My old foreman told me to never take a job that paid less than $25 an hour, no matter what. He was wrong.

This was about 8 years ago when I was just starting out. I got an offer for $22 an hour at a small shop in Tacoma that did custom exhaust work, which I really wanted to learn. My foreman at the time said taking less would 'devalue the whole trade' and I'd be stuck. I took the job anyway because the owner promised to teach me the specialty stuff. Fast forward three years, I'd learned enough to open my own bay and now I charge $95 an hour for that exact kind of work. The experience was worth way more than that extra $3 an hour at the time. Has anyone else taken a pay cut for a skill that paid off later?

2 comments

2 Comments

henrybaker9d ago

Man, that's smart. I took a lower paying gig once just to learn how to weld aluminum. Felt risky at the time, but it totally changed what jobs I could go after later.

leer129d ago

Totally get that "felt risky" part, lol. I did something similar with a graphic design program a few years back, took a pay cut for a job that taught me the whole Adobe suite. It sucked for a bit watching my bank account, but man, it opened so many doors later. Sometimes the short term loss is worth the long term skill gain for sure.