This guy is amazing! The school of hard knocks starting/running a business. When you have a company with people and equipment, as I did too, you find quickly that both can bankrupt you. Choosing the best equipment and people are key! It’s tough because your mistakes cost $$$. Again, GREAT interview!!
I work for a highway department. I was blown away when he said pipe layer's learn and end up knowing the most. I e been here 30 years and it's true. I have learned more about everything being in a hole laying pipe than on any other crew here.
Books only teach so much. The skilled trades really do require hands on experience to really understand how and why everything works the way that it does. Thanks for the comment!
im 19 started working for a company about 4 months ago on the blast crew on a major highway job, went to another job doing some blasting, running skid steers and haul trucks. im not to fond of haul trucks just because i would rather be learning something else but i make the best of the time i have in it, i observe anything and everything around me try to see how things are done all over the job site wether it be how the excavator loads, how the dozer operator does things, the sub pipe crew and how they go about things, anything i can see i try to learn something from. even though I am not doing whatever it is I might be trying to learn from I still feel like any sort of thought on what is going on may help for when I possibly end up doing any of those jobs. ALSO I love the videos man keep it up!
This is the best attitude to have and will serve you well. Too many people waste the opportunity to learn when driving a haul truck. You get to see both the cut and the fill from one seat. No other position on the job gives you that chance. Good for you my man. Thanks for watching brother!
Loved The interview and as a Union operator for over 20yrs it makes me sad that they went union and he didn’t feel it helped. But realistically to many people are here just for the money. And you you gotta have passion for what you do. To me I love doing this shit.
Great interview. Enjoyed listening to the gentleman being interviewed. Just goes to show, you can be successful without a college degree. Just have to be driven to go after what you're passionate about.
When a successful gives you an example of something he was not prepared for (eg - "...and then it rains for the month of July.") - please follow that line of thought. For example, you could have asked: "How do you now prepare in the event it rains the entire month of July?" These are the SPECIFIC details that will make you successful.
This guy hiring? Jesus, super cool & down to earth. You can easily tell he knows the trade through hands on "in the hole" experience. Great video man, thanks once again
Amazing video! As always I loved the talk about college... I currently have 2 buddies that tell me “dude you need to find something to go to college for, you better go while you’re young and have the chance. When you get older you won’t be able to” and I just tell them that I don’t have anything I would like to go to college for and that I’m not going to spend tens of thousands of dollars just to say I went to college and do go take something I don’t have a desire for. Great interview man!
I'm glad this helped give you some confidence in choosing the non college path. That was one of my biggest goals with this series of interviews. Thanks Brayden!
Best video yet I love the interview videos. From laborers to foreman’s to supervisors, I love this content it really paints a big picture of the way the whole job runs even in the office.
14:40 that is my sole belief since I started in this industry. And looking back I see how many options I had because of that belief. "If you do good work you will get noticed"
@@danmcgivern1345 tell him to go in and apply. John and everyone at that company are very approachable and they are a great company to work for. He could have a very successful career working at Fechco
You must not have a degree and have a small insecurity about it. I’m a veteran, have a business degree, and I OWN an excavation business. Did it all just to be able to flex that hard 💪🏼😎
Thank you for serving! That's awesome you got your degree and own an excavation business. I have a degree in business marketing, started out in banking and hated it so moved over to pursue my passion which is excavating. I want to get the word out there that college isn't the only way to be successful. That's great you have a degree, but you definitely don't need one to own an excavating business and be successful at it! Do you feel your degree has helped to get you to where you are or do you think you would have been fine without it?
@Hello Freeman So how did it feel risking your life for the bankers and over-inflated bureaucrats who used you to get the job done, and would use you again? 🤔 😅
I’m in greater Toronto area. Started at 27 yrs old March 2017 with excavating company, non union, as a pitman, low 20s$$ per hr, holding the laser for the operator digging basements.I never played with my phone. The owner of the company was a full blown developer(old school Italians). It sucked standing in the heat or mud and such, but after 6-8 months I started using machines helping with engineered fill. I had mini excavator experience from working for a basement waterproofing company in my early twenties . I was their best younger operator, but I switched to a union company after the fourth year because of $$. I don’t need anybody to babysit me, I pretty much run the show on the sites I work on now, and I’m making 42$an change per hr. I offered my friends jobs when I was working non union for crappy pay but no one wanted to come work, now everyone’s jealous and wants a job but they don’t have any experience so I can’t really help them
There’s always going to be lots of work you in Toronto if you’re a good operator. It seems impossible to find any good help. There’s lots of shale to jackhammer for these condos downtown, endless highway repair work, and subdivisions going up all over the place. What kind of work you like doing? We’re contracted to the Toronto region conservation so I’m in the creeks and streams doing alot of shoreline erosion control projects. They do more work in the winter when the waters at its lowest so always busy year round. We also do alot of site prep for developers. Are you planning/thinking of coming back to Ontario?
That's the one thing about this industry. You have to have the drive and willingness to work. If you have that thing you will 100% be successful. Thanks for sharing your story brother!
So I'm 17 and a senior in highschool, I don't plan on going to college, I want to work in construction and start a business. I am really interested in excavating. Do you think this would be a good career choice? Will it be in demand? Would I be able to make 6 figures. Also, if I start at 18, do you think I could start an excavating company at 22? I'm super eager to succeed in whatever I choose.
This is a great career to step into and don't let anyone tell you differently. Working for a company you can easily pull down $60-80k a year and if you pull some serious hours you can pull $100-120k a year. Mind you this all depends on where you live, what you're doing etc. but six figures is absolutely attainable without owning your own company. I would highly recommend you start working for a small or mid sized company to learn the trade. Spend 2-5 years learning all the in's and out's of the trade in whatever area you want to specialize in (underground, drainage, roadwork, residential etc). During that time get online and start educating yourself on how to run a business. You don't need college to learn this. RU-vid and some targeted Google searches will give you all the education you need. By the time you feel comfortable enough in the trade to go out on your own you'll also have a great education on how to start and run your business. Starting your own company by 22 is 100% doable but you will need to work hard and keep your head down to do it. I've got faith brother. You got this! Edit: When you finally start your business and become successful, you better swing back over here and update us!
@@DieselandIron Wow thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. I live in upstate New York so I believe that's a good spot for excavation work. So glad I found your videos.
@@adamsalvione225 absolutely! Feel free to reach out with any questions. Check out Dirt Boss's channel if you haven't already. He's in your neck if the woods.
Saludos soi operador con 30 años de es periensia ahora vivo en Albani NyYORK soi natural de PR operador ekipo pesado me gustaría trabajar aki en USA pero no sé inglés 👍💯 CAT número 1