Learning Carpentry

Carpentry - learning a new skill?

If your skills or background revolved more around office work for example and you had little to no experience in the carpentry field (or other types of manual labor) but decided to learn these types of skills, please share your experience and feedback.

Public Comments

1. I am 20 andi work for 2 general contractors. Both are 40 plus yrs old. They both got laid off a bunch of times from their office jobs or just didnt enjoy workin in the field. They both love what there doin now and wouldnt work in an office again if that helps
2. Have an open mind. Watch and listen if there are experienced workers around. I lost my programming job right after 911 and am now in irrigation and landscaping. It took me almost an entire year to adapt from sitting in a climate controlled office to working in the sun, or in the winter when it is cold. I am in better shape mentally and physically now. I was 39 when I changed careers. May change to something else if the urge hits, I know now that I can change and it's not that bad.
3. I had a (voluntary) career change at 53. However, I'd been studying and practicing the trade for 25 years as a hobby. I told people I spent a long time tunneling, finally broke to the surface and ran like h3ll. I expected my co-workers to think I was nuts. Without exception, everyone who said anything said positive things and wished they had some skill to swap into. I have a friend who used to be in the restoration remodeling business. He said he'd given up trying to hire people from the local tech school because their attitude stunk. Skill is important and can be learned. More important is good work ethic and willingness to learn. Those are things that are not only quite valuable, but cannot be trained. Given someone with great skills and a lazy and WGAS attitude vs. a go-getting beginner, know which I'd pick to help me?