Taking on Apprentices?

[OhhEnnEmm]

Hi all,

Wondering about taking on apprentices, I really want to get involved in that space since it'll be really gratifying. It's a UK drainage company that has never taken on apprentices before.

Not sure of the ins and outs of doing it.

Seems that the applicants are all young for obvious reasons so I'm thinking health and safety might be a concern?

Is it gonna be too much bother for me to do?

Any tips, advice or just knowledge at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

[berkshire]

I do not know about current health and safety laws in the UK.
But can speak as a time served apprentice in the UK before the government stopped the program.
I started at Age 16 with a binding agreement countersigned by my parents. for the company to teach me the " Secrets of the trade."
I could not quit and the company could not fire me. That is why I did a 6 month probation period first, to see if I was going to be a good fit. Having said that,my contract specified that I be given one day ( 8hours) at company expense to attend Technical College. Also as part of that contract I had to attend two evenings per week in my own time. The indenture agreement also spelled out any lodging requirements, if I was sent away by the company on outside work.
The current government requirements do not seem to be as binding.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[12345abc6ttyui67]

Is ECITB applicable to the company / industry you are operating in? They do a lot of work between employers, educators and apprentices.

 

[271828]

No experience with apprentices, but I'm a college professor so I work with graduate research assistants. That seems somewhat similar, like they're apprentice researchers.

I'm a really good and enthusiastic teacher when I'm just teaching someone or a class (won multiple teaching awards). It's a totally different ballgame when I need to accomplish something with the person I'm teaching. Even with the best students, they're very green and capable of doing very little. Reviewing and correcting their work takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. About the time I've developed the student into a functional colleague, he graduates and I start the cycle again with another green research assistant. This is incredibly frustrating to me. I'm fairly close to leaving academia and this is one of the reasons.

From that, I think I could do well supervising an apprentice if I'm building a colleague who will work with me for years after that. Just teaching them to increase the goodness of the human race? Probably not. It would take some other personality type besides mine.

 

[GregLocock]

Whether it's a good idea for the company in question or not, it is certainly a good idea for society, there aren't enough apprenticeships or alternatives to university.

My dad did an apprenticeship, I did a sort of apprenticeship (one year before uni, and then internships at the same company), my wife's son did an apprenticeship, and my wife's daughter's bloke did an apprenticeship.

I'd guess at about the third year apprentices stop being spotty faced time-absorbers and start to contribute effectively to the projects they are on.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[Mongrel]

I'd agree with the others.
Particularly these days, your biggest challenge will be finding a young person who a) shows up reliably
And b) understands they need to put the phone down and work.

The trial period suggested above would be an excellent plan. And then as noted by others, it does take time to get them to make useful contributions. So you do need to consider the personalities of yourself and your people, specifically their ability to tolerate distraction while working, and their patience.
I would estimate it would take about half a year before the apprentice can perform simple tasks unsupervised, a year for intermediate tasks. This will vary for different people, though.
Many governments offer various incentive packages; I can't comment on the UK system, but would imagine there's at least something available through the local unemployment office. They may even be willing to co-pay the apprentice for some time.

Having said all that, an apprentice you've trained, who decides to stay on with you and do things your way, can be extremely rewarding and a great asset!
Ones who take the training and bugger off to get other jobs, not so much. Heh.

 

[berkshire]

Under the old UK system An apprentice served his 4 year or 5 year term. Then when his agreement expired he was let go. He then became an improver and found employment elsewhere. At the end of one year from the end of his apprenticeship. He was then considered a journeyman , and was welcomed back at the company that originally apprenticed him. Since the practice was universally done by most companies in the trades, there was a ready supply of improvers who had trained elsewhere to take up jobs. This whole system went to hell in a hand basket in the late 1970s when the government stopped sponsoring apprenticeships.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[GregLocock]

The company I worked for paid me a bare minimum for the first year, somewhat more during my internships, and gave a reasonable bump on graduation, and paid for my uni course. After graduating I worked for about a year at the job I wanted (FEA etc) in the department I wanted, but they were then downsizing, so I moved to a different department, and got, what was in retrospect, a better job. I was then rapidly promoted for two years, and decided to look around (ignoring some details). I got a 50% pay bump when I moved. At my exit interview I did ask them why they had put so much money into my engineering education but were unable to match typical salary expectations, and the response was the classic "I dunno but it keeps happening". Bizarre.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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