Starting a career in plumbing is relatively easy – provided that you have a passion for the industry and for the intricacies of plumbing. As a plumber – a certified plumber – you can stand to land a number of positions and you can wind up on a plethora of career paths. If you want to secure a career with longevity, training to become a plumber and then taking your test to get your license could be one of the smartest decisions you could ever make. Moreover, plumbing isn’t all about rooting around in toilets and unclogging drains – it is also about creating plumbing infrastructures and solving problems that seem impossible to solve.
Here are five tips for starting a career in plumbing:
1- Start early. It is recommended to start your training as a plumber as early as possible – even as early as high school. If you want to become a master plumber, you will need to have a background in everything from mathematics to engineering. So, you’ll want to take courses in algebra and geometry. In most cases, you want to take advanced courses, because they will surely come in handy when it comes time to apply yourself as a plumber.
2- Apprentice early. You may have a passion for plumbing because of a close relative and in that case you may already have some knowledge in the plumbing field, but it is important to start apprenticing as early as possible. When you enter a plumbing school, you want to be able to have some groundwork already laid out. Oftentimes, you will hit the ground running when you are in plumbing school, so you want to be prepared. It will be important to have a knowledge of all the different tools used and even some of the terms used in the plumbing field.
3- If you know you want to become a plumber, skip the four-year university. Indeed, you may be sending yourself further into a spiral of debt if you put yourself through a four-year university. If you are absolutely certain that you want to become a plumber, you should enter a plumbing school immediately. The starting salary for plumbers is around $40,000, which means that you could be making more money than other people your age who are still stuck in school and have tens of thousands of debt to pay off.
4- Study for your plumbing licensing test years in advance. In this case, it is important to take plumbing test prep courses or prep for the exam on your own terms. Securing your license to become a plumber takes a lot of studying, so it is important to do so in advance to secure your chances of passing.
5- Secure an insurance policy. As an independent plumber, it is critical to have some kind of policy. Not only will this policy protect you in the instance of a lawsuit, but it will also protect clients in the case of damages. More than anything, though, having insurance can make clients more comfortable when working with you, especially if you are a new plumber.
