I second this, a railroad job might be long hours but its not a hard job at all. I work for a shortline in Chicago as a locomotive mechanic and its a very nice job. I have friend in the same company I work for who is an engineer and is a very nice job. He works 12 hrs a day but then he also doesn't have to do a whole lot either and he get paid some stupid amount of money to do his job.Being around the RR's for a while I'd look into BNSF, the Union Pacific, Canadian National, or Canandian Pacific. Steer clear of the **** Southern (Norfolk Southern) and the CSX, just a lot of bad rumors come out of those companies. Being with a railroad your insurance will be very good, your prescription drug plan will be very good, and the retirement will be very good. The catch is possilbe long hrs and all the safety crap that goes along with it.

 

An apprenticeship in what field???? At 24, You gotta know what You want to pursue. Join the carpenters local or the pipefitters local, ask them for an apprenticeship. Are You not getting enough work with what Your doing now, relocate, there's tons of $$$ cash in what Your doing man, the current economy is some what dry but You gotta go to the work. Dont even consider ironwork or mechanical, if housing is what You grew up with and Your good at it, stay with it.

 

probably what you have heard about CSX is true. they love to fire people when they can . the ones you mentioned would be good to look into. ive heard the CN pays like 350 a day

 

Here check out this link http://www.carpenters.org/ There is alot of info on the site.

Use the local contacts tab at the top.

 

Yeah, if your afraid of heights probably not a good place to put yourself cause that will be on your mind while xx stories up in the air. Most of the guys I see are tied off to stuff, full harness and all, but have seen some guys out there grabbing beams with the grace of God holdin them up. I'm not a iron worker, but go out of jobsites everyday and see it.

If you got plumbing experience go with that, plumbers get paid well, at least from people I have talked to around here. Also air conditioning and heating, excellent field to get into. Odd ours due to service calls. Look into fields that you know will last, me, I look at the mechanic field, auto dealers...people are always gonna need someone to fix their cars, to complex for everyone to repair themselves. Same with the A/C and heat, plumbing, always gonna have broken pipes, dead a/c units to fix/replace.

The welding, also good trade. I went to school and pulled several years repairing equipment and doing things on the side after work, plus building all sorts of things at home. Now, I am moonlighting after work and weekends doing other jobs for income, have even started the biz, just expanding until I can do it on my own and dump the corporate machine.

Just think about the future of the trade, things that people will always need.
Good luck and prayers

 

Picking a trade of a profession these days, I would ask the following questions:

1. Can it be outsourced to someplace overseas? Software engineers and doctors used to think they were safe. Now Intel has coders in Russia and elsewhere, while a radiologist in Bombay is reading your xrays. If the output of the job is some form of information, it can be transmitted electronically, and it can be done anywhere.

Anything involving production, especially of small items or anything that can be shipped cheaply and easily, has already gone or is at risk of going overseas.

2. Is the job portable? You never know when or where circumstance will force you to relocate. Some types of work may be regional or only available in big cities.

3. Does it lend itself to self employment, and how easy is it to start your own business in the particular field you are considering? There are lots of self employed welders for example, and lots of small welding shops. There are virtually no self employed air traffic controllers. If you don't always want to be a wage slave, this is something you should consider carefully.

Advice from someone who wishes he had heard of it (or thought of it himself) when he was much younger.