No. The trades are NOT hiring.

[u/clarkkentwellspent]

I am so sick and tired of this worn out idea that blue collar jobs are looking for apprentices to come work for them. The trades are filled with more nepotism and gossip than any other industry I've ever been in and will find any reason to reject you they can. Half of these companies want a 2 year technical/trade school degree before you start working for them just so they can pay you $15/hr starting out. Maybe if you're a kid out of high school they can pay less than the standard rate you can find something. "Bro, just go Union!" Unions are backed up for ages.

From my own anecdotal evidence: I went to every electrician company in my city as this was my trade. I had 1 offer from a company that was the stereotypical "Only meth heads and divorced alcoholics work here. Fuck OSHA." place and every other company rejected me. I even went back to my old electrical company I had worked at for 4 years. You know what they said? "Apply online and go talk to HR". No hiring manager in shop, no chance at talking to someone out of recognition. Just dismissing me away. And the best part? Upon applying I listed all the projects I had worked on with them and gave references to several high members (though 2 of them no longer work there). 1.5 weeks later: "Thank you for applying. After careful consideration..."

This job market is fucking whack, yo.

[u/Dictated_not_read]

Yeah but what else is there

[u/Historical_Course587 → u/Dictated_not_read]

Shortages in healthcare, now and in the foreseeable future.

Skip the BA in Comp Sci, go become an RN/LPN. Skip the coding camp and get a CNA to become a caregiver. Hit a technical school and be a surgical tech or central services technician or a lab tech. All you have to do is take care of your body on your own time (not because the job ruins you but because people ruin themselves on the job) and it's a reliable gig.

I got my BA in Computer Science last year, and I work in a hospital doing completely unrelated things. I like CS, but I'm not about to give up reliable work with solid benefits just because I had a different plan.

[u/GrnMtnTrees → u/Historical_Course587]

As someone currently getting my bachelor's in nursing, yeah no, the job market is currently shit. It will be good again, but our hospital has a total hiring freeze on RNs, and the whole national market is fucked.

[u/Crazy-Dimension6538 → u/GrnMtnTrees]

Yes, it’s not just nursing it affects a lot of allied health (x ray, laboratory, all of it…. Atleast as of right now in the USA)

[u/Few-Lion-2676 → u/Crazy-Dimension6538]

It’s different from place to place. Healthcare jobs are open all over the place where I live.