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Author Topic: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?  (Read 5554 times)

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Offline Jayp

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How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« on: June 01, 2012, 09:09:05 PM »
Hi there, just wondering when you have completed your apprenticeship and gained rego, what you should know. A good question as I know alot of apprentices that lagg pipes or drill in ramset anchors for a majority of there time. And then your going to come out of your time, not knowing a heck of alot and make a good load of mistakes to become competent??

Linkback: https://www.plumbers.nz/apprenticeships/78/how-competant-were-you-out-of-your-apprentiship/1135/

Offline roberto

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2012, 08:53:16 PM »
I just came out of my apprientiship last year and basically taught myself everything from my own stuff-ups and from looking at other peoples workmanship, I was never really taught anything, I was simply there to do the jobs that no one wanted to do like breaking concrete, I was told once that if Im helping a plumber on a job and he has his hand out I should know that hes just used the hemp so hes now going to use the graphite, crap i know but thats how i was treated, am licenced now but yeah i didnt know much....

Offline Jayp

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2012, 10:32:02 PM »
Hey Roberto,
Your post rings a bell with me, very similar boat here, so Im guessing its the way it is, theres no way you "just know" what theyre wanting. Physics would do well in an apprenticeship. Yeh there is alot to learn but its a learning curve, are you going to go for gas? Im sitting in June, Oh f#$@! Goodtimes ;)

Offline Jaxcat

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2012, 07:01:43 PM »
At the end of your apprenticeship you should have a broad but good knowledge of trade science.  You should understand how the industry works and certainly should have a grasp of the legislation within which you work (if for no other reason than your own protection). A lot will depend on what sort of an apprenticeship you did - but you should have a good grasp of the competencies that were recently listed by the PGDB - this is what the apprenticehip should be based around.  Mostly though you are just starting to learn what these trades are all about - don't fret - if you have a good attitude and like to learn it will come to you.  You should be able to work alone, but not be afraid to check and still ask questions.  The day you stop asking questions and don't want to learn anything more is the day to hang up the tool belt.
Have you learned lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you?  Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed the passage with you?  (Walt Whitman 1819-1891)  American Poet

Offline roberto

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2012, 07:00:23 PM »
jax - do u work for the pgdb? sound like it!

Offline roberto

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2012, 07:11:30 PM »
Im also sick of hearing "you should know this, you should know that" bullshit, your only as good as the person who trains you, and the more time they put into teaching you, the better off you will be, end of story.

Offline integrated

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2012, 07:55:47 PM »
your only as good as the person who trains you, and the more time they put into teaching you, the better off you will be, end of story.


this just flat out is not true - whilst i understand where you are coming from - some people just do not have the necessary ability and are not cut out for it

Offline roberto

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2012, 10:15:23 PM »
i disagree, the problem is all those arragant employers, (like my former employer) who think they are superman and you should (theres that word i hate) be exactly like them.

Offline Jaxcat

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #8 on: June 07, 2012, 05:37:25 AM »
Sorry Roberto - I definitely DO NOT work for the PGDB - but we have employed over 30 apprentices and trained them through to registration.   I have seen all sorts of attitudes and abilities - but in the end a good attitude will mean that those around you want to teach you what they know.  In a larger firm it is much easier as you rotate apprentices around different tradesmen so that by the end of the four years they will have been exposed to a number of different ways of doing things and then can make up their own mind what works.  You are not only as good as the person that trained you - in this day and age with the internet and the ability to read, you can learn a lot on your own - you may not have physically "done" the job - but you can read and learn, read and learn.  There are ample trade shows and seminars etc at merchants which are usually out of work hours - you can also attend these.  I see a lot of bitterness on here from time to time about useless employers etc, and I admit that some of the examples given do seem poor practice.  Taking on an apprentice is always a risk, and for a one man band, a huge risk, but generally most of these guys really do want to share what they have learned and take a lot of pride in an apprentice that does well. 

The competencies and the legislation that underpins them is important for apprentices to know.  The Federation have been on at the PGDB about the competencies being gazetted, because up until now we have all been working on transitional arrangements.  Apprentices and tradesmen alike all have a vested interest in understanding what they are being measured against for registration, but also for the issue of arguements around CPD and perhaps, worse case scenario a disciplinary issue.

Offline o2b007

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Re: How competant were you out of your apprentiship?
« Reply #9 on: June 07, 2012, 07:26:54 AM »
Roberto to a certain point you are correct. A majority of what we learn is practical on the tools learning and In some companies apprentices are treated like labourers and might spend most of an apprenticship on a large commercial site doing only several tasks and although he/she completes all there assignments and passes the exam. if you put them infront of a hotwater cylinder it might take them twice as long to install. Personally I would hate to be rated as only as good as the guy that taught me I took it upon myself to learn what I wanted to learn and have the bookshelf to prove it.


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