What sort of homeschooled was he? You present it here as if it indicates a lower level of education than he would have gotten through conventional school, but this may or may not be the case. I was also homeschooled, and have always felt that it gave me as good of an education as I would have received elsewhere. I had no problem transitioning to college and I never even took the GED.
Unfortunately, it's the lower level version. His mom had 12 pregnancies and 10 kids, 9 of which she raised and attempted to home school by herself. She stopped teaching anyone when she got very sick, but still withheld all the kids from standard academia. She died when my DH was a teenager, around 17 years old. He didn't get any formal high school level writing or advanced math, and struggles with basics like punctuation and capitalization. It's not that he's not smart - he's very smart, I wouldn't have him in my life if he wasn't. If his education had been as engaged and solid as it should have been, would probably be in a STEM career or biology grad program by now. Not so, though.
Definitely not trying to imply that homeschooled kids are somehow not as smart/well educated - but in my DH's particular situation, there was no actual schooling. His little sister didn't learn to read until she was 12. It's a tragedy.
Honestly, though, I graduated high school with a lot of idiots that he's more far educated than, including me, when it comes to math. :) No Child Left Behind, amirite?
Assuming not college interested....
All of that said, it's not a matter of not being interested in college - moreso a matter of the intimidation of never having experienced a classroom structure or setting before, or ever having to complete homework and be graded traditionally. I imagine there would be a set of remedial classes he would have to take, especially in writing. I think his personality is more geared toward hands on work, like trade work, rather than paper pushing.
I live in the Denver metro area and work in O&G (accounting). I'm assuming your boyfriend lives near you....looks like you're in Arvada. I think he'd be smart to try and get an in with an O&G company even if it is a lower level position. The benefits and pay in O&G tend to be better than average and if they're impressed by his work ethic and abilities he may get promoted to higher positions quickly. He may have to work really hard and long hours but if he's close to your age (22) he'll be just fine. Just my 2 cents.
The O&G Place that interviewed him is in Fort Lupton, and would cost him $468/mo or more in gas and vehicle wear and tear to make the 62mi round trip commute every day. Even though the starting pay is a lot more than what he makes now ($9.50 vs. $15.50), I'm not 100% sure it's a great idea, unless he's actually committed to being an O&G guy... Especially since it seems like there are other trades jobs much closer to home.
I didn't see tile setter on your list... ;)
An interesting piece of advice someone gave me recently, was to figure out what type of people I enjoyed spending my time with and then choose a career which attracted those people (since I would be spending the majority of my time with them).
When I was 18 I chose mechanic, (mostly Acura and Honda), because I enjoy working with my hands and solving problems. But after five years I found that I really didn't enjoy the culture, my body didn't enjoy being around the chemicals and back and neck didn't like the body positions required. The investment in tools (I spent about $25k) probably kept me at it longer than I would have. Being a "perfectionist", I was always frustrated at how unhappy people were with my work.
At 24 I learned to set tile, and at the time it seemed like it would just be a shorter term job, has evolved in to a good career (40 now) and certainly not one I ever thought of. I enjoy the interactions with clients as well as the creative problem solving aspect. The flexibility in my schedule is great, (being self employed) and I like that the scenery changes and I get to use my body physically. Clients are happy to pay me and love to show off their new kitchens and bathrooms.
After 15 years in the trade, I now feel knowledgeable enough in some of the other trades to take on my own remodel projects (have fixed up two of my properties, tackling electrical, plumbing, carpentry, etc...). While I plan to grow my business and stick with tile for now, I would feel pretty comfortable going many directions in construction (project management, slab fabrication, sales, trim carpentry, property management, contracting), if I needed/desired.
The recession hurt the construction industry pretty bad (industry fell from over 6% of GDB to less than 3%) for a few years things were really tight. It seemed to "weed" out those who couldn't stay in business. Now that construction is on the rise again, there seems to be a shortage of labor.
Feel free to contact me if you had specific questions, or wanted any connections with individuals in some of the other construction related trades (here in Colorado).
Sorry! Tile setter must have slipped through the cracks. Your mixed background sounds a lot like what I think my DH is going to go through. I honestly have my fingers crossed that the interview for the remodeling company goes well, since that would expose him to a huge variety of skills at once. Then, if he decides he likes any one particular thing more, that would be awesome. Or, maybe he finds out he likes remodeling houses. Who knows? I don't, and neither does he.
Huge thanks on the offer for specific questions answered. If he or I do have any, I'll definitely take you up on it. Chances are he won't be looking for connections anytime soon, but hopefully the offer will stand. :)