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Does anyone have advice on plumbing as a career. My children are in school now and I am wanting to get back into the work force. I am the one who does the fixit work in our house and also for friends. I enjoy repair work a lot. I am am wondering how hard on the body plumbing work is. I want to stay in this field until I retire and am not sure if it is to hard on the body for that. Also how hard is it to get an apprenticeship through all levels within Brandon? Thanks in advance for the advice.

Online Apprenticeship - Brandon M Roth - Mile Stone MVNT  
 
 
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Brandon M Roth - Mile Stone MVNT  
Full-time · $5,000 / month  
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Hey guys, my name is Brandon Roth.  
 
I am currently seeking new students and apprentices, to come and join myself, and my team of leaders. Who have gone from working in many different trades, oil patch jobs, and many different careers. To all now running our own business online, and teaching others to do the exact same thing.  
 
Learn how our other students with zero experience online have started with our system and been able to take the internet by storm and start leveraging systems built by people who have the results you desire to start to earn a full time income online while working part time hours.  
 
We are looking to mentor and train a team of 25 people via the Internet on how to make up to $5000 or more (Based on your efforts) monthly. We are passionate about creating a world where people can work to make a life, not just a living.  
 
Feel free to send me a application and I will review it and personal reach back out to you after.  
 
OR!  
 
Feel free to watch this training class going over the full details:  
 
www.MSMVNT.com

Or see about getting a maintenance job with an apartment block or commercial building.

Do it! The apprentship training is more intensive than it used to be, but most places, the major tools are supplied by the company.. You may have to buy hand tools but you shouldn't have to buy a roto-rooter. Every company could be different though. All that aside, if you really enjoy it, do it! If it's something you really enjoy, that, I feel should be a determining factor.

After a 25yr career in the plumbing trade I can say this. Say good bye to your back and your knees. With all the different avenues available in this trade it can be quite rewarding . And a good living.

99sportster said "After a 25yr career in the plumbing trade I can say this. Say good bye to your back and your knees. With all the different avenues available in this trade it can be quite rewarding . And a good living. "

Agree with 99sportster, this is something else to consider. You will have to perform your duties in a lot of ackward positions.

Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it!

Bad back. Bad knees. Not to mention the countless diseases you can get from feces and urine. Not to mention all the other biohazards if you have to do work at a hospital. The pay can be good but you could also be out of town for work so say good bye to your family time except weekends if your lucky. Good luck finding an employeer with any sort of pension plan. I almost forgot about carpal tunnel. Yep something else to worry about. Atleast they can surgically fix that. If you are going to try it than take pre-employment at ACC. Easier to get your foot in the door with that and opens up other related trades like sprinkler fitter or pipe fitter. Good luck whatever you decide.  
 
Edited by scrappydoo, 2018-08-18 20:51:44

Don't go the ACC route. Going to there only puts you behind and costs you a lot of money. Help Debt. Does not help get any type of job.  
 
Put applications in all the plumber businesses out there asking to be a apprentice. You work earn money and go to school for a few weeks each year.  
 
TRADES (any type) is where the big money and jobs are. Transferable skills.  
 
All jobs have a toll no matter what it is. At least this one pays at least triple what you would get anywhere else. As you move up the ladder, you will not only learn but have more choices of shifts and being on call alternates between staff.  
 
Raises are regular as well as it is based on the Manitoba Plumber group rates. No employer can pay less though they can pay more for good workers.

The money is pretty good but be careful.there is one builder in town so and so holmes who pays all his trades the residential rate rather than the commercial rate which is about $6/hr less.  
He can do this because all their work is new housing and not commercial.

Exhausted said "Don't go the ACC route. Going to there only puts you behind and costs you a lot of money. Help Debt. Does not help get any type of job.     Put applications in all the plumber businesses out there asking to be a apprentice. You work earn money and go to school for a few weeks each year.     TRADES (any type) is where the big money and jobs are. Transferable skills.     All jobs have a toll no matter what it is. At least this one pays at least triple what you would get anywhere else. As you move up the ladder, you will not only learn but have more choices of shifts and being on call alternates between staff.     Raises are regular as well as it is based on the Manitoba Plumber group rates. No employer can pay less though they can pay more for good workers. "

I've worked with alot of people that didnt do the ACC route and they end up digging alot. There on the job learning progression is slower because most of them dont have any hands on experience with plumbing tools and material. Hard to ask them to get anything from the truck or whole seller if they dont know what it is. Atleast at ACC you get some hands on with soldering, pulling wrenches, threading pipe, coring holes, taking measurements and learn the terminology. You get credited for level one school and just need hours to get your first raise. Yes school will set you back some money if you cant find away to have it paid for by the government. But its an investment just like the thousands of dollors in tools I've had to buy for plumbing. The tax break on tools isnt as good as other trades as well. You need to spend 1500 to get 500 back. Some people file as a mechanic trades person which gives you the first 500 back. Which I wouldn't recommend either.  
 
You would think that no one pays less than the plumbing rate but there are ways around it. Take less or get laid off. Too busy cant let you go for your next level so your raise has to wait another year too. Oh ya and if you go for your next level there might not be a job for you when your done. Some of them will just lay you off when your wage hits journeyperson rate if you cant do the jobs on your own. Just to be clear lay off is the nice way of saying your fired in most cases.  
 
Yes every job has a toll. This job isnt for everyone. You might as well be informed about all the pros and cons before you get into it. When someone tells you all good stuff, take it with a grain of salt. The honest informed oppinions are the ones that can and will tell you the bad stuff with the good stuff.  
 
If you want to get into a trade then consider electrician or sprinkler fitter. They have less cons and more pros. Sprinkler fitter pays more, has a retirement plan (with BDR for sure, not sure about Bison) and it takes less time to become a journy person. Electricians generaly start later and finish sooner on a daily basis. Its also a cleaner trade. No getting covered in oil from threading or having to deal with sewer.  
 
I'm not sure what you mean by shifts. Plumbing is generally monday to friday 7am - 5pm for construction give or take and 8am - 5pm give or take for service. You also dont get to pick the jobs you do or the time they have to be done. You get told. If it needs to be done at night than you do it at night. If it has to be done on the weekend than you do it on the weekend.

Sportster has given you some good information.  
 
I am in the trades. Here are some of my thoughts .  
 
The money is very good .You'll get 10% raises every level. To get your raise each level you require 3 things.  
1)complete school (between 8-10 weeks)  
2) have enough hours. You'll require 1800 hours per level but this i:ncludes your trade school hours too which will give you around 300 hours depending on how many weeks you do at school  
3) hit your aniveranniv date. Your anniversary date is the date you sign on as an apprentice. If you sign on this Monday your anniversary date will be Aug 20th each year.  
 
Once you hit all three requirements apprenticeships send you a level completion letter and they send a copy to your employer. This makes you eligible for your raise.  
 
You'll find with some employers you have to be proactive. If you don't go to them for your raise they won't just give it to you. They aren't all like that but i would reccomrec as soon as you receive your level completion letter take it to your boss and ask for your raise.  
 
Pre employment .  
I didn't do pre employment .I know guy who have and I went to school with guys that did.  
I didn't have any trade experience before I got into the trades. I had used hand tools and a previous job I had involved doing some basic maintenance type stuff so I wasn't completely dumb when it came to handling tools, drilling holes etc. Although I agree with sportster. When you start in the trades you're given very basic tasks .Pushing a broom, fetching and carrying. basically a lot of stuff that doesn't necessarily teach you much about the actual job.  
I found when I went to school for my first two levels I have very little knowledge of the actual trade and next to no theory. Level one most people were in the same boat because anyone that does level one hasn't done pre employment. When I went back for level two we are also in with guys that have done pre employment and you could tell who these guys were.  
They would do well in school because they have that 9 month pre employment program under their belt and lot more basic theory knowledge.  
 
The route I took was still right for me. I really couldn't afford to go to school and do pre employment. One thing to consider with pre employment is you won't get paid in pre employment. There's no EI like there is when you go for your levels. You're also responsible to pay for school unless you can get government assistance for it. I know if you're on EI when you apply to school there are programs in place to find school. There is also funding you can apply for to pay for pre employment through the government even if you are currently employed and want to upskill or are fresh out of high-school. You can stop by the government building downtown to get more information about that .  
 
Most people that get into the trades know someone who works for a specific company and they get them in. It can be tough to find employment for the first time. Lots of people get into the trades because they have a friend/family member that works for a certain company and they get them in. With pre employment you do a job placement and that can often turn into employment so that is another benefit of the pre employment program too if you don't already know someone in the trade who can help get you a job .  
 
LABOURING. A lot of employers will take you on as a laborer to start with. I would only do this as a very last option if you have absolutely no other choice to get in. I know guys that have worked for an employer for 6-12 months as a laborer before they've been signed on as an apprentice. The main problem with this is non of your hours as a laborer count towards your apprenticeship hours they also don't have to pay you industry trade minimums (although some trades do have a laborer minimum rate) .The only positive is, it gets your foot in the door.  
 
Hard long hours .  
As an apprentice you're going to get all the hard manual labor jobs . Basically all the stuff the journeymen don't want to do. They can be hard, tedious, gross, all of the above but just know you're doing your time and it's all part of the process. Everyone goes through it. While I was doing some of these jobs o just kept it in my mind that the guys dealing out these shitty jobs to me had all done the exact same thing and one day that would be me doing the same to someone else. Not to mention is was still getting paid really good money to do things like sweep the floor dig a hole, run to the supplier etc.  
 
There's still some old school journeyman who talk to their apprentices like dirt. I was fortunate to work for a boss that didn't really have that mentality. He would talk to me like I'm an idiot sometimes but that was usually if I did something stupid. Haha. Although I do know some journeyman and have went to school with guys who's journeyman treat them and talk to them like shit daily .You just have to be honest with yourself and ask yourself if that's something you can handle. Personally I couldn't so I'm thankful I was lucky enough to work for a guy who isn't that bad.  
And if anyone tells you that bosses can't treat you like that then they haven't worked in the trades. If you have an attitude or can't take being talked the way someone wants to talk to you "sorry we're slow right now I have to pay you off" and they'll find someone else. Or like sportster said they will wait until you go to school then they won't bring you back.  
The bottom line is just have a positive attuatti and work hard and you'll be fine.  
 
Tools.  
 
Man. Tools are expensive. You'll always be buying tools. Some people will tell you when you're starting out just to buy cheap and upgrade them when you start making good money. I disagree with that but I guess it's upto you. I've spent thousands of dollars on tools. Lots of company's have employee purchase tool accounts. You can basically go to a supplier buy tools and they'll take a portion of it from your pay cheque every pay day. Interest free. I buy most of my more expensive tools like that.  
 
I think that's about it from me. I would recommend the trades to anyone that is thinking about it. There's a lot of money to be made. Lots of guys are making anything from $60-$120k a year. The work is hard the hours can be long the working conditions are t always ideal but the money is great and I personally feel like I can be proud to tell people what I do for a living and people respect that.  
 
I hope you go for it .you won't regret it.