You may not of thought of it, but working in a trade can help you in your every -day life. The skills you develop in a trade can be practical, technical, and useful. When you think about working in the trades, keep in mind all that it could bring to your personal life, alongside a great career.

Here are some trade career examples that have the potential to help you in your personal life:

Carpenter: Being a carpenter is about putting together projects, and mainly, building things. If you have ever dreamed about building your own home, being a carpenter would cut labour costs for you, making it easier to afford in the long run. Carpenters have a general sense of how to fix practical things. For example, if you have a door that won’t close in your house, you would be able to examine the problem, take the door off and put it back on properly. Even if you don’t build your own house, but are still a carpenter, you would be able to fix things that are broken within your house. How cool would it be if you could build a tree-fort for your kids?

Chef: Being a professional chef has its perks. When you train to be a chef, you learn about safe food practices, nutrition, and the importance of cleanliness, before and after cooking. These things can be applied at home. You can impress your friends and family with your culinary skills by hosting social events and parties. If you have children, you will be aware of what nutritious food is best and you could even teach them how to prepare it. You could also lend your skills and knowledge to places like shelters and food banks. We can’t live without food; so naturally, being a chef will always be a part of your personal life, alongside your career.

Electrician: We use electricity almost every moment of every day. If it isn’t powering the lights on in our house, it is charging our phones or laptops. Electricians have exciting jobs, for every day is different. You could be doing commercial wiring in a big building to setting up power cables in a residential home (depending on what company you work for and what your specialty is*). If you are an electrician, you could fix faulty wires in your house or your friend’s house, possibly fix your electronics, install solar-power within your house, and maybe fix the radio wires in your car. The opportunities to bring your electrical know-how into your every-day life are endless.

Auto Mechanic: The perk of being an auto-mechanic is simple: You can fix your own vehicle. People spend thousands of dollars a year on their cars and trucks. If you become an auto-mechanic, you will be able to fix your own vehicle problems, without anyone trying to hustle you for more money. Most auto-mechanics have a garage at home and work tools on hand, just in case they have any problems with their own vehicles. You could even help your family or a friend in determining what their car problem is before they go into the shop, reducing the chances of them being taken advantage of.