Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Good advice.

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Larry J — (archived)

Especially with your construction background, this might be good advice.

We know a young guy of about thirty-five who’s a college graduate, and a skilled CAD programmer. But when the economy started to slip into the toilet back in 1999, he quit and started his own business as a house painter, and later branched into interior remodeling. He employs one other man, and literally has more work than he can handle -- when we wanted him to remodel our kitchen, for example, we had to book him three months out, and then only if it was a "bad weather day" when he couldn't do any exterior painting.

The important thing to realize about this guy is that he'd done the advance work. As a teenager, he worked at a relative's company on construction sites, learning the various trades -- remember that once learned, you seldom forget a skill -- so that when he decided to quit CAD and work for himself, he was ready to go (and, as a bonus, over the previous two years he'd bought all the professional-grade tools he'd need for the job, so his start-up costs consisted of having business cards printed).

This all sounds terribly simplistic, but in fact it's simple rather than simplistic. To all teenagers (or parents of teenagers) reading this, it's the best advice you’ll ever get: learn a trade. It really doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's a function which cannot be transported -- and no, computer repair doesn't count, because PCs are teeny little things which can be shipped easily, or trashed. Learn how to fix jet engines, or how to rewire a building, or how to pour concrete.

Sometimes, you have to be prepared to take a step back, like when I took an entry level position at age 35 to prove myself in a new field.

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