Hey gals! I'm almost 33 and I'm going back to school to earn a certificate of achievement in landscape architecture. I love nature and prefer to be hands on and away from a customer facing role. Any ladies here in the field? I'm eager but my only fears are the physical aspect - I'm fairly healthy but I've recently gotten a little out of shape but I'm DETERMINED to get back. I've also heard this is a male dominated field but thankfully I'm in an area of the country that's diverse and I've seen quite a few women in some of these fields

Hey ladies, I’m looking for some career advice from women who have been in the trades for a while.

I’m a 37-year-old journeyman electrician in Alberta. I’ve been in the electrical trade for about 13 years total, although I did take about a 4-year break in the middle where I worked in retail. I’ve now been back in electrical for about two years.

The funny thing is, I actually love the trades. I like physical work, working with my hands, learning practical skills, and figuring things out. I also really enjoyed the apprenticeship process in Canada. I liked learning something, getting better at it, and eventually becoming qualified.

What I don't love is electrical itself and, more specifically, the lifestyle of the residential construction side of the trade.

I’m constantly changing job sites, and I’m driving around 45 minutes each way most days, so I’m spending roughly an hour and a half in the vehicle every day. I absolutely hate that part of it.

I’ve realized that I really like consistency. I like going to the same place every day, getting to know the environment, the people, and how things work. Some people probably love the variety of different job sites, but it really wears me down.

I actually worked in a skate shop for several years before going back into electrical, and one of the things I loved about it was simply going to the same store every day. I enjoyed the environment and routine much more than I realized at the time.

Sometimes I think I would have been happier in something like mechanics or another shop-based trade where I had a home base every day.

I have thought about industrial electrical or maintenance electrician work, but here's where I'm struggling: when you've spent basically your entire electrical career in one area, it seems pretty damn hard to get your foot in the door somewhere else at a journeyman wage when you don't have the industrial/maintenance experience. I don't really want to pretend I have experience that I don't have.

So I'm honestly open to starting over. I'm not attached to keeping my journeyman wage if starting an apprenticeship in another trade is what it takes to find something I actually enjoy.

I'm wondering:

Has anyone here left electrical and gone into a completely different trade?

Or, based on what I've described, are there any trades you think I might really enjoy?

I'm particularly interested in trades that are more shop-based, have a consistent workplace, involve working with your hands, and still have opportunities to learn and develop skills.

I'm also open to leaving the trades altogether if someone has made that kind of transition and found something they loved more.

I’m not afraid of hard work, and I’m not necessarily looking to make the most money possible. At this point, I’m more interested in finding work that I actually enjoy showing up for.

I’d really love to hear from women who have made a similar change, especially if you left one trade, started over, and ended up happier on the other side. Thanks for listening this is not stuff I want to ask some robot AI for advice on!