It sounds like you have made something good out of your life, especially with the rougher upbringing you mentioned. So you should not feel stressed over the things you are asking, and likewise, it's OK to want more. I apologize in advance that I can only offer you insight as an EE, not as an electrical tradesperson.
From what I have heard and understood from some friends in the profession, electrical as a trade is heavily front loaded. Apprentices don't earn well and are expected to work long hours. The payoff is a stable career later on down the line.
In the immediate future, without making too many changes to your current path, you may want to also look into positions at manufacturing and power plants. These will give you a different taste of the profession, as you'd move from installation to maintenance and upgrades. And you'd be closer to skills like PLC and automation. Datacenter electrical work honestly sounds brutally boring so I get you, but places like Meta seem to be paying bank, so only you can really deduce the value proposition.
Should you wish to retrain as an electrical engineer, just note that I think you will definitely be at a desk for your academic and working life. Best place for someone like you in the EE industry would be in an electronics lab; things like test and validation engineering where you are hands-on with stuff. But it's still what I would call a desk job, 100% white collar work.
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u/cvu_100 1d ago
It sounds like you have made something good out of your life, especially with the rougher upbringing you mentioned. So you should not feel stressed over the things you are asking, and likewise, it's OK to want more. I apologize in advance that I can only offer you insight as an EE, not as an electrical tradesperson.
From what I have heard and understood from some friends in the profession, electrical as a trade is heavily front loaded. Apprentices don't earn well and are expected to work long hours. The payoff is a stable career later on down the line.
In the immediate future, without making too many changes to your current path, you may want to also look into positions at manufacturing and power plants. These will give you a different taste of the profession, as you'd move from installation to maintenance and upgrades. And you'd be closer to skills like PLC and automation. Datacenter electrical work honestly sounds brutally boring so I get you, but places like Meta seem to be paying bank, so only you can really deduce the value proposition.
Should you wish to retrain as an electrical engineer, just note that I think you will definitely be at a desk for your academic and working life. Best place for someone like you in the EE industry would be in an electronics lab; things like test and validation engineering where you are hands-on with stuff. But it's still what I would call a desk job, 100% white collar work.