TRADING PLACES By VICKI SALEMI
For a secure and highly lucrative career, look to the skilled trades
F OR the past six years, Destanie Greczkowski has worked in retail, but now she’s switching gears and moving into the automotive industry. When the Jamaica resident graduates this November from Lincoln Tech with a diploma in automotive technology, she’ll already have experience with engines, brakes, fuels, emissions and transmissions to pursue employment at a dealership.
Up until now, she couldn’t decide on a career path, but once her boyfriend started attending Lincoln Tech, she was intrigued.
“I wanted to learn how these cars work,” she says. “I want to fix them. It’s the first time in my life that I know what I was meant to do.”
Greczkowski, 24, who received a $5,000 scholarship from the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, says she has “always known I was meant to do more for myself and my family. There’s always room for advancement. You may start off doing oil changes, but you could go anywhere. You could end up the owner of a shop or an instructor. The only real limit is how hard you are willing to work.”
She’s right. Opportunities abound in trade jobs, and according to a December 2018 report from business membership and research firm the Conference Board, the current labor shortage is most significant for traditional blue-collar roles as departures exceed entrants.
“It’s a blue-collar workers’ market right now,” says Ken Rusk, author of “Blue Collar Cash: How to Become a Self-Made Millionaire Without a College Degree” (Dey Street Books, out May 2020). “Construction is huge. There are several thousand more electricians retiring every year than the numbers replacing them. This is true for carpenters, plumbers, roofers, landscapers. The supply and demand curve is so upside down and will be for the foreseeable future. Here’s the secret — this is where the money is.”
That’s where job security lives, too. Jane Millman, president of Riverhead Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and board chair of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, says that while people say the health-care industry is a safe bet, “the automobile industry is just as secure. There are always going to be jobs because people are always going to be driving cars.”
Within the automotive field, there’s no shortage of career path options, ranging from technician to service writer to parts manager. “We have technicians that earn from $35,000 to $120,000 a year,” says Millman. Plus, with automation through technology, it’s “not as intensively hard labor as it used to be.”
Technicians work a mostly 9-to-5 job with occasional weekends, and get health benefits, paid time off and 401(k) schemes. Dealerships also typically provide ongoing training as technology evolves. You may even be able to get a foot in the door without any experience.
“Most dealerships are willing to train individuals who have the motivation and desire to work and be a team player,” says Millman. “No experience prior usually doesn’t have a bearing on getting hired. It’s passion that counts — you’re willing to grow and be a team player.”
A 2018 report by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute indicated that between 2018 and 2028, 2.4 million manufacturing jobs may be left unfilled. That kind of security inspired Dylan Murray to leave his job as a photography production manager at an auction house. Four years ago. Murray realized that new technology meant the need for his skills and talent was becoming extinct. The Westchester resident decided to leave to become the co-owner of Murray Builders NYC, the family business launched by his grandfather in Canarsie.
“I don’t miss the 9-to-5 corporate life,” says Murray. “My days are busier and more chaotic, but much more interesting. One day I’m working with a metal worker on a custom bronze piece of art. Another day, I’m driving around with a client looking at slabs of marble.”
Michael Petri, owner of Petri Plumbing and Heating in Dyker Heights, reaps similar satisfaction in a demanding profession.
“It’s both physically and mentally challenging, but if you love helping people, this is a rewarding career,” he says.
A good plumber can expect to earn $85,000 to $125,00 per year, along with overtime, bonuses, medical insurance and 401(k).
“And, truthfully, [as a plumber, you’ll] never be out of work,” says Petri.
Union workers tend to earn higher salaries, but to be eligible, you must first complete an apprenticeship for five years.
“To advance, you need an additional two years in the field working for a licensed plumber,” says Petri. “At that point, you will be eligible to take a test to become a licensed plumber. It is both a written and practical test which, combined, is approximately 10 hours.”
Licensing, certification and education are all important credentials for trade job entry and advancement. Christine Gillespie, executive director of continuing education and workforce development at Bergen Community College, in Paramus, NJ, says that “they are verifiable proof that you have acquired the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed. It’s the validation to someone else that you know what you know. Education opens doors to a better life.”
In addition, professionals are required to keep their licenses current through continuing education. “Plumbing codes change, just the same as with accountants,” says Gillespie.
As for any stigma against blue-collar roles, snobs need not apply.
“I am also a college graduate of Villanova University,” says Petri, who says that as a professional, he identifies as white collar, not blue.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for all the trades. In order to obtain a license, we put in as much time as accountants and lawyers, and have had to pass equivalent testing,” he says.
Joanie Courtney, chief workforce analyst and RemX president at the largest industrial staffing firm in the US, EmployBridge, says that the reality of trade jobs is rapidly changing, too.
“Many of today’s plants offer innovation that rivals white-collar work environments,” she says. “Automation, robotics and virtual reality are creating fulfilling careers, and more workers are developing digital, programming and critical-thinking skills. It’s also important to note that at a time when four-year degree holders are saddled with student debt, most of our workers have none.”