Is too late to start .

[Thommo]

Hello everyone,
Just wondering your thoughts and welcome any advice.
Just been made redundant again from my original trade of printer which frankly is a dying trade. I did a 5 year apprenticeship in the early eighties which at the age of 55 now seems worthless.
In and out of the print trade over the years I regularly worked on site ceiling fixing for my uncles firm.
I worked a lot of nights on London Underground steel fixing and installing ceilings and panels over track and escalators etc.Running compartment trunking along platforms, using chem fix on threaded rod and many other things.Therefore I do have plenty of experience using tools etc and have gained certification necessary for that work on lul.
All have now expired except CSCS card.Have enquired about this kind of work, but jobs are scarce and based on who you know.
I have been offered a start as a sparks mate and doing a months trial. Obviously I am not a kid who will be on his phone all day, I have a mentality of a good days wedge for a good days graft. I would want to learn as much as possible because I wouldn’t be content just labouring.More of an elderly improver, So I will give it a go, do any of you think I am too late . Old dog new tricks and all that.

 

[rewireIT]

I must also caveat the above with the fact that those being paid lolwages as apprentices will be dismissive of what i have to say. They will believe the only way is to do an apprenticeship (because they have a sunk-cost associated with their own decision so must defend it at all costs) without taking into account that mates actually can get much more experience in a shorter amount of time (not having to go to college) and therefore the training is better.

They may show their disapproval with passive aggressiveness, but it doesn't change the salient points - working as a mate on site and studying in your spare time is superior to the modern apprenticeship because of the aforementioned experience and the fact that you don't have to be on 16 year old wages to do it.

I remember when i was at college with the spotty teens and we had to endure a whole 8 hours on the chapter containing what a hammer looks like and what you use it for.

 

[nicebutdim]

I must also caveat the above with the fact that those being paid lolwages as apprentices will be dismissive of what i have to say. They will believe the only way is to do an apprenticeship (because they have a sunk-cost associated with their own decision so much defend it at all costs) without taking into account that mates actually can get much more experience in a shorter amount of time (not having to go to college) and therefore the training is better.

They may show their disapproval with passive aggressiveness, but it doesn't change the salient points - working as a mate on site and studying in your spare time is superior to the modern apprenticeship because of the aforementioned experience and the fact that you don't have to be on 16 year old wages to do it.

I remember when i was at college with the spotty teens and we had to endure a whole 8 hours on the chapter containing what a hammer looks like and what you use it for.

We don't need another slanging match on your latest account, so I'll make this one post and leave it at that - hopefully moderators will allow this to stand, not only as a response to a personal attack, but for its content.

An apprenticeship as an adult is very different to that experienced by younger learners - this is due to a combination of acquired knowledge, ability, prior experience and a more mature approach to learning. I can attest to this fact as it's the route I chose in 2021, shortly before you did the same (note that 2021 was 2 years ago and not 5, hence my use of the 'optimistic' emoticon).

I attend college when required, which is much less frequently than others in the class and spend the rest of my time working in much the same capacity as a mate or often running smaller jobs on my own. Some learners might need several weeks to complete a project that can be completed in one or two afternoons, so there's little point in being there with nothing to do. Classroom learning is another matter, but one which can often be caught up on. I guess if a tutor needs to take 8 hours to help someone understand what a hammer is, then they'll take 8 hours to do so - what they won't expect is that everyone else needs to learn at that same pace.

For adults, first year apprenticeship wages could be very low, with each subsequent year requiring at least the living wage, but that's not to say they will be very low. I set out with the expectation that I'd earn the bare minimum and was pleasantly surprised to start at roughly twice that, with wages since progressing well beyond my expectations. The only cost associated with my apprenticeship has been, understandably, time spent learning. Course and exam fees are fully funded and I'm earning as much as an average time served electrician in these parts. Six months earning slightly above the national living wage was no great hardship.

The real point here is not what you think an adult apprenticeship entails, nor my thoughts on having to wait 5 years to begin the process of obtaining qualifications through a route intended for people who have experience and would like to gain qualifications accordingly, but that people have a number of options. Some options will hold greater appeal than others for each individual considering retraining, but there is no option that fits everyone. I don't have an issue with the personal choices that anyone has made, or may make in the future, but I do have an issue with the constant denigration of a universally accepted route into the industry, which presents not a single barrier to future employment. You don't like apprenticeships, despite having only experienced one for roughly two weeks and that's fine, but please afford a modicum of respect to the significant number of people who have trodden that well established route and for others who may have good reason to consider doing so in the future.