what do you expect from your apprentice

[Baker1988]

Hi i recently started work for a company as a apprentice they have taken me on as a trial.

What i wanted to know was how much do you expect a apprentice i was working in a 3 story domestic new build it had been 1st fixed every thing except the cavity wall plasterboad boxes for all the switches and most sockets so they had to be cut out and fitted i got there in the morning and got given the stuff and told to get on with it by my self, i thought i had done well i did every thing on the first floor (e.g) all the sockets including kitchen,hallway , all the light pendents, all the switches, data point, TV Ariel point, bathroom including extractor and isolator, i had also done most of the first floor (e.g) bedrooms, another bathroom with fan and isolator, hall way, Just one bedroom and light in storage cuboard

as i said i thought i had done really well only had 20 min break for dinner all day then i got a call at the end of the first day asking what i had done and after i told him he said what has taken you so long as he expected me to get the full place second fixed in a day but i told him i couldn't get it done in one day and he wasn't very happy got told today that i did not get the apprenticeship enough even though every thing worked fine and every thing was very neat .

So do you expect any of your apprentices to do a full 3 story house in one day? what are your time frames for doing second fixes?.

 

[Dooby]

I think that sounds pretty good! Just getting on with it and not needing help and supervision is as good as it gets for apprentices in my experience, think you were pretty hard done by there. An experienced spark on price work, yeah all being well I could expect that done. I have no understanding of the machinations at play in these situations though, so hopefully other people can tell you what the likely agenda was there.

 

[Paul.M]

You've been hard done by mate so dont beat yourself up over it.

An employer taking on an apprentice, mate, laborer should supervise that person and show them how they want things doing with a little bit of added teaching thrown in. Sounds like that firm just wants a monkey and not an electrician. I wonder if that position was already spoken for and they had to give you a chance to show that they have not already chosen someone?

You say:- "got told today that i did not get the apprenticeship enough even though every thing worked fine and every thing was very neat."

This to me says that you have pride in your work and if everything worked at the end of the day (so testing was't done by any chance, just switch it on and see if it works? Very professional firm???) ... that means more than how fast you were. Ok we all need to do a certain amount of work per day to hit finishing deadlines but for 1 person to 2nd fix a 3 story house in one day would be pushing it. It is possible but, I would not expect someone still training to complete a work load like that.

Baker, how many points did you 2nd fix? Just list how many db skts, single skts, switches, light points (and type) and then divide that by the number of working hours you had. Speed is always a concern but if you now that you are doing a good job without any faults, stick with that for now. Speed will come in time.

Earlier this year I was part of a team rewire on a hotel. Each room had 7 sockets, 3 light switches, 7 GU10 down lights, 2 data points, 1 phone point, 1 tv point, in ceiling speaker and control and a heating control. The floor I was working on had 26 rooms, now thats a lot of 2nd fixing. It took me almost 3 full working days (9 hours a day) to 2nd fix 182 sockets in LSF cable and tripping up over the other trades on site. I was doing about 7 per hour and thats with getting broken off to find a fault or the twit of the site manager asking to look at something. If you think you are a bit slow (and I dont mean it that way lol) practice at home. Little tip for you, get a pair of CK wire strippers if your doing a load of 2nd fixing in one go, that will speed it up a bit.

 

[trev]

I don't have an apprentice but when I did I expected-
Blind obedience
Unflinching loyalty
Unwavering dedication to the job

Seriously though, a good attitude, a willingness to learn, the ability to graft like a dog when necessary and if the boy (I never had a female apprentice) had some good crack then so much the better