Which is the Best Trade Career?

The best trade

It has been awhile since my last Mechanically Speaking article, but this must be easier now. I can just use AI. The question is, can I implant my bias into AI? Maybe I won’t need to. AI probably knows a career as an auto mechanic is the best.

Well, I just ran AI on that very question and “auto mechanic” is not on top. Number one: industrial electrician. Number two: powerline technician. Number three: elevator mechanic. These trades make good money and are in demand.

Digging deeper, I found a category “trades with better work-life balance”. There it is: automotive service technician. In this day and age work-life balance is a very important criteria in choosing a career. An auto repair technician career is going to be four or five days a week eight or ten hours a day. Likely weekends off. 

I am glad we made the list. One other important criteria that AI figures one should consider is how future-proof a trade is. The automotive industry never rests when it comes to tech. Being an automotive technician requires constant training. And the automobile will always need someone who can figure out how to fix it. Not easy though. The engineers only figure out how to make them. You have to enjoy a challenge. You really, really have to enjoy a challenge.

Now, I would like to add a few of my own personal good reasons for choosing a career in auto repair. If you learn to fix a technical marvel, which our modern automobiles are, what else can you fix?  The answer, almost anything. First off, you can fix your own vehicle. Next to a house, the automobile is the next most expensive thing to own and operate. Saving money on auto repairs and maintenance is a significant reduction in a household budget. When you learn to fix vehicles you learn electrical, plumbing, welding, and machining. Combined with those skills you likely own a full set of tools. You have become a very handy individual.

As far as trades go, auto repair is almost always performed indoors in a controlled environment.

The top trades from AI, powerline technician (lineman) or industrial electrician can require a lot of outdoor work. The physical demands of auto repair are not negligible but there are a lot of tools to be had that take the place of brute force.

The critics of my chosen trade throw out a lot of negatives. The number one seems to be related to the pay combined with the cost of buying your own tools. It is critical to choose to work at an operation that pays well and provides the necessary tools above and beyond your hand tools. This includes diagnostic tools, service information tools, and special tools for specific vehicle makes and models. More important though is your chosen shop should be extra willing to keep you trained. The good thing is there is a huge demand for auto repair technicians and therefore a broad choice of operations to choose as your employer.

Now that I have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that the automotive repair technician is the career of choice, those of you who don’t doubt me or AI need to spread the word. Right now, the auto repair industry needs technicians badly.