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Trades

We have been looking for a body tech for a couple of months now. We have tried our local tech college and damn what a waste. Apparently they don't teach em squat. But we knew we were wasting our time when he showed up in plaid shorts with a flat bill hat complete with a sticker on the bill. And he wasn't :JRich:. Only thing we've had fill out an app is rebuilders. There's nothing wrong with rebuilders in a sense but there's a difference in rebuilding and doing insurance work.
 
Same story here:

I'm 30 and I've been doing home remodeling for the last 11 years and I'm that time I've met maybe one or two other guys my age who give a damn enough to show up and work. You can't even convince a green kid that it's worth his time to pay attention and learn. I told any little **** they put with me the sale thing "even if this is a summer job and you're going on to do something else with your life, eventually you're going to own a house and need to work on it, so you might as well pay attention and learn."

Now I work for myself, making as good of money as any of my high school buddies who went to school. I work alone and don't even bother lookin for help because the number of guys you interview, or who you hire and figure out once they're with you that they don't know ****, is astounding.
 
Re: Re: Trades

Its a problem all across America. Here's my take on the younger generation wants to make top dollar without earning it (climbing the ladder). But I also believe companies hiring are part of the problem. In my town 15 bux an hour is good money to most. But most jobs don't pay that much less more than that. If you can get on at a mill, railroad or power company that's where the money is. I just wanna make enough to provide for my family and work 40 hours a week. It sucks knowing my company makes so much off my labor and I don't even get a 1/5 of what they charge. I feel that's the main reason its hard to get kids to come into the working world. Im being taking advantage of but have to so I can provide for my family and have the few toys that I have.
 
I'm a plant manager who runs two plants full of die casting, stamping, knob forming, rail forming/welding processes with some chemical finishing thrown into the mix. (Brands you may know: Kwikset, Stanley National Hardware, Weiser, Baldwin, Price Pfister)

We have our own tool room to repair and mfg new tooling for our die casting and stamping equipment. We do "ok" finding operators to run machines, but we absolutely struggle with finding good tool and die makers as well as good mechanics for our maint. dept.
We have partnered with the local community college and are starting to get some traction with some training programs there but its a long row to hoe because the American Industrial machine has been decimated and people are just now realizing that we better do something about it.

Funny this topic came up, because we also have a High School teacher here visiting the plant for the week working to understand the needs of local industry so he can design his courses work around getting kids ready to enter the workforce (not just pass a standardized test and go to a liberal arts college). I'm pretty excited about the program, and hope to see some benefits from it in the coming years.

If any of you like Mike Rowe (dirty jobs guy) - he has started a very cool foundation to try to address this very thing - the need for skilled tradespeople in the US.
Pretty cool to see a celebrity doing something good for once instead of just pandering for air time by being a media whore...

Anyway - I agree - skilled tradespeople are hard to find and we need more of them!!!
 
I agree with so much in here I couldn't possibly quote it all and make it make sense...

I was in the car business for 7 years and when that went to **** I started looking for a more "professional" career that I could do for a lifetime and be steady. At this time I had a Bachelors with Marketing/Management emphasis. I couldn't find a job anywhere within a reasonable distance that was A. Outside the car business B. Not 50+ miles away and paid what it was worth.

I chose to go back to school for a Engineering Graphics degree (CAD/Drafter) and finished in a year, found a job as soon as I left and am hoping to land another one here soon geared more toward design. I'm also still in school working toward my BSMET at night.

So much is taken away from the tech schools it seems but if you get into a trade or niche it's really the only way to find a job around here. Most of our industry knows these kids from the big schools are just looking for a resume builder when they take an entry level position but they can hire someone like me and finish them through school, then mold them to what they want and have that loyalty and a trained person. Another thing.... I don't think kids should be allowed or encouraged to go into a 4 year degree straight out of HS. I think you should work them a couple years before they go. Not many if any know what they want to do at age 17-18. (I know I didn't and wasted a lot of time in my life).

As far as the trades go... I honestly don't feel like the pay for a welder/machinist has really followed the pay scale it should or at least in these parts. Pay has not really improved since early 2000's and the dollar isn't worth close to as much. And I think the body man is just a dying art unfortunately. We are in the age of, **** it... you can get a new chinaman fender for $100 why fix that one... Then you get it and the bitch don't fit...
 
joho75287 said:
We have partnered with the local community college and are starting to get some traction with some training programs there but its a long row to hoe because the American Industrial machine has been decimated and people are just now realizing that we better do something about it.

That is a great plan. If you can hire trained employees for what you are wanting to do you get the most for your money. Also, if kids know they can come out of this tech school and make XX dollars and are pretty confident they will land a position you will have a good workforce from that alone.

Funny this topic came up, because we also have a High School teacher here visiting the plant for the week working to understand the needs of local industry so he can design his courses work around getting kids ready to enter the workforce (not just pass a standardized test and go to a liberal arts college). I'm pretty excited about the program, and hope to see some benefits from it in the coming years.

That's great to hear. When I was in HS (early 2000's), I took all of the trades courses I could because I loved them. Did all of the welding and machine tool courses. My shop teacher taught is tons of stuff. We re-wired his shop, did body work and painted his truck, built cool ****, learned to run mills/lathes... those were the best mornings of my life to be honest. I really hate I chose to go to school for business after having so much fun in there... Was just looking for a good time at that time though. Luckily im not too old to realize my mistakes and make up for them. Just have to work twice as hard now to get where I coulda already been.
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Its the same way with equipment mechanics. Can not find anyone who wants to do the job or can even pass the test to get hired in. There has been a big discussion about it within the company that in the next 10 years we will be able to name our pay rate just about because no one wants to do the job, get dirty and sweat. Its damn ridiculous
 
I have a B.S. in Community Health (mix between Health/Safety, Biology and Human Mechanics) and I have finally found my niche and that is being a Safety Man.
 
kboring said:
This is so true I own a glass company and its damn near impossible to find good help....

Seems like nobody can even read a tape measure nowadays
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Im on the younger side of things (going on 24 in august) but this is something that has amazed me for literally years. I've taught not 1,2,4,5 but 10 or more of my friends to read a tape measure, most of them 4 year college grads. In my group of friends (20-30 years old) not many of them know anything besides flipping burgers or making drinks for people, even after their parents paid for 4 years of college.

I'd kill for a real trade job, I bailed outta HS at 16 to build houses full time, not having that diploma makes finding a good position alot harder then you would expect. The few places I talked to had no interest in hiring a "drop out" or even anyone that hadnt been to a "tradeschool", even tho the skills I put together in the time that I wasnt in school are so much more useful then the bullshit I would have learned in the last 2 years being there. I kinda gave up looking for a position because of it, and decided to give going out on my own a shot.
 
FlatlandFSJ said:
Im on the younger side of things (going on 24 in august) but this is something that has amazed me for literally years. I've taught not 1,2,4,5 but 10 or more of my friends to read a tape measure, most of them 4 year college grads. In my group of friends (20-30 years old) not many of them know anything besides flipping burgers or making drinks for people, even after their parents paid for 4 years of college.

I'd kill for a real trade job, I bailed outta HS at 16 to build houses full time, not having that diploma makes finding a good position alot harder then you would expect. The few places I talked to had no interest in hiring a "drop out" or even anyone that hadnt been to a "tradeschool", even tho the skills I put together in the time that I wasnt in school are so much more useful then the bullshit I would have learned in the last 2 years being there. I kinda gave up looking for a position because of it, and decided to give going out on my own a shot.
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You have probably heard it a bunch - and sorry if you have but - Go back and get your GED!!! Lots of community colleges and local workforce administrations will help you do it...to fit your schedule and probably free of charge...
I hate to hear of someone who has a good work ethic and some skills not be able to get a decent job.
 
joho75287 said:
You have probably heard it a bunch - and sorry if you have but - Go back and get your GED!!! Lots of community colleges and local workforce administrations will help you do it...to fit your schedule and probably free of charge...
I hate to hear of someone who has a good work ethic and some skills not be able to get a decent job.
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I dont hear it often enough, at least not from my friends. Hoping to have my good enough by early next year, summer time at the latest I would think.

I hate that I don't have a diploma but at the same time I wouldn't trade the time I spent working for anything then, the guys I worked with building houses were all 45+ years old and everyone of them worked circles around me when I first got there. After a little time working with those guys, I got turned into a 8 hour nonstop working machine, cause I was tired of getting out worked by a grandpa(literally)
 
So much truth in this thread. I'm a high school teacher as well and one day while supervising the student parking lot after school(watching all the students leave in their late model cars some driving $40k+ vehicles all while texting on their phones) I came up with the term "Generation Vacation". Their everyday life is better than most peoples vacation days and most of them do nothing to earn it. I believe this is part of the problem, everything they've ever wanted has been given to them, they didn't work for it and hence have no respect for it or the act or working to earn it. Not to throw them all under the bus I have also worked with some great students who are far more mature than I was at their age. I'm with you on the reading a ruler thing, I have 10-12 students a year who have no idea how to read a ruler, hopefully they do after leaving my class.

My fear is that Generation Vacation is transitioning to "Generation Instigation".
 
1tonyj said:
You can make more in my area with a trade than u can with a degree...a lot more if u have skills and a good work ethic!
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My son graduated high school this year. He is still unsure what he wants to do as far as school. He hated school while he was in it. I've been trying to encourage him to go to a trade school and learn a SKILL! College now a days doesn't mean a job as soon as you get out. There are lots of jobs out there but nobody has skills. All they got is a piece of paper. Places need skills and manual labor. Younger generations don't want to get their hands dirty. He works now in a grocery store, which was great for a first job at 16, but he doesn't like it. He worked for a old man cutting wood and hauling hay and enjoyed it.

I work in a factory part time and it pisses me off to no end having all these kids, right out of college, come in as my manager. These kids have no common sense what so ever but are book smart. Trying to tell me how to do my job cause "in theory" that is how it should work. Whatever...

I have been criticized in the past for saying that this place runs on college sense and not common sense
 
I have SO many employees that, once they get fired, just go to "school!" Its almost standard procedure. Work for as long as someone will put up with you and then go to "college" when you're not working. They get government loans, grants, and live with family / enablers. So you end up with people who can't even hold down a food service job reliably going to "school" to get "trained" to be our country's next white collar work force and wonder why everything is going to hell. I keep putting quotes around "college" because so many of the "schools" they go to are such a farce. They do online classes in their free-time, never any actual classroom interaction, no discipline, they don't take any tests that aren't open book anymore. They aren't required to even learn anything to pass their tests much less go get a "career" with! And the schools know they are passing out worthless "degrees." They design their programs such that the most worthless, lazy, dumb, useless people can still get a "degree." They are just there to collect the government money!

My wife's job scholarships her to go to school to increase her teaching qualifications. Her GPA right now is 4.2 and she studies very minimally, does almost no actual work. Last semester she could have skipped the final, taken a zero, and still got an A in the class! Her classes start with 20 or so people in them and by the mid-term that number drops down to around 6 or so people left. I've seen her class materials. Any human that isn't mentally retarded should be able to get an A with a minimal amount of effort. Yet they are failing out in droves!
 
My dad's a damn good body man/painter.....does it every day of the week and is 62 years old! I just sit on my ass in an air conditioned office and put up with fawkers up the line from me that suck balls at what they do, making my job suck at times. I grew up watching him do bodywork, also interested me, just never tried any of it first hand, and he isn't exactly a patient person to try and teach me anything, so that trade will be lost in my family.

I know how to lay brick and block though! Just too fawkin' crippled to earn any money doing it now molaugh but it has and will come in handy for side projects though.
 
I wanted to quote so many diffrent things you guys have brought up but lost track and dont have the room.

I went to a small school in a small town in rural TN. Graduated with 62 people.
I blame a lot of this on the education system making such a big deal out of going to college and looking down on trade jobs. When I was going to Highschool in the late 90s it was only the outcaast kids or "ones looked down on" in the tech programs or trade school. all the "cool/popular" kids were in college bound, so thats where I though you were supposed to be. Hell most I gradusted with that were college bound maybe 5-10% got a degree. I would have liked to have gone to learn how to work on thing even then but I always felt like I was suppoed to be on the "college track". Both my brother went to college and I thought i was supposed to go to. My folks "in hindsight" would not have cared if I had went into a trade but at school it was all about, "if your going to make something for yourself you have to get a degree". That is suck bullshit, the guys I know who were not burnt out of drugs are making a lot more money than I am now and a lot enjoy there jobs so much more in a trade job.

I wish I could go back and punch my gidence counsoler in the face, it was not after a 5-6 years in a bullshit degree program wasting a lot of my folks money and my time that I realized my degree was not going to help me get much of a job. I really do blame a lot of this on schools not encourging kids to get into trade jobs as there is more money in most of them and you get to see the fruits of your labor in front of you. I sure wish I had 10 years ago.

I got lucky and snagged a job with the state Forestry dept. because of a local guy retireing and me being in the right place at the right time, and i met my wife at college, so Im not entirely bitter about it and would not have the family I have right now if it had been diffrent. But I could have been working making a lot more money at some of the jobs my friends now have that went through trade school.
 
My company is fairly small. 5 people plus myself and that's a full staff. In the last 6 years, I've averaged 50+ people PER YEAR! We are currently in a society that doesn't believe in hard work. Or rather they just don't believe in working period. I place the blame fully on the parents. Get your kids off the internet and up off the couch and just go outside! Do something!
 

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