Trade career options can be one of the best options for many people. Trade career options include a wide range of fields that deliver top-notch, much-needed services. For example, car repair services are always in high demand. It is estimated that 70% of the cars on the road require some type of service.
Learning more about trade career options can help you to make an informed decision about your future. There are plenty of opportunities out there. With the right training, you can be on your way to a great career in one of the many trade career options.
What Are Trade Careers?
Trade career options are jobs where you provide a specialty service. Trade careers can include things like plumbing, electricians, carpenters, masons, and other specialty skill service areas. You develop a trade career by becoming a specialist in a given field.
Car mechanics, HVAC specialists, house painters, house framers, metalworks, all of them are considered trade careers. These positions provide valuable support to businesses, residences, and many people.
Trade career options are also called “blue-collar” careers. They typically are performed in the field or a shop.
Is a Trade Career Right For You?
Choosing one of the trade career options is a great opportunity for anyone that would like to own their business someday. If you like to work with different people and even at different locations, it can be a great option for you.
When you choose a career in a field that you are interested in it can be very fulfilling, especially because you are providing a highly valued service to your customer base. For example, as an HVAC specialist, you will ensure your customers’ comfort by keeping their heating and air conditioning working in top condition. As a car mechanic, you will help your customers to have the dependable transportation that they deserve.
Trade careers are helping fields that help people solve problems that are impacting their lifestyle. It can be very rewarding when you know that you helped someone solve their problems and that they can move forward in life with peace of mind.
Of course, trade careers can be hard work, and in many cases it is hard physical work, but the compensation can be great. Many of these types of careers always have plenty of business and rarely feel the pinch of any recession. People always need HVAC repairs, they always need auto care, and they always need to manage other areas of their life regardless of the economy.
What Do You Like to Do?
Choosing one of the trade career options should start with a little self-examination. What do you enjoy doing? Do you like working outdoors? Do you enjoy solving problems? Deciding what you enjoy to do is your first step in finding one of the trade career options that will work best for you.
Each of the trade career options has something to offer. For example, if you do not mind heights, enjoy being in the outdoors, and want to help people to protect their home, then working as a professional roofer for a roofing company can be a great option.
The range of trade career options is substantial and most can be very lucrative. To take advantage of the available opportunities you should consider what you enjoy doing and how much time you want to put into training.
The Training for Trade Career Options
While all of the trade career options require some training, some require more than others. For example, if you are interested in heating and air conditioning, you will likely have to go for some formal school training and do some apprenticeship time.
In other cases, where the career field is less technical like door installation, you may have to spend some time as a trainee working under a master in the craft and you can forgo formal training in a school environment altogether.
How much time do you want to invest in training? Are you eager to get to work right away or would you prefer to up your income by spending some time in a trade school learning your craft? The fact is no matter which of the trade career options you choose, having a certification in that field can help you to earn more.
Dirty Jobs Pay More
Some of the trade career options are pretty dirty jobs. For example, debris removal, waste handling, and other professions where you specialize in managing other people’s waste. These fields are certainly not glamorous but they can pay very well and require minimal training.
Other career fields are not so much dirty as they are risky. For example, to work for a pest control company you have to have formal training, wear special equipment, and work with pesticides that can be risky. However, you can provide a much-needed service, and the more certifications you have the more money you can earn.
Some of the dirtier career fields require special training to get your certification. Mold and mildew removal requires both formal education and in many states licensure to offer these services. You may be required to take a state-sanctioned test, especially if you plan to go out on your own.
Certifications May Not Be Necessary But They Sure Do Not Hurt
When you are considering one of the trade career options, you should also be considering the value of a formal education in that field. While many fields do not have a “standard” for education requirements beyond a high school diploma, it is still a good idea to bite the bullet and get formal training.
Formal classroom training can add significantly to your earning power. Getting a certificate in your chosen trade career can:
- Make you the stand out candidate for employment. If you are competing for a position, being the candidate with the certificate can help you to pull ahead of the other candidates being considered.
- Help you to earn more as an entry-level specialist. Employers like to see that you are not starting from a point of zero-knowledge. Some formal education can help you to ante up your earning power nicely.
- Help if you decide to go out on your own. Many of the trade career options have standards in place for owners and masters of the craft. Having your formal education out of the way early on can help when it is time to branch out on your own.
Whether you are interested in a career in water damage restoration or another trade career, having some formal training in a certificate course can help you to establish your expertise even in the early stages of your career.
Highly Specialized Niche Trades
Some of the trades that are out there are highly specialized areas that fall into the niche category. Choosing trade career options based on need can lead you on a path to a niche trade. Septic installation, service, and repair is a bit of a niche trade.
Other niche trades include:
- Crime scene cleanup.
- Water well drilling.
- Asbestos abatement.
Niche trades can deliver an amazing income, but not everyone will need these types of services. For example, a crime scene cleanup specialist is typically contracted to the city, they “clean up crime scenes”. When a crime occurs that involves bodily fluids this type of tradesperson is called in. Of course, most tradespeople in this field typically will offer other hazmat cleanup services.
There is a range of niche trades out there that can be very lucrative but they usually require a specialty skill set. Going to a trade school, getting your licensure in a niche trade, and providing a much-needed service can be a great way to reach both your financial goals, and be very satisfying.
Be Your Own Boss
The fact is choosing one of the trade career options can be the first step in owning your own business. Specializing in a trade that is much needed in your area can help to pave the way to starting your own business. Many people that start their career by choosing one of the trade career options, wind up owning their own business.
Typically the path to owning your own business starts with working for someone else for a while to “cut your teeth” in the field and learning as much as you can. For example, if you are interested in starting a sewer and drain services company in your area, your first step could be to work for a national chain sewer and drain company and work your way up through the ranks.
A lot of tradespeople will work for someone else for a few years to learn more about the business, get their own certifications, and earn seed money to start their business. The experience of working for someone else in the industry can be very valuable and help to prepare you to run your own business.
There are so many positives to owning your business. You can make your own hours, you can enjoy reaching your financial goals, you can give back to the community, and become the person that helps other people to perfect their craft by taking on apprentices.
If your goal is to be a business owner someday, then choosing from trade career options can be the quickest way to reach that goal. With the right education and support, the sky is the limit. When you love what you do, you are good at what you do. When you are good at providing a needed service, the customers will be coming to you.
Learning a trade will never prove to be a bad choice. Whether you go on to go into business for yourself or you decide later on down the road to switch careers, learning a trade will serve you well.
If Trade Careers Are So Great Why Doesn’t Everyone Do It?
Trade career options are not right for everyone. Typically working in a trade field requires more physical labor than working in an office. In trade career options you may have to work out in the elements, which may not be right for everyone. It may also be that people are not as interested in some of the risk for injury that comes with more physical jobs and would like to avoid the potential trip to urgent care. Thankfully, urgent care centers are readily available should something happen, but there is a risk, especially for roofers, to consider. However, it’s also true that some people simply prefer the 9-5 life in the climate-controlled office. Some people want to have to dress up every day to go to work.
Trade career options often require a special interest and skill set, some people are not interested in learning what needs to be learned, or they are not intrigued by the work. For example, many car mechanics have always had an interest in how things work, if you are not interested in how things work than being a mechanic is not the best option for you.
In other words, to succeed at any of the trade career options, you have to have an interest in the field, and some people just do not. Picking a career field is a very personal choice. Some people love the idea of working with new people all the time and helping people solve their problems, other people prefer a consistent routine of going to the same place to work every day and sitting at the same desk every day.
How Can I Learn More?
There is a wealth of information available online that can help you to choose the trade career options. A simple search of the type of work you are interested in doing will return a large body of information including job descriptions, the salary range for your area, education required, and more.
Society as a whole has been focused on getting that 4-year college degree for a while, but the fact is if it was not for specialists in the trade fields a lot of things would simply fall apart. It does not take 4 years of college to become a specialist at roof repair services but it is a highly respected trade that is desperately needed. A trade career can help you find the income that you need without a 4-year degree. If you are looking to start a career or you are ready to switch gears and change your career, don’t overlook all the possibilities that exist with trade career options. You may find the rewarding career you have been searching for.