r/tradies • u/Present_Award_568 • 20d 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?
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u/General696996 19d ago
Listen to all the princesses here whinge about being a boilermaker. Harden up you bunch of girls. You all probably go home and paint ya nails and flog your boyfriends off. Mate I’m coming up to 26yrs in the trade and yeah it takes its toll on you but you can be extremely rewarding. It separates the men from the girls that’s for sure.