I support this thread
I got a trade.. It's how I became an IT really
IT and programming are IMO trades. Software engineering/web dev is probably more mentally creative per se than most of the blue-collar trades, but at the end of the day a guy in IT and a guy in plumbing are just two guys with an advanced skill.
At the end of the day there are two big reasons why you get involved in a trade:
1.) Your line of work is economically in demand and needed almost everywhere, plus you face less competition than traditional college graduates (disregarding in some ways IT here).
and
2.) The work you do is expensive for companies and people, thus your skills are not all that expendable. Because the work you do is expensive, specialized, and typically important, your income is usually very respectable and should net you in the comfortable five figures, a lot of times six depending on what you are into.
I know quite a few people with a trade, and most of them
better than most college grads I know ... Just realize there are some cons to the trades. They're not entirely recession proof and a lot of times come with early, long, and erratic hours. Unions can be a bytch and so can pension issues. Serious injuries are a concern in a lot of physical trades too. Those are all valid question marks, and why I am choosing to go to uni and eventually get into web development/design.
All about what you want to do. Talk to family members who are in a trade and look at programs at your local CC. Stay away from for-profit career/trade schools.
