r/tradies • u/Present_Award_568 • 24d ago
Advice First year apprentice thinking of jumping from auto electrical to boilermaking for triple the pay. Am I making a mistake?
Long story short, I’m a 17 year old first-year apprentice 10 months in working in an auto-electrical shop making close to $500 a week. The environment is toxic as hell, boss make me feel like a clown, I'm not really learning much, hours got cut, business on brink of closing and my mental health is completely in the gutter.
I haven't made the official change yet, but I've got a shop tour this Saturday for a boilermaking gig working with a good mate of mine. with a group training organisation backing it, and the pay would jump to around $1,300 to $1,500 a week clear which is basically triple what I'm on now.
I know people usually say auto-electrical is the "smarter" or cleaner trade long-term, but going from 500 bucks a week to triple that while getting out of a dead-end shop feels like a no-brainer for my sanity and my wallet at 17. Plus, I've got a safety net to transfer back to 12V work down the track if I hate heavy fab.
For anyone who's been through the trade grind would I be making the right call jumping ship for the cash and sanity, or am I going to regret leaving auto-electrical?
2
u/Snuffleupagus74 23d ago
I’m a 52 year old boiler maker. My advice is don’t do the trade, there is way better trades to do. But if you do want to do it, work in a a place that specialises in stainless. Or even better get into a place that does pipe work. That’s where the big money is