This is not a nine to five job

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frizbeedog

frizbeedog

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Oregon
I started working with a new apprentice this week. After a string of clock punchers, this 20 year old has renewed my faith in the future of the industry. I've known him since he was twelve. He has always said he was going to be an electrician. And he's living his dream.

He's a good team player, dependable, smart, witty, and takes instruction well. And more importantly loves what he does. Let me put it this way, I was recently taking a required 8 hour code change class and he was there too. Didn't have to be, but was. And he's still in his first year of school.

He's a keeper, and no, you can't have him. I have invited him to join the forum, which he did. He PM'd me that he's thrilled about this site. Be kind to him please. :wink:

The real question is: Can you be succesfull at this trade if you are a nine to five "Clock Puncher" ? I'm thinking no.

And secondly: How do you find your "keepers"?
 
frizbeedog said:
The real question is: Can you be succesfull at this trade if you are a nine to five "Clock Puncher" ? I'm thinking no.
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In this or any other trade, you might can earn a living being a clock puncher, but I would call that functional, not successful
frizbeedog said:
And secondly: How do you find your "keepers"?
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Go through about nine "non-keepers"
 
frizbeedog said:
The real question is: Can you be successful at this trade if you are a nine to five "Clock Puncher" ? I'm thinking no.
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I don't know your definition of successful, but I know I pay my bills and my wife gets to stay home, and I am a 7:00 to 3:30 guy, never work weekends or overtime...
 
stickboy1375 said:
I don't know your definition of successful, but I know I pay my bills and my wife gets to stay home, and I am a 7:00 to 3:30 guy, never work weekends or overtime...
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What I meat was the time one spends off the job keeping up with his trade, Like you right now...not actual hours turning tools etc.
 
stickboy1375 said:
I don't know your definition of successful, but I know I pay my bills and my wife gets to stay home, and I am a 7:00 to 3:30 guy, never work weekends or overtime...
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Your being here shows you are not a nine-to-fiver but seek to improve yourself and enlighten others.
 
"How do you find keepers?" You don't,they FIND you,and after a thousand worthless ones hopfully your not too jaded and discourge a potential Master electrician.To your new apprentice,Welcome to the Forum! We are getting old and bitter and someone has to replace us.:grin: Seriously, keep up the good work ,wear your pants on your hips and not your knees,read everything you can about all aspects of the electrical trade.Electricity is a very difficult science to wrap your mind around in the beginning.Don't get discouraged it's all a natural learning process.Everyone on this forum was just as new and confused as you are or will be.I personally was dumber than dirt,I did'nt even know there were wires in the walls,when I first started.Twenty-Two years later I still am thankful I had the dedication to stick with it.Electricity has allowed me to live a very comfortable life and it can do the same for you.Now if you see me walking on the beach with my pants around my knees.It's not because I think it's cool it's because I'm too old to care.:grin:
 
Sounds like you got a good guy frizbee.. When can I goto work for you? Unfourtunately the real world in my neck of the woods is code doesn't matter, it's how fast you slam PVC together in a ditch and how much dirt you can move with that shovel.. Tell your new boy that he has it good and he should appreciate the oppurtunity to work for your shop instead of the rest of the trunk slamers.
 
half of my 40 years in this trade was in contracting & industrial.
In those two decades, I guess I found 5 "keepers", 3 certainly were and 2 were close. I did my best to see that they got top pay and every opportunity for advancement. 2 are retired now, 1 is a sucessful contractor and 2 are top lead men. I feel was I lucky to find that many of the extremely rare birds.
 
i think its rare to find good helpers that want to learn. every single helper that i work with just wants to do the minimum to get paid. lazyness is an epidemic around here and its actually pretty sad to see a first year apprentice taking short cuts and not taking the chance to learn more on his off time.

just treat your help right and show him new things every time you can. also reccomend some good reading material
 
electricalperson said:
just treat your help right and show him new things every time you can. also reccomend some good reading material
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Exactly. Teach him everything you can. And really, there is nothing quite as rewarding as sharing knowledge with someone who sincerely wants it.

Also, don't forget that good help is hard to find, so pay him nicely and give him a raise when he deserves it.... cuz if you don't, I just might make him a better offer! :wink:
 
There are many aspects of this trade you can do 7:00-3:30, the work I do requires lots of OT, unfortunately I have worked every holiday. I try not to work them now but did for many years. It is part of my job.
 
no. i'm a 7-330. after 8 it's time and half, after 10 it's double. saturdays time and half, sundays double.

8 for 8 is my motto
 
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