I worked 15 years in the trade and finally got out and got my Civil Engineering degree, and now I am PE. I didn’t want to end up a broke down old construction worker...Not a lot of need for steamfitters on bridges but did work on a lot of reactors, refineries, and pulp mills across this country...
I’m currently in the boiler repair/installation trade. Small stuff mostly. Possibly will get out soon and maybe take a semi technical position in a power plant or maybe on a maintenance crew of some place that has lots of boilers. I also have a BSCE. Don’t use it though. Got the FE but not the PE. I’ve found I can’t stand blue prints or calcs or office politics. I gotta be in the field somehow. I’m currently doing both estimating and repair work and have the responsibility of keeping the companies ‘R’ stamp up to date and all repairs legit. THat’s about as much calcs as I can stand.
I even went to grad school, but couldn’t stand it. That’s how I got the gig at the bridge testing lab.