It's Probably Not Worth Your Time

Massive Downside of the Trades

03/28/2025

Writing to you from Northport, Washington.

After speaking with a friend in Oregon on Wednesday I am convinced of something I had suspicions about before…

The Preparation is all about gaining valuable skills, and who would deny that the trades (carpentry, electrical, plumbing…) are useful? Even without a sliver of experience in any of those fields it’s easy to see their value.

Not only can they bring you decently large sums of money…a competent person in the trades can become their own boss and fix or build anything they want for themselves.

So, it’s not so much about possessing the skill, but actually learning it that’s the problem.

In trying to build out a curriculum for The Preparation book (that’s close to being done) we spent a long time looking for skills to add. Naturally, the trades came up.

Over time I’ve had a few people tell me that I should go into the trades after saying something akin to: “It’s great that you’re learning so many skills, but now you should do something serious.”

Yet, as I looked further into the process of learning a trade, it seemed unreasonable.

If you don’t already know, to get into the trades you almost always have to go to community college for 2 years. So, a skill which can be picked up by necessity in a much shorter time frame (lets say 3 or 4 months) now requires several years in order to learn from a teacher and be in a position to get into a job soon after.

Insight From a Friend

While driving through Portland the conversation of trades came up between my friend and I.

He’s going into the trades and has first-hand experience in that world.

Before speaking to him, I already thought getting into the trades was unattractive, but when I asked him to clarify if getting into the trades is worth the time commitment I was blown away…

He mentioned it himself that, yes, the time commitment of going to community college is a big turn off and he said that if he weren’t already on that path he would have thought twice about it.

If 2 years of your time are filled with additional schooling, how much are you missing out on if you managed those two years independently to be as productive as possible?

But, what he told me about the people in the unions is wild…

Imagine you worked hard to get into the trades, learn a new skill, and make some money. But, there’s a group of vile and resentful gatekeepers standing guard before the gates of your future.

“I’m ready, let me through”, you say. Only to be ignored.

Well, after my friend had called a union over and over again for months, nobody answered him. He had to go to someone completely unrelated to the guys who deal with potential apprenticeships to finally hear from anyone in the union.

If you do manage to get in however, you’ll probably be treated like garbage.

So, an ambitious young man not only has to give up time and money, but his dignity as well when he’s beaten down by the exact people who are supposed to be teaching and mentoring him.

And again, that’s if you manage to get into “the club”.

Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance

I’m not saying that the trades are all bad.

The skills themselves are wonderful and the pay can be absolutely fantastic. not to mention the smoother transition you can make into entrepreneurship when you have a solid trade skill under your belt.

The benefits can be fantastic.

However, when you’re considering what to do during some of the most crucial years of your life it’s important to think about the tradeoffs you’re willing to make.

Most importantly: How are you going to trade your time? And what for?

In some cases going to trade school would be one of the best things someone could do for two years of their own preparation. Maybe they know what they want to do, it costs less than other things, and they walk away with a money-making skill.

For others, the time commitment of two years (much of which is going to go to the other classes you will be forced to take in community college) just isn't worth it. The amount of other skills they could learn on their own terms would outweigh the benefits of trade school…plus, they won’t be ignored or treated like scum on a regular basis.

You have to know what you are and aren’t willing to do during the crucial years.

If you trap yourself in a specific location for a chunk of time you may be losing out on the ability to go much farther down other paths in a reasonably short amount of time…

-Maxim Benjamin Smith