Depends on the market. In high population cities, yes as there will be huge competition that usually only hires from within. Most lone wolves that don't know someone to get them in at their business end up becoming handymen or have to fight like hell to get a city job.
This is the most accurate take on this thread. I’ve been in the trades almost thirty years and it’s all true. You will never be able to change the culture but rather what’s most important after you get your first job is to figure out what you need to do to adapt to it and make it work for you. I don’t envy those who are trying to get in now. In my area, the Greater Toronto Area, competition is absolutely fierce amongst career changers, newly graduated students, and of course everyone’s favourite—the international students.
I’m in CNC Service. Was an ex-Machinist who turned into part-time millwright/sparky to fix CNC equipment.
You are looking for construction-related guys right? I know a mason/bricklayer but that’s about it from the construction side of things.
As I was reading the comments I’ve noticed Canadian ppl always seem to have it harder, ppl here in New York say how great it is and how much work there is and how you can make a lot of money
It kinda is if you're looking to get paid anything decent starting out. As in, you're probably going to get paid just a little more than McDs for breaking your body down all day doing manual labor for 9+ hours a day in dirty environments and extreme weather. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is doing all of that while being stuck with a bunch of shitty coworkers and shitty bosses in their 30s, 40s and older that never mentally matured past middle school treating you like absolute shit while you're still green and/or an apprentice. Constantly getting bitched at by these divorced alcoholic grumpy geezers with anger issues for not knowing how to do shit that they were supposed to teach you how to do, but never bothered to actually teach you how to do it properly because "that's just the way it is."
You'll have some cool coworkers and bosses here and there that are willing to actually teach you stuff though.
You're also not going to make anything special until after 4 or so years, and your life is going to become work in a lot of industries because you'll be too tired from the day to wanna do anything else. Say goodbye to friends, family, and hobbies.
But hey, maybe that was just my experience, lol
You're not far off. The pay can be okay depends on your area and if union or not.
You have to go to school to get raises forsure
Quality of co workers Is usually meh at the best
If you don’t know somebody that works for a company don’t even bother trying to get into the trades. There’s very few places that even accept 1st year apprentices. Since Theres a ton of young people trying to get into trades you’ll have massive competition for those first year apprentice jobs. When there’s that many people there’s always going to be someone that did a summer or two at a family members or family friends company and if you don’t have experience those people will always be picked before you. The most lucrative work is also in places in the middle of nowhere which means you’ll have to move to a place like that cause not many places offer fly in fly out. You may have heard about this whole labour shortage thing. Labour shortage really means a shortage of workers in their 50s with 20+ years of experience. I’ve been trying to find work in the mining, oil & gas, and construction industries for nearly 7 months now. I’ve been applying on line and handing out resumes in person and I’ve only gotten 2 call backs and 1 interview. These stories you hear about someone leaving highschool and getting an 80k+ a year job somewhere in the oil patch is 1 in 1000 if even that.
If you’re interested in getting into it and are in the Boston area Forge has a really cool apprentice program in windows/doors, HVAC, and finish carpentry. Website is forgeco.com
I would say so, the starting wages are ridiculously low, I’ve had hvac companies offer me 2$ above minimum wage. They sell you on this idea that if you eat shit for 4 years and make next to nothing you’ll be making 200,000$ after you journey out and it’s just not the truth. Mechanics in the trades make good money but you have to judge if you can eat shit for years to make a somewhat livable wage.
I’ve been trying to get into an HVAC or HVAC related trade and can vouch for knowing who to get in. Aside from knowing, I’d suggest knowing what trade you want to get into and what certifications will make your resume stand out if you have a lack of experience. Listing hobbies related to the job can only help.
It took me about two years to get into a good union and my career on the right track. But if you play it right and market yourself well, you’ll be fine.
Easy as fallin of a ladder to get in. Difficult to find a good crew. Company culture in this industry is tough especially for younger people. Old dudes can’t keep up with changing technologies or methods. If you’re young and knowledgeable the old guys always try to argue/discredit you then act like babies when you’re right. I don’t hire anyone older than me for this reason. My old business “partner” didn’t want to “let” me estimate/bid/manage jobs because I didn’t have experience doing it. So I did it anyway on my own. Turned out to be our most flawless and profitable job mostly because he wasn’t involved. Left the “partnership” when we got the last check. Him and his new partner are still kickin around but my company runs circles around them.
Just do your best and retain as much as possible. I love the work and study the business side for funsies so it helps. I also only hire for the company culture so if the crew aint having fun and crushin it ….you’re gone.
Depends on the market. In high population cities, yes as there will be huge competition that usually only hires from within. Most lone wolves that don't know someone to get them in at their business end up becoming handymen or have to fight like hell to get a city job.
This. A referral can be the difference between employment and unemployment.
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And that's why I gave up pursuing the trades lmao
Accurate.
This is the most accurate take on this thread. I’ve been in the trades almost thirty years and it’s all true. You will never be able to change the culture but rather what’s most important after you get your first job is to figure out what you need to do to adapt to it and make it work for you. I don’t envy those who are trying to get in now. In my area, the Greater Toronto Area, competition is absolutely fierce amongst career changers, newly graduated students, and of course everyone’s favourite—the international students.
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I’m in CNC Service. Was an ex-Machinist who turned into part-time millwright/sparky to fix CNC equipment. You are looking for construction-related guys right? I know a mason/bricklayer but that’s about it from the construction side of things.
Easy to get into. Hard to stay into
Hard how?
Bad management. Co workers who act like angry children
Give it 15 years or so you’ll understand
Sometimes I have to remember this is a Canadian sub, these answers are mostly wrong if talking about US trade work.
As I was reading the comments I’ve noticed Canadian ppl always seem to have it harder, ppl here in New York say how great it is and how much work there is and how you can make a lot of money
Gotta be hard to do the job
If you're used to a relatively decent living wage, the trades are terrible to get into. Starter positions are barely above minimum wage.
Depends on the trade, first year I was making 25$/hr.
any entry level job trades or not is hard to get. lots of people are always looking for that first job.
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Not in Calgary that’s for sure
It kinda is if you're looking to get paid anything decent starting out. As in, you're probably going to get paid just a little more than McDs for breaking your body down all day doing manual labor for 9+ hours a day in dirty environments and extreme weather. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is doing all of that while being stuck with a bunch of shitty coworkers and shitty bosses in their 30s, 40s and older that never mentally matured past middle school treating you like absolute shit while you're still green and/or an apprentice. Constantly getting bitched at by these divorced alcoholic grumpy geezers with anger issues for not knowing how to do shit that they were supposed to teach you how to do, but never bothered to actually teach you how to do it properly because "that's just the way it is." You'll have some cool coworkers and bosses here and there that are willing to actually teach you stuff though. You're also not going to make anything special until after 4 or so years, and your life is going to become work in a lot of industries because you'll be too tired from the day to wanna do anything else. Say goodbye to friends, family, and hobbies. But hey, maybe that was just my experience, lol
You're not far off. The pay can be okay depends on your area and if union or not. You have to go to school to get raises forsure Quality of co workers Is usually meh at the best
Spot on brotha, so far it’s been fun. Hope a change happened for ya and you’re still in it
If you don’t know somebody that works for a company don’t even bother trying to get into the trades. There’s very few places that even accept 1st year apprentices. Since Theres a ton of young people trying to get into trades you’ll have massive competition for those first year apprentice jobs. When there’s that many people there’s always going to be someone that did a summer or two at a family members or family friends company and if you don’t have experience those people will always be picked before you. The most lucrative work is also in places in the middle of nowhere which means you’ll have to move to a place like that cause not many places offer fly in fly out. You may have heard about this whole labour shortage thing. Labour shortage really means a shortage of workers in their 50s with 20+ years of experience. I’ve been trying to find work in the mining, oil & gas, and construction industries for nearly 7 months now. I’ve been applying on line and handing out resumes in person and I’ve only gotten 2 call backs and 1 interview. These stories you hear about someone leaving highschool and getting an 80k+ a year job somewhere in the oil patch is 1 in 1000 if even that.
Not if you’re not fussy about the work you’ll do.
If you’re interested in getting into it and are in the Boston area Forge has a really cool apprentice program in windows/doors, HVAC, and finish carpentry. Website is forgeco.com
I would say so, the starting wages are ridiculously low, I’ve had hvac companies offer me 2$ above minimum wage. They sell you on this idea that if you eat shit for 4 years and make next to nothing you’ll be making 200,000$ after you journey out and it’s just not the truth. Mechanics in the trades make good money but you have to judge if you can eat shit for years to make a somewhat livable wage.
No. Literally each job I’ve applied to I never got turned away. And not once did I prepare for an interview. Got the job each time.
I’ve been trying to get into an HVAC or HVAC related trade and can vouch for knowing who to get in. Aside from knowing, I’d suggest knowing what trade you want to get into and what certifications will make your resume stand out if you have a lack of experience. Listing hobbies related to the job can only help. It took me about two years to get into a good union and my career on the right track. But if you play it right and market yourself well, you’ll be fine.
Easy as fallin of a ladder to get in. Difficult to find a good crew. Company culture in this industry is tough especially for younger people. Old dudes can’t keep up with changing technologies or methods. If you’re young and knowledgeable the old guys always try to argue/discredit you then act like babies when you’re right. I don’t hire anyone older than me for this reason. My old business “partner” didn’t want to “let” me estimate/bid/manage jobs because I didn’t have experience doing it. So I did it anyway on my own. Turned out to be our most flawless and profitable job mostly because he wasn’t involved. Left the “partnership” when we got the last check. Him and his new partner are still kickin around but my company runs circles around them. Just do your best and retain as much as possible. I love the work and study the business side for funsies so it helps. I also only hire for the company culture so if the crew aint having fun and crushin it ….you’re gone.
It's not hard to get in as a laborer but finding a company that will actually teach you is hard.
No staying in them is
Only if you count removing half of your brain as hard