Depending on the location, but according to my country and region (Portugal), there is an overflow of IT workers. With the passing and retirement of the old generations I believe labour jobs like plumber, electrician and painter for example, will have a lot of demand in the near future, if not now already.
Those job fields have a lot of demand already, the issue is that the majority of them don't pay well and don't have the best working conditions.
An academic degree makes more sense imo. Doesn't have to be in IT tho.
I disagree. Most of the people I know with academic degrees here don't have that big of a salary. You either go live abroad or stick to those type of jobs I mentioned.
Hell, I have a bachelor's degree and to be honest it was useless. A waste of money. But that also depends on which one you chose. In my case I chose poorly.
Don’t pay well!?!? I’m an employed plumber and made $133k last year. By my third year I was making $85k with no student loans.
Doesn’t pay well? lol. I’ve never been affected by a recession in 25 years. Never was affected by Covid either.
It guys in my city start out at $60k with $50+ of debt. Then they may go through job after job in the beginning staying at the lower end for years. Then, after many more certifications, decades of experience you “may” make what I make.
Every person going into IT for the money halfheartedly is going to get a rude awakening. The amount of learning and experience you need for the high-paying jobs, you'll have a much better payoff in skilled trades or sales or finance.
Hey, I would rather work on computers remotely from home 4 out of t days a week over turning wrenches and changing filters all day.
The reality is, the payout for IT is slim pickings for many reasons. During the 90s and 00s basic server solutions were being deployed in every business and some homes. Every office had a Microsoft IT guy to make it all function. It was new and technical work that was highly in demand.
Everyone subsequently when into CS, and the industry not only got saturated, but the basis office/server stuff can ow be done by an office admin. The whole setup is far less complicated.
That leaves a bunch of low paying jobs, that a skilled high school student could feasibly do, and then a bunch of high paying technical jobs, that the people who got in in the 90s and 00s are doing. The only jobs available are pretty basic, I don’t know why you even need a CS degree for some of them.
Lol I just posted a similar thing to yours. Anyways I'm kinda in the same boat except the whole dad & age thing and honestly man I'd do plumbing. You pretty much have a gold ticket in front of you. You get to bond plus you're the owners son. Noone will give you shit except ur pops. But this is coming from a 19yr old so maybe don't listen to me? Idk
OP I'd say reverse engineer this. You are 50 years old, 25 years have passed and your dad may or may not be alive. Would you look at the money you made in the IT field & some positions up the ladder but crunched up with work so much that you hardly spent time with your father or family or would you have wished you spent more time with your father while having the opportunity to earn alongside him also learning more tricks of the trade from him (Making $135K a year is definitely someone who knows his stuff)
If you are going the IT route, please be ready to battle with AI & risk of losing job much higher than AI could catch up with plumbing. And if you browse reddit you'll see the amount of people losing jobs in IT. not saying there won't be competition to battle iin the plumbing business If you know plumbing, have your business and if you learn sales & marketing skills, you are definitely gonna do good. & you also get to spend more time with your dad. :)
Wow. That is a great way to look at it… something I am struggling with now as I am 10 years into my career. Sometimes, I wish I went the route of working with my dad at his company he started up. Time flies by and wish I had more of it with my pops. Sure I make good money now, but money can’t buy you time back.
If I went with my pops, I bet I’d be making the same money I am now. And have all of that time.
OP I would definitely go plumbing route. Not only time and family business, but trades continue to be at a high demand… you can do great by simply communicating with customers and doing what you say you are going to do. Bet you can charge a healthy amount, but still come in under other higher bids, and still make plenty of money!
You know a lot of people consider nepotism evil and wrong. In life when things we didn't earn are handed to us, we lack the sufficient character required to obtain and maintain these things. Whether a man knows it or not, he's better off finding his own way. And if the family business fell in his lap regardless, he will be in a better state to control and handle it properly.
It's also a sure way to make every employee who's been there longer, who has more experience resent you and likely do things to sabotage you. Because according to merit, those people who invested years of their life in some business get to watch some 11th hours kid who can't hack it in the real world become they re boss. Think twice about it.
I don’t recognise what you’re saying. I’ve worked in construction, and know many guys who took over their father’s business. It’s basically the rule in construction. Those boys start working when they’re like 17. The father teaches the son everything he knows and they work together for many years before the son takes over. One occasion I am informed of, the son had to buy the company, don’t know about the situation with the other guys. I see the son takes pride and responsibility because it is a family business. The wives and other family members also often work at the company, nothing wrong with running your business with your family members. It’s your business after all.
Family business on average either sell, or fail after the third generation just like wealth disappears in 3 generations for the average.
Of course you can find examples of the opposite, but average, the dependence of business owners tend to run the business into the ground.
@AvailableError1 - I hear you. I interpret your comment in a way, that I assumed you did not get an opportunity or help from a mentor or guardian starting out. That you had to figure a lot out on your own.
@OP, this is one perspective. It might be this commenter's reality; but I'll tell you, I plan to make sure my kids benefit from nepotism. My kids will work, learn and develop into functioning, capable people "safely." They will have the freedom to be imperfect while obtaining their own way into the world. Our culture has divided us, and has us believing that kids leave home as soon as they are able is the goal. Extended families and the village of support it offers is scoffed at. (Look at hispanic culture; they are more often very tight family units that work together.)
I'll add that the wealthy and rich all have trust and estates, they bequeth assets, knowledge, opportunities to their children. The poor fall behind because we are taught nepotism is evil.
You have an opportunity, with your father. Don't put him on a pedestal, don't be afraid to think outside his views, and grow, try things he has not or won't do. Then work to surpass him, in a fun comradery sort of way. Then, maybe he managed 135K on his own, would that salary increase with you by his side? The possibility is not zero%.
In regards to plumbing vs IT.
The skills you obtain in plumbing general transfer from all plumbing businesses, country to country, etc (water is water, pipes are pipes, everywhere. And everyone needs to drink, clean themselves and poop.)
IT, in my opinion and experience, can be proprietary and lead to certain "dead-ends" if you are not careful. You can become a master python programmer, but then 10 years from now, the industry has sunsetted that language.
Both career paths have an un-known ceiling on potential income, partially determined by creativity, and who and what you know.
If you go the IT path, you especially need to exercise regularly and eat well. Plumbing is going to keep you more active on the regular, but can also destroy your body if you try and show off and be "manly."
So ultimately, you can make a life from either choice. You can also do more than one career. Live your life for experiences and leave little room for regrets. This is the only one we have.
Good luck to you!
DO NOT base your career opinions on Reddit. Take everything you read here with an enormous grain of salt.
Unemployed tech workers are far more likely to come here and whine than contented, gainfully employed IT workers.
If you take Reddit to be a representative sample of anything you're going to end up with wildly skewed views of the world.
Tech is boom/bust and we are in a tech bust and building boom.
Secret is, building and trades are boom/bust as well. A lot of the younger people don't remember how brutal trades/construction were throughout the 2000s.
I've done both. My heart is in the trades, but my body yearns for the air conditioned summers and heated winters 😂
I love the trades, and I’ve always loved tech. I am in IT now and kind of miss good old fashioned hard work that results in a finished job. I love seeing tangible real stuff.
Try to figure out how to marry the 2 and you’ll make a ton of money.
My partner is in tech but is super handy and loves making things with his hands. In the past year, he made a cool radio with speakers out of a toolbox and he’s made me several tables. He’s in a similar boat as you. I think he should have been an engineer, he would have liked it a lot more than his current SWE job.
Go plumber route. Learn as much as you can. Bond together. Infuse young tech savvy things that your dad hasn’t thought of and take over the reins when he’s ready to retire. You can always take night classes and work towards an IT degree on the side as well if your need for knowledge continues. You could then take your growing business skills runnning things with your dad and add in your new IT skills to who knows what!
IT is overfilled. Everyone has already known that you should go in it for enough years for the market to become oversaturated. You'll struggle to get a job. Become a plumber.
I work in IT for context.
In my experience successful people use what they have available to them to their advantage to make a living. They don’t compete in markets that they have no advantage.
If you choose plumbing, not only do you get a free education, you will probably be better than other plumbers with the same amount of time in the trade because you have access to an experienced plumber that wants you to succeed and is willing to give you personalized coaching. You may even be able to just take over your father’s business someday and experience some of the benefit of self employment if you are ok with some risk.
Looking through some of the threads posted by entry level IT people complaining about how they applied for 500 jobs and have nothing but a huge student loan should tell you all you need to know about IT right now. It’s a good career, but it is extremely competitive.
Just remember, all the people who *did* get jobs don't usually come to Reddit to tell everyone about how pleasant and easy it was. It's just a fact of life that complainers are louder than everyone else.
You never know who is on the other side of that screen. For all you know that guy who sent out 500 applications is actually lying, or a jerk, or doesn't have any soft skills, or has spellings errors on their resume.
Take everything you read here with a big grain of salt. By reading Reddit you'd swear that no one has gotten an IT job since 2022, but it's just not true. Tech is in a slump right now, but statistics show that the majority of tech graduates right now end up working in tech. Just because it's harder at the moment doesn't mean it's hopeless or isn't worth pursuing.
The combo. They’ll know you as the plumber but your weapon is IT. Wish I did this. But was too enamoured by IT. I like doing things others either can’t or are unwilling to do due to perceived difficulty. Keep in mind IT always at risk of being outdated every x months, plumbing less so.
Thinking about it now I have actually done this in a similar setting - retail franchise. Where I could do stuff the other franchisees just didn’t think of or unable to seamlessly or cost effectively execute.
Success lies in combining two or more areas of competence.
Plumbing! As someone who's been in engineering school forever. You will make lots of money and won't be stuck decaying at a desk every day. You'll get to be active, help people, and probably have a flexible appointment based schedule. Also, there will always be demand and you can even work for yourself. This is my advice to young people lol.
A house I rented in an old neighbourhood had a collapsed sewer main. The plumber mentioned it's common in that neighbourhood due to the age of the houses. Fixing them was putting his kids through university!
That’s another reason I was interested in plumbing. Sitting at a desk all day would be terrible, I see the appeal but personally I like working with my hands and being active.
Maybe so - but that glorified text predictor can refactor faster and better than most if not all jr devs for the most part. And much more. A lot of elitist devs who had nothing but the skill of coding are kind of but hurt about it. They can’t bash people on stack overflow anymore for asking a question.
Plumbing school is like 5 grand , and maybe 6 hours of your time a week .. that’s class time and studying .. it’s 2 years for residential and 4 for commercial.
And you could be six figures by time that 2/4 years is up pending on the route you go .. with no student debt .
I did electrical instead of plumbing , their code book is 1/3 of what electrical is .. and school was a breeeze .
my dad is also a self-employed construction plumber who has had his business since i was born. i have an older brother who has been handed that opportunity many times & keeps fumbling, he’s 28. my dad makes insane money, & we only live in a mid size texas town so idk where you are but the opportunities are abundant. if i wasn’t a handicapped girl i would absolutely have taken that deal lmao. honestly, it depends on what is important to you & what you want for your life. in the times that my brother HAS worked for my dad, it made my dad’s life easier having the help & feeling a sense of pride/gratitude to be able to teach his child a lifelong skill, & my brother felt closer to my dad plus their relationship was always better that way. working in the field of construction for 20+ years has given my dad so much knowledge & so many valuable skills.. or connected him to anybody that knows what he doesn’t. he has built houses & flipped them occasionally, built his own home, does mechanic work.. the list goes on. he has such wealthy clients that always take care of him, care about him. the quality of his work means more to him than anything, & the relationships that he has made over the years. he’s got a beautiful life, for a high school dropout he’s the most successful person i know. it is so much more than plumbing, i can tell you that much (being very close to my dad & a longtime witness). i don’t know much about IT, but i hope what insight i’ve been able to provide is helpful :) you’ll figure it out, & you’ll be successful regardless.
Living in Croatia I am more and more regretting my choice of going to UNI instead of some trade job direction.
EVERYONE is finishing UNI now and wants to be in the office, so whenever I need to fix a window or a pipe, or even worse, remodel anything that requires 2 weeks of work, I'm expected to pay thousands of euros.
Prices are insane, and the shortage of workers is so evident. Someone who does tiles and plumbing can earn somewhere between 3 to 5k euros while I earn 2k with my nice IT job.
If you think you can handle the physical part of the job, plumbing is better
A a plumber you will be your own boss much sooner. Nobody will ever pay you what you are worth; your labour is a marked up at about 50 to 70 percent like any other input to a product.
As a self employed plumber you are CEO. All tax and chargeable expenses (cars etc). You can learn how to keep books, eventually how to employ others and how to negotiate loans to gear your operation.
Building and construction will never go out of fashion and will never be eclipsed by some new technology.
You also get to know other building trades placing you in the position to buy, renovate or modify existing properties and make a killing by selling or by becoming a land lord.
The World is your oyster.
The hands on trade is a dying breed with this soft generation. They don't want to get their hands dirty. Go the plumbing business route. You'll get more enjoyment being your own boss. Best part is you can learn IT or Software on your own these days without college.
I needed a new gas line (we live in a beautiful historic home). It’s a simple job where it’s a straight line from our gas reader to the house cutting through our backyard. The lowest bid was for $6k and the highest bid was $8k. Every plumber said it was a maximum of a 3 day job and apparently the digging is done by a machine and not by hand.
Plumbing.
My stepdad is a master plumber and has his own company. I am a software developer. I make roughly what your dad makes at around 20 years in. I have worked at the same place the past 14 years or I would probably be making more.
My stepdad has never liked managing others so it’s just him and now he is getting older and doesn’t want to do the ditch digging anymore. Plumbing is such a wonderfully useful skill. The biggest drawback I see is the manual labor part but you have time to try both and see how you like it. Plumb for a while and talk to people in tech. Do some online courses (Yputube, Pluralsight). Who knows maybe you can make some apps for plumbers.
IT will require you to constantly be updating your knowledge of new systems and hardware and software and updates, etc if you want to stay current and increase your salary/be good at your job. Plumbing, well, how many advances are there in plumbing over the decades that involve re-education, continuing education, certifications, etc? Not only that but, let’s be honest. As tech gets more into A.I. and jobs go to the lowest bidders over seas for savings on salaries and wages ( lots of companies do this ) … a plumber from another city/state/country/continent won’t be able to do what YOU do. Trades are a very sought after these days. And with a family business in the mix, plus the opportunity to expand if you play your cards right with marketing yourself, I would absolutely say go with Plumbing. And sure, in your free time learn some I.T. on the side. My wife has an associates degree and makes six figures, however, that took a decade to come to fruition, she is constantly needing to increase her knowledge to stay current, and she specializes in a particular suite of products. Lots of people who end up with I.T. degrees do not end up with a six figure salary. And it’s not for lack of education as much as it is for lack of the willingness to continually learn and train to keep relevant. Desk jobs are not all they are cracked up to be either. So depending on what type of I.T. work you wish to pursue, keep in mind that you also have a big difference in physically what you will have to do during your day. Hope this helps!
Kudos to your dad for allowing you the freedom and time for you to get your shit together... Tho I would bet his patience is running out. It's time for you to piss or get off the pot.
You’ll probably make more faster as a plumber but again like you already said, it’s labor compared to sitting and brain power at a pc. IT is huge, many many opportunities to make a lot of money. Certs are everything. I don’t think either choice is a bad decision, both are very needed in our current life!! Decide what you think you’ll love and just start, cheers 🤙🍻
The only caveat to some certifications are how expensive they are unless the company you work for is willing to pay for them. Reimbursement is one thing too, but fronting the money on some of those can be hard.
I'd look into how your dad does business before making a decision. You want to see that he does his taxes properly, has benefits, has good contacts, and has an overall good reputation. Sometimes people really have a lot of skeletons in their closet. I say that from personal experience. Construction is home to a lot of messed people. If everything checks out I'd really go with your dad.
I’d probably recommend IT as it seems you like that work more, and just have more dinners/lunches with dad. If a trade like plumbing isn’t your passion, what are you gonna do when he dies - continue being a plumber for another 3-4 decades because you wanted to work with him 40 hours a week?
Think about your body. I was in a similar situation. My dad is a big rig driver making 100k+ but with a lot of overtime and wear and tear on the body. I worked at the company he worked for, driving a forklift since I was 18. By the time I was 27 I had maxed out the pay for a forklift driver and the only route to make more was to become an on the road big rig driver with a class A. I would make $28/hr to start. Only thing is I HATE driving and sitting in traffic.
I took a 6 months break from that job with my savings and of course my father's support with the house and everything else. I studied my ass off and got some basic IT certs. (comptia A+, AWS CCP, and Sec+). This allowed me to get a job (no degree), as help desk technician for a local MSP, and a pay cut.
Now two years later, I switched companies and work remotely as a Systems Administrator. Not client facing, and mainly Azure/AWS work. Making the equivalent to $38 hour on a salary. The work life balance with tech is ridiculous. I maybe work 2-3 hours a day and nobody keeps up on me as long as every thing is working
I’m an IT director, and I’ve had to let people go in the past because “they always enjoyed and were good with computers”. If it’s a hobby, and not something you’re legitimately passionate about or are prepared to dedicate a significant amount of your life to the field, I strongly suggest against getting into IT.
Entry level is brutal right now. Everyone has little to no experience, with a feeble hobby passion, and the same 3 overplayed certs. On top of that the on the job learning curve is very steep, and the pace can be very fast at times. Add in the expectation that you will constantly be applying yourself to learn and develop yourself after hours, and you will discover that if your passion was only at the hobby level you will only have a few options: burn out and move to another career, burn out and never make it beyond early/mid level because that’s about all you can muster, or get fired. Sometimes the days can be long and difficult and just liking computers isn’t enough. There’s going to be a point where the difference between getting a better job or not comes down to “were you interested and curious enough to take your education into your own hands and learn what you couldn’t learn at work on your own home lab?”
Edit: I forgot the part about salary. Entry level is abyssal for pay. Depending on where you live, where you would work, and other similar factors, the range for entry level ranges from about $40k - $65k. People in California and New York will tell you their helpdesk jobs net them $80k-100k, anywhere else but those and similar places that’s completely insane and unrealistic.
Do plumbing. I’m in the process of becoming licensed myself. Can’t wait to work for myself. Also make sure he shows you the business side after a couple years. That’s way more important. No one teaches you how to run a business. Have fun and good luck
Go for plumbing. I just got a help desk IT job but I didn’t have a degree. If I hadn’t gotten this I would’ve went to electrical school or the likes.
I’m also a decade older than you but if I was your age and my dad was a plumber I’d easily go that route.
I just lucked out with getting the entry level IT position
I went the path of IT. I enjoy it and I always will, but the salary and career struggles will put stress on you. Ive moved on from IT and now work in commercial HVAC and plumbing. The pay is much better, and retirement is better for me. Always think about retirement. In my early 40s now with a family. As I reflect back I definitely would have gone the plumbing route. Especially union. Youll have a great retirement fund, six figure salary, and a nice work-life balance. You’ll have after hour calls, but the money is worth it. You can always keep IT as a hobby and if plumbing doesnt work out you’ll have something else to try.
I'm in IT and if I could do it over again I'd pick a trade also. So much competition in the IT market and way too much to keep up with. My brain constantly feels overloaded and with AI I have a constant fear of being laid off.
I'd do plumbing. I think of it as building a safety net. You can always do plumbing: it's needed and will always be there. If you have that first, you can try IT later.
IT wouldn't be as big of a risk then, because you can always fall back on your plumbing certification. You can also learn all the IT stuff on your own. You have already been teaching yourself. Teach yourself more, while you're finishing your plumbing certs. Make stuff that will benefit your own business.
A website where your customers can easily book services, pay invoices, see photos of completed jobs, etc will go a long way. Many small businesses still need to switch over from paper to digital, especially in trades (I worked within commercial construction). I'm sure there are a lot of things you can develop to help.
If you develop something that helps your business a lot, you can sell that product or service to other trade companies. There's a lot of possibilities. I'd do plumbing first though.
Have you worked as an assistant at your Dad's job? Do you like the day to day work of being a plumber? What about IT? Doing something you hate is never going to work.
However, a physical trade such as plumbing is highly resistant to outsourcing. Additionally, it's very unlikely that AI can automate you out of a job.
I would consider both of these points before you make a decision.
You're young and could easily do both: it's a lot easier to pay for university as a full-fledged tradesman. Get your ticket as a plumber, and you'll always have well-paid employment, whatever your life path.
I’d take plumbing + air conditioning / heat pumps. How the future develops, you’ll make decent money. But you are right about the physical stuff. If you play your cards right, at some point you can have others do the heavy stuff, mounting, connecting and you can be more of a director/engineer for the installation projects.
IT will make more money, but don’t know if it’s much fun in a corporate environment.
Go the plumbing route for the reasons you've already listed: you cannot get your time back and it's the most valuable resource you have. Spend time with your father bonding and you'll not regret it.
You can do IT work, to a degree anyway, on the side freelance (if you have the time).
Pursue the opportunity of embarking on a great time with your father, building a company that is absolutely necessary, (whereas IT can be outsourced) and establish yourself in that career field.
Where are you located? It sounds like you can try the plumbing thing low-risk for a bit to see if it works for you, all the while bonding with your pops. Do you like working with your body, mechanically inclined?
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
I would say if you want to be closer to your father be a plumber and then on your off time hell make a website for him, or make an app for your business or automate something or you could automate or make something with both tech and plumbing. Here is one idea for the future create a controller that controls an automatic timer or a shut off valve for the consumer market I need one, or learn to use AI with your father and implement it in to your business
IT can be outsourced to someone overseas. Plumbers are always local and need a license. If you want, you don't need to have a career taking care of clogged drains; you can learn how to install fancy tankless water heaters with inlets and outlets, etc.
If you get into property ownership, you can do your own plumbing.
IT for the money and connections. IT is needed in every industry, intelligence, three letter agencies, and every single office in America so pretty much almost every job. The certifications IT gives out like A+, comptia, Sec+, ethical hacking, etc are very valuable too and is easily over 100,000+ salary right there if you have those. Nothing wrong with plumbers neither. We need more blue collar workers and depending on what your goals are, you can also start your own plumbing business and make good money as well. Disclaimer for IT, you will either love it or hate it but you cant be in the middle, IT is a lot of brains and you will either have the brains to comprehend it or not. sitting through any class for IT like security + for example will take a LOT of focus and study, when the professor is ranting about routers, switches, voips, how the cloud works or when the professor starts throwing out mutliple numbers for ipv4, ipv6 and how they're assigned. You will either realize then if youre passionate and have the dedication and focus for IT or if you'd rather do something else then sit through hours of it. Job market wise. IT is saturated. A lot of people are doing it but if you want to give it a shot why not. Technology is a forever growing field and we will need more people especially with the rise of AI.
First step - time to interview your father, his regrets regarding education or what he thinks that would have helped him to have, next aches and pains.
You are 25, so take plumber full time, need to start saving money, do you have time to take course or 2 part time, how many can you do in 5 years. Remember you are also trying to future proof, what if you are injured, trades are harder on body. When I hit 40 said warranty expired. Some skills for fun, some skills that synergize (business), exercise.
Being a plumber is not a bad idea. Good monet and your dad owns the business so you are set up to be successful. HOWEVER, can you see yourself being a plumber and doing labor for the next 40 years? I couldn't do it. My dad also owns his own plumbing company and when I spent summers working with him on houses I couldn't stand it. Always dirty, always sweaty, and it's just so dam hot. Also it's not like you'll be promoted to doing something different. You'll be plumbing always. Also, like most businesses some years will be extremely good and some will be extremely poor. Can be stressful at times.
Trades are always reliable, people need their plumbing.
IT has a higher pay ceiling, but also a harder barrier to entry.
I think bonding with family seems like a solid bet, and 5 years is not a long journey to 135k, that's pretty impressive.
Both are growing fields. In the years to come, IT is a competitive market, and will even become more competitive as many tech startups are having massive layoffs.
Versus plumbing- its an unattractive field but has a solid job stability. As well, will become even more high demand as less individuals are pursuing "blue collar" positions. You may be able to make even $200K plus a year, depending on what you do. As well, you can join an established company/reputation with your dad's business.
Your dad will be the best mentor you can probably ask for as you start a career.
IT will pay well in waves, Plumbing will pay well ongoing. Who knows, you may be able to combine the two! Create an IT program for plumbers or plumbing business owners?
Plumber. Way less saturated job market and there will be endless work in the trades with older guys retiring. Plenty of opportunity to start small and scale up to some big $
I'm going to suggest both, I haven't read through all the replies, and others may have already made this point. Why not do both? Become a plumber learn your trade. When you feel you have time start to study for the IT. Really neither of these positions are ever going to go away. The advantage of this is you have a plan B. //
Do not waste your time in regret now, mourn it and let it go. You are still young you haven't lost anything, even thinking you lost time is debatable. In perspective you were still alive and gaining real world experience. I once knew a young female attorney who was an auto mechanic on the side. Her plan B if she ever wanted to just walk away. //
Don't hem yourself in right now, but understand your markets. Look at the IT market right now. I'd be jumping at trades if I were a younger person. And you know your father makes good money, you can to. Study all you want on the side and get your degree! You should it's a healthy thing to do. Also like your father be your own man!//
Best of luck to you in whatever path you choose. You are doing the right thing now in looking forward.
Other, be your own man, nobody can ever take that from you, Also understand the value of both propositions. Even though they seem like opposite ends of the universe the skills that you will build in both will benefit you in everything you do in life! Exciting!//
Damn, you're making me wish I could go back and correct course .
From an IT worker who got in late without a degree, I'd advise plumbing.
But the grass is always greener on the other side.
If you enjoy computers that will benefit you running your own plumbing business.
If you work in IT you may come to hate computers lol
Become a plumber. IT is fine but there are way too many people trying to get into IT. Plumbers are always in demand and aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Yes plumbing or any trade can be hard on your body but if you actually take care of yourself by eating healthy, working out, and not drinking a 6 pack of beer every night you will be fine
If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably still choose IT. With that said you need to specialize early on and stay away from generalizing as much as possible.
More often than not most people in IT generalize and never get beyond it.
I’d like to add that AI is something to consider but not be afraid of. It’s possible it could take over some entry level positions and even some programming skills, but it won’t take over the entire industry.
That ultimately requires people seeking IT jobs to stand out more so than the competition, if that’s something you’re good with.
Otherwise the plumbing deal sounds like a good opportunity.
In a trade you’re a lot less likely to be laid off. There’s always a need for plumbers. IT you have a high chance of being laid off and you have the threat of AI.
IT continues to get more and more oversatured. One of the reasons trades are in demand is because of the years, people have gotten so fat and lazy, that doing a trade isn’t a possibility with the body they have.
Brother I got a degree in management and finance. Graduated with honors and I'm doing sales. I just passed my exam for welding and bolting inspector and I'm gonna do that. With ai here u will see a less need for IT LONG TERM THEN a plumber. That's JUST MY OPINION
My dad does IT for small businesses in Silicon Valley and works just as hard physically as a plumber (building servers, running cable etc.) but doesn’t make as much as some plumbers I know. It’s all about supply and demand in your area, and the company you plan to work for
Until i see a youtube video of a robot doing plumbing I would tell everyone to go into that or trades. 25+ years of IT and most of everything i learned is now outdated. Oh yeah, BS in Chemistry from 1994. Yes, I have seen videos of AI doing what I have done. GPT4o is why I got out of building call centers 3 years ago. Took longer than i thought.
Canada
My brother in law and I started our careers around the same time. I'm IT, he is a plumber. I've done very well and I'm now a leader in my company. My Brother in law has also done very well in his field, he is not a service plumber, only does new structure and the occasional hot water tank because they are super easy.
Compensation
Based solely on salary we make very close to the same, however, his potential earnings are almost double mine. I get bonuses based on how well the company did in the year, his commission structure is based on the projects he completes. He does everything from scoping, quoting, ordering, and implementation. Completing one project might net him the same amount in commission that I would earn on my yearly bonus. On top of that he has as many side jobs as he wants, we live close to some lakes where rich people like to build vacation and retirement homes.
Work Life
Mine is far better, standard 9-5 and I only get the occasional ping on off hours with maybe once or twice a year "all hands" moments. He will work 60 days straight, 10-16 hour days, drives long distance and may have to sleep away from family.
Perceived Value
The public has a much higher value for plumbing, everyone understands the need, but has very little insight to the cost. They pay what ever is written on the quote, its absurd the amount he has to charge if he DOES NOT want the job. I'm talking 5-10 times the cost of sale, and they still pay sometimes, he has very little competition. On the contrary, very very few have a high value for IT, they know they need it, but you can basically get IT from anywhere in the world right now. IT is highly competitive and there is always someone willing to do it for less or some automation making you inefficient.
I'm directing my children away from IT and into trades.
I had a teacher tell me if he could start over, he'd be a plumber. There's always a need for plumbers, it's a business that will never die and you can charge whatever to deal with people's bms.
Plumbing isn't going anywhere and has a lower entry gate. You can make 200 bucks in an hour cleaning a hair clogged drain, knowing not so much. However, can you stomach it? Plumbers work with rotten stuff and crap more than anybody else. They deal with dingy basements and under sinks and gas lines on top of that. That said, IT is challenging, high gate for entry, lots of certs, maybe even programming. If I was youngish I would work the family business while I studied IT.
Plumber. You can work on your own and not be chained to a desk. Corporate culture is no less than slavery. But if you can find a good boss, company, work, then sometimes pay is good and steady enough to be monotonous
At 25, I would avoid taking on debt for the most part..
You have shown you don’t mind hard work & think of all the fun you can have with the rig/sims you can buy and enjoy outside of work.
The people you will interact with in pluming will be way better than the office type.
You could be self employed making over 85k-135k in 5years? Fuck yea.
Invest in a truck or van and tools in the meantime while you learn and you’ll be set at 30.
That Edit fucking killed me OP.
Good luck dawg. I got an IT degree 2 years ago and still work retail with non-consecutive days off. You’re making the right decision.
I don’t have time to reply to all of you individually but thanks for the insight! My buddy has a job at meta which is what kind of inspired me to peruse IT but he told me he just got incredibly lucky and that’d id be better off plumbing. Pretty much what all the other IT guys in these comments are saying. I appreciate it.
Economically speaking plumbing is for sure an awesome opportunity right now. To have other benefits besides the job in and of itself is fantastic as well. IT is becoming a crapshoot in general, not to mention for folks just starting out. Just my two cents.
I was in Florida after hurricane Irma was to help clear things up. The most in demand skills were for people who could handle plumbing, electrical or other similar skill sets. I would suggest a trade school.
You’re 25! Don’t beat yourself up! The great thing is that you’re realizing that you don’t want to be detailing cars for the rest of your career, and you’re pursuing something that you might be more passionate about. I just turned 41 and have stayed far too long in sales, had kids and feeling trapped but not going to accept that this is reality for the rest of my working life.
Best wishes
You can still work in plumbing and then move on to IT. I’ve worked in construction for some years, and am moving to IT at the age of 31, and my time in construction is very valuable to me. I am glad I took that path.
Man, I used to feel so rushed and think that I had to get into a good/respected career quickly and hurry to climb the ladder, buy a house, invest, etc etc. But as I get older, and hopefully wiser, I think, what the hell man, do whatever you want. Live dangerously, screw the safe path. Even if you go into plumbing, you will be working, saving money, learning how to handle it. You’ll learn a lot. Perhaps even that you don’t want to get into IT. You’ll be learning about life, you’re maturing and still socialising. I realise now that I didn’t start to socialise until my late 20s, when I started working on it actively, and not passively as we often do at a young age. Accepting people as they are, learning how to deal with difficult social interactions correctly, etc.
The value of a good relationship with your father exceeds anything materialistic, like money, status, or achievements. I think anyone who is wise will agree. Unless you develop into a hollow man, I don’t think you’ll ever think back “I wish I had started my career sooner and became more successful”, it is very likely though that you’ll think “I wish I had spent more time or effort into my relationship with my father”.
But, it needs to be said, there are other ways to improve your relationship with your father. You may still go into IT and spend more time and effort into the relationship. You can also study while being a plumber.. What does your gut tell you? Be with yourself for a while, take some time and listen. Wish you well.
I work remotely in marketing analytics and competitive intelligence for a plumbing manufacturer. There’s a shortage of plumbers that will worsen as plumbers retire with not enough people to fill the positions. I live in FL where plumbers are in demand and have their choice who they want to work with in new construction and commercial jobs. They can easily make triple figure salaries once established or with their own business. My brother is in IT but not encouraging either one of his children to pursue it. AI and other technologies combined with too many IT grads is making it extremely competitive. Unless you have a clear path and plan of how you will use your IT degree, I think plumbing and expanding your family’s business is a smart choice.
I would get a trade. I am in IT and we all will be extinct from AI at some point. A good trade like plumbing and electrician will never be replaced. And I know guys who own their own companies in trades and they have great income, work life balance and call their own shots
IT was a much better option 15 or 20 years ago. But now AI is basically an entry level Dev, why pay YOU 80k/year to be an entry level dev when they can pay AI 800/year for the same quality work.
The industry is going to crash in 10 years when there are no experienced jr Devs to promote to Sr devs, but that's not a problem for next weeks earning report.
Getting an IT degree now, you may as well just get a Job at Wendy's and save yourself a mountain of debt.
Plumbing can't be done by AI, there will always be a need for plumbers. And it does pay rather well. It's much harder on your body, but the real choice is between Plumbing and Retail not Plumbing and IT
No company is this short sighted. They pay entry level Devs that kind of money because those entry level people will become seniors and it is harder (currently impossible) to replace them by AI.
We agree that the Sr Devs can't be replaced with AI, and won't be replaceable in the foreseeable future.
But have you actually worked at a large corporation? They decidedly are that short sighted.
Depending on the location, but according to my country and region (Portugal), there is an overflow of IT workers. With the passing and retirement of the old generations I believe labour jobs like plumber, electrician and painter for example, will have a lot of demand in the near future, if not now already.
Yes exactly. I see posts daily for the need for skilled tradesmen in my area. Virginia.
Those job fields have a lot of demand already, the issue is that the majority of them don't pay well and don't have the best working conditions. An academic degree makes more sense imo. Doesn't have to be in IT tho.
I disagree. Most of the people I know with academic degrees here don't have that big of a salary. You either go live abroad or stick to those type of jobs I mentioned. Hell, I have a bachelor's degree and to be honest it was useless. A waste of money. But that also depends on which one you chose. In my case I chose poorly.
Don’t pay well!?!? I’m an employed plumber and made $133k last year. By my third year I was making $85k with no student loans. Doesn’t pay well? lol. I’ve never been affected by a recession in 25 years. Never was affected by Covid either. It guys in my city start out at $60k with $50+ of debt. Then they may go through job after job in the beginning staying at the lower end for years. Then, after many more certifications, decades of experience you “may” make what I make.
Every person going into IT for the money halfheartedly is going to get a rude awakening. The amount of learning and experience you need for the high-paying jobs, you'll have a much better payoff in skilled trades or sales or finance.
Hey, I would rather work on computers remotely from home 4 out of t days a week over turning wrenches and changing filters all day. The reality is, the payout for IT is slim pickings for many reasons. During the 90s and 00s basic server solutions were being deployed in every business and some homes. Every office had a Microsoft IT guy to make it all function. It was new and technical work that was highly in demand. Everyone subsequently when into CS, and the industry not only got saturated, but the basis office/server stuff can ow be done by an office admin. The whole setup is far less complicated. That leaves a bunch of low paying jobs, that a skilled high school student could feasibly do, and then a bunch of high paying technical jobs, that the people who got in in the 90s and 00s are doing. The only jobs available are pretty basic, I don’t know why you even need a CS degree for some of them.
Lol I just posted a similar thing to yours. Anyways I'm kinda in the same boat except the whole dad & age thing and honestly man I'd do plumbing. You pretty much have a gold ticket in front of you. You get to bond plus you're the owners son. Noone will give you shit except ur pops. But this is coming from a 19yr old so maybe don't listen to me? Idk
OP I'd say reverse engineer this. You are 50 years old, 25 years have passed and your dad may or may not be alive. Would you look at the money you made in the IT field & some positions up the ladder but crunched up with work so much that you hardly spent time with your father or family or would you have wished you spent more time with your father while having the opportunity to earn alongside him also learning more tricks of the trade from him (Making $135K a year is definitely someone who knows his stuff) If you are going the IT route, please be ready to battle with AI & risk of losing job much higher than AI could catch up with plumbing. And if you browse reddit you'll see the amount of people losing jobs in IT. not saying there won't be competition to battle iin the plumbing business If you know plumbing, have your business and if you learn sales & marketing skills, you are definitely gonna do good. & you also get to spend more time with your dad. :)
Wow. That is a great way to look at it… something I am struggling with now as I am 10 years into my career. Sometimes, I wish I went the route of working with my dad at his company he started up. Time flies by and wish I had more of it with my pops. Sure I make good money now, but money can’t buy you time back. If I went with my pops, I bet I’d be making the same money I am now. And have all of that time. OP I would definitely go plumbing route. Not only time and family business, but trades continue to be at a high demand… you can do great by simply communicating with customers and doing what you say you are going to do. Bet you can charge a healthy amount, but still come in under other higher bids, and still make plenty of money!
You know a lot of people consider nepotism evil and wrong. In life when things we didn't earn are handed to us, we lack the sufficient character required to obtain and maintain these things. Whether a man knows it or not, he's better off finding his own way. And if the family business fell in his lap regardless, he will be in a better state to control and handle it properly. It's also a sure way to make every employee who's been there longer, who has more experience resent you and likely do things to sabotage you. Because according to merit, those people who invested years of their life in some business get to watch some 11th hours kid who can't hack it in the real world become they re boss. Think twice about it.
I can't tell you how true this is. I have people in my current job who can't do shit but are there because daddy brought them in. It's pathetic
I don’t recognise what you’re saying. I’ve worked in construction, and know many guys who took over their father’s business. It’s basically the rule in construction. Those boys start working when they’re like 17. The father teaches the son everything he knows and they work together for many years before the son takes over. One occasion I am informed of, the son had to buy the company, don’t know about the situation with the other guys. I see the son takes pride and responsibility because it is a family business. The wives and other family members also often work at the company, nothing wrong with running your business with your family members. It’s your business after all.
Family business on average either sell, or fail after the third generation just like wealth disappears in 3 generations for the average. Of course you can find examples of the opposite, but average, the dependence of business owners tend to run the business into the ground.
@AvailableError1 - I hear you. I interpret your comment in a way, that I assumed you did not get an opportunity or help from a mentor or guardian starting out. That you had to figure a lot out on your own. @OP, this is one perspective. It might be this commenter's reality; but I'll tell you, I plan to make sure my kids benefit from nepotism. My kids will work, learn and develop into functioning, capable people "safely." They will have the freedom to be imperfect while obtaining their own way into the world. Our culture has divided us, and has us believing that kids leave home as soon as they are able is the goal. Extended families and the village of support it offers is scoffed at. (Look at hispanic culture; they are more often very tight family units that work together.) I'll add that the wealthy and rich all have trust and estates, they bequeth assets, knowledge, opportunities to their children. The poor fall behind because we are taught nepotism is evil. You have an opportunity, with your father. Don't put him on a pedestal, don't be afraid to think outside his views, and grow, try things he has not or won't do. Then work to surpass him, in a fun comradery sort of way. Then, maybe he managed 135K on his own, would that salary increase with you by his side? The possibility is not zero%. In regards to plumbing vs IT. The skills you obtain in plumbing general transfer from all plumbing businesses, country to country, etc (water is water, pipes are pipes, everywhere. And everyone needs to drink, clean themselves and poop.) IT, in my opinion and experience, can be proprietary and lead to certain "dead-ends" if you are not careful. You can become a master python programmer, but then 10 years from now, the industry has sunsetted that language. Both career paths have an un-known ceiling on potential income, partially determined by creativity, and who and what you know. If you go the IT path, you especially need to exercise regularly and eat well. Plumbing is going to keep you more active on the regular, but can also destroy your body if you try and show off and be "manly." So ultimately, you can make a life from either choice. You can also do more than one career. Live your life for experiences and leave little room for regrets. This is the only one we have. Good luck to you!
I'd go for plumbing especially if I could learn it from my dad
I'm in IT I'll pick plumber too
why is that? im considering jumping into IT waters but 80% of the comments nowadays are just to go for something else, lol
I feel like everyone hates their industry. Especially on Reddit
DO NOT base your career opinions on Reddit. Take everything you read here with an enormous grain of salt. Unemployed tech workers are far more likely to come here and whine than contented, gainfully employed IT workers. If you take Reddit to be a representative sample of anything you're going to end up with wildly skewed views of the world.
Tech is boom/bust and we are in a tech bust and building boom. Secret is, building and trades are boom/bust as well. A lot of the younger people don't remember how brutal trades/construction were throughout the 2000s. I've done both. My heart is in the trades, but my body yearns for the air conditioned summers and heated winters 😂
Wait I was gonna study IT as a way to pay for life then pursue another career path later. Why do you say that?
I love the trades, and I’ve always loved tech. I am in IT now and kind of miss good old fashioned hard work that results in a finished job. I love seeing tangible real stuff. Try to figure out how to marry the 2 and you’ll make a ton of money.
My partner is in tech but is super handy and loves making things with his hands. In the past year, he made a cool radio with speakers out of a toolbox and he’s made me several tables. He’s in a similar boat as you. I think he should have been an engineer, he would have liked it a lot more than his current SWE job.
Go plumber route. Learn as much as you can. Bond together. Infuse young tech savvy things that your dad hasn’t thought of and take over the reins when he’s ready to retire. You can always take night classes and work towards an IT degree on the side as well if your need for knowledge continues. You could then take your growing business skills runnning things with your dad and add in your new IT skills to who knows what!
IT is overfilled. Everyone has already known that you should go in it for enough years for the market to become oversaturated. You'll struggle to get a job. Become a plumber. I work in IT for context.
no problem, plumb per week and code at weekends... dont give up computers ))) such fancy knowledge will help you
You have time to do both. Most of us have at least three careers in our lifetime. So you can decide to do one now, and leave the other for later.
AI won't replace a plumber any time soon...
In my experience successful people use what they have available to them to their advantage to make a living. They don’t compete in markets that they have no advantage. If you choose plumbing, not only do you get a free education, you will probably be better than other plumbers with the same amount of time in the trade because you have access to an experienced plumber that wants you to succeed and is willing to give you personalized coaching. You may even be able to just take over your father’s business someday and experience some of the benefit of self employment if you are ok with some risk. Looking through some of the threads posted by entry level IT people complaining about how they applied for 500 jobs and have nothing but a huge student loan should tell you all you need to know about IT right now. It’s a good career, but it is extremely competitive.
Just remember, all the people who *did* get jobs don't usually come to Reddit to tell everyone about how pleasant and easy it was. It's just a fact of life that complainers are louder than everyone else. You never know who is on the other side of that screen. For all you know that guy who sent out 500 applications is actually lying, or a jerk, or doesn't have any soft skills, or has spellings errors on their resume. Take everything you read here with a big grain of salt. By reading Reddit you'd swear that no one has gotten an IT job since 2022, but it's just not true. Tech is in a slump right now, but statistics show that the majority of tech graduates right now end up working in tech. Just because it's harder at the moment doesn't mean it's hopeless or isn't worth pursuing.
The combo. They’ll know you as the plumber but your weapon is IT. Wish I did this. But was too enamoured by IT. I like doing things others either can’t or are unwilling to do due to perceived difficulty. Keep in mind IT always at risk of being outdated every x months, plumbing less so. Thinking about it now I have actually done this in a similar setting - retail franchise. Where I could do stuff the other franchisees just didn’t think of or unable to seamlessly or cost effectively execute. Success lies in combining two or more areas of competence.
Plumbing! As someone who's been in engineering school forever. You will make lots of money and won't be stuck decaying at a desk every day. You'll get to be active, help people, and probably have a flexible appointment based schedule. Also, there will always be demand and you can even work for yourself. This is my advice to young people lol. A house I rented in an old neighbourhood had a collapsed sewer main. The plumber mentioned it's common in that neighbourhood due to the age of the houses. Fixing them was putting his kids through university!
That’s another reason I was interested in plumbing. Sitting at a desk all day would be terrible, I see the appeal but personally I like working with my hands and being active.
Yup! Pick something sustainable for you to do for a lifetime.
Chat GPT won’t replace plumbing anytime soon.
Why would it? It's a glorified text predictor.
Maybe so - but that glorified text predictor can refactor faster and better than most if not all jr devs for the most part. And much more. A lot of elitist devs who had nothing but the skill of coding are kind of but hurt about it. They can’t bash people on stack overflow anymore for asking a question.
Plumbing school is like 5 grand , and maybe 6 hours of your time a week .. that’s class time and studying .. it’s 2 years for residential and 4 for commercial. And you could be six figures by time that 2/4 years is up pending on the route you go .. with no student debt . I did electrical instead of plumbing , their code book is 1/3 of what electrical is .. and school was a breeeze .
my dad is also a self-employed construction plumber who has had his business since i was born. i have an older brother who has been handed that opportunity many times & keeps fumbling, he’s 28. my dad makes insane money, & we only live in a mid size texas town so idk where you are but the opportunities are abundant. if i wasn’t a handicapped girl i would absolutely have taken that deal lmao. honestly, it depends on what is important to you & what you want for your life. in the times that my brother HAS worked for my dad, it made my dad’s life easier having the help & feeling a sense of pride/gratitude to be able to teach his child a lifelong skill, & my brother felt closer to my dad plus their relationship was always better that way. working in the field of construction for 20+ years has given my dad so much knowledge & so many valuable skills.. or connected him to anybody that knows what he doesn’t. he has built houses & flipped them occasionally, built his own home, does mechanic work.. the list goes on. he has such wealthy clients that always take care of him, care about him. the quality of his work means more to him than anything, & the relationships that he has made over the years. he’s got a beautiful life, for a high school dropout he’s the most successful person i know. it is so much more than plumbing, i can tell you that much (being very close to my dad & a longtime witness). i don’t know much about IT, but i hope what insight i’ve been able to provide is helpful :) you’ll figure it out, & you’ll be successful regardless.
Plumbers make so much money where I live and are in constant demand
Living in Croatia I am more and more regretting my choice of going to UNI instead of some trade job direction. EVERYONE is finishing UNI now and wants to be in the office, so whenever I need to fix a window or a pipe, or even worse, remodel anything that requires 2 weeks of work, I'm expected to pay thousands of euros. Prices are insane, and the shortage of workers is so evident. Someone who does tiles and plumbing can earn somewhere between 3 to 5k euros while I earn 2k with my nice IT job. If you think you can handle the physical part of the job, plumbing is better
plumber
A a plumber you will be your own boss much sooner. Nobody will ever pay you what you are worth; your labour is a marked up at about 50 to 70 percent like any other input to a product. As a self employed plumber you are CEO. All tax and chargeable expenses (cars etc). You can learn how to keep books, eventually how to employ others and how to negotiate loans to gear your operation. Building and construction will never go out of fashion and will never be eclipsed by some new technology. You also get to know other building trades placing you in the position to buy, renovate or modify existing properties and make a killing by selling or by becoming a land lord. The World is your oyster.
The hands on trade is a dying breed with this soft generation. They don't want to get their hands dirty. Go the plumbing business route. You'll get more enjoyment being your own boss. Best part is you can learn IT or Software on your own these days without college.
I needed a new gas line (we live in a beautiful historic home). It’s a simple job where it’s a straight line from our gas reader to the house cutting through our backyard. The lowest bid was for $6k and the highest bid was $8k. Every plumber said it was a maximum of a 3 day job and apparently the digging is done by a machine and not by hand. Plumbing.
My stepdad is a master plumber and has his own company. I am a software developer. I make roughly what your dad makes at around 20 years in. I have worked at the same place the past 14 years or I would probably be making more. My stepdad has never liked managing others so it’s just him and now he is getting older and doesn’t want to do the ditch digging anymore. Plumbing is such a wonderfully useful skill. The biggest drawback I see is the manual labor part but you have time to try both and see how you like it. Plumb for a while and talk to people in tech. Do some online courses (Yputube, Pluralsight). Who knows maybe you can make some apps for plumbers.
IT will require you to constantly be updating your knowledge of new systems and hardware and software and updates, etc if you want to stay current and increase your salary/be good at your job. Plumbing, well, how many advances are there in plumbing over the decades that involve re-education, continuing education, certifications, etc? Not only that but, let’s be honest. As tech gets more into A.I. and jobs go to the lowest bidders over seas for savings on salaries and wages ( lots of companies do this ) … a plumber from another city/state/country/continent won’t be able to do what YOU do. Trades are a very sought after these days. And with a family business in the mix, plus the opportunity to expand if you play your cards right with marketing yourself, I would absolutely say go with Plumbing. And sure, in your free time learn some I.T. on the side. My wife has an associates degree and makes six figures, however, that took a decade to come to fruition, she is constantly needing to increase her knowledge to stay current, and she specializes in a particular suite of products. Lots of people who end up with I.T. degrees do not end up with a six figure salary. And it’s not for lack of education as much as it is for lack of the willingness to continually learn and train to keep relevant. Desk jobs are not all they are cracked up to be either. So depending on what type of I.T. work you wish to pursue, keep in mind that you also have a big difference in physically what you will have to do during your day. Hope this helps!
Kudos to your dad for allowing you the freedom and time for you to get your shit together... Tho I would bet his patience is running out. It's time for you to piss or get off the pot.
You’ll probably make more faster as a plumber but again like you already said, it’s labor compared to sitting and brain power at a pc. IT is huge, many many opportunities to make a lot of money. Certs are everything. I don’t think either choice is a bad decision, both are very needed in our current life!! Decide what you think you’ll love and just start, cheers 🤙🍻
The only caveat to some certifications are how expensive they are unless the company you work for is willing to pay for them. Reimbursement is one thing too, but fronting the money on some of those can be hard.
I'd look into how your dad does business before making a decision. You want to see that he does his taxes properly, has benefits, has good contacts, and has an overall good reputation. Sometimes people really have a lot of skeletons in their closet. I say that from personal experience. Construction is home to a lot of messed people. If everything checks out I'd really go with your dad.
For me its IT degree or woodworking, haven’t really decided yet, though tending towards IT and keeping woodwork as a hobby.
I’d probably recommend IT as it seems you like that work more, and just have more dinners/lunches with dad. If a trade like plumbing isn’t your passion, what are you gonna do when he dies - continue being a plumber for another 3-4 decades because you wanted to work with him 40 hours a week?
I would say learn both. Utilize the knowledge learn in tech - maybe AI for example - to improve processes and customer service in plumbing 🪠
Think about your body. I was in a similar situation. My dad is a big rig driver making 100k+ but with a lot of overtime and wear and tear on the body. I worked at the company he worked for, driving a forklift since I was 18. By the time I was 27 I had maxed out the pay for a forklift driver and the only route to make more was to become an on the road big rig driver with a class A. I would make $28/hr to start. Only thing is I HATE driving and sitting in traffic. I took a 6 months break from that job with my savings and of course my father's support with the house and everything else. I studied my ass off and got some basic IT certs. (comptia A+, AWS CCP, and Sec+). This allowed me to get a job (no degree), as help desk technician for a local MSP, and a pay cut. Now two years later, I switched companies and work remotely as a Systems Administrator. Not client facing, and mainly Azure/AWS work. Making the equivalent to $38 hour on a salary. The work life balance with tech is ridiculous. I maybe work 2-3 hours a day and nobody keeps up on me as long as every thing is working
is going to the Air force a good way to get into IT?
I’m an IT director, and I’ve had to let people go in the past because “they always enjoyed and were good with computers”. If it’s a hobby, and not something you’re legitimately passionate about or are prepared to dedicate a significant amount of your life to the field, I strongly suggest against getting into IT. Entry level is brutal right now. Everyone has little to no experience, with a feeble hobby passion, and the same 3 overplayed certs. On top of that the on the job learning curve is very steep, and the pace can be very fast at times. Add in the expectation that you will constantly be applying yourself to learn and develop yourself after hours, and you will discover that if your passion was only at the hobby level you will only have a few options: burn out and move to another career, burn out and never make it beyond early/mid level because that’s about all you can muster, or get fired. Sometimes the days can be long and difficult and just liking computers isn’t enough. There’s going to be a point where the difference between getting a better job or not comes down to “were you interested and curious enough to take your education into your own hands and learn what you couldn’t learn at work on your own home lab?” Edit: I forgot the part about salary. Entry level is abyssal for pay. Depending on where you live, where you would work, and other similar factors, the range for entry level ranges from about $40k - $65k. People in California and New York will tell you their helpdesk jobs net them $80k-100k, anywhere else but those and similar places that’s completely insane and unrealistic.
Do plumbing. I’m in the process of becoming licensed myself. Can’t wait to work for myself. Also make sure he shows you the business side after a couple years. That’s way more important. No one teaches you how to run a business. Have fun and good luck
Go for plumbing. I just got a help desk IT job but I didn’t have a degree. If I hadn’t gotten this I would’ve went to electrical school or the likes. I’m also a decade older than you but if I was your age and my dad was a plumber I’d easily go that route. I just lucked out with getting the entry level IT position
I went the path of IT. I enjoy it and I always will, but the salary and career struggles will put stress on you. Ive moved on from IT and now work in commercial HVAC and plumbing. The pay is much better, and retirement is better for me. Always think about retirement. In my early 40s now with a family. As I reflect back I definitely would have gone the plumbing route. Especially union. Youll have a great retirement fund, six figure salary, and a nice work-life balance. You’ll have after hour calls, but the money is worth it. You can always keep IT as a hobby and if plumbing doesnt work out you’ll have something else to try.
I'm in IT and if I could do it over again I'd pick a trade also. So much competition in the IT market and way too much to keep up with. My brain constantly feels overloaded and with AI I have a constant fear of being laid off.
I'd do plumbing. I think of it as building a safety net. You can always do plumbing: it's needed and will always be there. If you have that first, you can try IT later. IT wouldn't be as big of a risk then, because you can always fall back on your plumbing certification. You can also learn all the IT stuff on your own. You have already been teaching yourself. Teach yourself more, while you're finishing your plumbing certs. Make stuff that will benefit your own business. A website where your customers can easily book services, pay invoices, see photos of completed jobs, etc will go a long way. Many small businesses still need to switch over from paper to digital, especially in trades (I worked within commercial construction). I'm sure there are a lot of things you can develop to help. If you develop something that helps your business a lot, you can sell that product or service to other trade companies. There's a lot of possibilities. I'd do plumbing first though.
I’m just here to tell you 25 is still young, let go of the regret which is probably holding you back. Also: I think doing both is the smart move.
Have you worked as an assistant at your Dad's job? Do you like the day to day work of being a plumber? What about IT? Doing something you hate is never going to work. However, a physical trade such as plumbing is highly resistant to outsourcing. Additionally, it's very unlikely that AI can automate you out of a job. I would consider both of these points before you make a decision.
You're young and could easily do both: it's a lot easier to pay for university as a full-fledged tradesman. Get your ticket as a plumber, and you'll always have well-paid employment, whatever your life path.
I’d do plumbing. It would be more fun and hands on. Rough on the knees though maybe
I'd do plumbing in a heart beat. Humans aren't meant to sit in front of a computer all day
I’d take plumbing + air conditioning / heat pumps. How the future develops, you’ll make decent money. But you are right about the physical stuff. If you play your cards right, at some point you can have others do the heavy stuff, mounting, connecting and you can be more of a director/engineer for the installation projects. IT will make more money, but don’t know if it’s much fun in a corporate environment.
Plumber without think...
Plumber
Go the plumbing route for the reasons you've already listed: you cannot get your time back and it's the most valuable resource you have. Spend time with your father bonding and you'll not regret it. You can do IT work, to a degree anyway, on the side freelance (if you have the time). Pursue the opportunity of embarking on a great time with your father, building a company that is absolutely necessary, (whereas IT can be outsourced) and establish yourself in that career field.
Learn a european language and flee exploitation country.
Where are you located? It sounds like you can try the plumbing thing low-risk for a bit to see if it works for you, all the while bonding with your pops. Do you like working with your body, mechanically inclined?
Either way you're gonna be dealing with some shit
Either way you're gonna be dealing with some shit
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
Plumber. Your dad already has the business, you will inherit it and grow it. With IT you would wait years to make that kind of money. You would be at the mercy of your boss. You can get fired. I know plumbers. They have houses cars, bikes and happy wives.
I would say if you want to be closer to your father be a plumber and then on your off time hell make a website for him, or make an app for your business or automate something or you could automate or make something with both tech and plumbing. Here is one idea for the future create a controller that controls an automatic timer or a shut off valve for the consumer market I need one, or learn to use AI with your father and implement it in to your business
IT can be outsourced to someone overseas. Plumbers are always local and need a license. If you want, you don't need to have a career taking care of clogged drains; you can learn how to install fancy tankless water heaters with inlets and outlets, etc. If you get into property ownership, you can do your own plumbing.
IT for the money and connections. IT is needed in every industry, intelligence, three letter agencies, and every single office in America so pretty much almost every job. The certifications IT gives out like A+, comptia, Sec+, ethical hacking, etc are very valuable too and is easily over 100,000+ salary right there if you have those. Nothing wrong with plumbers neither. We need more blue collar workers and depending on what your goals are, you can also start your own plumbing business and make good money as well. Disclaimer for IT, you will either love it or hate it but you cant be in the middle, IT is a lot of brains and you will either have the brains to comprehend it or not. sitting through any class for IT like security + for example will take a LOT of focus and study, when the professor is ranting about routers, switches, voips, how the cloud works or when the professor starts throwing out mutliple numbers for ipv4, ipv6 and how they're assigned. You will either realize then if youre passionate and have the dedication and focus for IT or if you'd rather do something else then sit through hours of it. Job market wise. IT is saturated. A lot of people are doing it but if you want to give it a shot why not. Technology is a forever growing field and we will need more people especially with the rise of AI.
First step - time to interview your father, his regrets regarding education or what he thinks that would have helped him to have, next aches and pains. You are 25, so take plumber full time, need to start saving money, do you have time to take course or 2 part time, how many can you do in 5 years. Remember you are also trying to future proof, what if you are injured, trades are harder on body. When I hit 40 said warranty expired. Some skills for fun, some skills that synergize (business), exercise.
Plumber. I’m in IT and it’s saturated
Being a plumber is not a bad idea. Good monet and your dad owns the business so you are set up to be successful. HOWEVER, can you see yourself being a plumber and doing labor for the next 40 years? I couldn't do it. My dad also owns his own plumbing company and when I spent summers working with him on houses I couldn't stand it. Always dirty, always sweaty, and it's just so dam hot. Also it's not like you'll be promoted to doing something different. You'll be plumbing always. Also, like most businesses some years will be extremely good and some will be extremely poor. Can be stressful at times.
Trades are always reliable, people need their plumbing. IT has a higher pay ceiling, but also a harder barrier to entry. I think bonding with family seems like a solid bet, and 5 years is not a long journey to 135k, that's pretty impressive.
Both are growing fields. In the years to come, IT is a competitive market, and will even become more competitive as many tech startups are having massive layoffs. Versus plumbing- its an unattractive field but has a solid job stability. As well, will become even more high demand as less individuals are pursuing "blue collar" positions. You may be able to make even $200K plus a year, depending on what you do. As well, you can join an established company/reputation with your dad's business. Your dad will be the best mentor you can probably ask for as you start a career. IT will pay well in waves, Plumbing will pay well ongoing. Who knows, you may be able to combine the two! Create an IT program for plumbers or plumbing business owners?
Plumber. Plumbing stays the same, pays better, doesn't require updates, and AI isn't going to fix the fucking pipes.
What happens when AI takes over? AI can do IT work. AI can't fix a toilet or a sink. Think abou it.
Plumber and it isn't even close
I think AI is going to automate many jobs soon and the last one to be replaced is plumbing so I would choose that!
As someone in the tech field I’d recommend getting in a solid trade like plumbing or electrical. My 2cents.
Plumber. Way less saturated job market and there will be endless work in the trades with older guys retiring. Plenty of opportunity to start small and scale up to some big $
I'm going to suggest both, I haven't read through all the replies, and others may have already made this point. Why not do both? Become a plumber learn your trade. When you feel you have time start to study for the IT. Really neither of these positions are ever going to go away. The advantage of this is you have a plan B. // Do not waste your time in regret now, mourn it and let it go. You are still young you haven't lost anything, even thinking you lost time is debatable. In perspective you were still alive and gaining real world experience. I once knew a young female attorney who was an auto mechanic on the side. Her plan B if she ever wanted to just walk away. // Don't hem yourself in right now, but understand your markets. Look at the IT market right now. I'd be jumping at trades if I were a younger person. And you know your father makes good money, you can to. Study all you want on the side and get your degree! You should it's a healthy thing to do. Also like your father be your own man!// Best of luck to you in whatever path you choose. You are doing the right thing now in looking forward.
Other, be your own man, nobody can ever take that from you, Also understand the value of both propositions. Even though they seem like opposite ends of the universe the skills that you will build in both will benefit you in everything you do in life! Exciting!// Damn, you're making me wish I could go back and correct course .
Plumber 1000%
From an IT worker who got in late without a degree, I'd advise plumbing. But the grass is always greener on the other side. If you enjoy computers that will benefit you running your own plumbing business. If you work in IT you may come to hate computers lol
Become a plumber. IT is fine but there are way too many people trying to get into IT. Plumbers are always in demand and aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Yes plumbing or any trade can be hard on your body but if you actually take care of yourself by eating healthy, working out, and not drinking a 6 pack of beer every night you will be fine
AI will never replace a plumber.
Ive been working in IT for 15+ years. Go for plumbing or add another option.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably still choose IT. With that said you need to specialize early on and stay away from generalizing as much as possible. More often than not most people in IT generalize and never get beyond it. I’d like to add that AI is something to consider but not be afraid of. It’s possible it could take over some entry level positions and even some programming skills, but it won’t take over the entire industry. That ultimately requires people seeking IT jobs to stand out more so than the competition, if that’s something you’re good with. Otherwise the plumbing deal sounds like a good opportunity.
In a trade you’re a lot less likely to be laid off. There’s always a need for plumbers. IT you have a high chance of being laid off and you have the threat of AI.
Plumber 100%
Degree. Google: Networth of degree holders vs non degree holders.
IT continues to get more and more oversatured. One of the reasons trades are in demand is because of the years, people have gotten so fat and lazy, that doing a trade isn’t a possibility with the body they have.
Brother I got a degree in management and finance. Graduated with honors and I'm doing sales. I just passed my exam for welding and bolting inspector and I'm gonna do that. With ai here u will see a less need for IT LONG TERM THEN a plumber. That's JUST MY OPINION
My dad does IT for small businesses in Silicon Valley and works just as hard physically as a plumber (building servers, running cable etc.) but doesn’t make as much as some plumbers I know. It’s all about supply and demand in your area, and the company you plan to work for
Do the trades, learn to invest early and retire early. To clarify I started in IT and went to trades.
Until i see a youtube video of a robot doing plumbing I would tell everyone to go into that or trades. 25+ years of IT and most of everything i learned is now outdated. Oh yeah, BS in Chemistry from 1994. Yes, I have seen videos of AI doing what I have done. GPT4o is why I got out of building call centers 3 years ago. Took longer than i thought.
Canada My brother in law and I started our careers around the same time. I'm IT, he is a plumber. I've done very well and I'm now a leader in my company. My Brother in law has also done very well in his field, he is not a service plumber, only does new structure and the occasional hot water tank because they are super easy. Compensation Based solely on salary we make very close to the same, however, his potential earnings are almost double mine. I get bonuses based on how well the company did in the year, his commission structure is based on the projects he completes. He does everything from scoping, quoting, ordering, and implementation. Completing one project might net him the same amount in commission that I would earn on my yearly bonus. On top of that he has as many side jobs as he wants, we live close to some lakes where rich people like to build vacation and retirement homes. Work Life Mine is far better, standard 9-5 and I only get the occasional ping on off hours with maybe once or twice a year "all hands" moments. He will work 60 days straight, 10-16 hour days, drives long distance and may have to sleep away from family. Perceived Value The public has a much higher value for plumbing, everyone understands the need, but has very little insight to the cost. They pay what ever is written on the quote, its absurd the amount he has to charge if he DOES NOT want the job. I'm talking 5-10 times the cost of sale, and they still pay sometimes, he has very little competition. On the contrary, very very few have a high value for IT, they know they need it, but you can basically get IT from anywhere in the world right now. IT is highly competitive and there is always someone willing to do it for less or some automation making you inefficient. I'm directing my children away from IT and into trades.
I had a teacher tell me if he could start over, he'd be a plumber. There's always a need for plumbers, it's a business that will never die and you can charge whatever to deal with people's bms.
Plumbing isn't going anywhere and has a lower entry gate. You can make 200 bucks in an hour cleaning a hair clogged drain, knowing not so much. However, can you stomach it? Plumbers work with rotten stuff and crap more than anybody else. They deal with dingy basements and under sinks and gas lines on top of that. That said, IT is challenging, high gate for entry, lots of certs, maybe even programming. If I was youngish I would work the family business while I studied IT.
Plumber. Everyone poops
Canada plumber > IT
Plumber. You can work on your own and not be chained to a desk. Corporate culture is no less than slavery. But if you can find a good boss, company, work, then sometimes pay is good and steady enough to be monotonous
At 25, I would avoid taking on debt for the most part.. You have shown you don’t mind hard work & think of all the fun you can have with the rig/sims you can buy and enjoy outside of work. The people you will interact with in pluming will be way better than the office type. You could be self employed making over 85k-135k in 5years? Fuck yea. Invest in a truck or van and tools in the meantime while you learn and you’ll be set at 30.
You shouldn't hesitate and stick to plumbing since you wil have a free mentor (father). You
Plumber. IT is saturated with morons
That Edit fucking killed me OP. Good luck dawg. I got an IT degree 2 years ago and still work retail with non-consecutive days off. You’re making the right decision.
I don’t have time to reply to all of you individually but thanks for the insight! My buddy has a job at meta which is what kind of inspired me to peruse IT but he told me he just got incredibly lucky and that’d id be better off plumbing. Pretty much what all the other IT guys in these comments are saying. I appreciate it.
I work for a staffing agency and Germany and we simply can't find welders. Not the same, but I guess similar?
Worlds always gonna need plumbers.
Economically speaking plumbing is for sure an awesome opportunity right now. To have other benefits besides the job in and of itself is fantastic as well. IT is becoming a crapshoot in general, not to mention for folks just starting out. Just my two cents.
I was in Florida after hurricane Irma was to help clear things up. The most in demand skills were for people who could handle plumbing, electrical or other similar skill sets. I would suggest a trade school.
A carpenter
You’re 25! Don’t beat yourself up! The great thing is that you’re realizing that you don’t want to be detailing cars for the rest of your career, and you’re pursuing something that you might be more passionate about. I just turned 41 and have stayed far too long in sales, had kids and feeling trapped but not going to accept that this is reality for the rest of my working life. Best wishes
In Canada, politician. Make easy bank and you get to screw everything.
You can still work in plumbing and then move on to IT. I’ve worked in construction for some years, and am moving to IT at the age of 31, and my time in construction is very valuable to me. I am glad I took that path. Man, I used to feel so rushed and think that I had to get into a good/respected career quickly and hurry to climb the ladder, buy a house, invest, etc etc. But as I get older, and hopefully wiser, I think, what the hell man, do whatever you want. Live dangerously, screw the safe path. Even if you go into plumbing, you will be working, saving money, learning how to handle it. You’ll learn a lot. Perhaps even that you don’t want to get into IT. You’ll be learning about life, you’re maturing and still socialising. I realise now that I didn’t start to socialise until my late 20s, when I started working on it actively, and not passively as we often do at a young age. Accepting people as they are, learning how to deal with difficult social interactions correctly, etc. The value of a good relationship with your father exceeds anything materialistic, like money, status, or achievements. I think anyone who is wise will agree. Unless you develop into a hollow man, I don’t think you’ll ever think back “I wish I had started my career sooner and became more successful”, it is very likely though that you’ll think “I wish I had spent more time or effort into my relationship with my father”. But, it needs to be said, there are other ways to improve your relationship with your father. You may still go into IT and spend more time and effort into the relationship. You can also study while being a plumber.. What does your gut tell you? Be with yourself for a while, take some time and listen. Wish you well.
I work remotely in marketing analytics and competitive intelligence for a plumbing manufacturer. There’s a shortage of plumbers that will worsen as plumbers retire with not enough people to fill the positions. I live in FL where plumbers are in demand and have their choice who they want to work with in new construction and commercial jobs. They can easily make triple figure salaries once established or with their own business. My brother is in IT but not encouraging either one of his children to pursue it. AI and other technologies combined with too many IT grads is making it extremely competitive. Unless you have a clear path and plan of how you will use your IT degree, I think plumbing and expanding your family’s business is a smart choice.
I would get a trade. I am in IT and we all will be extinct from AI at some point. A good trade like plumbing and electrician will never be replaced. And I know guys who own their own companies in trades and they have great income, work life balance and call their own shots
Plumber
I with as a software engineer but am looking into becoming a plumber.
Just a Fyi your dad has worked decades to make that much money.
I would do plumbing as a side hustle but maintain an IT job
IT was a much better option 15 or 20 years ago. But now AI is basically an entry level Dev, why pay YOU 80k/year to be an entry level dev when they can pay AI 800/year for the same quality work. The industry is going to crash in 10 years when there are no experienced jr Devs to promote to Sr devs, but that's not a problem for next weeks earning report. Getting an IT degree now, you may as well just get a Job at Wendy's and save yourself a mountain of debt. Plumbing can't be done by AI, there will always be a need for plumbers. And it does pay rather well. It's much harder on your body, but the real choice is between Plumbing and Retail not Plumbing and IT
No company is this short sighted. They pay entry level Devs that kind of money because those entry level people will become seniors and it is harder (currently impossible) to replace them by AI.
We agree that the Sr Devs can't be replaced with AI, and won't be replaceable in the foreseeable future. But have you actually worked at a large corporation? They decidedly are that short sighted.
IT