Having thirteen legitimate options is a better problem than having none — but it's still a problem. Here's a structured way through it: three filters, applied in order, that narrow thirteen trades down to two or three worth researching seriously.
Filter 1: Environment
Where do you actually want to spend your days?
- Indoors, controlled: HVAC (shop/attic mix), Industrial Maintenance (plant floor), Automation (control rooms and lines), CNC (shop floor).
- Outdoors, all weather: Linework, Wind, Solar Installation.
- Mixed, variable by job: Electrician, Plumber, Diesel Mechanic, Solar Tech.
Filter 2: Physical Character
Not "how hard" — trades work is universally physical — but what kind of physical.
- Heights: Linework (poles/towers), Wind (turbine climbs), Solar Installation (roofs).
- Confined/floor-level: Plumbing (crawlspaces, kneeling), Electrical (attics, panels).
- Standing/repetitive: CNC (shop floor), Automation (line work), Industrial Maintenance.
- Variable/mobile: HVAC (ladders, attics, driving), Diesel (bays and field calls).
Filter 3: The Work Itself
- Building things that didn't exist yesterday: Electrician (new construction), Solar Installer, Plumber.
- Diagnosing and fixing what's broken: HVAC, Diesel Mechanic, Industrial Maintenance, Automation, Solar Tech.
- Precision over improvisation: CNC Machinist, Automation, instrumentation-heavy electrical work.
- High-stakes, high-consequence: Linework, industrial electrical, wind (height + voltage together).
"Which trade pays the most" is the wrong first question. "Which trade would I still be doing at year fifteen without resenting it" is the right one — pay differences between trades are smaller than the difference between loving and hating what you do every day.
Run the Money Check Last, Not First
Once environment and physical fit have narrowed your list to two or three trades, then compare medians and growth (the full ranking) and check the fastest routes to your first paycheck (timeline comparison). Money should break a tie between trades you'd genuinely enjoy — not override fit entirely. A well-paid trade you resent is a worse ten-year outcome than a slightly-lower-paid one you're still proud of at forty-five.
If You're Still Stuck Between Two
- Ask a working tradesperson in each for a ride-along or a coffee. Twenty honest minutes beats twenty articles.
- Check the apprenticeship acceptance timeline for each in your region — sometimes "which trade" is answered by "which one will actually take me this year."
- Consider a related pair: electrician and solar, or industrial maintenance and automation, share enough DNA that starting one doesn't close the other's door later.