Surviving the construction trades

As I'm sitting here thinking of what to write, I get a lot of questions from the men I used to work with about how to get a woman in the trades. First, let me state that in Chicago I would not recommend a woman become a carpenter. The carpenters' union does not support women the way the other trades do. Majority of the women carpenters are unemployed or on a continuous search from job to job.
I have a lot of personal stories about being a carpenter in Chicago, but I'll save that for future blogs. Let's just start with a first step to getting in the trades and subsequent blogs will get to how to maintain your sanity while working in the trades.
The decision for a woman to go in the trades ranks right up there with a woman deciding to wait until her mid 40's to have a child. People think you're crazy, of course people are judgmental no matter what you decide to do. If that is a choice you are serious about, don't expect full support from anyone other than the few women you will meet on your quest. I made this decision as a single parent. Where else can you go and start off making good money; equal pay as the men.
Once you make that decision to have your behind sticking up in the air, wearing equipment that is heavier than you and coming home smelling like garbage everyday, find a good "pre" program. I say "pre" program because there are programs that focus on helping women decide which trade they are interested in and getting them prepared to take an apprenticeship exam. While I won't name the program I started in, I will say that I was well prepared to take the test and I did very well on it. These programs last about 12 weeks, think about this people; 12 weeks of no money then waiting to get a phone call to your apprenticehip of choice. In my case that was 8 weeks added on as a pre apprentice with no money.
From the pre apprenticeship you enter into your first year as an apprentice, now you start making a percentage of what journey level tradespeople make. This usually starts out at about 40%, so anywhere from $14 to $16 an hour could be your starting pay. Where else will you start at the bottom and make that kind of money? Ok, if you choose to walk the streets you could make more, but hey you aren't making it for yourself.
So after the hassles of getting your body into this apprenticeship, exactly what do you do with it and what happens while you are an apprentice? Well, after all the sexist talk, butt slapping, spitting and cussing, you actually may learn something. I'll go into all that later.
Again, at the end of the day, you sit down and say.....does it ever end?

Does it ever end?

Since this is my first post, I'll give a little background about me. I am a single parent of a teenage young man. My life pretty much revolves around him, period. What brings me to blogging?? Good question. I started keeping a journal when I was enrolled in a program called Chicago Women in Trades. With that start, I continued when I started working as an apprentice carpenter. Little did I know how much that would pay off, in a good way and a bad way. More on that later.
I am currently looking for work, this goes back to the carpenter gig, and I'm working on my MBA in Information Technology Management. I do a little network consulting and I don't think I want to put on a toolbelt again. I have become a social networking aficionado and have generated quite a following on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Like I've said, I have a story to tell and everyday I say does it ever end? Welcome to my blog!!!