in the cash. It can provide a nice income and in many cases more than an office job. It will likely not make people rich though.
Good post. I work in a field where I have access to some of people’s financial data and I can’t say l’ve seen people making $150k regularly. I do see people making high 5s with an occasional low $100s in a trade, but it is not like people are rolling in the cash. It can provide a nice income and in many cases more than an office job. It will likely not make people rich though.
Lots of trade's people can do jobs on the side for cash. My guess is those dollars don't show up in their financial data.
I viewed my sales profession as a trade. I never went to college, earned very little when I started. But I took my trade seriously, studied everything I could find and hustled. My best years were 175K.
It ended when my industry was lost to China. I was already 60, so I sent myself to school and became a long haul trucker. I got lucky and went with a good company that started me off earning a little over 60K. Driving steadily for 5 years until I was 66 left me exhausted, but I'm sure glad I got a chance to do it.
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For every college grad making 100k+ I assure you there are 99 making under 30K
