For those in or with knowledge of Construction, Building, Engineering...

[A-Unit]

When I was younger, building was my life. I had all forms of conceivable toys relating to building, even some not so popular. My father was and is a builder and contractor, by hobby, but not by occupation. Many of my uncles are engineers and have done their own home renovations. I even built my own trailer that pulled lawn mowers for the lawn jobs we did in our neighborhood. So building, investing, constructing was my life...

Then I'd gone to college, started Civil Engineering at the University of Maine, and dropped that major in about 1 week. I switched to business, and finally Accounting/Finance/Economics at a different university. A piece of me feels like I ditched the major too early. A host of factors played into my decision to switch, one of which was Out of State Tuition costs.

I am posting to gauge the opinions of guys currently in trade fields or persuing said degrees, like Plastics, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Construction Engineering, Cement, Bricklaying etc. My cousin has a thriving business at the age of 23 in Cement Foundations and Forms and will eventually finish a construction degree at UMO. His brother, 22, finished a Mechanical Engineering Degree and will works with HydroPower and Chemical Manufacturers. They're both lucrative careers in a state that doesn't require much money to live with a far simpler way of life.

I'm thinking of adding part-time income by doing some 'trade' work, or learning an additional trade now. Or, perhaps going to school online or part-time to pick up my degree in an engineering field. I might have to do 3 years as opposed to 4 since I finished many courses related to an engineering degree already, Including Calculus at UMO, English, Writing, and Chemistry, all at UMO. Many of the ENTREPRENEURIAL trade people I know make tons of money in similar ventures due to their knowledge, such as buying or building real estate, or owning their own business that encompasses their career. Finance and Accounting are OK, and will forever be needed, but if it came down to it, I'd rather be dirty, driving a pickup with tools, and making 25% less, than hitched and chained to a corporation like a slave in a suit 9-5. To me, there's more personal satisfaction in creating things physically.


Your replies are well met and appreciated.


A-Unit

 

[Bible_Belt]

I have done a bit of carpentry; my rural economy is very trades-oriented. Several of my friends from high school are contractors. I know many guys at least making a living by doing basic tradesman stuff. The rates that Lowes and Home Depot charge for installing anything are ridiculous and easily undercut. They want like $90 to install a window AC, which only a few minutes of work. Even more complex jobs like installing doors, windows, and cabinets are not very difficult with a little practice.

What you do with your skill probably is most dependent upon your access to capital. Residential construction costs in my area are roughly only 1/3 materials; the rest is labor. So if you can build a house or apartment from the ground up, you can then borrow against equity and repeat the process. The hard part is getting the capital to do it the first time.

I was thinking of starting a small business to buy wholesale lots of power tools on the Internet and resell them locally. Retail prices are not difficult to beat, and I would only sell quality stuff like DeWalt and Porter Cable, which would also command a higher per-item profit. Supposedly in the gold rush days, the people selling equipment made much better money than almost all the miners. btw, as you probably know, Levi Strauss sold tents. The jeans were an afterthought to put the scraps of denim to use.

 

[Titanium]

As an alternative idea...if you don't want to spend too much time in university (I am assuming you already have a degree?), you can take a few years at a technical trade school in civil engineering, mechanical engineering or construction, etc. I know many guys who have done very well with their careers by doing it that way.


I'd rather be dirty, driving a pickup with tools, and making 25% less, than hitched and chained to a corporation like a slave in a suit 9-5. To me, there's more personal satisfaction in creating things physically.

I really respect your views on the trade industry, and I think its a commendable way to make a living. I have spent years in construction, and field related engineering supervision work. At present, I am in a corporate setting, but sometimes I wish I was still doing the former rather than sitting on my ass behind 3 computer monitors all day long. Its good to be out there doing physical work. And the office can be stressful.

Which leads me to say - that trade occupations can be stressful as well. There is a different mentality in labour type jobs that can get very tiring. If it were as easy as just driving around with tools and doing your job, then perhaps I would stayed in it longer. Besides a tougher lifestyle, you encounter guys who have a very raw and primitive way of dealing people. You know, the reactive emotional type. You also encounter guys who don't seem to have a lot of brains or work ethic at all, and it can be very tiring trying to manage them.

While both the corporate and the trade work environments can be stressful, they are stressful in different ways. I have to say it is for that reason, that I wouldn't want to put many more, or any more working years into trade. Even as a business owner.

Anyways - that's just my personal take on things...not meaning to discourage, but just offering my perspective. Job quality - and low stress is something I prioritize these days.

 

[A-Unit]

Re:

Thanks guys...

That was some helpful insight.

People with TRADE skills will never find themselves out of work, just in heated competition. They can't be sent overseas or downsized or rightsized like service people, managers, perhaps sales people, etc. Obviously MOM & POP shops will forever face the wrath of Wal-Mart-type companies, so long as people chop prices in favor of slave wages and poverty level prices.

Obviously they are wage earners, and get paid an hourly rate. But money is no object and it makes no sense to work 30 years to accumulate money to retire, when the only reason to RETIRE is by quitting something you didn't like to begin with. Many people I know work til they die because they do something they loved and are capable of doing it still part-time. I know others who do trade type jobs just because they never went to school and they were thrown into it like some college kids are thrown into academic programs.

I'm giving it consideration and perhaps a serious undertaking at something else while I do other things, investing in the market and beginning R/E being some of them. All else in due time.


A-UNit

 

[TheMainMan]

Mate,

Ive spent the past 6 years working in Construction Industry and I f***** love it!

Since doing a degree in construction management ive worked as a site engineer, estimator, site manager and now settled as a planning engineer (think you call them schedulers in the US).

Basically you can't go wrong with working in the construction game, be it as a hands on tradesman or in a professional occupation such as an estimator or manager.

Construction is booming on a global scale and likely to remain this way for some time. Everyone sees it as a dirty industry with long hours, poor pay and poor conditions and for these reasons their just isn't the workers out there to match the demand.

Makes me laugh when people here what I do and then realise that Im earning twice what my brother does as a solicitor in one of the more fashionable sectors such as law.

Site life is great and seeing a major building going up can be really satisfying. All I would add is that being a tradesman could be physically demanding especially as you get older. Ive seen plenty of guys get worn out from it. Site safety is a bit of a worry too.

Even though I am still an employee working for a project management outfit, the knowledge I have pick up from the industry is invaluable for property and real estate investment and this is where I am looking at getting into next.

Good luck with it all.