Yes. Trades actually pay well, but they require you learn a skill, so many still have apprentiicship programs where you simply go to work for a % of what a journeyman makes, for a certain amount of time with certain tasks to complete or benchmarks to hit, and over time your pay increases until you're making journeyman rates. These are often also Union jobs.
Once I finish the apprenticeship I'm in I'll be making over $30/hr.
[quote]Yup. [spoiler]if anyone is interested just ask and I'll give ya some resources.[/spoiler][/quote]
I'm interested. I plan on going to school but might as well know about this just in case it doesn't pan out.
It's pretty simple. Google "-your state- apprenticeship programs"
They way they work is that they are almost all Union jobs. So as an apprentice you come on for about 50-60% of a journeymens wage, wages for a journeymen in the different trades often exceeds $30/hr, and you work toward becoming a journeyman in your chosen field through on the job training and some light bookwork.
They can be choosy but as long as you don't have a criminal record or any other obvious issues it's often no sweat.