When Jill got back her aptitude test, she was totally surprised at the results. She always thought she would make a good nurse or social worker. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would be best suited to work for a 24 hour plumbing service. Honestly, she didn’t even know that those existed! Her results also included the fact that the plumbing industry is expected to add more than 82,000 jobs by 2022. Unfortunately, it also stated that even though it is 2015, only 1% of plumbers are women. Jill’s uncle had been a plumber for years, so she decided to put her test results to the test and shadow him for a bit to see if this professional sparked joy inside of her. What she learned from that time with her uncle, beyond just the family drama, was truly invaluable. Keep reading to see the top 3 lessons Jill took away about working for a 24 hour plumbing service.
1) Variety Is Everything Jill’s uncle expained to her that his absolute favorite thing about working with a 24 hour plumbing service is the fact that every single day is different. Some days are all about finding drainage solutions. Other times, he responds to calls about sewer problems. Since any sewer older than 40 years may be in need of replacing, he frequently responded to people with sewer repair needs. Those calls meant he got to use his sewer snake and drain camera pretty often. While Jill was shadowing, he even let her take the lead on using a drain camera. She couldn’t believe how much fun she had doing it.
2) Environmental Hazards Jill also learned that the major foe of plumbing systems is the environment. Everything from tree roots to the natural corrosive nature of water means that keeping plumbing functioning well is always an uphill battle. A 24 hour plumbing service specializes in responding to that battle when it decides to take place after business hours. While there were also plenty of kitchen sink plumbing calls while Jill shadowed her uncle, she was really surprised by how often she got to see her uncle contend with the forces of nature to solve people’s plumbing issues.
3) Plumbing Heroes Perhaps Jill’s favorite part of her experience shadowing her uncle was getting to see how a plumber can truly be a hero. When people called her uncle’s company in the middle of the night, they were often desperate, scared, and worried. She got to see her uncle not only fix their plumbing problems, but also calm them down and help them believe that everything is going to be ok. Plumbing had a lot more to do with social work than she ever could have imagined.
Although Jill never told people when she was growing up that she couldn’t wait to be a plumber one day, she was glad her aptitude test had given her such a unique suggestion. Clearly the plumbing gene runs in the family, and she could see herself really enjoying getting to solve the complex problems that can emerge in a plumbing system, and loved the customer service involved in the trade.