Anyone know anything about trades?

lukesmom

I know its the wrong forum but thought there would be more traffic here my son is in an electrical apprentiship. he only started 3 months ago and is finding it a bit boring like he is not learning a whole lot. There is a chance of a carpentry apprentiship coming up for him. I personally think he should stick to the electrical one but he is torn. He is lucky to have gotten this apprentiship as he was only 16 and dropped out instead of doing his leaving cert. Which apprentiship has better prospects? Just looking for advice

Twenty Grand

Better prospects would be electrical IMO.

You can branch out and do so many things. If he's not learning a lot, get him on YouTube. Plenty of videos there worth watching.

Have a look at Thomas Nagy.

Tuco88

Never mind whats "the better trade"

Do what you like.

The first year in any trade you will be doing very basic things. 2nd year after phase 2 its all go then.

Maurice Yeltsin

Electrical trades are typically paid phenomenal money compared to others. All trades are paid reasonably good money (fully qualified at at least 18.93 p/h), but electricians have a different minimum rate, I think it's at least 22.

However, 22 only tells half the story. If there's high demand he might be on as high as 27 in Dublin.

If he fancied nighthifts he could be on upwards of 44 per hour with the right crowd. For obvious reasons of noise and darkness most trades don't get the chance to do many nightshifts in their career, sparks are the exception here, their work is easily done by night on large projects.

Not to mention the opportunity to go abroad to Norway, Switzerland etc on fly in fly out.

It's also worth remembering electrics is, along with plumbing, the most recession proof trade. Brickys, chippies, roofers all largely rely on new builds. Yet no matter how bad a recession, people need wiring done and plumbing done on existing homes.

Frankly, unless you're going for a particularly high end college course like law or medicine anyone not doing a trade is feckin mad tbh. Keep fit and get better paid than most 3rd level degrees will get you.

Fr_Dougal

Would he consider going back to school?

lukesmom

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Would he consider going back to school?

Not at the moment

Maurice Yeltsin

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Would he consider going back to school?

Unless he has the gumption to persue a very high end course like medicine or law (and if he dropped out pre LC he probably doesn't) the chances of him obtaining employment paying even half of a sparks yearly income would be slim.

mloc123

Maurice Yeltsin wrote: »

Unless he has the gumption to persue a very high end course like medicine or law (and if he dropped out pre LC he probably doesn't) the chances of him obtaining employment paying even half of a sparks yearly income would be slim.

You know there are degrees that pay more than law and medicine? But your point is valid, if the LC was not for him it seems unlikely a degree would be.

Maurice Yeltsin

Should also point out electrician is, in the grand scheme of things, a basic job in the field, despite the pay. It's a good stepping stone to moving on to electrical engineering and instrumentation, the money there is even filthier.

It actually depresses me how many of my friends are sparks. Flying off to Cuba and Vegas whenever they feel like, taking 2 months off work because they made most of an average person's yearly income in a few months in Norway, it'd make you cry listening to them. It's too bad I'm too old to do it myself, when I was in school some fools put out the attitude that lads who dropped out at 15 were on a short road to nowhere, 3rd level was the way to go.

I didn't complete 3rd level, and given I'm probably on more than most who stayed on in my year I'm glad I did, but I'm still sick I didn't persue a trade.

Twenty Grand

Tuco88 wrote: »

Never mind whats "the better trade"

Do what you like.

The first year in any trade you will be doing very basic things. 2nd year after phase 2 its all go then.

Agree with this, you're doing donkey work in year 1.
Sure you're useless.

Money in electrical is class.
You could be wiring houses in Naas or installing wind turbines in the North Sea.

World is your oyster.

mloc123

Twenty Grand wrote: »

Agree with this, you're doing donkey work in year 1.
Sure you're useless.

Money in electrical is class.
You could be wiring houses in Naas or installing wind turbines in the North Sea.

World is your oyster.

What is the upper range an experienced electrician could earn a year? Roughly?

Maurice Yeltsin

mloc123 wrote: »

What is the upper range an experienced electrician could earn a year? Roughly?

I'd reckon most sparks doing 40 hour day shifts in Dublin should be getting around 45 to 50k before tax.

Upper range, how long is a piece of string.

Working away on oil rigs off Norway, short term contracts near the arctic in Canada, Irish sparks don't go to these places unless the money is even better than home.

Not to mention danger money, friend of mine knew lads who ended up wiring in Iraq!

I don't know for a fact, but I'd say working away from home on long days and lonely conditions, some would hit a six figure.

Of course it depends on what the tax regime is abroad what you get but it's presumably bigger than whatever a 50k per year spark would take home in Ireland (35,000 maybe?)

Twenty Grand

mloc123 wrote: »

What is the upper range an experienced electrician could earn a year? Roughly?

Long as a piece of string.

You could eventually have a company with lads under you, making money hand over fist if you're good and have a good reputation.

OMM 0000

I would worry he will also find the carpentry trade "boring".

If I were you I'd advise two things:

1. Stick with being an electrician. It will provide him with a great job.

2. He can ask his boss for more tasks, more work, more complicated stuff. Perhaps your son is a fast learner and would do well if the work was piled on top of him.

Sounds to me like an excuse to stop working.

Bonzo Delaney

1st yr apprentices are always given the donkey work for the first few months in any trade be it lugging material chasing walls holding the stupid end of the tape sweeping up loading the van ect ect it's a sort of a rite of passage to see are they interested enough to stick it out.
There's great money in most trades once you apply yourself and have a genuine interest in the job your doing.
If he finds electrical boring, carpentry has a lot more graft in it. The electrical trade defo has more earning power with far less hardship. It's a bit like maths it's either right or wrong you either know it or you don't.
Other trades are more craft based. You need to have an eye and a feel for the work to make any decent wage with them.

james 17

Carpenter myself and prob did that donkey work for 3 or 4 years as apprentice ,still end up doing it sometimes in renovations ,only for I have always liked working with wood ,electrician and plumber much better jobs .

the_pen_turner

Bonzo Delaney wrote: »

1st yr apprentices are always given the donkey work for the first few months in any trade be it lugging material chasing walls holding the stupid end of the tape sweeping up loading the van ect ect it's a sort of a rite of passage to see are they interested enough to stick it out.
There's great money in most trades once you apply yourself and have a genuine interest in the job your doing.
If he finds electrical boring, carpentry has a lot more graft in it. The electrical trade defo has more earning power with far less hardship. It's a bit like maths it's either right or wrong you either know it or you don't.
Other trades are more craft based. You need to have an eye and a feel for the work to make any decent wage with them.

Don't be joking. A spark never sweeps up

the_pen_turner

You say bored. Is he really good at it and ahead of his teaching or is he not interested in learning what is being taught.

Eric Cartman

stick with it, I wish somebody sat me down at 17 and said 'go become an apprentice sparks instead of going to college'

Money hand over fist, you can move into all sorts.

Was talking to a lad on a site before, was doing the fibre runs for a wind turbine farm, did a 2 day course in using a fusion splicer and had a 3 year contract doing these turbines with 2 lads working for him, 190k a year before tax into his claw after the others were paid.

Vote4Napoleon

lukesmom wrote:

I know its the wrong forum but thought there would be more traffic here my son is in an electrical apprentiship. he only started 3 months ago and is finding it a bit boring like he is not learning a whole lot. There is a chance of a carpentry apprentiship coming up for him. I personally think he should stick to the electrical one but he is torn. He is lucky to have gotten this apprentiship as he was only 16 and dropped out instead of doing his leaving cert. Which apprentiship has better prospects? Just looking for advice

Tell him to stick at the electrical, the trade is so diverse. Once qualified he could do an electrical engineering course and in some cases when being qualified can skip 1st year so he'd have a level 8 in only 3 years.

Bonzo Delaney

'rereading the op, how was he in school ?
How was he at math and trade based subjects like tech drawing or whatever they call it nowadays.
Electrical is a great trade but in order to do well at it and complete the apprenticeship get certified . There's a fair bit of college work to get through first

lukesmom

Bonzo Delaney wrote: »

'rereading the op, how was he in school ?
How was he at math and trade based subjects like tech drawing or whatever they call it nowadays.
Electrical is a great trade but in order to do well at it and complete the apprenticeship get certified . There's a fair bit of college work to get through first

His best subject was technical graphics and art. He really wants to do the electrician I guess he is eager to learn faster but we have discussed it and I've explained to him what a lot on here have said that it will be a bit slower in 1st year.

lukesmom

BrownFinger wrote: »

Sounds to me like an excuse to stop working.

Complete opposite he is out the door at 6.30 am every morning without fail a great work ethic at only 16 and just wants to learn more is all. He will stick to this apprenticeship as he only ever wanted to be an electrician. He watches videos about it and I guess has to take it at the pace it is set out for an apprentice

lukesmom

lukesmom wrote: »

Complete opposite he is out the door at 6.30 am every morning without fail a great work ethic at only 16 and just wants to learn more is all. He will stick to this apprenticeship as he only ever wanted to be an electrician. He watches videos about it and I guess has to take it at the pace it is set out for an apprentice

Thats good,
best thing I ever did was be a sparks.
I'm in a different field now but still make money on the side giving lads dig outs.

Eric Cartman

lukesmom wrote: »

Complete opposite he is out the door at 6.30 am every morning without fail a great work ethic at only 16 and just wants to learn more is all. He will stick to this apprenticeship as he only ever wanted to be an electrician. He watches videos about it and I guess has to take it at the pace it is set out for an apprentice

Tell him to stick it out , therell be 18 months - 2 years of not getting much done , then when he’s properly out on the tools he’ll be laughing.

.G.

Depends on the company too and the kind of work they do as to how bored he will be and how much he'll learn. He may need the move about during his apprenticeship to get experience in different areas give himself a good base of knowledge when he's qualified. Less likely to need to do it if he's with one of the bigger companies like Designer.

But first year will be different depending on himself and the company too, bigger companies send you to the shop for the lads and make you clean up, general labouring basically, smaller companies will have you on the tools very early if you show the aptitude for it early.

C3PO

He should definitely stick with the electrical apprenticeship!

Elemonator

Stick out with the leccy I say. I know it's boring for the first year or two but at the end of it the world is his oyster.

I've heard of lead maintenance electricians in chemical plants here making 70k+ and some managers at the ESB do very well for themselves.

aido79

lukesmom wrote: »

I know its the wrong forum but thought there would be more traffic here my son is in an electrical apprentiship. he only started 3 months ago and is finding it a bit boring like he is not learning a whole lot. There is a chance of a carpentry apprentiship coming up for him. I personally think he should stick to the electrical one but he is torn. He is lucky to have gotten this apprentiship as he was only 16 and dropped out instead of doing his leaving cert. Which apprentiship has better prospects? Just looking for advice

What type of work is he doing? Wiring houses, commercial or industrial?

bob.k

Maurice Yeltsin wrote: »

Electrical trades are typically paid phenomenal money compared to others. All trades are paid reasonably good money (fully qualified at at least 18.93 p/h), but electricians have a different minimum rate, I think it's at least 22.

However, 22 only tells half the story. If there's high demand he might be on as high as 27 in Dublin.

If he fancied nighthifts he could be on upwards of 44 per hour with the right crowd. For obvious reasons of noise and darkness most trades don't get the chance to do many nightshifts in their career, sparks are the exception here, their work is easily done by night on large projects.

Not to mention the opportunity to go abroad to Norway, Switzerland etc on fly in fly out.

It's also worth remembering electrics is, along with plumbing, the most recession proof trade. Brickys, chippies, roofers all largely rely on new builds. Yet no matter how bad a recession, people need wiring done and plumbing done on existing homes.

Frankly, unless you're going for a particularly high end college course like law or medicine anyone not doing a trade is feckin mad tbh. Keep fit and get better paid than most 3rd level degrees will get you.

Stay away from the wet trades, plastering, blocklaying etc

conorb56

I would have to agree with the Electrical choice and the subsequent possibilities.

I am that soldier! I was **** in school so no College for me. Then I got an apprenticeship and stuck at it, took opportunities where they came, got a job overseas, worked on offshore platforms, even studied to become an Engineer.

I have to say I have had a great journey, met great people, and made a tonne of money, and there are those who came from trades who went even higher than that!

All due respect to the Carpentry trade, but unless you open your own business, I can't see it making much money, and also the older you get, you may not be keen on being on the tools.

Just a thought!

lukesmom

Just an update he is now 9 months into the apprenticeship and loving it. He is chasing and wiring houses on his own some days.