So I Want To Learn A Trade

[st33lr4t]

........

[Suave]

Depends what you like. I personally have some intention of learning gunsmithing, whether as a hobby, part-time job, or eventually as a full-time job. If you're talking suggestions money-wise (assuming you live in a city with decent population growth) then electrician, carpentry, and welding are decent-paying from what I know. If you live on the coast, or you're willing to travel, underwater welders make enormous amounts of money (it's a bit dangerous though, as you may imagine).

[Dark Assailant]

I see that you live in Ontario... There is a great demand for Masons. I find masonry is fun (reminds me of my childhood addiction to legos) and your also creating art. The majority of masons are all older than 40 and they can't take all the workload of the high demand.

But if you still plan on having a job other than masonry... I don't suggest it, unless you want to work on saturdays

[clavus]

Learn to work with wood. Make custom furniture. Everything in the stores is crap now days. People pay big bucks for well made furniture.

[Rodney]

I know a guy who has been a mechanic, a carpenter, a mason, and a software engineer. Software engineering isn't working for him, either, so he's took his past experience and just got a job as an amusement park mechanic, maintaining the rides. He's really happy with it, because it's the sort of place where they let you be the specialist in one or two rides and learn all about them, and that's the same way he liked to work as a software engineer, even as a mechanic (specialize in certain cars).

So I would say, identify the way you like to work -- are you okay with a lot of rush jobs, or can you only cope with fewer, bigger, jobs; or are you a team player or do you excel when working alone?

Tradesmen who do repairs -- plumbers, electricians, etc. -- are always in demand, but on a rush basis. You have to be on call, work fast. Tradesmen who do home improvements or new construction -- carpenters and general contractors, tile contractors, landscapers, sheet metal and HVAC guys, concrete specialists -- have more creativity and time to exercise it, but also have to sell themselves more, put more into the business end of things. If you're going to go into any kind of home or business construction business, repair and remodeling is more recession-proof than new construction; even in bad times, pipes break and people add decks to their houses.

If you want to get into business fast, learn to be a house painter. A _good_ housepainter. They're not common, and they cost twice as much as the young guys with pickup trucks who leave notes on your door. But that's because they do twice as much, and leave behind a house whose walls are not only well-painted but water-tight.

You could also learn carpentry and become a good general contractor, especially in remodeling (popular in good times and bad). We hired a guy to semi-enclose a deck for us; he helped design it, did a great job. He thinks like a programmer, but he programs in wood. Had his own permanent shop at home, and he'd show up for the day with special pieces of wood that he needed already cut and shaped from his shop. He works for himself, owns his own home, and he just bought himself a $45,000 boat. _I_ don't have a $45,000 boat!