Walms
Well-known member
This is the idea bud!
Money is a short term incentive... Just ask that broom sweeper if he feels he deserves $35 per hour, he'll tell you he deserves every penny because his job sucks!
Another question for the trades guys here
- Thread starter Mongrel
- Start date
This is the idea bud!
Money is a short term incentive... Just ask that broom sweeper if he feels he deserves $35 per hour, he'll tell you he deserves every penny because his job sucks!
Maybe my post came off on the opposite spectrum of yours.. just as you don't wake up obscenely happy to be going to work every morning, I mostly do not go to bed dreading the next day. It sounds like you work for someone else, so a large amount of pressure is taken off your shoulders. I don't have a negative view of the trades, I just have a realistic view of what the job is.
I work for the largest company in the world involved in my trade.
The largest part of me disliking my job is the commute to the city however for the next 1.5 years I'll be taking the go train. Now I can get back to enjoying my job and be home at 4:00 in a good mood.
The largest part of me disliking my job is the commute to the city however for the next 1.5 years I'll be taking the go train. Now I can get back to enjoying my job and be home at 4:00 in a good mood.
Red_Liner740
Well-known member
Mmmnaked you seem to fail to grasp the idea that not all trades are menial back breaking labor. My job is trades yet I fire up the laptop just as much as I reach for my toolbox. Did a tradesman sleep with your wife?
btw I love my work. I work from home, don't have to commute into that ******** of downtown T.O, get paid the minute I leave my house and *gasp, actually get paid OT. Unlike a lot of office "mandatory volunteer work".
My fiancée worked for head office of a major grocery store chain and hated going into work. I know exactly the type of Corporate politics, *** kissing and backstabbing that has to happen for you to advance in that sort of environment. Some people are cut out to be sleazy snakes who prosper in those environments, others are cut out to actually creat something with their hands.
btw I love my work. I work from home, don't have to commute into that ******** of downtown T.O, get paid the minute I leave my house and *gasp, actually get paid OT. Unlike a lot of office "mandatory volunteer work".
My fiancée worked for head office of a major grocery store chain and hated going into work. I know exactly the type of Corporate politics, *** kissing and backstabbing that has to happen for you to advance in that sort of environment. Some people are cut out to be sleazy snakes who prosper in those environments, others are cut out to actually creat something with their hands.
Red_Liner740
Well-known member
"Economically and socially, a tradesman's status is considered between a laborer and a professional, with a high degree of both practical and theoretical knowledge of his or her trade. In cultures where professional careers are highly prized, there can be a shortage of skilled manual workers, leading to lucrative niche markets in the trades"
from wikipedia.
I am a tradesman, i do work from home and I do use my laptop for work, but not at the same time.
Im a field service tech in the food industry. I work from home and have no office I have to commute to. My work is assigned via phone/email and I travel to job sites. When I don't have work assigned I sit at home getting paid. Mind you my job is a lot closer to a "professional" than a tradesman thats bashing tin as an HVAC specialist, but none the less I'm a tradesman.
The confusion comes from the fact that nowadays if you work with your hands you're a tradesman. We are too politically correct to call a spade a spade. You are thinking of labourers. We just can't call them that anymore. Same way Garbage men are now Sanitary Technicians or Waste Management Specialists. Give me a break.
from wikipedia.
I am a tradesman, i do work from home and I do use my laptop for work, but not at the same time.
Im a field service tech in the food industry. I work from home and have no office I have to commute to. My work is assigned via phone/email and I travel to job sites. When I don't have work assigned I sit at home getting paid. Mind you my job is a lot closer to a "professional" than a tradesman thats bashing tin as an HVAC specialist, but none the less I'm a tradesman.
The confusion comes from the fact that nowadays if you work with your hands you're a tradesman. We are too politically correct to call a spade a spade. You are thinking of labourers. We just can't call them that anymore. Same way Garbage men are now Sanitary Technicians or Waste Management Specialists. Give me a break.
Sooo... how do I get in your field
Red_Liner740
Well-known member
You're already switched over to CNC.
BTW, can you do projects on the side?
BTW, can you do projects on the side?
Ignorance is bliss. Took me a long time to figure out the shame of being in the trades. Everything in the material world is touched by the trades, all the buildings, modern comforts and conveniences, transportation, toys.....everything tangible. We all desire the fine things in life yet so little respect is given to those who provide it. It's quite the culture we have now. Kind of reminds me of the food industry where we have to bring in temporary workers to pick our own food. Meanwhile some egg head will read 800 pages of bs grand jury rulings to win an internet argument to assert his place on the totem pole.
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Amen
I'm in a consulting position to (mostly) automotive parts manufacturers.
There is great concern in the automotive industry that there will be a shortage of certain types of skills in the coming years. We are already seeing it. I have customers that are having a hard time finding certain types of skills right now.
Robot technicians. PLC programmers. Industrial electricians. Tool and die. Millwrights. Basically anything involved with developing and building tooling and automation equipment.
A fair number of these people are tapping on a computer as opposed to getting dirty.
The good/bad depending on your viewpoint: Depending on who you work for, you *could* end up as part of an on-site installation crew and may be away from home for weeks at a time.
There is great concern in the automotive industry that there will be a shortage of certain types of skills in the coming years. We are already seeing it. I have customers that are having a hard time finding certain types of skills right now.
Robot technicians. PLC programmers. Industrial electricians. Tool and die. Millwrights. Basically anything involved with developing and building tooling and automation equipment.
A fair number of these people are tapping on a computer as opposed to getting dirty.
The good/bad depending on your viewpoint: Depending on who you work for, you *could* end up as part of an on-site installation crew and may be away from home for weeks at a time.
Lol, I plan to do a bit of cnc programming to widen my horizons. I just learned to operate a 5-axis mill. I just have a year in the field, & just starting to get comfortable.
I can't run the company cnc to do private work & a real mill costs 100k. I will certainly look at that in the future as I save up a bit of $$
I'm in manufacturing right now & I heard robotics & plc make a killing.
Something such as fixing things comes so natural to me. I can't imagine why someone would get paid that much. Even maintenance at an industrial plant makes a decent salary & they're just wrenching. I might do something like this along the lines to make some $$ then do something else just to stimulate myself.
Not sure I agree with all this..... and definitely thats one broad paint brush you are using on the trade industry.
Can't speak for every trade, but for "me", I love that everyday I'm not chained to a desk and doing a robotic job. Going to the same frigging workplace office every day and dealing with the same frigging coworkers on a daily basis, year after year would drive me insane.
Just about every day in my trade is a new "adventure". You get to see a LOT of things and go to interesting places, meet a lot of different people, see a lot of nice homes, a lot of ultra rich peoples nice cars. On the commercial side, you get a glimpse as to how different businesses (from fast food joints, Dr's offices, to post offices, to malls and airports) operate as you do service calls for them (from big companies to mom and pop shops), basically you get a whole new perspective from other viewpoints and situations, which is great!
In our trade (mainly electrical), we don't just limit ourselves to one type of job, we diversify, which keeps things interesting. new construction, commercial, renovations, service work, generators, alarm systems, video cameras, home theater and tv hanging, central vacuum install, data and computer wiring, and Im sure there are other aspects I can't think of right now. Always learning, always adapting, new products, new technology. I believe connected homes are going to be the next big thing.
NO greater feeling than walking away from a job and seeing what you got accomplished. Wiring that Tim Hortons, completing that multi million dollar mansion, hanging a customers $10,000 chandelier and seeing their face light up when you flick the switch. Not sure I could get that same feeling putting 8 hours in a stuffy office sitting in front of a computer all day and then going home at the end of the day feeling like you didn't accomplish anything.
We're also one of the few trades that goes to a project that starts from its very beginning at foundation stage (putting in a temp service, running conduits during excavation, etc) to being there during 'rough in' construction stage, and among the very last people on the job when the project is complete (final touches, finish plates, etc). IMHO, being on a project from start to finish, is absolutely rewarding and as you see it progress every step of the way, knowing you had a hand in it.
Absolutely, at times, the job has its challenges and issues, but that goes for 'any' job if you want to be realistic. We rarely get super dirty. and for the heavy lifting, thats what apprentices are for.......... :lol:
As for the "thankless" aspect of the job? I get all the "thanks" I need when the customer gets my bill and surrenders a big fat check.
Let me tell you one last thing, no "good" tradesperson, stays out of work for long. Just doesn't happen.
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http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/why-your-teenager-cant-use-a-hammer/
Nothing wrong with learning a trade. Through my education (engineering) I have learned that there are two types of engineers. There are those who can solve advanced calculus differential equations in their head but don't know which way to turn a wrench, then there's the practical engineers like me. When people complain about how engineers design ridiculously complicated things that are impossible to build, that's the result of a design engineer who never played with Lego or took apart a lawn mower when they were little. Their design might work incredibly well, but they're clueless when it comes to general fabrication principles.
Nothing wrong with learning a trade. Through my education (engineering) I have learned that there are two types of engineers. There are those who can solve advanced calculus differential equations in their head but don't know which way to turn a wrench, then there's the practical engineers like me. When people complain about how engineers design ridiculously complicated things that are impossible to build, that's the result of a design engineer who never played with Lego or took apart a lawn mower when they were little. Their design might work incredibly well, but they're clueless when it comes to general fabrication principles.
Walms
Well-known member
Agreed 100%
I like the way the Germans do it!
To be a professional engineer, you need to also have a trade apprenticeship under their belt.
I didn't know that! I like that idea though.
That's it right there. While my trade isn't as complicated this describes life in the trade before joining union. We didn't do residential just industrial/ commercial. Jobs from short service call to maybe 2 months max. Always fresh scenery. Been inside tons of buildings and factories in Golden Horseshoe + GTA. Spend any amount of time on any job and you realize the workers there do exactly the same thing in the same small radius every day for years and years. Yuk. I take job file to job site, consult with contact, measure, fabricate+source materials and install. Never a dull moment running your own show, the boss trusting you'll do right by him and the customer. The big project union jobs are less of that, unfortunately, but pay more and give the clean breaks after every job. For certain types of people thats a positive, for pinned down family types it might be a negative. Also in the union you're mostly just a number, the management above foreman usual doesn't understand your background and treats you like a shmoe.
