For Christina Halling, switching careers was a leap that paid off. Since becoming a Carpenter, life has changed for the better and she is looking forward to growing within the Union. “I’m part of Local 503…Exterior systems is my specialty as of right now. We’ll see what the future holds.” Christina is currently working on a nine-story mixed use apartment building in Portland.
What she loves most is seeing her work take shape. “Every day I walk away and can see something that I’ve built. I built this hallway yesterday. It wasn’t here when I got here in the morning,” she says effusively.
Before joining the trade, Christina worked at Costco for 11 years. “I made more on my first day here than my last day at Costco. So the pay is pretty amazing.” But for her, it’s not just about money. “I work hard for my money and try to make that show in everything I do.”
She also values the camaraderie on the job. “We’re working on benches, scissor lifts, boom lifts. I make sure I have my coworker’s back all day every day, and he does the same for me. At the end of the day, we both want to go home.”
For those considering the Carpenter’s Union, she has simple advice: “I’d say to try it, see what happens. The worst thing that was going to happen is I wasn’t going to like it. But I didn’t foresee that happening.”
For Christina, this career is more than a paycheck—it’s about building something real and having a quality of life she can be proud of.
Click here to see her On The Spot.