Blue Collar and Proud of It: The All-In-One Resource for Finding Freedom, Financial Success, and Security Outside the Cubicle by Joe Lamacchia, Bridget Samburg
Authors: Joe Lamacchia, Bridget Samburg
Tags: Business
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skills and sensibilities. If you decide to go into construction, you may stick with it for your whole life, or maybe you’ll find a specific skill that you’re excited to master. The next thing you know you could be working toward mastering carpentry or operating heavy machinery.
Hopefully you have a technical or vocational programat your school or nearby. Maybe you’ve taken an automotive class or a woodworking course, but many of you won’t have had that opportunity. I’ve always called this shop and vo-tech , but now it’s referred to as career and technical education , or CTE . In many school districts, those are some of the first programs to go when budgets are cut. In some areas of the country, the CTE courses are being reinstated in full force, specialized technical high schools are opening, and teens are getting the chance to experience these trades like never before. If you have had some vocational training in your school, youmay be able to answer some of these questions easily. Have you enjoyed your woodworking courses? Metalsmith classes?
Unfortunately, not everyone is offered the opportunity to take CTE courses, and if you’re one of those people who hasn’t been exposed to the trades, you’ll have to work extra hard to figure out what you want to do. I suggest finding a summer job or part-time job on the weekends with a local contractor in a field that interests you. If you can’t test the waters in high school, you’ll have to test them on your own. Some of you have to start from the beginning and figure out what it is you like and don’t like. If you haven’t had CTE courses or opportunities at the high school level, you may really be left wondering how you can possibly know if this is the path for you. I suggest getting out there and getting a job, an internship, or an apprenticeship. Knock on doors, make phone calls, and show that you are interested and hardworking. If you really love to tinker with your own car and have always wanted to be an automechanic, then go to your local dealership and ask if there are any part-time, weekend jobs available. Maybe you’ll hate it, and maybe you’ll find that you love it.
If you are a mom or dad, aunt or uncle, teacher or guidance counselor, you may be wondering how to tell if your son, daughter, or student is destined for the blue-collar workforce. Sure, they may have told you that they think they are, but maybe they haven’t even figured that part out yet. There are no hard-and-fast rules about whatmakes someone cut out for a blue-collar job. I’ve spent a long time thinking about the traits thatmany of us blue-collar workers share in common. Maybe you’ve noticed these in your niece or seen some of these signs in your son. This isn’t based on a scientific study, but I can tell you that the following are traits I’ve found in most blue-collar workers: we’re very active, we like to fix and build things, we’re creative, some of us have attention deficit disorder (ADD), we can be stubborn, some of us are fearless, and we can be risk takers. We act out and get very agitated in school, some of us act out at our teachers.Does your kid have what I call the blue-collar personality? It’s just something to consider.
When I was in high school, I took shop and woodworking. I started to develop this blue-collar personality in my early teens. I liked shop. I liked it better than English class, which I could just never get into. When I started working for a construction company after high school, I realized just howmuch I enjoyed being outside. I had an easier time focusing than I did when I was at a desk, and I enjoyed the physical work. Other than some seasonal allergies, which I eventually outgrew, it was great to spend my summer days in the grass. During the winter I was shoveling sidewalks and plowing. I enjoyed that I was always moving around. I have a hard time sitting still and needed the variety. I liked meeting different clients and knowing
Hopefully you have a technical or vocational programat your school or nearby. Maybe you’ve taken an automotive class or a woodworking course, but many of you won’t have had that opportunity. I’ve always called this shop and vo-tech , but now it’s referred to as career and technical education , or CTE . In many school districts, those are some of the first programs to go when budgets are cut. In some areas of the country, the CTE courses are being reinstated in full force, specialized technical high schools are opening, and teens are getting the chance to experience these trades like never before. If you have had some vocational training in your school, youmay be able to answer some of these questions easily. Have you enjoyed your woodworking courses? Metalsmith classes?
Unfortunately, not everyone is offered the opportunity to take CTE courses, and if you’re one of those people who hasn’t been exposed to the trades, you’ll have to work extra hard to figure out what you want to do. I suggest finding a summer job or part-time job on the weekends with a local contractor in a field that interests you. If you can’t test the waters in high school, you’ll have to test them on your own. Some of you have to start from the beginning and figure out what it is you like and don’t like. If you haven’t had CTE courses or opportunities at the high school level, you may really be left wondering how you can possibly know if this is the path for you. I suggest getting out there and getting a job, an internship, or an apprenticeship. Knock on doors, make phone calls, and show that you are interested and hardworking. If you really love to tinker with your own car and have always wanted to be an automechanic, then go to your local dealership and ask if there are any part-time, weekend jobs available. Maybe you’ll hate it, and maybe you’ll find that you love it.
If you are a mom or dad, aunt or uncle, teacher or guidance counselor, you may be wondering how to tell if your son, daughter, or student is destined for the blue-collar workforce. Sure, they may have told you that they think they are, but maybe they haven’t even figured that part out yet. There are no hard-and-fast rules about whatmakes someone cut out for a blue-collar job. I’ve spent a long time thinking about the traits thatmany of us blue-collar workers share in common. Maybe you’ve noticed these in your niece or seen some of these signs in your son. This isn’t based on a scientific study, but I can tell you that the following are traits I’ve found in most blue-collar workers: we’re very active, we like to fix and build things, we’re creative, some of us have attention deficit disorder (ADD), we can be stubborn, some of us are fearless, and we can be risk takers. We act out and get very agitated in school, some of us act out at our teachers.Does your kid have what I call the blue-collar personality? It’s just something to consider.
When I was in high school, I took shop and woodworking. I started to develop this blue-collar personality in my early teens. I liked shop. I liked it better than English class, which I could just never get into. When I started working for a construction company after high school, I realized just howmuch I enjoyed being outside. I had an easier time focusing than I did when I was at a desk, and I enjoyed the physical work. Other than some seasonal allergies, which I eventually outgrew, it was great to spend my summer days in the grass. During the winter I was shoveling sidewalks and plowing. I enjoyed that I was always moving around. I have a hard time sitting still and needed the variety. I liked meeting different clients and knowing
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