apprenticeship questions
 

Hey all, wasnt sure where to post

I work at a automotive shop in a shit town... Kitimat BC I moved up here a few months ago to be able to pay off dept, and start saving for a down payment for a house. Living here is just temporary. My boss offered me an apprenticeship today, but I wasnt sure what to say. Doing a quick google search it takes 4 years to complete?? Answer me this. Why would I want to be his apprentice vs just doing what I'm doing now. I'm making good enough money ($25hr) to start. What benifits would I get from it. I dont even really know what an apprentice means. Does it give me that red seal ticket or something? I thought being an apprentice you need to go through school.

Any information from anyone would be great.

dayyuumm 25 to start?

From my understanding, it's on school and work type of thing.

Say you go to school for 7 weeks for your 1st year apprenticeship; You will then have to work for another 1000-1500 hours (somewhere around there) before you could start year 2. Then, you would go to school for 6 weeks or something like that and then proceed to work again. You see where I'm going with this?

You'll have an opportunity for better pay with a red-seal certificate.

Accept it. If you have previous work experience you can use that too. Usually it's about 8000hours/4 years work experience and 4 separate 4-5 week school terms. I have no idea about automotive but thats what most trades are as a guideline.

You're working there anyways so theres no downside to accepting it.

kitimat is going to be busy once the Enbridge and TransCanada pipelines get approved. Do your apprentice and jump ship when the major players come to town.

Secure some cheap rent while you can too.

The real question is, what are you doing at the shop?

Specifics.

In any case, doing your apprenticeship and completing it will not only make you certified and able to work across the country (red seal), but also typically a higher wage.

There is no reason ever to not take accreditation when it is being offered up for you. It will only benefit you. You are going to be working anyway so you might as well take some in class training and the credentials to get better jobs/pay when you are done.

My fiance has an awesome family which werent able to start out on the "right foot" So they are giving me free rent and food (tho I grab groceries all the time for the house and help out alot) Every buck I make I am putting into paying off my credit cards (almost done) car insurance and cell phone. The rest gets put away.

At the shop I am starting off on the simple side of things, gives us both a chance to get familiar with each other and "his way" of doing things. Anything from brakes(disk/drum), cv's, complete front end work, e-brake cables, troubleshooting electronics (i love wiring, so thats a sinch), installing stereo's, underglow, bush lights, winches, tires.... its a full out shop. he hasnt let me use the torches or the welder yet, both of which I own and can use flawlessly. He has another guy at the shop that works on the diesels, motor swaps and internal work of trannys and t-cases. More less... he does the specialty shit. If he asked me to do a re-&-re of a engine, fucken eh... keep my ass busy. But as I see it, he's got me doing smaller shit to keep the cars coming in and out of the shop all day while the other guy takes on full day projects.

But regarding the apprentice thing; my only worry is being locked into it and not being able to leave this town. The only bar here looks like something you would find on e-hastings, and I have yet to see a single hottie anywhere!

Once you complete an apprenticeship, you would get your red seal which would be able to tell your potential employers that you are skilled and qualified. I'm not sure how mechanic shops hire their employees, but I am assuming it could make it easier for you to find a job as a mechanic in most places.

Get your first year done, then you can always get hired by another employer as an apprentice and get more hours from them. You don't have to stay at one employer for the whole duration of your apprenticeship. Just make sure they send your hours in and do your first level of school

Dont you have a fiancee? If you do dont you want as prosperous and successful a future possible for the two of you? Hotties and bars wont give you that.

Being signed on as an apprentice allows you to start banking hours towards your school courses. You pretty much need 1500 hours of work based experience to move ahead with each year of schooling for automotive technicians. Like others have said you don't need to stay with one employer you can move your apprenticship to other shops if you move or for whatever reason. Each year of school is about 6-8 weeks duration depending on what year you take and if you take the apprenticeship now and get enough hours you can fast track and sign up for multiple years of schooling and get it done quicker rather than going back and forth. So food for thought, in short take the apprenticeship it will help you greatly in the end.

ya like what others have said, accepting the apprenticeship doesn't lock you with that employer for the whole duration. You can jump ship anytime and still be registered with the ita as an apprentice.

OP...did you think mechanics aren't licensed? Seems odd that dont know the basic principles of apprenticeship and becoming a certified mechanic.

ps. congrats on $25/hour...that's unheard of for an apprentice like yourself. Most apprentice get jack all. $12 an hour.

Perks of living in a small town where no-one wants to live. and 12/hr? I was making more than that at a lube shop where no thought has to go into anything.