The plumbing trade may be your ticket to that job.

The CATN Plumbing Program offers students the opportunity to learn one of the best paying trades worldwide. Students will learn a variety of skills such as soldering copper tubing, joining PVC and steel piping, blueprint reading, and the installation of fixtures.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, job opportunities should be excellent because not enough people are seeking training. Pipelayers, plumbers, pipfitters, and steamfitters make up one of the largest and highest paid construction occupations. Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters constitute one of the largest construction occupations, holding about 550,000 jobs in 2002. In 2002, median hourly earnings of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters were $19.31 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $24.31.

Apprenticeships - both union and nonunion - consist of 4 to 5 years of on-the-job training, in addition to at least 144 hours per year of related classroom instruction. Classroom subjects include drafting and blueprint reading, mathematics, applied physics and chemistry, safety, and local plumbing codes and regulations. On the job, apprentices first learn basic skills, such as identifying grades and types of pipe, using the tools of the trade, and safely unloading materials. As apprentices gain experience, they learn how to work with various types of pipe and how to install different piping systems and plumbing fixtures. Apprenticeship gives trainees a thorough knowledge of all aspects of the trade.