Career Opportunities in Mechanical Trades

The mechanical trades-encompassing such specialties as building trades, machines, and power plants-are always in demand. Often those interested in skilled trades such as plumbing and pipefitting, HVAC, offer apprenticeship programs with paid on-the-job training. Check your local trade or vocational schools for apprenticeship programs.

Those in mechanical trades sometimes find opportunities in assembly and fabrication, but greater automation capabilities will mean fewer opportunities in the future. Workers trained in heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration will see growth of opportunities in their field, as will those in some construction trades.

Plumbers, pipefitters and pipelayers, steamfitters, etc., will find much better than average opportunity. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states the field is growing but there aren't enough workers training for the position. Some other skilled trades will find fewer opportunities over the years due to automation and new technologies.

Educational Requirements

Most mechanical trades and skilled trades people are trained in vocational and apprenticeship programs. Both are often offered at community colleges and special schools set up to serve the specific trade.

Vocational programs can take anywhere from a few months to a few years, and apprenticeship programs usually take four to five years (both formal education and hands-on training) to complete. Often an apprenticeship program will offer opportunities to work for a small salary as part of the hands-on training.

Continuing Training Requirements

You do need to keep in mind that in the mechanical trades you oftentimes will have continuing education or training requirements. In order to keep licenses current and what have you it is likely that you will need to engage in ongoing courses of training or education.

Salary and Benefits

Skilled trade wages often depend on experience and years in service, as well as reliability and quality of work. Before committing to a vocational or apprenticeship program, check future outlooks for that field.

To help you choose a career area in mechanical or skilled trades-or to see more detailed data on a field you are in now-search the Occupational Outlook Handbook at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website (www.bls.gov).

In many instances, the mechanical trades are covered by union agreements of different types. Through collective bargaining and the like a person involved in the mechanical trade usually does rather well when it comes to wages and benefits.

The Future of the Mechanical Trades

The rise and fall of the mechanical trade is tightly tied to the health of the economy. With this said, many reputable analysts believe that the economy is sound and should remain so on into the future. Therefore, most of these experts believe that the future seems solid for people who are involved with or interested in joining the mechanical trades.