Living Independently
October 13, 2015 Hard to do with big debts to pay Many, many years ago as a young man in my early 20s and recently discharged from the U.S. Army, I moved into my own apartment for the first time. While serving in the military
Computers In The Trades
September 14, 2015 Your computer skills will come in handy A lot of young people look at the manual trades as a lot of wrench turning and grunt labor. Maybe that was true a century ago but the jobs of today’s skilled trade workers are
Labor Come Alive!
August 14, 2015 It’s a thrill to see the results of your work I spent more than three decades covering the skilled trades as a trade journalist. Now that I’m retired I look back with immense satisfaction at the friendships made and life lessons learned.
How To Get Rich
July 29, 2015 The trades offer a path to wealth. Maybe a career isn’t all you’re thinking about. Maybe you know successful people who own multiple homes, drive fancy cars and are able to afford a bunch of luxuries the average person can only dream
A New Look at Apprenticeships as a Path to the Middle Class
July 21, 2015 By Nelson D. Schwartz From NYTimes.com NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — With its gleaming classrooms, sports teams and even a pep squad, the Apprentice School that serves the enormous Navy shipyard here bears little resemblance to a traditional vocational education program. And that
If The Military Turns You Down
If the military turns you down …You probably are disqualified from the trades. Last year I read an article in the Wall Street Journal saying that 71% of American youths between the ages of 17 and 24 would fail to qualify for the U.S. military
Women Have Great Trade Prospects
Attitudes have turned around. Most estimates peg females as only about 2% to 2.5% of all skilled trade workers and the percentage is not going up significantly. That’s too bad, because most skilled trade employers would be happy to hire females if only more would
Character Counts in the Trades
April 22, 2015 Youthful mistakes can haunt you for life. Many prisons have programs designed to teach inmates a trade that will translate to an honest living when they get released. This is an admirable effort at rehabilitation, but not a place I would recommend
Welders Are Worth A Lot
April 8, 2015 Few trades suffer such great a shortage. A consistent theme of my blogs is that skilled trade workers are in short supply in a number of industries. Few trades have a shortage as desperate as that of welders. According to the Bureau