Career choice advice

[Clarkdale17]

The trades are always a good option to make solid money especially Electrician or Plumbing/HVAC. There's a lot of older folks starting to phase out and not enough young kids that want to work to take over. They're forecasting upwards of a million worker deficit in the coming years....

As stated above the real money opportunities are in starting your own business, but make sure you weigh the amount of time it takes to build a business from the ground up as well as some quality guys if you're going to hire help.

Even if you stay at a larger company you're likely going to want to start phasing out into the office side of operations once your body tells you it's time. The amount of old men walking around our sites that can barely get up a flight of stairs because they've been doing hard manual labor their entire lives is saddening. Take care of your body you only get one.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

I'm a farrier. There are more horses around than farriers to shoe then. Go to 5 star horseshoeing school in Minco, OK. It's the best school around. Then come home and line up an apprenticeship with a Certified Journeyman Farrier for a couple/ few years. It's good, honest, hard work. Good pay. Make your own schedule once you're established.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I wish I would of went high voltage lineman.

Best I can say is just don't get swamped in debt and kids. Then you will have the freedom to move and change as you start to figure it out.

You get to swamped and 30 years later you'll just be doing the same thing to pay the bills.

 

[cgasner1]

At 18 I went to a lineman school in Idaho. My 19th birthday was spent in the bar with the crew I was working with. Now at 35 and 12 years in at the utility I work at now I get 5 weeks paid vacation and a decent 401k. I work 5-600 hours of ot a year. With my 401k maxed out I live comfortably it affords me the ability to do some pretty cool hunting. 2 years ago I did Sitka buck hunt and a Utah buck hunt and all my normal Montana stuff. Last year was just a Wyoming deer due to a new baby I took it easy on the wife and laid low. This year I have a drop moose hunt and waiting for some results to come back to see what I have to admit to as far as she is concerned. The trade has been great to me I’ve had a couple very close calls. If I was to start over it would be something like electrician or hvac. I’d work for someone for a few years then start my own gig. As is I debate on doing that for my freedom from the utility. If a steady check is going to be more of a concern for you then I’d recommend a trade with a utility. If you can squirrel away cash to make it thru the hard times like what is coming I’d recommend you learn and build something for yourself.


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[NCSU_Lewis]

I have an interesting take on farming/ ag work. I was in school for 10 years and got a PhD. I did ag research, basically farming on a salary, and now have an office job in herbicide development but travel in the field a lot. Ag sales is a pretty decent gig that 2 years and the right connections or a 4 year degree will get you. Understand if this isn't a route you want to go but I'd be happy to chat with you about it if you'd like.

 

[Rich M]

The amount of guys who want tontailor their lives around hunting is amazing. Few folks own the right kind of business to hunt all fall.

Newberg is an accountant i think. Desk job but tailored around taxes and the tax submittal dates. Hes not likely to hurt his back lifting stuff.

Whatever you end up doing, put in more effort than the other guys. Rise to the top at a young age and accept that working hard will reap rewards. If you put other stuff first, it will be obvious and raises, promotions, easy jobs will be given to others.

Good luck.

 

[cgasner1]

The amount of guys who want tontailor their lives around hunting is amazing. Few folks own the right kind of business to hunt all fall.

Newberg is an accountant i think. Desk job but tailored around taxes and the tax submittal dates. Hes not likely to hurt his back lifting stuff.

Whatever you end up doing, put in more effort than the other guys. Rise to the top at a young age and accept that working hard will reap rewards. If you put other stuff first, it will be obvious and raises, promotions, easy jobs will be given to others.

Good luck.

My company has this thing where if your good at your job they will let you do someone else’s without paying you any more corporate America is changing. To continue to make big advances I personally feel you either need to be self employed so that drive gets you places or be willing to quit places because other companies will see more value in you


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[Tobe_B]

I grew up working, same as you. From the time I was 10 years old I’ve always had some kind of paying job. Worked as an electrician with my dad a bit, remodeled and built homes during my summers. Poured concrete and laid foundations of substations out of high school. Worked on farms and ranches while getting through college. After I got my degree I started managing ranches for other people, that lasted for almost ten years.

Now I’ve got my own farm, a farrier business, and two side jobs. My wife also owns her own business, so she works from home. It was a little daunting diving off on our own at first. But we weren’t getting ahead killing ourselves for other people. I still do some construction on the side to keep up on those skills, and the guy I work for pays me better than I pay me. In the fall I run pack strings for a shoeing client. He’s got a small outfitter business and needs the help, plus he he pays better than any outfitter I’ve been around. I build my own schedule, work when I want, and take off when I remember to set aside time.

One thing I’ve learned and I’ll pass along. Side yourself with like minded people. The people you surround yourself with, are the people who will pull you forward or hold you back. Be it your employer or your employees. Don’t keep people around who don’t share the same drive as you.


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[Pony Soldier]

If you like the outdoors, you might want to consider mining. The highest number of professionals are retiring and the lowest number of students are showing up for the scholarships to go to school. The pay is good and the placement is largely rural.

If not school then consider the production side. Mostly heavy equipment operators with high pay and good benefits.

 

[mckbcat2000]

At 18 I went to a lineman school in Idaho. My 19th birthday was spent in the bar with the crew I was working with. Now at 35 and 12 years in at the utility I work at now I get 5 weeks paid vacation and a decent 401k. I work 5-600 hours of ot a year. With my 401k maxed out I live comfortably it affords me the ability to do some pretty cool hunting. 2 years ago I did Sitka buck hunt and a Utah buck hunt and all my normal Montana stuff. Last year was just a Wyoming deer due to a new baby I took it easy on the wife and laid low. This year I have a drop moose hunt and waiting for some results to come back to see what I have to admit to as far as she is concerned. The trade has been great to me I’ve had a couple very close calls. If I was to start over it would be something like electrician or hvac. I’d work for someone for a few years then start my own gig. As is I debate on doing that for my freedom from the utility. If a steady check is going to be more of a concern for you then I’d recommend a trade with a utility. If you can squirrel away cash to make it thru the hard times like what is coming I’d recommend you learn and build something for yourself.


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My son is considering a similar route to yours after high school. We've spoke to the people at the lineman school in Tennessee. We've made a few contacts locally that might be able to help get a job after he'd be done with the school. A good friend works for a utility with poles at the yard my son could go out and see how he likes climbing. North American Lineman School is who I believe we talked to. You have any tips/advice to a high school kid who's seriously considering the work? How would a person that has these skills branch out on their own? Thanks for your time.

 

[timberjack86]

There's a world wide shortage of welders and it's only gonna get worse from here.

 

[Wrench]

I aped in the iroworkers and again in the operators.

Apprenticeships are a great way to get paid while you learn. I push kids who are fit and smart towards lineman/groundman. I was lucky enough to spend much of my operator Apprenticeship with a utility because they also needed a pipe welder.....that time as a rod buster did pay off.

My current golden handcuffs have me on the tools and we earn an average of 130k with the 100hrs a year of OT.

My advice is to have zero debt. Apprentice to earn your professional licenses. Network with your journeymen and learn from their mistakes.

Emergency response type construction can be big $$....but not fun work. Drain rooters/plumbers and electricians can have relatively low investment and can charge several hundred dollars per hour.

Do understand that working for yourself is awesome, but not every job will have a clear check....and governments tend to be net 45 at best.....so be prepared.

If a traveling nurse is something you could swing, those cats made 3-400k in recent years.....and bail when they need to....but that smashes my zero debt plan.

One last thing to leverage in, if you can finish your career in the federal government, and have 5 years continuous medicsl coverage, your retirement benefit includes maintaining the match on your insurance....forever. that makes for super cheap medical.

 

[cgasner1]

My son is considering a similar route to yours after high school. We've spoke to the people at the lineman school in Tennessee. We've made a few contacts locally that might be able to help get a job after he'd be done with the school. A good friend works for a utility with poles at the yard my son could go out and see how he likes climbing. North American Lineman School is who I believe we talked to. You have any tips/advice to a high school kid who's seriously considering the work? How would a person that has these skills branch out on their own? Thanks for your time.

In this line of work you don’t really branch out due to the cost of equipment/insurance/employees. You would need a few million to start your own thing our line trucks are about 300k a piece now and you can’t buy them the big contracts have purchased all the new ones from altec. You about have to go to a school to get into the trade for a utility. If he doesn’t care about where he lays his head I would tell him to go contract and head to California when he gets a union journeyman certificate. Insane money coming out of that state if I didn’t have the wife and kids I would have left 5 years ago for it. If you want you can pm me and we can have more of a discussion. I would not advise spending the time and money on the school if he isn’t willing to travel if needed to pursue this


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[CorbLand]

It is really a tough call.

Trades are doing great right now. I tell my wife all the time that I wish I would have gone that route and have contemplated it even at 30. When I graduated high school in 2010, trades was not the place to be. Most were working for minimum wage to get by.

I know a kid that did lineman school in Idaho. Cost was a little high but he started out with a city in Utah making more than it cost him. Give him two or three years and he will be killing it.

Are you wanting to ranch on the side or make it a full time thing? If you want to do it on the side, I would look at government jobs. 9-5 Monday through Friday affords you the time you need to take care of a ranch. Provides consistent pay and benefits. Something to think about.

 

[Wrench]

The guys I know chasing trouble and construction in CA are certainly killing it......but it takes discipline to have a 20k check not go to the bottle or stupid junk.

 

[go_deep]

Respect the question, but a bunch of people on the internet don't really know you.
Sit down with people who actually know you, family, friends, coworkers, your actual boss, or previous bosses. They'll give you more insight than any of us every will.

 

[Like2hunt]

Respect the question, but a bunch of people on the internet don't really know you.
Sit down with people who actually know you, family, friends, coworkers, your actual boss, or previous bosses. They'll give you more insight than any of us every will.

I have done that. I just thought it would be good to get as many opinions as I could.

 

[307]

I have done that. I just thought it would be good to get as many opinions as I could.

It's not a volume solution, it's a quality solution. 3 opinions from seasoned and trusted sources is better than a million random people from the internet.

 

[Rich M]

My company has this thing where if your good at your job they will let you do someone else’s without paying you any more corporate America is changing. To continue to make big advances I personally feel you either need to be self employed so that drive gets you places or be willing to quit places because other companies will see more value in you


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I worked my way to the top in 8 years.

Do agree w what you said. Lots of companies will lot you do someone elses work for nothing extra.

At my company, im one of 5 owners. We know who does what and the raises and bonuses reflect that.

 

[HuntHarder]

In this line of work you don’t really branch out due to the cost of equipment/insurance/employees. You would need a few million to start your own thing our line trucks are about 300k a piece now and you can’t buy them the big contracts have purchased all the new ones from altec. You about have to go to a school to get into the trade for a utility. If he doesn’t care about where he lays his head I would tell him to go contract and head to California when he gets a union journeyman certificate. Insane money coming out of that state if I didn’t have the wife and kids I would have left 5 years ago for it. If you want you can pm me and we can have more of a discussion. I would not advise spending the time and money on the school if he isn’t willing to travel if needed to pursue this


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It is expensive to start out, but it does not have to be full on line work. I too am a lineman and have a buddy that branched out and started with underground trenching and running services. The amount of stub-ins and services here in the valley is amazing. I have always thought that at some point, I might buy a vac truck and go around vac-ing out pole holes for the utilities. Our hole diggers can not keep up and 95% of my poles are vacumed out by contractors. Too many underground utilities to even think about throwing an auger in the ground in most cases. Line work can afford you a fantastic living, but in order to make that money, you have to be at work.