Careers in the trades - Career Watch 2004 Special Report

Careers and Colleges, Jan-Feb, 2004

WITH TUITIONS RISING AND THE TRADES and military actively seeking talented young people, many graduates are not taking a direct route to a higher education. Of the 2.5 million high school students who graduated in 2001, only about 60 percent headed off to college the next fall, according to a recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Also, when you learn a trade, instead of paying money out toward college you call be bringing money in," says A. J. Pearson, executive director of the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee. Apprentices in the field of electrical contracting earn about $8 to $9 an hour while they are learning the trade. After completing a five-year apprenticeship, an electrical contractor can be earning as high as $60,000 to $70,000 a year.

"People have a misconception that this is just common, dirty work," says Pearson. "But there's a very technical aspect that requires a knowledge of basic algebra, and there's a pride in the craftsmanship required of this work."

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is another group that is actively recruiting. "In the next decade, 10 million new workers will be needed in manufacturing," says Wade Sayer, director of business education programs for NAM. "Manufacturing means everything from making potato chips to making computer chips, and opportunities range from tool-and-die work in advanced robotics. Plus many manufacturers give tuition reimbursement to learn on the job."

Many students are also turning to the military for career training, as well as tuition assistance and scholarship programs.

For more information on careers that don't require college, check out these Web sites: electrifying careers.com, gettech.org, armedforcescareers.com, and constructmyfuture.com

ELECTRICIAN

TAYIKA S. SHAW

AGE: 26

LOCATION: Lubbock, TX

JOB: Journeyman Electrician, J&T Shaw Electric.

EDUCATION: Shaw completed a five year earn-and-learn apprenticeship program through the National Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (NJATC). Shaw worked 40 hours a week learning the trade while going to classes two nights a week.

SALARY: According to Salary.com, the national median salary is $39,764.

STARTING OUT: As a child, Shaw was fascinated watching her uncle tinker with electronic gadgets. In her senior year at Palo Verde High School in Tucson, she decided to take a basic electrical wiring class. Her instructor turned her on to the career and told her about the apprenticeship program.

ON THE JOB: Shaw and her husband (whom she met during her on-the-job training) have their own electric company, servicing local residences and businesses. Sometimes she's doing repairs, installing electrical service, or wiring appliances. As one of the few female electricians in the industry and the first African-American woman to have completed the training program in Lubbock, Shaw often gets surprised reactions when she's on the job. "But then people will come up and say they're inspired," she says. "Sometimes women even ask me how they can get into the field." A big part of the job is trouble-shooting. She remembers fixing a restaurant fryer, an appliance she wasn't familiar with. "There are so many little wires. You just have to relax, think about your training, and start doing a process of elimination to see where the trouble is." On a typical day she uses screwdrivers, pliers, nut drivers, levels, measuring tape, a cordless drill, and a ladder. The job can also be physically demanding (climbing up and down ladders) and sometimes dirty (doing underground electrical work in ditches).

REWARDS: "The awesome thing is that once you complete the [apprenticeship] program, you get your 'journeyman's ticket,' which allows you to work for different unions across the country at a great salary."

CHALLENGES: "I have a big phobia of bugs. Sometimes we go in a crawl space, and there are bugs, rodents, or dead cats. That's when the girl in me comes out."

MORE INFO: National Electrical Contractors Association, www.necanet. org; NJATC, www.njatc.org--Traci Mosser

DIESEL MECHANIC

MATT RIELLO

AGE: 35 LOCATION: Union, NJ

JOB: Diesel instructor at Engine City Technical Institute.

EDUCATION: To become a diesel mechanic/technician, you typically must complete a certification program that takes about 11 months.

SALARY: Certified diesel mechanics start at about $30,000 to $35,000 a year; Class A mechanics can earn as much as $70,000 a year.

STARTING OUT: In high school, Riello always wanted to be an auto mechanic, but he decided to go to college and earned a bachelor's in industrial engineering from Trenton State College in New ,Jersey. When he graduated, he worked for hazardous waste treatment facilities. "I found the corporate environment to be kind of a drag and very stressful," says Riello. "I wasn't doing hands-on work and I was really missing that." That's when he decided to pursue training at Engine City. Soon he was working on diesel engines for Ryder, the truck rental company, and Caterpillar, the heavy equipment manufacturer. Today, Riello teaches others how to be mechanics. "This is not a career for dummies," advises Riello. "You need to keep up with your math and reading skills because the job is becoming technically advanced."