New career path, trades people who have done something else?

[MasterOfReality]

whats the go with the engineering degree... im guessing 4 years full time study, there for shity part time job?

Pretty much. I do know a guy who completed his mining engineering degree part time over 9 years.

 

[MasterOfReality]

I kinda disagree a bit.. Councils/government are excellent places to start.. That way you can get known by the contractors.. If you're a hard worker and they see it job offers follow..

You can do scholarships or cadetships through government departments for engineering..
Worked for me..
Have worked full time since finishing highschool.. Did my trade then started studying and got a cadetship..

Yeah, good places to start and get trained up, but definitely not the place to stay if you want decent coin.

I went to a federal government department so I could earn some money and finish my post grad research. Great place for resources but I was getting paid half as much as my private counterparts.

 

[badegg]

Well... Started out as a trainee mechanic, then moved interstate and got a temp job as a delivery driver for a hardware mob, ended up staying a year. moved back down to vic due to family issues and rocked up at my old work to price up a couple of parts for a mates truck and ended up completing my apprenticeship with them. Tried to chop off my fingers one day and struggled to hold a spanner - soon after got offered a job as a estimator/draftsman so took it, company went bust after a while (swear I had nothing to do with it) and got offered a job as a builders labourer for a couple of days to get the bills paid- been about a year and a half and apparently they are looking to put me through trade school as a carpenter... Nowhere near what I thought I'd be doing in my 30's back when I first put on the overalls when I was 16 but love the work and even though this is the lowest paying job I've had in 10 years I couldn't be happier!

 

[Brenno]

Haha yeah that's why I left.. I took every bit of training offered in government.. Even got a bunch of exemptions at uni from doing certain courses.

Then I left and went private.. Doubled salary, got paid overtime (government did flex time not overtime) and a company car..

 

[itsagixa]

Mate, i was in the same boat, i got my cert 4 in mechanical engineering (fitters qual) and also my diesel mechanic ticket.
After i had these i started working at power stations on the mines looking after the HV, LV transformers and swicthroom, i was the only guy from my company on site as i had the 2 trades so they just paid me both wages...about 240K a year...

Left the company after 6 months due to disagreements with managers, apparently a leaky fuel rail near a 900 degree exhaust manifold doesn't meet the criteria to shut down an engine to work on it

 

[tonza]

Mate I'm a panel beater by trade and looking to change as well.
After i finished my apprenticeship i tried to get another one as a boiler maker. I really enjoyed the welding side also i had done a bit of fabrication work and those were the elements i liked.
I tried for over 6 months trying to get a start. Tried everything. Because i wasn't in the preferred age group of 17-20 i believed it disadvantaged me.

At the moment I'm looking at upskilling in a way (forklift ticket, MR/HR licence and hopefully after a year HC/MC licences).
Always wanted to get into logistics and i might even couple it with a tafe course, studying logistics and warehousing i think its called.

Good luck with you though mate, you seem to have the drive

 

[c2105026]

Left field thought - teaching.

Educational authorities are seeking tradies to teach D&T/TaS, woodwork, metalwork, etc, is a shortage in NSW at least. Pay is $58k>87k (or higher if you want a more senior manager role in your school), 11 weeks holiday/yr, only really need to be at work from 8:30-4pm (but there are long out of work hours assessing and preparing), great job security. Pay may not be as good as being a contractor but it could be a heap more satisfying and rewarding. Currently I am an ex-civil engineer studying to be a maths teacher. Need to do uni though, not sure how long the courses are; mine is 2 years, but if you are over 21 and are basically an ok person you'll get in as a mature age student no worries. When I tried out primary teaching one of the guys I was mates with was an ex-builder.

 

[minux]

Not so much a trade. I was in the army as a grunt. After being med discharged I did my Bach of Bus Mgmt. I am about to start my masters. Wages are limitless, I am about to take on a new national role within the business I work in which will see a very nice pay increase (so much so the wife can finish working as a teacher if she desires) as well as the business paying for the masters.

Take your time and think how you may find something in 5, 10, 15, 30 years time.

 

[Pollushon]

I kicked off as a mechanic and an automotive/domestic glazier and tinter back in 95. Ended up preferring the glazing, same money, more interesting work that got me out and about (and playing with some awesome cars). Parallel to this I was always a nerd, cars and computers, that was my life.

Came to Canberra to open up a new branch of Instant Windscreens in 01 and after 3 months it was sorted. Met a girl, fell in love, moved here, then house, kids, etc..... In early 04 I became a stay at home dad and began my degree. By late 2005 I was a permanent public servant working in IT. It's been a fantastic career, I've served many roles, grabbed a diploma and have continued to progress through the ranks. At present my end game is to get into Senior Executive and try to modernise the dinosaur dynasty but we'll see.

 

[lukemcg]

There is plenty of room in the electrical industry for a change of scenery, in 8 years I have worked in new houses, old houses, CBUS automation, commercial construction (schools, hospitals, high rises etc) and I now work in the service field specialising in high speed data networks and fibre optic splicing/testing, which takes me from construction sites to high rises, car manufacturing environments, airports etc, really good work.

And to be honest I wont stop here, after this Im thinking of getting into the high voltage industry, and im going to start my certificate 4 in electrotechnology in the next 6 months specialising in automation/PLC control.

Aside from that theres other ways to go as well, fire/security/HVAC control/industrial, then theres project management, estimation.

Bit of food for though? Theres more out there than just running cables through studs in a house