Benefits/Advantages of Taking on an Apprentice

[village idiot]

There comes a time when you suddenly realise that the work load is ''getting on top'' of you. Then you start to consider if it may be reasonable to take on an apprentice?

My worry is all your hard work can go down the drain if they put their foot through a customers ceiling or similar incidences. Is it really worth taking on this extra responsibility? This is going to be a very cold winter (I hope the snow keeps away or one might not be able to attend emergency calls). So the work load will quadruple. In effect, I am thinking may be it is time to take on an apprentice or two?

 

[SimonG]

I think you've missed the boat for this winter, unless you find a very gifted individual, I would think to start that an apprentice would slow you down initially. Not ever having one though I can't speak from experience.

 

[hammers4spanner]

wouldnt bother more aggro than they are worth

 

[Jacko]

as an apprentice my self i think apprenticeships are a good thing, we all have to start somewhere some how and less and less people are taking on apprentices.

 

[SimonG]

as an apprentice my self i think apprenticeships are a good thing, we all have to start somewhere some how and less and less people are taking on apprentices.

Hard enough working for one wage without being able to do less and needing to find two wages.

One day I have every intention of taking somebody on, but not until I'm working for fun and not paying rent/mortgage etc.

 

[cr0ft]

An apprentice costs you £2.80 odd an hour although I would suggest you offer a bit more if you want to attract a good one. Like has been said, a rubbish one will cost you a fortune. Find a good one though and you are onto a winner. I have got a decent one after trying 4 other rubbish ones. Good news is I had them all for a trial week (i.e. free) first and got shot of them quickly.

Try and find one who is ex-military, they have a great work ethic in general.

Even from his first week, a good one should be helping you do at least one more job a week to cover his wage, the day mine doesn't is the day I have to question whether it's worth it.

There is a £1,500 government grant at the moment for each one you take on and keep for 12 months. CITB also do quite good grants too, in the thousands of pounds.

 

[wetdrip]

Hi, where are you based?
If Coventry, see here:
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/g...till-looking-gas-safe-registered-plumber.html

My nipper isn't ex-military;however he got his first Dan at the tender age of nine, through the British Combat Association.So, he's disciplined.

 

[village idiot]

wouldnt bother more aggro than they are worth

To be honest, I get about TWO calls a week from ''kids'' looking for apprenticeship positions. One of the problems I have is that even at that initial stage, they present themselves too ''casually''?

''hello, my name is .... and I just finished my level 2 city & guilds plumbing course. I just wondered if it was possible to join your company''? So I tell him to send more details to my email address as I am at work and not convenient time to talk. Most do not do that. The few who do make no effort to present themselves in a true light?
If you are not even prepared to tell me how old you are and what qualifications etc, how am I expected to help? I admit plumbing is classed as a ''manual job'', but believe you me, you've got to be able to think on your feet when the occasion calls for it.

I do have a few who plead that they are prepared to ''work for free'' as they just want the experience, but the worry of what damage they can 'throw up' when your back is turned, leaves me worried. I say so as five years ago, I took on an apprentice who just lasted a day, but I had to repair the customers ceiling he had damaged while we were replacing a complete bathroom.

 

[lame plumber]

I wonder if a nice smellimng girlie apprentice might change my mind about having one, as far as lads go I gave up a while back, how can anyone remove a roller garage door from its mountings by just opening it?

girlie interviews only after photos of your last holiday in Magaluff have been received and I have met your mum

 

[basildog]

It is not just aprentices though I am afraid as several years ago when I was building the plumber had a leak in a newly built restaurant extension ,so shouted quick someone make a hole in the ceiling while I turn the water off !
To the amazement of the other guys one of the groundworkers went up the loft ladder and just stamped his rigger boot straight through a brand new ceiling !
The chippy was grabbing a screwdriver to do what was really needed but too late !

 

[lame plumber]

why bother making a hole, plaster board dries ok if leaks is stopped promptly. Over reaction all round on that one

 

[wetdrip]

I wonder if a nice smellimng girlie apprentice might change my mind about having one, as far as lads go I gave up a while back, how can anyone remove a roller garage door from its mountings by just opening it?

girlie interviews only after photos of your last holiday in Magaluff have been received and I have met your mum

If my nipper was prepared to have a sex change would that qualify?

 

[kay-jay]

Ive toyed with the idea, mainly when busy and an extra pair of hands would be an asset. But you never know whats gonna happen mext week or the week after. Four years is a hell of a commitment for a one man band which 90 odd percent of us are.

Having said that I do have a lad with me who is qualified with no experience. We help each other out on an ad hoc experience for labour basis. I give him experience and he removes the teeth from my core bits....


You know who you are jam1979

 

[TimeServed]

I had a level 2 apprentice lad in the summer for about 4 weeks, didn't really pay him much at all which was great for me and he was happy to be getting experience but in the end i found it really slow me down and having to pick him up from bus station was a pain.... Although there are some days when I really wish I had him with me!

 

[ExArmy]

in my opinion, taking on an apprentice is a good idea. it's progress, the future, or whatever. if you don't take on an apprentice, you still have to do all the rubbish jobs yourself, you still have to get your own tools out of the van, and put them all away at the end of the day and in 4 years you will still be struggling away on your own as a one man band. there is a risk they can mess up, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. if you have an apprentice, so you charge your customers more money to cover their wage and give them all the simple mundane jobs to do, freeing you up to get on with the real job. think of it this way, if you earn £21.44 an hour, thats what they cost for a day. so then as long as the apprentice saves you one one hour of labour a day, then it's covered. plus you don't actually charge people out at what you pay them (1st rule of employing people) so if you add £4 on your hourly rate then over time the extra money should help pay for tools they break/lose and damage they cause
i know it may sound like "give them all the crap jobs to do" is not a very good strategy for teaching, but theres just not enough crap jobs for them to do ALL day, so at some point they inevitebly end up with nothing to do, therefore watching you work, passing you tools and thus learning the trade. then eventually as long as they are any good, you start giving them more responsibility and more money, untill eventually you have a fully trained man and you can leave them on jobs, pay them an "on the books" rate , and charge them out at a "self employed rate" and then you pocket the difference and make more money!