My husband and I are in our early thirties. Neither of us completed high school; we both have GEDs. We both come from very financially and emotionally unstable backgrounds. We have a lot of reasons/excuses to fail in life. And we did, for a while.
Then we found plumbing. My husband went through his apprenticeship first while I financially held down the fort (driving 18 wheelers, which is a great short term way to earn a good amount of money). He still made between $12-15/hr throughout his two year apprenticeship, which is a lot better than no dollars per hour, and now he is paid commission and nets about $60/k year. That is low for this company and he will make more as he gains confidence and experience.
I have now decided to follow in his footsteps and got lucky with a $15/hr position as a completely green apprentice. As a female, it was VERY hard to break in with no previous labor experience, but I found a female-owned company that gave me a shot. I'm 3 months in, 21 to go for my Tradesman license.
So, for now, we have a combined net income of about $85k/year, and no debt of any kind. Within two years, that income should rise to $120-$150k very realistically. More is entirely possible as half the plumbers at the company we both currently work for bring home $90k or more. Also, this is for service (residential) plumbing, not commercial or union. You can make great money in both of those arenas as well (especially union if you're in a good state for it).
I think that most states do not have a Tradesman license, so in that case, your apprenticeship would be 4 years to get your Journeyman. I still think it would be well worth it for a lot of people.
I just thought I would make a post giving some people a first-hand, real world example of making it without a college degree or any student loan debt. And the job prospects are fantastic. There are no plumbers in my city that look for a job for more than a few days... and they have multiple offers to choose from. The fact is that there are not enough plumbers to go around, and that is true of a lot of trades. The job growth in plumbing over the next 20 years is double the national average.
Unless you are disabled, there are no excuses. And yes, ladies, you can do it, too. I do. I'm 5'1" and weigh 118 lbs and I do it. I have trouble helping lift water heaters into and out of attics, and the company tries to keep me off water heaters when possible, but I still do it. Yes, it will be harder. But no one ever got anywhere by whining about fairness or difficulty.
I will try to answer questions if there are any.
Submitted August 29, 2018 at 01:27PM by travelsizegirl https://ift.tt/2Nv0qw1
