Good Union career in the building trades for 20 yr old to study for ?

Hi . 

I was talking with the 20 year old boy who lives across the street ,  he has graduated  from High School and  got a job at the local grocery store , 

He is good with his hands as far as working on his own Honda but no training , 

He would like to  work and get training for a  good career , 

Here in the  Los Angeles area they are going to be spending Billions to build housing for the Homeless and since it it is Government money it will be a Union job .  

So what Union job should he try and get into ?

I would think Plumbing , HVAC , Electrician  would be a good future but maybe there is another Career in the house building trades that might be better , 

Any ideas  or a pathway to get him into Union training ?

Thanks for your help

If I was doing it over and choosing from that group I'd be drawn toward Electrician. 

That one seems like the one skill that could take you many directions. Sure, house building but also anything from factory maintenance to small electric motor repair. Combine that with HVAC knowledge and it could be a big win. 

Yeah, he can't go too far wrong with any of the traditional trades.  Everybody needs help right now and have for a while.  I don't see that ending soon.

I will second John's recommendation for electrician, for all the same reasons.  Income potential and marketability should be solid for the predictable future.

Plus it seems cleaner and less physical in some ways.  Not that it isn't still physical.

I have a friend who's an electrician. Previously non-union, but just moved to a union company for approximately double the pay and better hours/conditions/benefits. Considering he doesn't have student loans, bought a nice house and has a happy life/family, I'd say it doesn't look like a bad path.

I have 3 buddies that are crane operators in the Chicago area.  One guys dad came in to our will call counter and bragged his son made $175,000 the prior year. Lots of overtime and weekends but they do well. Also they started as oilers in the early years.

Two retired at 59 with decent money and health insurance. Not sure of the Union in California.

https://local150.org/

A lot of newer buildings are getting "smart" HVAC systems, which increases the skill required to maintain. As such, HVAC is growing more technical, and people trained on newer systems will see demand increasing, if the more technical nature appeals to him.

Electrician, plumber, or carpenter if he wants a sure thing. You can go anywhere with those skills.

Did he play in a sandbox with Tonka trucks as a kid?  Operators. Cranes and riggers are part of the operating engineers.

I've been a tradesman for more than 40 years and I would also say electrician.

Yep, if I could do it over again I'd probably get certs for electrician and HVAC work (I would have no interest in plumbing beyond new construction). 

Since I actually have a pretty good work ethic unlike a lot of people I end up needing for work, at 40 years old I'm confident I would have had my own business years ago. 

matthewmcl said:

A lot of newer buildings are getting "smart" HVAC systems, which increases the skill required to maintain. As such, HVAC is growing more technical, and people trained on newer systems will see demand increasing, if the more technical nature appeals to him.

Many community colleges are offering programs in Building Automation Systems.  Seems like a skill set that is in high demand.

Yet another voice in the electrician chorus. Not a "brain-off" moment forgiving career, but experience in sparky stuff and a willingness to learn also opens up industrial maintenance, automation, and myriad other career paths.

For laughs sometime, ask a plumber how easy electricians have it :) My local guy at least has some strong opinions. Best to ask when they're wet and crouched under something.

I'd recommend applying for one of these scholarships: https://www.mikeroweworks.org/scholarship/

I think all of us that work in the trades will tend to vote for electrician.

I really enjoy custom woodwork.  Consistent work with cool projects can be hard to maintain unless you are near a high-rent area and set up a network with busy interior decorators.  Sometimes it can require shop space and more expensive tools that limits those who can jump in.

Plumbing is fun to me, but there are a lot of days you are not clean enough to walk into a restaurant for lunch.  Digging in pipes before a slab is poured can be a hot job in the summer...

Sheetrock/plaster, framing, tile setting, masonry, can all wear you out in 20 years.

I think of linemen as being a different trade than electrician, but it can be a profitable career with benefits, and most power companies seem to be hiring.

It’s great to hear about younger people interested in the trades.  Union apprenticeship programs will come with no cost to the apprentice and in some areas will result in an associate degree along with professional licenses on completion of the program.

Commercial HVAC service is my recommendation. I’m second generation, over 35 years in myself at this point and it’s provided for my parents, brought up and educated myself and my sister and now has provided for my family.   Solid pay, phenomenal benefits and far less susceptible to boom and bust cycles that can affect the construction side of the trade. Down times are still down times but customers tend to maintain and repair equipment in lean times which generates some work.  (My Dad did 40+ years without ever being laid off, same for me to this point.)  I’ve been in sales for over 25 years now so there’s also room to grow beyond being a tech in the future.  I hope he’s able to get into a program, please keep us posted! 

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:

I think all of us that work in the trades will tend to vote for electrician.

I only said electrician because it had to be building trades and it should also give option to transition to industrial later.

I think there's more money and easier work in industrial

Thanks guys for all your ideas, 

I think it  needs to be Union because of all the State , Federal and local projects that require Union ,  which will get him by for the next few years ,  and many of these projects require training .

My idea is that these trades are good for the future if he moves  or decides to go out on his own , 

If he stays around Southern California  the biggest problem will be the summer heat ,  which makes HVAC interesting and I am sure there will be a lot of updating older units, 

Anyway I am happy to hear your ideas , and I will show him this thread ,

Cheers

If he's in SoCal there are probably a bunch of trades related to the film industry that might be interesting too.  I don't know any details though.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

If he's in SoCal there are probably a bunch of trades related to the film industry that might be interesting too.  I don't know any details though.

Good idea , Thanks

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:

Sheetrock/plaster, framing, tile setting, masonry, can all wear you out in 20 years.

This! I wound up in carpentry and am now old, broken, and broke. 20 years ago, after my second back injury, Workmans Comp sent me to trade school where I got an architectural drafting/estimating education. I refused to do estimating but there is no money in drafting. Whatever, go to trade school and learn how to do things correctly. Don't rely on On the Job Training. Unless you want to learn the Norwegian, German, Polish, or Hungarian wrong ways of doing things like I did.

I also vote Electrician.

My kid #1 is 20. College didn't work. After some research we settled on...Electrician. He's a 2nd year apprentice, likes the work, and comes home way cleaner than the plumbers that I worked with during summer jobs in college.  On the other hand, I'm seeing no hint of the fabulous wages that others claim these guys make.

That said, here are two more to consider:

• Elevator technician (install / repair) - Pays more than most other trades, jobs in every city
• Millwright - Back when I worked for an industrial equipment manufacturer 2000 - 2010, these guys were always in demand, expensive,  and hard to find.  I bet none of that has changed. This job might require travel to stay busy, which a young guy might enjoy.

Another vote for electrician. They have been in dire need for good people for the last decade or so. Wide variety of work. If he is staying in CA, he will have work for the rest of his life due to the infrastructure upgrades that will be needed. Lots of things to specialize in too. 

Something to consider: what are they interested in? An operator is radically different than an electrician.

Count me in for an electrician.

Background:
My brother is an electrician with the union in Seattle.  He makes  more than I do as an Electrical Engineer in Aerospace (don't ask me how the heck that works, but I'm not making it up).  I was surprised to learn just how diverse the work he does is.  I've seen him on houseboats installing networks, and I've seen him in commercial buildings running plane-jane electricity.  It's pretty cool, and I can 100% put you in touch with him (he's an odd duck.  Hopped freight trains for a year and a half with a banjo and his dog back in 2009).

Our Step-father was a sheetrocker/drywaller.  I can vouch for the complete breakdown of a body in 20 years.  Was the money good?  Hell yeah.  Did he trade the entire second half of his life to earn that money?  Hell yeah.  Did he spend 100% of what he made on cocaine to keep up with the younger guys when he realized he was getting too old?  Also yeah.

Our biological father was a residential electrician.  Worked indoors-ish (frames, roofs, exterior walls, and windows are all mostly installed by the time the sparkies come in). Guess which job sites my brother and I preferred to frequent?  Installing switches, light fixtures, and outlets did get to be a bit routine, but it beat haulin and hanging sheetrock any day of the week, and the money was better.

Our biological father later went off to be a forklift mechanic.  About the same money, less hassle, and the benefits were just as good.  Not saying it's a "must move", but the options are out there and the work translates to a wide variety of fields.  My step-father is still trying to hang sheetrock at the age of 63. 

I think these days in commercial work there's a lot of melding of the trades between electrical, low voltage, HVAC, and building automation.

Millwright

That's what I do.  The money is good, the work is plentiful, and you don't have to work too hard.  Three of the four companies I've worked for have had a no layoff policy for millwrights, because you just can't get them. 
But it's not really a building trade.