Is Plumbing a Good Career?
Plumbing can be a dirty job.
It can be physically demanding. A toilet weighs 60 lbs or more. A laptop weighs 4 or 5 lbs, yet some people complain when they don’t have a lighter model.
Wouldn’t it be better to sit in air-conditioned comfort, stare at a monitor, and draw a paycheck?
First, anyone who’s spent the last five years typing at a keyboard and staring at a monitor will tell you it’s the contemporary equivalent of watching a wire pass through a wax bath.
The average job tenure in 2022 was about four years. Not every corporate paycheck is a fat one. Most people leave their jobs because they’re dissatisfied.
Second, a plumbing career comes with surprising benefits your high school guidance counselor never bothered to mention or may not have been aware of.
Here are seven of them.
1. You Can Earn Money While Training
Many plumbing companies offer apprenticeships. You learn a valuable skill as an apprentice and get paid to do it, unlike the average college grad carrying $40,000 of debt into an entry-level job of 30K per year (if they’re lucky).
And you get paid by the hour with overtime, unlike the salaried grad working late nights and over the weekend. 43.7% of recent college graduates are underemployed, and only 62% of all college grads have a job requiring a degree. Even Google doesn’t care about degrees, choosing instead to hire the most qualified people.
College tuition is increasing, while future earnings are decreasing.
You’ll outearn most college grads as a plumber, and your education will be free. Plumbing doesn’t look like such a dirty deal anymore.
2. The Pay Is Excellent
Plumbing is one of the highest-paid trades in the United States. As a journeyman plumber, you can make around $60,000 a year.
You can earn even more in areas with a higher cost of living, especially if you have a plumbing specialty. Some plumbers make six-figure incomes and don’t have to give up their lives and families to do it.
3. There’s Room for Advancement
How many corporate “promotions” are just lateral transfers? How often do you hear of go-getters who land in a dead end department or toxic work environment?
Plumbing has many specialties and offers certifications in advanced technologies. And since starting your own plumbing company is much easier than funding a corporate start-up, you can transition from technician to boss once you’ve gained the experience.
4. Your Job Will Be Secure
Even in a recession, people will call the plumber when the pipes overflow. Plumbing is an indispensable job.
It can’t be shipped overseas, like so many tech jobs.
It can’t be trimmed from the budget, like restaurant meals and entertainment. It will never be replaced by computers or AI technology.
Desperate homeowners may resort to DIY repairs when times are tight, but they’ll call the plumber when the pipes explode.
5. You Get to Interact with People
Customers are always glad to see the plumber.
Why? Because you’re there to solve their problem and make their day better. They’ll want to interact with you in a good-natured way.
How often does that happen in an office? Ask around. The experience of being needed, appreciated, and wanted is vanishingly rare. And office interactions occur by email, mainly along the lines of, “Where’s my report?”
6. There Are No Office Politics
Plumbers are down-to-earth people. They aren’t waging a covert war with you to curry favor with the boss and get ahead. They aren’t getting their feelings hurt if you correct a mistake or outshine them at the meeting.
You won’t have to choose sides of a debate or engage in backstabbing conversations. You do the job and move on to the next one.
Plumbers believe in teamwork and share a strong bond with their coworkers. They’re rooting for you and not against you.
7. You’re Doing Something Useful
How many office jobs are little more than digital pencil pushing?
A plumber helps people. You make a difference — every day, every job. No one will ever thank you for giving up your free time to write a marketing report on the weekend. You may even be a casualty in the next round of layoffs.
But when you restore water service to a home, fix a clogged sewer line, or replace a broken water heater? People are grateful and relieved beyond words. Plumbing is satisfying work that pays well and offers job security.
And when you install low-flush toilets, water flow restrictors, and energy-saving tankless water heaters, you’re doing a good deed for the environment and making the world a better place.
Are You Interested in a Plumbing Career? Contact Orange Coast Plumbing
Orange Coast Plumbing is an equal-opportunity employer looking for motivated people interested in the plumbing trade.
A good attitude and work ethic, and an ability to problem solve are the qualities we seek. We have in-house training to take you from novice to expert faster than any plumbing school.
You’ll learn from the best plumbing technicians in Orange County, CA.
We offer competitive pay and excellent benefits. Please contact us if you live in Southern California and want to enter the plumbing field.
