If you’re in high school and looking for a career that could snag you a $100,000-plus annual salary and not be saddled with astronomical debt, a Long Island based group promoting the building trades might be a strong option for you.
The Plumbing Contractors Association of Long Island (PCALI) is hosting a Plumbing Institute in September, and are looking for candidates for the free program.
It doesn’t cost you a dime. It’s free, paid for by PCALI.
You get a full time job right out of the gate. When you complete the program, you’re a certified plumber.
To apply, call 631-759-5592 or email institute@pcali.org.
In the meantime, the South Shore Press sat down with Joe Enea from PCALI to learn more about September’s Plumbing Institute. The full video can be seen in our Video Vault at SouthShorePress.com.
South Shore Press News Director Stefan Mychajliw: Can you tell us what exactly that is?
Joe Enea, Plumbing Contractors Association of Long Island: There is a lack of quality trained plumbers in the field. Schools were not pushing the trades as much as they needed to be. That problem is catching up with us today. We're trying to recruit from high schools to fill the gaps.
South Shore Press News Director Stefan Mychajliw Mychajliw: And so the Plumbing Institute, this school that's going to be in September of this year, what would it entail if someone signs up?
Enea: If you sign up for our school and you get selected to the school, immediately you would be given a full-time job and you would work with one of our contracting firms. And then you'd also be trained in the evenings by our professionals to learn the trade of plumbing.
Mychajliw: You get a job right away just by going to the institute?
Enea: Correct, you get a job right away if you are selected. This is something that would have no cost to the selected students. You'd get a job out of it, you’d be trained, and you’d become a professional plumber.
Mychajliw: So when it comes to the building trade of plumbing, how long would it take to go through the training to say, okay, you're a full time plumber.
Enea: This program will cover about 400 hours worth of plumbing. And that would take about two years to get through, going a few times per week. They are working during the day and they would go a few nights, maybe a Saturday as well here and there to cover 400 hours of training.
Mychajliw: I find it amazing that schools and parents aren't promoting the building trades more and instead are telling their kids, OK, go to some Ivy League school for 400-grand over four years. And by the way, you're going to get a Sanskrit degree. And you'll be lucky to work at Starbucks and you're saddled with $400,000 in debt. Do you feel as though that mentality is what has led to a shortage in the building trades like plumbing?
Enea: Absolutely. I've been in the public education system for the last 27 years and I was guilty of that. We pushed all of our students to go to college. You can be really, really successful going through this path (plumbing) as well.
Mychajliw: You can make a boatload of money as a plumber now because there is a shortage. It's tough to find folks in any of the building trades. And Joe, isn't one of the huge selling points the fact that a young man or a woman has, for the most part, zero debt and they're learning a trade, correct?
Enea: We can assure you, you won't have debt when you get out.
Mychajliw: What would you say Joe to those folks who are thinking about it who are kind of on the fence?
Enea: I would say that they should definitely give it a look. It may not be for everybody, but it may be for you. So you need to check it out.