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lmao, just apply to your local (3 hours away) IBEW program that accepts 5 people once a year heavily based on diversity quotas and/or legacy connections.
People on the internet are always saying 'dude just learn a trade bro' as if it's some kind of guaranteed career path for anyone willing to work hard. If these industries want young people to choose trades as a career, they're certainly doing a terrible job of communicating that. I went to a trades job fair recently, it was about 200 guys exactly like me packed into a room with about 6 company booths, none of which were actually hiring. It seems about as likely as scoring on tinder.
You can get an entry level HVAC job in June by having a clean driving record, piss test(and that is what your coworkers will call it) and willingness to work. Previous experience doing grunt work will make your application through the union as an apprentice go through much much better.
No, seriously, the trades are jobs and having previous experience, even if it isn't a one to one, and grit to get after it, will take you pretty far in getting started. Maybe you're a wordcel and not good with tools or something(I attempt to offer no judgement, maybe I don't succeed but recognize the effort please) and the trades aren't for you. Maybe you just lack the specific knowledge that functionally all trades bosses are computer illiterate and you need to call(or visit in person if you are unemployed) the company and ask to speak to the hiring manager to check up on the status of your application. This latter is what I tell to the at risk youths I mentor.
I won't sugarcoat the trades. There's a few long days, you'll have some years starting out where you live in your mom's basement, compensation is unlikely to reach fintech levels, etc. But, uh, if you don't like school you can support yourself and your family by doing them. You just gotta have that go getter choler and a willingness to work.
You can get a job being someone's bitch in June. That's what being an apprentice is.
They're shitty jobs that nobody would take without the promise of a master card at the end. Nobody will do a phd either without the promise of the degree at the end.
Tradesmen are mostly honest about their jobs not being fun, but do them for the pay premium, not the promise of a license for rent seeking(which is what a master card is).
Show me where apprentice jobs actually pay more than comparably difficult jobs on the open market
Apprentice jobs pay a meaningless amount more than other construction jobs(which is what they are). Journeymen make much more than other construction workers, and this is true even when the journey license is not strictly enforced. There are lots of plumbers in a truck on their own with an apprentice license and they get paid like journeymen.
Tradesmen earn a premium mostly because they are more highly skilled. Labour in the USA is just really expensive, and reliable labor with any skill at all particularly so. Unionized tradesmen earn an additional premium because of the union but even non-union tradesmen are generally making a good living.
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I really don't believe this. One of my coworkers finished a private electrical trade school, went into debt, and he still can't find an apprenticeship. I doubt HVAC is much different, especially in my area of the country where nobody even has air conditioning. Maybe in a big metro area or something. But I work at a lumber yard in a rural area and everyone wants to do either trades or become a firefighter (for some reason). And the firefighter guys seem to have a much higher success rate. I've applied to at least 100 jobs and gotten 2 interviews, both of which ghosted me after. And yes I'm an autist but I can hide it pretty well for short periods of time. The most recent one was for a "laborer" position at a company that does kitchen remodels, so it was actually one level below an apprenticeship, but there was a possibility to maybe become an apprentice someday. The interview went pretty well in my opinion, but he said they had hundreds of other applicants. At this point I'm more interested in joining the navy, since at least it's guaranteed employment and bennies once I'm in, rather than sinking hundreds of hours into job searching and hoping some boomer will answer the phone.
Yes, joining the military is a great way to start a career. Pick something with ‘technician’ or whatever in the title as an MOS so there’ll be a job waiting for you once you leave.
It kinda sounds like you’re in an economically depressed area.
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I have a friend who's an apprentice electrician, but he already has a bachelors from a good college and is happy to be taking trigonometry again, so it's more of a "same academic skills, better personal fit" when compared with white collar positions.
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