Looking for my Future Career

[diesel_3]

Hey guys,
Don't know why I am posting this here, I guess I feel the need to just type some stuff out.
I will soon have the living situation where I can finally go back to school and do something with my life, I was in the Army for 5 years and had worked odd jobs on and off up until now, really.

I have been tossing around different trades to take, I was diagnosed with PTSD last November from my deployment overseas. The only place where my anxiety wasn't bad and didn't feel like I was surrounded by people and houses and super busy areas was Vancouver Island, mainly Victoria..just a very relaxing city.

The problem is, there isn't a TON of industry there, I am wanting to take a trade that is somewhat in demand and that I won't absolutely kill myself doing. I am wanting to use my brain and have every day or week be different from the last. I have been thinking about Welding or HVAC.

I guess I am just hoping somebody in here is in both of those trades or maybe even live on the Island and know what is something good to get in to. I have been doing my research on workbc.com and they both have 'average' demand and i'm sure out of school there WOULD be some sort of apprenticeship.

Anyways, that was a long winded Diary post haha...Jump in here if you work in the trades, or stop in and say 'Hi!'

 

[jSalud]

Best of luck to you and thank you for your service. A trade can be hard to break into but keep at it man. A friend of mine tried for 3 years to get into any trade, eventually he got on as a pipe fitter and is making some serious cash now. Keep at it!

 

[Zero V]

So you want a industrial based career I take it?

I always tell people medical, renewable energy, health fields are where its at going forward. Hell a 1 year certification program in Medical Coding nets you a job sitting on your @ss making more than most people in warehouses. I know alot of places here after a year if you meet quota all year you are allowed to work from home as well.

Personally I have done the warehouse stent for too long and I am about to be 27. I mean I got into leadership and life is easy and great but I need to finish school myself. I tried for the Iron Workers Union about 4 years back. Happy I did not get that...

I guess it depends on the type of person you are. But those types of careers will wear out your body and require time periods where you will put in long days of work. So remember that in regards to raising a family.

If you have the mental knack for learning I would recommend studying anything medical related, renewable energy related, or health/fitness related as those are three rapidly growing areas. On top of that they are useful in most other 1st world countries. I just mention that because the day may be coming when its time to leave the country if you want to maintain a livelyhood lol.

 

[Megatron28]

How's your aptitude for math concepts?

 

[halfwit]

I was in the HVAC trade for a few years and I can tell you that it's not the place to be unless you can get picked up by a bigger company that caters to all sides of the business: industrial/commercial/residential. It's a lot of long hours and you will be working mostly on your lonesome or in a crew of 2 maybe 3 depending on the job size. Smaller companies tend to require you to bring your own tools as well, so you can expect a several thousand dollar upfront investment.

Medical is a booming industry right now, but once the baby boomers die off, it's going to see a recession as well. However, if you pick a part of the field that requires specialization and can carry over such as imaging or equipment servicing/diagnostics you could potentially put yourself in a safer place in the future.

My .02c


FYI: I have been in HVAC/Electrical/IT/NT and am now back in school for Electrical Engineering. Gotta pick an industry that the MILLIONS of folks from India/China won't be able to snipe so easily in the coming years.

 

[Hull Tech]

Move around the coast to Nanimo and do a deep water hard suit welding program. If crowds and people get to you but you like a rush then that's the job for you.

 

[diesel_3]

Thanks guys, I guess a few things have happened since I have posted this thread.

I am now living in Comox (Rent free for a bit, so that's pretty good)

Also, a family friend who worked at Telus for 30+ years said they were going to be putting up a posting for Service Technicians (Install and Repair Tech) and that she would hand deliver my resume to her manager. I applied a couple weeks ago and still waiting, i'm just assuming they collect all resumes while the posting is open then short list it from there. I am hoping to land this job because it's salary, benefits are good and after 4.5 years i'll be up around $31 an hour which is definitely sustainable. Not sure what that is as an overall yearly salary, but i'm assuming with that wage with the odd overtime hour here or there I could be up around 65-70k per year.

If that doesn't work out I will definitely still check out either HVAC or Welding. I would do my underwater welding course, didn't know they had that in Nanaimo! That's pretty cool, I hear they make a TON of money.

Hull, Would I have to be a specific class in order to take that course? Or would Class C be fine?

 

[Hull Tech]

Any prior skill is good but it's so different from any terrestrial welding that you'd start from the ground up. But the cash you can make once done is insane. personally I'm good to jump into a cluster fuck, in the dark.. on a reserve chute, rather then go deep.. shit gives me the heebie geebies.

 

[diesel_3]

Any prior skill is good but it's so different from any terrestrial welding that you'd start from the ground up. But the cash you can make once done is insane. personally I'm good to jump into a cluster fuck, in the dark.. on a reserve chute, rather then go deep.. shit gives me the heebie geebies.

I guess that would be pretty freaky, hey? Just deep underwater with no idea what's around watching you.

 

[Optimal]

Victoria is going to be hiring around 2000 shipbuilders by 2020 due to recent grants.
I went to a trades talk at Camousun College and it was mentioned that they will be introducing an 8-month program specifically for this and the jobs will probably be paying big time due to the lack of qualified ship builders around.
There would probably be room for even more opportunity if you also kept going with your welding to compliment it.

One thing to note about HVAC: there's usually a TON of overtime involved. A lot of the guys that worked for us at my old job would basically work from wake to bed for a month straight, take a week off and then repeat.