What benefits come with being a carpenter?

Hi Brandon,
Carpenter is a great career...but, depending on where you live it is not always year round work and you will have some down time where you cannot work due to the weather.
I will suggest that you look into all types of careers where you can work with your hands. Example- if you learn building trades in general, you can do more types of construction and handyman type of work...plumbing/electrical/carpentry, etc. If you learned everything about building a house for example, you could eventually become an Inspector, Foreman/Supervisor or General Contractor.
Here is a good link I found for you:
http://whodouwant2b.com/student/pathways/building-construction

Good luck!

Hi Matt,

I started out as a carpenter. Like you I was very interested in furniture building and couldn't get a job building furniture where I lived so I became a carpenter. Learn as much as you can about the other trades ie; plumbing, electrical and HVAC. The others like roofing and siding, you should get experience in just because they fall into the carpentry tool belt so to speak. Also do trim and framing carpentry, you could spend your career doing either exclusively, but like I said learn as much as you can. Down the road you could potentially start your own business or use your experience to get into an alternate career like Facility Management where you'll be able to use all of the skills you acquired over time.

Good luck!

Hi Matt,

I would suggest visiting onetonline.org and researching different kinds of carpenters. You will be able to see the national average salary, tasks, qualifications, and additional information that may provide you with the research you need to make a career decision.

Also, you might find a shadowing or internship experience insightful.
Good luck!