Job/education ideas for someone with mechanical aptitude

[snowball]

Anyone have advice for my younger brother?  He's interested in doing some kind of trades program (doesn't have any sort of certifications right now).  He's good at mechanical types of work but isn't really sure what program he'd like to pursue.  Something with reasonably good job prospects.  He's a hard worker but not someone who would do well with being self-employed;  he needs externally imposed structure.  He's fine with working long hours - last job had tons of overtime before the work dried up - and he isn't looking for a "dream job", just something that'll let him save up for a house and his own little workshop where he can tinker to his heart's content.  (He's pretty frugal, so might also be interested in FIRE eventually, but isn't now.)

He likes cars, so a career as a mechanic is one idea.  He could potentially also do a four year degree in something like engineering, but I don't know if he'd like postsecondary enough to stick with it that long.  Maybe he would.  (I don't really have a school-tolerance baseline for him;  we were mostly homeschooled growing up.)

I don't share his interests or aptitudes - my career took a totally different direction - so I feel I don't have the right kind of experience to give great advice, except with logistics like moving or applying for student loans.  Which ideally will be minimized of course.

Thoughts?  Recommendations (or dis-commendations!) of a particular field?

[davisgang90]

He might want to look at various community college options.  Many advanced manufacturing companies are partnering with CCs (or whatever you call them in the Great White North) so that students learn skills directly applicable to the company and will intern ahead of graduating with a virtual guarantee of a job.

Not as demanding as an engineering degree, but will give him skills in advanced manufacturing.

[Joggernot]

Many larger companies need people with mechanical skills for maintenance.  Out here, oil refineries, etc. hire people for their work ethics and mechanical skills.  Sounds like your brother would be a good fit.

[ubermich]

Full disclosure: I teach auto tech so I'm pretty biased.

As a tech for GM and Lexus I earned about 35k my first year with no formal training and 95k my last year before I left the field.

How old is your brother and is he wanting to stay near Alberta?

[KMMK]

Would he mind working up north and doing shift work? My boyfriend works as a Flight Service Specialist and NavCanada is desperate for new recruits right now. It's a short, cheap course, then as long as you are okay working for a few years minimum in a remote location it's a good salary and amazing benefits. The extra money you get from living in the north is very useful.
You can Google for more info.
But to give you some idea, my BF worked in Norman Wells for 3 years, then Yellowknife for 7 (which is reasonably sized), now is getting transferred to Edmonton.
Here in YK, his total compensation (as unmarried) is around the $200,000 area, which includes a housing subsidy of about 2/3, extra money for vacations, etc. And we get northern tax benefits as well.
In Edmonton he'll be down to about $75,000 salary plus pension and regular benefits. The northern subsidies go away.

The job is fairly boring a lot of the time, but in a warm clean control room, unlike a lot of trades jobs.

[Cassie]

He needs to look up the job prospects for any trade he is considering. He can probably find the web site at your local unemployment office or whatever is similar in Canada.  There are lots of good trades: electrician, car mechanic, machinist and/or CNC operator, carpenter, tool and dye maker, mold maker, etc. It just really depends on your local job market. 

[Tom Bri]

Motorcycle/small-engine repair. Easy to get into and forever able to find jobs, good or bad economy. Also, easy to transition to other types of engine repair, like car/truck.
You usually have to supply a lot of your own tools to work car repair. Start smaller, with motorcycle and build up your tool-kit over time.
I'd tell him to buy an old beater cycle and tear it to bits, then try to put it back together and make it run. At the same time, take classes at the local college to get a cert.
Plus, it's lots of fun, and it's a job other guys will respect him for.

[Cassie]

Small engine repair outlook really depends on where you live. I have been a career counselor in 3 different states and in some areas there are very few jobs.  Just like some states don't have enough social workers and others have 300 for every 1 job.

[Lathome]

Something to look at is a Building Operator. Fairly recession proof job, only one year of training (most get the 5th class power engineer ticket along with the building operator course) and salary is in the range of $55k - $80k (in Alberta, range depends on size of company, building, experience, etc.). He could look at the information on BOMA's website.

[HydroJim]

Becoming a machinist may be interesting for your brother. There all sorts of industries that use machining and it goes along with the manufacturing things mentioned by above posters. If he pursues the manufacturing route, look into the Society of manufacturing engineers scholarships. They have good ones for this type of education. Also, global automotive aftermarket symposium scholarships if he goes the automotive route.

Being an electrician or welder wouldn't be bad.
I know a few who make over $100k yearly.

[Mattzlaff]

I see you're from Alberta, I am too.

There's lots of industrial jobs out there. If the plant site is something he likes and school smarts is an asset he has, he could look into Power Engineering(2 year tech diploma at NAIT and not a "traditional" trade), Millwrighting/Machinist, pipe fitting(although less mechanical but still hands on work) there's crane operating, Instrumentation, Electrician . Any trade isn't horribly difficult to get into but It does take time to get journey man. Look at NAIT/SAIT first to get certification.

And in Alberta not every industrial trade leads to the "MAC" there's boat loads of plants all over the province.

Like others have said if cars are his passion there's always going to be mechanics needed.

Most of my suggestions have been covered already. I figured I'd add my two cents as I'm a Power Engineer and work in the sturgeon industrial heartland.

[snowball]

Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful!  I will pass on your suggestions.

In answer to ubermich's question, I think he'd be reluctant to move far from Alberta/BC, as all our family is here and he's not really interested in travel (as opposed to me, whose eyes light up at faraway places...)  He's 29, and I think is now at the point where he wants to commit to doing some schooling and following more of a career path as opposed to general-labour-type jobs - he wasn't really mature enough to do that in his early twenties.  He's been talking about this for a while, but I think he's just been having a hard time deciding on something.  He was laid off recently so that's giving him a push to put talk into action - I'm telling him he should just pick something!  Better to make a choice and do *something* than to not choose anything because you're scared of not making the best possible decision.