The best tips for apprentices

[Jimmy_boy]

Now, Ive just joined here, so I guess you can all shout "ROOKIE"! :pAnd im guessing there are other apprentices out there looking for any helpful tips and hints they can apply to their work situation(s). Im in my 4th year of my apprentiship now, and will be sitting registration exams in June next year.

Whats the best bit of advice you were taught or told that has stuck with you throughout your time in your plumbing career? Is it true that you really learn when your out of time? And as tradesman what do you look for in a apprentice that will lead to a quality tradesman? Willingness to learn, listening etc?

I realise this type of question may already be threaded somewhere, but Im new to this, so Ive just come to where I think the best place is to start.

Thanks guys and gals..!
Jimmy_boy.

[AFM]

Now, Ive just joined here, so I guess you can all shout "ROOKIE"! :pAnd im guessing there are other apprentices out there looking for any helpful tips and hints they can apply to their work situation(s). Im in my 4th year of my apprentiship now, and will be sitting registration exams in June next year.

Whats the best bit of advice you were taught or told that has stuck with you throughout your time in your plumbing career? Is it true that you really learn when your out of time? And as tradesman what do you look for in a apprentice that will lead to a quality tradesman? Willingness to learn, listening etc?

I realise this type of question may already be threaded somewhere, but Im new to this, so Ive just come to where I think the best place is to start.

Thanks guys and gals..!
Jimmy_boy.


When I was in my apprenticeship my boss would tell me "never stand there with your hands in your pockets always LOOK BUSY".
Being a plumber you will always be learning something new and it never ends, but the most important thing to know no matter how old you get, never be afraid to ask if you don`t know as we carn`t know it all and that is what this forum is all about as we are all morons and we love asking questions.

Tony:thumbup:

[brad 7596]

i tell my apprentices have a go but if you dont know ASK i would rather take 10 mins more to explain then get a callback or something worse.

the other is if its haevy use a trolley or get help no one is going to thank you years down the track when you have back problems

there you go my 2cents worth

[myakka]

Three philosophies I teach apprentices.
1)"You are smarter than the inanimate object you are working on."
Never tell your journeyman or master you CAN'T figure out a problem.
Tell them you are having trouble finding a solution to a problem. Once you say " I can't" your telling the person you work with that you have stopped looking for a solution and they have to pull up your slack.
2) " Arrows go away from the Indians"
Nearly everything comes with directions. If you refuse to read them it's at your own peril. Even the lowly stop and waste has an arrow cast in to it to let you know the direction of flow.
3)"Use two wrenches!"
Any time you tighten something you must have an equal or better force holding back what you are tightening into or onto. A compression coupling is an obvious one, but the first nipple out of a boiler isn't. The inertial mass of the boiler IS your second wrench.
Mike

[NHMaster3015]

Here's the best advice I ever got. "Shut up and do your f^%$&*^ job" ;)

[Aaron91]

The best advice is to join your plumbers local union. I've learn 10x more in the 6 months since I've gotten in, than I did in the 2-1/2 years I did working non-union.

[Jay Mpls]

Here's the best advice I ever got. "Shut up and do your f^%$&*^ job" ;)

I have known this as SHUT UP AND DIG!

[gear junkie]

-Nobody ever got in trouble for something they didn't say.
-More people get fired due to incompatibility than incompetence.

Go back and read every thread in the forum, not trying to be captain obvious but there's so much knowledge put here that we couldn't condense everything in one thread. Best of luck to you.

Do you guys install flux capacitors over there?

[rookie plumber]

It's all about being interested in what your doing and paying attention. I could always tell early on which guys had potential. When I had a helper or apprentice with me that was unable anticipate what the next step was on the simple projects I knew that they either did not want to put in the effort or they were not mechanically inclined. When I saw a new guy that had the next tool that might be needed or was positioning himself to assist even if it was not right, I knew there was something there.

[Bogart]

"You don't have to smart to be a plumber, just a little bit smarter than the pipe." "Your job is to make your foreman's job easier." I still keep that advice near to mind. My advice is to never stop learning, and never forget what you learned.

[JCsPlumbing]

:running-dog:Run away from plumbing like your being chased by a serial killer. :eek:

J.C.

[Jimmy_boy]

Haa, Thanks to everyone for contributing, yes im working in a union now which is so much better, thankfully and I have too learnt two fold now that im working there, such a difference! Do you guys install flux capacitors over there? Ha, well that movie back to future has just come out here, so we are yet to get our hands on some. But time travel is something to marvel.
Much appreciated to all
Jimmy_boy

[MrsSeatDown]

The best advice is to join your plumbers local union. I've learn 10x more in the 6 months since I've gotten in, than I did in the 2-1/2 years I did working non-union.

How ironic that you got your best advice from people on this forum that don't know as much as you do:rolleyes:

[PlumbingSkool]

1) Never open a sealed spackle bucket

2) There is NO bucket of steam

3) There is no such thing as a pipe strecher

4) There is no such thing as a sky hook

5) YOU CAN use duck butter instead of flux, just agrue with my helper from 12 years ago :shocked:

But other then that, you will be protecting the health of the nation, so its all good :)

[VTPLUMBER]

1) Never open a sealed spackle bucket

2) There is NO bucket of steam

3) There is no such thing as a pipe strecher

4) There is no such thing as a sky hook

5) YOU CAN use duck butter instead of flux, just agrue with my helper from 12 years ago :shocked:

But other then that, you will be protecting the health of the nation, so its all good :)
You also won't find any Kilowatt grease, or a tube of A,I,R. so don't go lookin.:banghead: Seriously, ask questions, and pay attention.