My best friend teaches at Penn State's tech school in the Electrical program. He went through the program himself, and had a job and apprenticeship lined up ahead of graduation. He worked for many years as an electrician prior to returning to the school to teach. I believe the number of graduates with apprenticeships after school is 100%. If they want to work, they can make extremely good livings- I know several 6 figure electricians.

[...] I'd like some input on some niche areas of home building that are in hot demand right now and where the potential to do well (over 6 figures a year) is huge.

Natural Disaster Home Restoration is the first thing that popped into my head. Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires, other Acts of God, etc., *always* provide people with cleanup work, regardless of technology advances or building material changes.

Other ideas:

Crane operator

Delivery/setup guys for modular/manufactured homes (if there's a market in your area)

Home inspector

3D printed home construction

Fine carpenter/cabinet maker/furniture builder

Welder

If I think of any more, I'll come back. :-D What a great thread; thanks for starting it! I have 6 sons (oldest is 13, next oldest is 11), and I'm always on the lookout for information like this.

Electrician.

Years ago before I entered college, my cousin (an architect) gave me the advice of: Work construction during the day and go to school nights to get a business degree. When you get the business degree, quit your job and go to school full time to get you architectural degree. After that graduation work four years (or whatever is required) for an architect, then take the 33.5 hour (or however long it is now) professional exam.

Hope that helps even if it tells him what profession not to pursue.

There's more value to a university education than just a career path. Perhaps he should consider pursuing a degree while working part time or summer jobs in a trade. It provides more options further down the line.

First and foremost, encourage him to pursue something he really likes. Doing something you don't love because it pays better makes for a long work day--each and every work day. A career is a long time.

Fewer young people are entering the skilled trades which will increase demand and bid up wages for trade professionals, generally. I think there will be an increasing demand for electrical/control technicians as homes become more automated. Pursuing an electrical/controls trade also allows for a career path that might migrate to commercial contracting or industrial work.

Home builders today are making six figures because of the thousands who lost everything and went under during the last housing crisis.If he wants to learn a trade, I’d pick something that isnt solely focused towards home construction.

Something, anything that provides structure and a formal qualification….Because that discipline will stick with him for life.

@doc5md and @einportlandor, I may or may not secretly be nudging the electrical path ;)

@One Devoted Dame, great suggestions!

@Mark Bischak, Architect, I've read your comment a couple of times and am confused....did you follow your cousin's advice? I'm definitely making him do DE classes in business this coming year. He keeps asking why he would ever need Accounting? LOL! (My degree is in accounting so I think everybody needs accounting knowledge!)

@jmm1837, you sound like my in-laws. They forced my husband to go to college before they'd let him use the family farm. Honestly, it wasted years of DH's life. I'm not going to put that pressure on my son if that's not the path for him.

@Charles Ross Homes, YES! We definitely want him to do something that he'd love but that is also practical and would support a family. DH fought his parents for years to do what he wanted to do because they kept saying he'd fail at it. However, he didn't and at age 44, considers himself retired because he's doing what a lot of people wait to retirement to do: live their dream :)

@suedonim75, good point. In our area, most builders are custom builders and not tract builders.

@fissfiss, I'd REALLY like for him to consider the military for 4 years because of the discipline he'd learn, but that's a total no-go for him.

Keep the comments coming! Thanks everyone!

What about HVAC or metal work? Metal work lends itself to many professions i would think, including the arts. We have a local metal shop that does everything from painting our old patio furniture to carrying out artisitic designs for yard art,

Given the rise of house-flipping, houses purchased without inspections, do-it-yourself remuddling, and the nightmares seen on this forum, I think there'll be many, many years of residential construction to keep people busy. Choose any trade you want!

I didn't think there was anything in my suggestion that involved "forcing" anyone to do anything. I thought it was something worth considering. If your son is determined to learn a trade, by all means he should skip college and get right into it. If he's not sure about his career path, or might have some ultimate goal of running a business or designing homes or some involving himself in some broader element of the industry, then he might well benefit from some time at university.

If we gauge demand by number of dilemmas posted, I suggest tile installation! Running a successful tile installation business requires math, art, and business skills along with the physical abilities to actually cut and place the tiles.

Serious issues in society include our aging population and climate change. Home automation combined with medical observation systems to help seniors remain in their homes sounds like an field with unlimited options. With new technologies in construction materials and renewable energy, there will be opportunities for those with solid understanding to design, install and service property systems

I should have clarified that, I did not take his advice. I went to college one year full time, three years part time while working full time, then a year and a half full time. I call it the scenic route.

In the course of rehabbing two old houses, I have asked countless tradesman what they liked about their jobs and what advice they would give a young kid. The one common thread seems to be that the more specialized their niche, the happier they are and the more secure they feel their jobs are—the do what you do well and, hopefully, enjoy it philosophy. The finish carpenter and cabinet maker are true craftsman and have more work than they can handle at prices that make you wince. The plumber who specialized in routing out pipes not only owns his own business but brought his son into the business. My husband’s cousins have a business that does nothing but install commercial drop ceilings—hugely successful and on 3rd generation. My friend’s father was an electrician who did nothing but commercial HVAC and over the course of 40 years built a business worth millions that now employs the 2nd generation, provided house down payments and grandkid educational assistance. Good luck to your son!

I studied construction management at a good university, so that would be a place to start.

But the true learning comes on the job sites. Young people have to be willing to put in the sweaty hours to learn a trade, or if wanting to be a general contractor, they need to understand ALL the trades as well as architecture and engineering.

I met a woman whose electrician husband found a great niche market -- marijuana grow operations, which are legal in my state. He worked on a couple of projects and quickly became the go-to guy. Raking in the cash!

How exciting! When my son graduated high school, he wanted to do 4 year college. I put my foot down on that as I felt it was all I could do to get him to graduate high school. He tried that for about a year and half, started out well, declined. That kind of schooling is just not his thing. A friend steered him to a program called JATC (Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee) through IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) this particular one located in the Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland area, but I know there are others as well. Must test and be chosen for program. He was placed in a paying full time job in addition to attending classes (some night classes, some 4 day work week/1 day class), for five years and graduated with journeyman's license. A certain amount of absences, grade point average, etc., must be adhered to as well. I remember after one of the exams that approximately half of the class he was in was released from the program. I honestly never thought he would make the first year, but elated to say he proved me wrong. It was a fabulous choice for him. Oh, and I might add, there were NO COSTS for schooling, text books! Best of luck!

Just my 2 cents...

As I have stated before, my father was a plumber and I grew up helping him, he also made me spend a summer working for an electrician (my father had these rules for being a man).

I didn't like electrical work, and though harder and a bit less glamorous, I would have picked plumber way before electrician. I would have picked finish carpenter before either of the other two. My brother was exactly the opposite, he loved electrical work and hated any woodworking.

I want to second what @Charles Ross Homes said and add a bit too it. Let your son pick the thing he loves to do without regard to what you or the people here believe is the field with the most opportunities... and hope he doesn't fall in love with roofing. People who do what they are drawn to and enjoy, tend to be more successful at it. If you want to help your son out try to arrange a month in several different trades and see what he likes.

As for the business/entrepreneur side of things. Most businesses fail/struggle because of a lack of business knowledge rather than a lack of passion. Business knowledge really only comes from experience. Education only reduces the amount of experience required for knowledge, but it often reduces it significantly.

I used to teach community outreach business classes, often to tradespeople. If I were giving my son money to start a business I would insist he take at least 3 courses. (1) Principles of Accounting, (2) Managerial Accounting, and (3) a business course that focuses on some of the Michael Porter stuff. These don't need to be for college credit and there are plenty of free courses that teach those things, but these three classes will exponentially increase the chances of business success.

Good luck.

Shead - Did your son show any interest in any part of the construction of your home?

Welding seems to be a huge need around here and pays extremely well. maybe not homebuilding so much, but thought i would mention it. my 42 yr old nephew welds …mostly at wal-marts. self employed. does extremely well. more work than he can handle.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC

"The single biggest problem facing the trades......[is] low social status for the trades."

I find this mentality somewhat true, especially for those in my parents' and in-laws' generation and it's definitely the attitude that my in-laws have (FIL is an MD and MIL is a nurse) FIL is super smart but can't put on a door knob, change an electrical receptacle, or follow instructions to put together a piece of furniture.....lol. They have to pay the "trades" to do everything unless they can wrangle DH or our son into doing it for them. Ironically, the people in our "circle" that are the wealthiest are those who went into business for themselves (welders, concrete, contractors, lawn care, etc.). Many own multiple homes, are debt free (in their 40's), kids are in private school and their wives don't work......that's what I'd like for my son :)

@mle0782, thank you for those wonderful examples of grit and determination!

@ulisdone, very true! Sweat experience is the best experience! We are in the process of lining up job shadowing opportunities for our son this fall.

@293summer, I will definitely check into the JATC program! It looks like there is one in Nashville :)

@bry911, you make a lot of valid points to consider. I'll definitely be making sure he takes the appropriate business courses. If he decides to forego a trade profession, I feel like finance would really be his thing.

@Mark Bischak, Architect, He was actually working for DH's brothers in Nashville last summer doing lawn care during most of the construction so not a ton.

@ILoveRed, welding is another possibility that he's considering! Our local welding shop has more work than they can handle and the owner does EXTREMELY well. He could use some competition.....lol.

Well, you need to build another house to see if he has any interest in construction.

(humor)

I know a furniture maker who graduated from Berea College's Technology and Applied Design program with a specialty in woodworking. His shop is in Louisville and he makes a good living working 20 hours per week.

I also know a couple of builders who came out of that program with a major or minor in business and who are very successful. Berea college is a bit of a gem if your son can meet admission requirements. No student pays tuition and most students only pay $1,000 for room, board, fees and books. I understand if your son isn't interested in college and I am not trying to push that, but they offer a lot of programs that are a bit more trade/craft/design focused along with a more traditional college education (including business courses), so it might be the best of both worlds.

If it is the college I am thinking about were I got gasoline off of I -75, it is a very nice campus and I would agree with bry.

Think hard about getting into an apprenticeship program and getting a union card for much better pay, working conditions, and hours. If he is entrepreneurial get business training at night and make a plan for transition to self-employment, running a small firm, or eventually to management in a big commercial construction company. Most of the guys I've known working construction needed a second career option, as their bodies got too beat up to swing a hammer every day 20 years before they were ready to retire.

I tried for years, without success, to convince my daughter that she'd like working as an electrician.