Welders, Tradesmen--Career Advice?

[aggravatedfarmer]

Mike Rowe said it best recently. "We don't need more Philosophers, we need more tradesman."

 

[warren]

I would refine that to "more skilled tradesmen with pride of workmanship." Plus, philosophers never make much money. A really good philosopher can make us think. A run of the mill plumber can unclog your plumbing. Which is more important to you when the plumbing doesn't work? Plus, I do some of my best thinking when sitting on a working toilet in the early morning hours.

 

[aggravatedfarmer]

Agreed Warren! The book "fight club" was written by a mechanic and had some deep issues brought to the surface. When I'm in a tractor, I usually do my thinking there. Here is a rhetorical for all you guys. The average age of a farmer? 60, I'm 29 and third generation on our farm. My great grandfather was a tent farmer. He never owned acres, but owned livestock.

 

[teufelhund]

Felt I should put my two cents in... There is always an opportunity for welders to work in my area. I honestly cant wait to get my certs and weld moments on big iron. Also not sure if it was mention, but there is a huge demand for all iron work in North Dakota. I see the lists whenever I'm on the international web page. Go to www.ironworkers.org and check the jobline. Everyone is looking for welders. Best of luck to you.

 

[elbert]

Thanks for chippin' in, teufelhund. I'm still not decided what the next big step is. Been studying up on coding a pretty good deal since I started this thread--this weekend (I'll have Internet in my new apartment tomorrow) I'm gonna pick a programming language and dive in. If it looks like something I can do well, I'll stick with it. If not, back to welding!
Thanks again to everyone! I can't tell you how helpful this thread has been in directing my thoughts and energies. My brother's been pushing me to learn coding for months now. Guess sometimes you just have to hear it said a different way. Thanks again!