Is welding a good profession and how lucrative

[pressbrake1]

Tough call. The academically bright do need separating out, its also doing an injustice to those that aren't who would ultimately be better off learning practical skills at a much earlier age.

Bob

My youngest daughter is a genius and the actually did separate her from general populous. Interview with newspaper universities etc.
She’s now finished school and has point blank refused anymore education and under duress is doing art at college.
They tried it with me when I was a kid but I was just too bad to be a nerd...

Thick people cant do trades hence the appalling state of our trades.
Luckily engineering trades generally insist on good results and doing college with a degree as end goal

 

[MetalMonkey]

Look at traveller kids. Grafting from 13 years old.

Grafting is perhaps not quite the word I'd have used. They certainly do a lot of lifting and carrying though...

 

[8ob]

Thick people cant do trades hence the appalling state of our trades.
Luckily engineering trades generally insist on good results and doing college with a degree as end goal

Thats a bit harsh Clive, you cant teach intelligence and the " good results" are absolutely no indication as to whether that person is bright or not. I know a fair few "unqualified" guys with excellent engineering skills that have done well for themselves and a large number of graduates I would regard as thick. A test paper correctly answered in parrot fashion only disguises thick in the short term which is why there are so many "over qualified" people stacking shelves.

Bob

 

[pressbrake1]

Thats a bit harsh Clive, you cant teach intelligence and the " good results" are absolutely no indication as to whether that person is bright or not. I know a fair few "unqualified" guys with excellent engineering skills that have done well for themselves and a large number of graduates I would regard as thick. A test paper correctly answered in parrot fashion only disguises thick in the short term which is why there are so many "over qualified" people stacking shelves.

Bob

No it’s not
Those unqualified people are bright.
School doctrine says thick people should go to trades , it doesn’t work
You miss understood what I meant

 

[pressbrake1]

I’ve been working part time doing structural steel
They think I’m doing black magic because I know geometry and trigonometry and don’t need to draw full size drawings on the floor to work stuff out

 

[MattF]

Definitely. Plus you don't have to spend ridiculous amounts on consumables to earn a wage

Hardly a job to aspire to though, is it? I see many people who go to the exact same place, doing the exact same thing, day in, day out, & honestly wonder how they can do those jobs without going round the twist. Such mind-numbing boredom & repetition I, personally, could not endure.

 

[addjunkie]

No it’s not
Those unqualified people are bright.
School doctrine says thick people should go to trades , it doesn’t work
You miss understood what I meant

Schools righly or wrongly and educationalist in gerneral are all about raising achievement. Why because their KPIs look better as theres more kids doing 6th form and degrees. The same folk killedoff day release for block release in apprenticeships. The staff in education havent got a scooby do about real jobs, or trades as most have spentthe majority of their lives in school. Hence why they think thick kids should do trades.

40 years ago to trades as Clive points out big sums were useful so folk trained brighter kids in the more technical trades.
The other damaging factor with training folk in apprenticeships, if they were on day release the employer got 4 days or so work out of them, now they disappear to college for weeks in many instances, as a small buisness this is cost negative and counter productive, hence why few take apprentices on.

Degree apprenticeships seem to be getting quite fashionable, seems big companies hire someones eith a mediocre degree and retrain them in a trade/ managerial type role.

 

[Nomad]

Learn a trade - plastering or plumbing (but plumbing is high risk if it goes wrong)

I spent many years as a self employed handyman (self taught doing work for family & friends since I was a teenager)
Did plastering night classes at the local collage, I still get offered work without advertising - some I take on, a lot I turn down.

Don’t be afraid to say it’s a job you don’t feel confident doing, I was asked to plaster the inside of a brick water tower - I asked them to get somebody who had done it before as any problems would make their life difficult. They appreciated my honesty and often offer me other jobs.

Good luck, keep us updated

 

[Brad93]

I’ve been working part time doing structural steel
They think I’m doing black magic because I know geometry and trigonometry and don’t need to draw full size drawings on the floor to work stuff out

Yep I've never understood that unless you've got a right massive fabrication with many angles.

Who has a clear space in their workshop big enough anyway!

If you had huge floor plates then maybe you could lay it out accurately enough.

 

[pressbrake1]

Yep I've never understood that unless you've got a right massive fabrication with many angles.

Who has a clear space in their workshop big enough anyway!

If you had huge floor plates then maybe you could lay it out accurately enough.

Yep , they don’t lay outsky scrapers down on the floor !

 

[tigdlo]

When I was in school there are many intelligent kids that didn't do well academically that would have been ideal for many trades. As they were intelligent teachers tell them they would be wasted if they didn't go the a level university route which will never happen for them.

I was good at maths and science but failed miserably at English, can't do personal writing and I'm completely incapable of pretending to second guess the meaning of 300 year old literature, so a levels and university was not available to me.

 

[God mode restorations]

Yep , they don’t lay outsky scrapers down on the floor !

Clive has big workshop...just that it's full of stuff...

 

[James1979]

Yep , they don’t lay outsky scrapers down on the floor !

Nearly every fab shed I have been in has chalk lines on the floor. For basic things like stairs and such

As far as trades go, I was pushed at every step to go to uni. Was not keen on it at all. There was no 'plan B' so I just found my own way in the world.

Best mate at school, we have been mates since we were 3 and are still in touch now, is ummm a bit thick. He was also pushed to uni. He failed his GCSEs, and got to college for A levels because his parents kicked up a fuss. Everyones fault but his and theirs, you see. They are teachers. He was tested for every learning need under the sun but they cant accept his not that bright. Scraped some bad A Levels and was sent packing off to Uni. They were crowing that He'd gone and I never managed it. He was back after a few months. They'd set the poor bugger up for a fall. He got a job in a factory 'for something to do' and is still there. He's some sort of supervisor I think. Loves it. Is on good money. Works to fund what he wants to do at the weekend.

Big strong boy, excellent prop forward, played at County level, just not very bright. Nothing wrong with that but some people cant accept it

 

[MattF]

When I was in school there are many intelligent kids that didn't do well academically....

Exactly. Qualifications are not a real reflection of ability. A lot of people simply find education boring, but can excel in hands on matters.

 

[pressbrake1]

Hardly a job to aspire to though, is it? I see many people who go to the exact same place, doing the exact same thing, day in, day out, & honestly wonder how they can do those jobs without going round the twist. Such mind-numbing boredom & repetition I, personally, could not endure.

You just described metal work
Boring, repetitive mind numbing but with the added bonus of **** conditions
I think you can tell who’s actually done it for a living in this thread, all the don’t do it , it’s **** responses

 

[pressbrake1]

Exactly. Qualifications are not a real reflection of ability. A lot of people simply find education boring, but can excel in hands on matters.

Unfortunate the school system punishes those who are bright but driven to utter despair by school

Teachers always look down on blue collar parents. My daughters head mistress explained to me about work and attendance...

I went out with a teacher. I think she genuinely thought I was a pos but a good sh..

 

[tom2207]

Qualifications only show that you are capable of learning ,, the what and the how is experience , theres no qualifications for that , but theres a test every day.

 

[MattF]

You just described metal work
Boring, repetitive mind numbing but with the added bonus of **** conditions
I think you can tell who’s actually done it for a living in this thread, all the don’t do it , it’s **** responses

That's why some of us would never dream of doing something we enjoy doing as a hobby, as a job. Doing it for your own benefit & enjoyment, versus having to do it to earn income, are two very different things.

 

[MattF]

but a good sh..

Modest too, it seems.

 

[mtt.tr]

I was coded , no big deal. I’m too wobbly to do stainless tig though!

The price to pay for the 90's haha