How to become an apprentice?

[devious9191]

I'm moving to a new city in a couple of months, and thought a change of career might be worth looking into at the same time.. My work experience is primarily in accounting, but I'm tired of that type of work, and looking for something more 'hands on', that provides a decent salary without me having to invest significant amounts of time in schooling (preferably all work experience, and no school..)

I've looked into a number of skilled trades, and figured I'd like to take a closer look at plumbing. I've gone through the Ontario gov's website on apprenticeships.. but the information isn't all that clear as far as I can see.

Basically, I need to know how I get registered as an apprentice, how would I typically find someone willing to hire an apprentice, if there's any school required, how long it takes to do one of these apprenticeships, and roughly what I'd be earning as a wage while doing it. I think that's it, though I'm probably missing something.

Anyone gone through the apprenticeship program for any sort of skilled trade with some answers? :)

[springroll]

Sorry that I don't have a real answer to your question, but I do see lots of trade jobs in the newspaper that stated "no experience required; will train", perhaps that's something you want to look into?

And oh yeah, you knew somebody was gonna put this up sooner or later, here comes the obligatory Donal Trump pic
http://blogs.ipswitch.com/archives/You're%20Fired.jpg

[EH100501AC]

And oh yeah, you knew somebody was gonna put this up sooner or later, here comes the obliatory Donal Trump pic
http://blogs.ipswitch.com/archives/You're%20Fired.jpg

obliatory? It's obligatory! YOU'RE FIRED!

[devious9191]

Sorry that I don't have a real answer to your question, but I do see lots of trade jobs in the newspaper that stated "no experience required; will train", perhaps that's something you want to look into?

And oh yeah, you knew somebody was gonna put this up sooner or later, here comes the obliatory Donal Trump pic


lol.. Well, that's nice. Not real helpful, but nice none the less.

[devious9191]

On the same topic, I took the previous posters advice and did a quick search in the jobbank to see what was available.

There was a position looking for a 'journeyman plumber'. Is a journeyman some sort of level of apprenticeship, or how do I become one of those too?

[EH100501AC]

Well shoot post this topic under the Careers section of RFD and not Off Topic if you want some serious replies lol

[UrbanPoet]

Auto Body is the easiest apprenticeship to get into. When i was looking into it after school.. i found plenty of places that would hire people with No expirience.
Paid you $8/hr. But i gues its kinda good b/c the first few years your making money, while learning a new Trade...

Then you can open up your own shop to paint cars, fix windows, change up smashed bumbers/car panels... You would get alot of business too since people get into car accidents everyday.

You wont be making much starting out tho, thats for sure.

[devious9191]

Auto Body is the easiest apprenticeship to get into. When i was looking into it after school.. i found plenty of places that would hire people with No expirience.
Paid you $8/hr. But i gues its kinda good b/c the first few years your making money, while learning a new Trade...

Then you can open up your own shop to paint cars, fix windows, change up smashed bumbers/car panels... You would get alot of business too since people get into car accidents everyday.

You wont be making much starting out tho, thats for sure.

Thanks for the tip. I'm 25 y/o.. $8/hour won't make the cut. The idea is to make passable money (ie. min 30-35k) for 3 or 4 years or whatever it takes to get certified, and then find work in a mine or with a large contruction company making 60k with a pension, doing something I enjoy. I have 0 interest in being an entrepreneur, and as far as I know, that's the only way to make money as a mechanic..

[nano]

Thanks for the tip. I'm 25 y/o.. $8/hour won't make the cut. The idea is to make passable money (ie. min 30-35k) for 3 or 4 years or whatever it takes to get certified, and then find work in a mine or with a large contruction company making 60k with a pension, doing something I enjoy. I have 0 interest in being an entrepreneur, and as far as I know, that's the only way to make money as a mechanic..

thats not true i know quite a few machanics that work 3 days a week make 50 k easily.

[devious9191]

thats not true i know quite a few machanics that work 3 days a week make 50 k easily.

Auto mechanics that work for a company?

[UrbanPoet]

thats not true i know quite a few machanics that work 3 days a week make 50 k easily.

But... im talking about an Apprentice with no expirience. These were options i was looking at 2 years ago when i got outta high school.

Work there for a few years... then open my own shop or join another one with expirience and make more. then you make the 50-100k a year that you are thinking about.

It seems liek 5 years is the magic number. thats how much expirience ppl have when they start making the big bucks.
My cousin makes 65k a yr working @ honda as a certified technician. He's had about 10 yrs expirience.

I dunno what kind of position it is.. maybe he's a supervisor or just a worker.. but 65k is alot!

[Avant_Garde]

I learned all about apprenticeships when I did co-op in highschool. There's a few ways you can become an apprentice. With me I already had been hooked up with an employer through my co-op and they were willing to hire me as an apprentice me but I decided not to go that path. Basically, here's what you can do, go to college and get a degree then start phoning up employers asking to become an apprentice. Or it can work the other way around, start phoning up employers now and if you get hired they might sponsor your college education.

[xKagex]

I'm not sure how things work in Ontario, but getting a job as an electrical apprentice or plumbing apprentice is quite easy in BC. All you really need to do is go around to the different companies and ask if they need any new apprentices. There is a huge trade shortage here (and possibly in Ontario as well) and companies are always looking for honest, hard-working people to help them out. Usually you'll get hired by a contractor as a "plumber's helper" or "electrician's helper", but they'll try to get you registered as an apprentice as soon as possible. Your wage generally starts at 50% of the journeyman rate, which means you could possbily start somewhere between $11 and $13/hr, and in 2-3 years you'd be at 75% of the journeyman rate.

Like I said, the rules in Ontario might be different, but that's how things are here. (If you want to move to BC, my wife works for a plumbing contractor and they're always looking for good people).

[nano]

Auto mechanics that work for a company?
yes...

[gorf]

This might help with some information.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/training/apprenticeship/appren.html

http://199.71.28.118/eng/training/apprenticeship/skills/allTradeSearch.asp

[dark169]

I dont know how it works in Ont, but here in alberta trades work like this:

you find a job helping out say a plumber/electition/welder/ect, to get the ball rolling, take some classes learn some stuff
after a year or so you go to a trade school and do some classes write some tests and whamo your now a second year
work a year goto school do some more tests whammo your a 3rd year
repeat, your a 4th year
repeat again your a journy men.

Theres alot a journmen trade needs to know, as they are ultimatly the person who pulls permits, ect. Also here in alberta plubmers are ussaly gas fitters as well so theres the whole not blowing up peoples homes aspect as well.

The peopel I knwo who've done the trade route love it, some tend to work 2 years prior to doing the 4months of school to move up, while others do it ASAP, the former having money in the bank to coast on the later tightneing their belts on he short term to enjoy the pay raise.

plumbing is a good trade (its crappy work some times) :lol:

Here in calgary a 1st year would be earning $10-20/hour and could be working 60+ hours a week if the weathers good.
expect 3-5 $/hour for every year

It all depends on the company you end up working with, your attidtue and abilties, the type of work you do, and the job market. Trades are good honest way to make a good living, you wont be moving into the house on the hill (some do but that more becuase they are good business people as well) but you can live comforatble and have a good life as a trade.

If your interested just drop by a shop thats doing the type of work you'd be interested in (comercial vs new home), ask if you could by the boss a coffee and talk about becoming an apprentace.