I agree there will probably be good opportunities in the commercial/industrial area but residential is quickly becoming a low skill high volume business. The builders are trading parts for skills. The reason I suggested working a summer job in a right to work state is because a reasonably intelligent guy could be running crews by the end of the summer and anyone with a rusty pair of Kliens and a mouthfull of wirenuts can be an electrician. It is sad but true. I would like to see a demand for better qualifications but it doesn't seem to be the trend. I am also not that convinced that the industrial control and automation field is going to remain a black art. The same thing that happened to the mainframe computer field is going to happen to this area. These boxes are going to become modules that get snatched out and replaced when the red light comes on. The only difference will be the size of the wires going to them. Maybe I seem bitter but I have had several great careers become obsolete. I'm sure there will always be a great job out there on the bleeding edge of technology but that will be a moving target so you need to stay flexible. One thing I do know is you should be sure you have lots of cards in your wallet and lots of skills so you can jump when the "edge" moves.
