| Apprenticeships 17:50 - Jul 24 with 7002 views | Neath_Jack |
Any of you do an apprenticeship?
What discipline was it in, and do you still work as whatever it was you trained in?
Would you recommend your children to partake, or would you try and steer them down an academic route?
I done a plastering apprenticeship, and within 2 months of qualifying, i left the company and I've never worked as a plasterer since (done loads of 'obbles and work for friends and family though). |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 18:30 - Jul 24 with 5278 views | Cooperman |
Good topic NJ; I will tell you my view on it.
I joined our production engineering team (manufacturing sector, automotive component supply) out of university and whilst this route provided me with a mechanical engineering degree it also undertook the majority of the education in the classroom and I did not see much time in a machine shop. I felt the latter put me at a disadvantage for several years in comparison to my time served colleagues when operating in and around heavy machinery.
On the other hand our apprentices join straight from school, spend several years maturing in a machine shop whilst undertaking parallel study. This only takes them to HNC or HND level and they are then required to combine work and out of work study if they wish to pursue a degree level qualification; I guess this isn't so easy or attractive when you're 21/22 years of age with hard earned money in your pocket. Could I have followed this route, yes absolutely and I say this purely based on the disadvantage felt I experienced.
Out of that 'class of the mid '90's' several of us still work for the same company but we are performing vastly different roles to what we did back then and also now at boardroom level; the point being that neither route limits you to a certain career path for life or restricts career progression. This is akin to your own experience.
Would I recommend the apprentice route for my kids - yes but like the academic route then the subject is important. Electronics and software engineering is considerably more demanding than it was twenty five years ago and there are huge gaps in the labour market. As for a particular trade then you've only got to try and find a decent builder or plumber to realise that there are also gaps in the market.
On the back of my belief in the apprenticeship route I have nurtured several employees over the years and taken them from green, timid and shy sixteen year old's and developed them into fine young professionals. The attitude of the person is critical but if they are willing to learn, willing to listen and not be afraid of hard work then the world is their oyster. |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 18:47 - Jul 24 with 5266 views | Pacemaker |
I think modern apprenticeships are very different to the type I saw in action.
My son trained as an apprentice plasterer but there was no guarantee of a job at the end and he now works in a completely different field and also used the OU to study for a degree. I think the apprenticeship helped him to toughen up and have the experience of hard work in all weathers, he also learnt that a good work ethic will take you far with most colleagues. The OU by the way are a superb organisation and one I would heartily recommend.
My brother started his engineering/ electronics apprenticeship straight from school with the knowledge that if he did well he had a job for life......he did very well and climbed the management ladder, went away from his original location, then the company was taken over by a large American company who soon closed the place down.
However they liked my brother relocated him and his family to Silicon Valley where he did well, now travels over the world setting up plants and arranges logistics on behalf of this company. He did have to study and get a degree though in his own time.
Has done very well for himself and his family, not sure if it would happen now. I suppose the tale is more about the right attitude by Cooperman and my family members, would people who obtain and succeed at apprenticeships succeed anyway due to their attitude and the ability to attract support from family and colleagues? |  |
| Life is an adventure or nothing at all. |
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| Apprenticeships on 19:24 - Jul 24 with 5240 views | waynekerr55 |
Yes I wholeheartedly agree that this is the way forward. However in England the system is underfunded (quel fùcking surprise) and perversely companies like PWC have hovered up money for level 6 apprenticeships whilst trades are under funded. |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 19:33 - Jul 24 with 5228 views | Darran |
I did an apprenticeship in British Steel. Worst fuçking thing I ever did. |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 20:04 - Jul 24 with 5202 views | Wingstandwood |
| Apprenticeships on 19:33 - Jul 24 by Darran |
I did an apprenticeship in British Steel. Worst fuçking thing I ever did. |
Regarding "in British Steel" do you mean employed directly by British Steel itself or were you employed by one of the contractors who used to spend a lot of the time on various British Steel premises?
I can remember doing a take-down contract for Otto Simon Carves Ltd at Port Talbot that typified the strong contractor association with British Steel, i.e. the company spent so much time there it even put up (took it down) it's own large steel portal frame building within the works grounds . It must have been making mega wonga to pay for that out of its own pocket. |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 20:31 - Jul 24 with 5172 views | Darran |
| Apprenticeships on 20:04 - Jul 24 by Wingstandwood |
Regarding "in British Steel" do you mean employed directly by British Steel itself or were you employed by one of the contractors who used to spend a lot of the time on various British Steel premises?
I can remember doing a take-down contract for Otto Simon Carves Ltd at Port Talbot that typified the strong contractor association with British Steel, i.e. the company spent so much time there it even put up (took it down) it's own large steel portal frame building within the works grounds . It must have been making mega wonga to pay for that out of its own pocket. |
Yes I was a British Steel apprentice. | |
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| Apprenticeships on 20:36 - Jul 24 with 5162 views | controversial_jack |
I did an electrical apprenticeship.I hated it and didn't do it after I qualified |  | | |
| Apprenticeships on 20:37 - Jul 24 with 5161 views | Flashberryjack |
I was an apprentice Fabricator Welder, did alright out of it, but if I had my time all over again I'd be a drug dealer or a Labour politician. |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 21:02 - Jul 24 with 5121 views | Darran |
| Apprenticeships on 20:31 - Jul 24 by Darran |
Yes I was a British Steel apprentice. |
And here I am. 👌ðŸ»
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| Apprenticeships on 21:12 - Jul 24 with 5100 views | majorraglan |
| Apprenticeships on 19:24 - Jul 24 by waynekerr55 |
Yes I wholeheartedly agree that this is the way forward. However in England the system is underfunded (quel fùcking surprise) and perversely companies like PWC have hovered up money for level 6 apprenticeships whilst trades are under funded. |
Personally, I don’t think the apprenticeship money should be available for Level 6 apprenticeships which I believe is Masters Level. Companies like PWC can afford to subsidise these from their profits. I would like to see the money ring fenced and aimed at the younger element of society to give them the chance to get a foot on the career ladder. The country needs all sorts of skills and giving it to someone on a Masters is in my opinion a p... take. | | | |
| Apprenticeships on 21:33 - Jul 24 with 5074 views | magicdaps10 |
| Apprenticeships on 21:02 - Jul 24 by Darran |
And here I am. 👌ðŸ»
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Bottom right? |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 21:34 - Jul 24 with 5070 views | Darran |
| Apprenticeships on 21:33 - Jul 24 by magicdaps10 |
Bottom right? |
Correct. | |
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| Apprenticeships on 22:13 - Jul 24 with 5027 views | raynor94 |
British Steel apprentice, Boilermaker 1972 to 1976. Went on to do it for 42 years until I retired.
Gave me a great life |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 07:32 - Jul 25 with 4916 views | epaul |
| Apprenticeships on 21:02 - Jul 24 by Darran |
And here I am. 👌ðŸ»
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Great pic Daz, you havent shown me that one before? isnt that my mate top left with his well dodgy haircut, love pointing it out to him and how dodgy as f uck it is  |  |
| The hair and the beard have gone I am now conforming to society, tis a sad day
The b*stards are coming back though |
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| Apprenticeships on 07:44 - Jul 25 with 4909 views | Dr_Winston |
A lot of people are much better off doing an apprenticeship than than hanging around in college/uni because that's become seen as the "better" way to do things. One of the bigger idiocies lately is the idea that a certain percentage of people must go to University, whether a degree is needed or not.
As to the best type to do, when I have given advice on the subject in the past I tend to try and steer them towards those leading to work where the end result provides more secure employment dependent upon their aptitudes. If they're looking into a trade then I'll generally suggest plumbing or electrics. |  |
| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| Apprenticeships on 08:35 - Jul 25 with 4883 views | NotLoyal |
| Apprenticeships on 18:30 - Jul 24 by Cooperman |
Good topic NJ; I will tell you my view on it.
I joined our production engineering team (manufacturing sector, automotive component supply) out of university and whilst this route provided me with a mechanical engineering degree it also undertook the majority of the education in the classroom and I did not see much time in a machine shop. I felt the latter put me at a disadvantage for several years in comparison to my time served colleagues when operating in and around heavy machinery.
On the other hand our apprentices join straight from school, spend several years maturing in a machine shop whilst undertaking parallel study. This only takes them to HNC or HND level and they are then required to combine work and out of work study if they wish to pursue a degree level qualification; I guess this isn't so easy or attractive when you're 21/22 years of age with hard earned money in your pocket. Could I have followed this route, yes absolutely and I say this purely based on the disadvantage felt I experienced.
Out of that 'class of the mid '90's' several of us still work for the same company but we are performing vastly different roles to what we did back then and also now at boardroom level; the point being that neither route limits you to a certain career path for life or restricts career progression. This is akin to your own experience.
Would I recommend the apprentice route for my kids - yes but like the academic route then the subject is important. Electronics and software engineering is considerably more demanding than it was twenty five years ago and there are huge gaps in the labour market. As for a particular trade then you've only got to try and find a decent builder or plumber to realise that there are also gaps in the market.
On the back of my belief in the apprenticeship route I have nurtured several employees over the years and taken them from green, timid and shy sixteen year old's and developed them into fine young professionals. The attitude of the person is critical but if they are willing to learn, willing to listen and not be afraid of hard work then the world is their oyster. |
Very intelligent chap you are, valuable advice. |  |
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| Apprenticeships on 08:45 - Jul 25 with 4874 views | swan65split |
| Apprenticeships on 22:13 - Jul 24 by raynor94 |
British Steel apprentice, Boilermaker 1972 to 1976. Went on to do it for 42 years until I retired.
Gave me a great life |
Port Talbot? |  | | |
| Apprenticeships on 08:48 - Jul 25 with 4873 views | swan65split |
| Apprenticeships on 21:02 - Jul 24 by Darran |
And here I am. 👌ðŸ»
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Cant remember ever having a pic, though Ive been told by someone he has one.
Biggest memory, being drunk getting my Parker pen and nearly getting sacked for organizing a drunk filled food throwing disco.
Having no money for 4 years when all my mates were earning bucks. | | | |
| Apprenticeships on 09:09 - Jul 25 with 4858 views | Darran |
| Apprenticeships on 07:32 - Jul 25 by epaul |
Great pic Daz, you havent shown me that one before? isnt that my mate top left with his well dodgy haircut, love pointing it out to him and how dodgy as f uck it is |
He loved a Cleopatra cut. | |
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| Apprenticeships on 09:24 - Jul 25 with 4850 views | epaul |
| Apprenticeships on 09:09 - Jul 25 by Darran |
He loved a Cleopatra cut. |
😂😂😂😂 it's about time I reminded him again | |
| The hair and the beard have gone I am now conforming to society, tis a sad day
The b*stards are coming back though |
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| Apprenticeships on 11:06 - Jul 25 with 4821 views | Darran |
| Apprenticeships on 09:24 - Jul 25 by epaul |
😂😂😂😂 it's about time I reminded him again |
I remember him having it all cut off about 1980 he went to Roy Money the barber in Port Talbot.
Ask him. 😂 | |
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| Apprenticeships on 11:18 - Jul 25 with 4810 views | WarwickHunt |
I trained as a gynaecologist but didn’t qualify.
Still try to keep my hand in though. |  | | |
| Apprenticeships on 11:25 - Jul 25 with 4802 views | Wingstandwood |
| Apprenticeships on 07:44 - Jul 25 by Dr_Winston |
A lot of people are much better off doing an apprenticeship than than hanging around in college/uni because that's become seen as the "better" way to do things. One of the bigger idiocies lately is the idea that a certain percentage of people must go to University, whether a degree is needed or not.
As to the best type to do, when I have given advice on the subject in the past I tend to try and steer them towards those leading to work where the end result provides more secure employment dependent upon their aptitudes. If they're looking into a trade then I'll generally suggest plumbing or electrics. |
Plumbing is a fantastic trade because it's more protected from overseas cheap labour competition and associated spiralling wages courtesy of Gas Safe Register.
Not only that there seems to be more than enough work coming in from the (plumbers really hard to get hold of cos of workload) domestic sector which is far more preferable than insecure onsite contracting. Another advantage of plumbing also is, its lesser seasonal unlike a lot of building construction trades, the workload is all year round. In fact it must be the only trade that can tend to get busier in winter e.g. burst pipes etc. | |
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| Apprenticeships on 11:47 - Jul 25 with 4783 views | controversial_jack |
| Apprenticeships on 11:25 - Jul 25 by Wingstandwood |
Plumbing is a fantastic trade because it's more protected from overseas cheap labour competition and associated spiralling wages courtesy of Gas Safe Register.
Not only that there seems to be more than enough work coming in from the (plumbers really hard to get hold of cos of workload) domestic sector which is far more preferable than insecure onsite contracting. Another advantage of plumbing also is, its lesser seasonal unlike a lot of building construction trades, the workload is all year round. In fact it must be the only trade that can tend to get busier in winter e.g. burst pipes etc. |
It's not good from the customers point.Most unreliable tradespeople ever. | | | |
| Apprenticeships on 13:07 - Jul 25 with 4765 views | Wingstandwood |
| Apprenticeships on 11:47 - Jul 25 by controversial_jack |
It's not good from the customers point.Most unreliable tradespeople ever. |
Indeed, bang on, 100% correct there! They tend to pick and choose what work they want and do not want and all dependant on whatever way their mood takes them. Nothing worse than a broken promise and staying in all day for nobody to turn up. And repeatedly at that! Is it any surprise why so many now pay for boiler repair and maintenance schemes.
It's frustrating stuff especially for the elderly who tend to suffer most when plumbing/central heating emergencies happen. One of the worst call out problems is trying to get a gas fire fixed, it took me months to get a plumber out and that was only because (forced to) I sourced the appliances 'spark igniter generator' myself. Apparently gas fires are bottom of the list stuff.
I have since found an organisation that may be able to get a better resolve for elderly relatives in the future by means of recommending or facilitating a trustworthy reliable plumber.
https://www.careandrepair.org.uk/en/your-area/western-bay-care-repair/services/ | |
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