Grace Jordan grew up visiting work sites with her father and recalls the trips as being fun adventures. “My dad has been working HVAC for my whole life,” she explained. “When I was a kid he was always on call.”
Now that she works in the industry herself, adventure is still a part of the job that she greatly enjoys. “We get to do all kinds of things that people who aren’t in the trades don’t get to do,” she said. From back entrances and mechanical rooms to city rooftops, she is often among the first people to see the inside of new buildings, and she gets to access spaces the public cannot. “When we worked on the Hague Towers I could see the cityscape of Norfolk everyday as I was working,” she recalled.
Though she graduated from college as an English major, she found skilled trades the most attractive option as a career. During college, she worked part-time as a carpenter for the university. “I’ve always loved psychically challenging work,” she said. After graduating, she realized if she wanted to use her degree to teach, she would need at least two more years of school—which meant two more years with limited income. Instead, she decided to try to her hand at skilled trades when her friend offered her a job in a small company.
She admits there was a bit of a learning curve, but that’s one thing she enjoys about working in the trades. “A lot of these trade skills are so specialized everyone is a blank slate when they start,” she explained. If workers are open to learning on the job and trying new things, they can become successful. “As long as you are a hard worker people appreciate that about you,” she said.
She has also found that gender doesn’t matter. She would like to see more women, and young people in general, explore careers in the skilled trades. “With the lack of shop classes, people aren’t exposed,” she said. “You could be a really good tradesperson, but you’d never know it because you’ve never been exposed. You’ve never had a hammer in your hand before. If you can just give yourself a chance, then who knows, maybe you’d really love it.”
And trade jobs offer some perks that are not common in other professions. Since trade jobs are results oriented, pay can be negotiated because of the skills you bring to the company, she explained, and workers can usually expect pay increases each year as their skills grow. She also loves the variety that each new day brings.
“When I wake up in the morning I get excited because I don’t know where I’m going or what I’m doing. I could be going to a house that recently burned down or to a huge construction site,” she said. “There is such a big variety, and you never know what the job is going to require of you and how you are going to be challenged.”
She also enjoys being the person that friends and family turn to when they need work done around the house. But she encourages everyone to learn some of the skills used in trades — skills she refers to as “the nuts and bolts of life” — whether they choose skilled trades as a career or not. “I want more young people to step into that leadership role and be that go-to person,” she said. “Who’s going to change your tire when your dad is not around anymore?”
After a couple years working as an HVAC technician, she can’t imagine herself doing anything else. And she has a message for her generation and younger: don’t rule out skilled trades.
“High school students should get into the trade. You can learn as you go. There’s no debt involved. It’s an accessible, great job with great growth potential,” she said. “Even if you don’t make a career out of it, for your entire life you’ll have skills that you need.”
Skilled trades provide workers with skills they can use anywhere in the world--and even in economic downturns. Unlike industries like retail or hospitality that are influenced by the season or by regional economic stability, jobs for those working in skilled trades typically remain steady. Start your journey into skilled trade careers by exploring the local programs on our Resources page.