/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>287966

Union pays more. They pay a higher wage during apprenticeship and guaranteed raise every year. You do pay union dues too, and if there's a strike you no worky. I didn't go union because I believed most unions only worked on new construction. I hired on with a local plumbing company. Started at 9.50 an hour, then eventually maxed out at 12 as an apprentice. After passing my tradesman test, I went to 15.00 an hour, then to 18.00 after 3 months. After another 6 months, I went to 20.80. I stayed there until I got my journeyman license, now I'm making 22.00 an hour. Not bad, considering about 2 and a half hours of my day is spent driving to customer homes.

Pros-
a) Skill shortage creates lots of work.
b) Low stress job.
c) Some companies offer a bonus system depending on how much revenue you bring in for them. Example; perform $30k of sales during a month and you get a bonus of $500, etc...
d) Can start up your own company without any college education.

Cons
a) Extreme weather conditions.
b) Some jobs will require you to get down and dirty.
c) Dealing with customers. You don't usually think of this, but customers already have the preconceived notion of you as being on the same level as a used car salesman. You are seen as charging more than doctors for a "Ten dollar part that doesn't take 5 minutes to install". It's hard for some people to understand they're not paying for you to fix the problem. They're paying you for your experience to diagnose, fix the problem, and how to prevent it from happening again.
d) Some plumbers are complete assholes to new guys. There's a bit of a hazing process, but if you stick with it they'll grow to respect you. Eventually.
e) It will take a minimum of 8 years from Apprenticeship to Masters license before you can open up your own plumbing company in Texas.