Apprentices

[Bananalad]

Any apprentices on here? Just looking for some general information about them, preferably in panel beating but i suppose they would all be similar.. Thanks

[Connor]

I was one... But not a panel beater lol

[Piggy]

^^^^ same

my best mate dude did bodywork

[Bananalad]

Thats alright i was just wondering how do i get into it, do i have to find an employer first, do i have to sign up to something etc?

[Piggy]

how old are you bud?

best to sign up to get ball rolling, often training orgs will find you a placement

[Bananalad]

Just to clear up ive been looking for one in ireland (impossible to get) and ive booked flights for London in mid January where i hope to get one, wanted to have a rough idea on what i have to do before i go looking for one..

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Ive just gone 20, sign up to where? I know what to do here i just dont over there

[RePT]

Conpany specific apprenticeships are dead end imo, unless you go into a big company.

Where as stuff like plumbing, mechanics provide skills you can use in any situation.

Also, an education in the UK is worthless in the UK.(imo)

Only valueable thing here is ecperience!

Try to get skills here, which are on demand abroad.

[c.gerrard]

Not too sure what he's up to these days, but this guy might be interested:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071b63

[Connor]

You can do it either way tbh, you can either sign up with a college and find a placement, or you can find a placement and they can sign you up to a college

[Bananalad]

Im not really into the other stuff whereas i enjoy panel beating, i understand what your saying and it makes perfect sense but i think id rather do something i like..

[londondan86]

I'm an electro mechanical engineering apprentice. Best route I would suggest, and the one I took is to get into college first onto a full time course. Then start looking for the work placement, it took me a full year to find one but at least it wasn't time wasted as I am already finished my first year.

Hope that makes sense, pm me if you need any more details.

[Bananalad]

Whats the best way to go about it connor? I presume find a placement first?

[Connor]

It really depends, if the college will help you find a placement, then that would be easier. I kinda did it both ways lol I got a placement at a local mechanic college and got my placement myself because its where I did my work experience when I was in school

[Bananalad]

Ah i see, thanks dan and connor, i think id need to find placement first because of the money involved going to college first..

[Niall]

2 ways of doing it really. you can either contact your local college who supports the apprenticeship scheme and if they enroll you, they will get you a job with one of their companies they have on their books. Generally very low pay but its worth it if you can get through the few years ok a 7-10k a year wage

Alternatively and more difficult, you can find a company who are willing to take you on as an apprenticeship. This is sort of what ive done. They took me on as a on the job trainee but are putting me through a apprenticeship scheme. Personally i think this is the best way as i have already done 2 years in the job so know i enjoy it and the pay is substantially better.

[Choppin]

Not sure if this helps but I was a panel beater @ a small garage n I got it by sending crap loads of cv n writen letters out until I got it! I found just showing a real passion for cars helped a lot as well
Anyway good luck with it mate as I loved that job!
Oh just 2 let u kno, it happened 2 me n 2 a couple of my mates who were on appreticships got made redundant as soon as they got 2 21 or till they got qualified enough that they needed paying minimum wage! Just a heads up lol

[Bananalad]

I have done some of the work here and i know i enjoy it so not too bad that way, as for money i dont mind a small wage as long as im getting the apprenticeship..

[Niall]

^^^ thats also a benefit of doing it how i am. At least you know the company is willing to invest in you so wont kick you out as soon as your done at college.

[Bananalad]

Not sure if this helps but I was a panel beater @ a small garage n I got it by sending crap loads of cv n writen letters out until I got it! I found just showing a real passion for cars helped a lot as well
Anyway good luck with it mate as I loved that job!
Oh just 2 let u kno, it happened 2 me n 2 a couple of my mates who were on appreticships got made redundant as soon as they got 2 21 or till they got qualified enough that they needed paying minimum wage! Just a heads up lol

Ha thats to be expected everywhere really isnt it? How long did it take you to become fully qualified?

[Choppin]

Lol yer very true mate
Well I was ther just over 3 years, never went 2 college 2 get the paper work which was a lil stupid on my part as now hav nothing 2 show 4 it (paper wise) but I was up 2 the stage of spraying, in other words I was given a f*cked car n I worked on it by myself till the final spraying n someone else did that bit lol
If I'd been ther say another year I think i would hav finished my training but 2 b honest it's different 4 every1, the guy that was ther b4 me spent over 3 years just learning how 2 repair tiny dents! Lol it's def a skill u hav either got or don't lol

[Bananalad]

I wouldnt be totally hopeless ive done bits and pieces before so im not starting fresh with no knowledge! Now the next big question, anyone know anyone willing to take someone on in the london area? Or any good garages i can send c.vs into when i go over??

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Also if i do get set up with a job ill be looking for a phase 1 d turbo, body condition not important

[ozonehostile]

i did an apprenticeship as an electronic engineer, the best way for a full apprenticeship is to apply to a group training organisation through a company, its a massive pain to apply to all the different businesses basically asking them to pay for your education, i was very lucky as i did my apprenticeship through my dads business as he needed someone good with electronics, but through my skills i got another job as an aerospace engineer, still working for my old man but with another fulltime job just for abit of extra cash really. both pretty well paid engineer positions so defiantly worth been an apprentice to get your foot in an industry as it really pays off after

[devils_fuel]

i went to college for a full time mechanics course, did the first year and then found somewhere to do YTS while i was there but this was 15 years ago lol

[Toms306]

I did a full time mechanics course at college with the aim of finding an apprenticeship. You get 'fastracked' through and getyour quals quicker if you go to college first. However, only 2 or 3 people on my whole course got an apprenticeship, they're not easy to get atm!

[306Puggy]

Heh, I can't do an apprenticeship because I am the holder of an HND. Seems more of a hinderance that a help in my experience.

[ginge191]

Also, an education in the UK is worthless in the UK.(imo)

/sigh

this rumour again; education is beyond useless; in my 'field' alone, there are hundreds of job/schemes offering 25k training wages with degree disciplines 2:2 and above. Perhaps you're referring to education in specific to 'panel beating', then yes, a manual job requires solely experience within a work place.
Just because you're unaware of the possibilities education can take, it's not regarded as useless.

Just a browse online; http://www.apprenticeservices.com.au/app...el-beater/
Qualifications required from basic college courses it seems? i'm not too clued up on this type of work, but a quick phone call to your local college/training centre would be my first point of call

[Bananalad]

Thanks for the advice everyone, also thanks ginge for the link, think ill just send out a few hundred cvs when i get over there because id like to know i have the apprenticeship got and commit to living there. I wouldnt like to go over and do a course then not be able to get a placement..

[Niall]

The gouvernment are really putting alot of money into aprenticeships at the moment to try and combat the few uni students who spend thousands on a particular course and never get into that line of work because they cant or because they never actually did any experience in the job so didnt really know what it was all about.

IMO, unless your going for a job where uni qualifications are essential (medicine, law etc), its better to go for a apprenticeship. That pretty bit of paper you get at the end might not be as high as a uni one but you are much more desireable to most employers and chances are you will end up in a job with the company you did your apprenticeship in anyway. Also means you know how to do the job. Weve had several uni grads join up to our company recently who are qualified up to the eyeballs and they cant seem to put their qualifications to use!

[ginge191]

The gouvernment are really putting alot of money into aprenticeships at the moment to try and combat the few uni students who spend thousands on a particular course and never get into that line of work because they cant or because they never actually did any experience in the job so didnt really know what it was all about.

....Or to justify their governmental overpaid jobs by showing a decrease in """unemployment""" rates

Also, note that a lot of employers who recruit in management roles desire a degree in 'any discipline'. Not just a specific field of work.
I feel this is going to go back to the debate we had a while back about the relevance and use of university education.

[Niall]

The gouvernment are really putting alot of money into aprenticeships at the moment to try and combat the few uni students who spend thousands on a particular course and never get into that line of work because they cant or because they never actually did any experience in the job so didnt really know what it was all about.

....Or to justify their governmental overpaid jobs by showing a decrease in """unemployment""" rates

Also, note that a lot of employers who recruit in management roles desire a degree in 'any discipline'. Not just a specific field of work.
I feel this is going to go back to the debate we had a while back about the relevance and use of university education.

Or prehaps they are doing it to get a lot of young school leavers off of benefits seeing as they are the highest rate of unemployed people in this country. Dont forget, not everyone is academic enough to be able to get into uni or not everyone can afford it so i think these apprenticeships are a good way of making extra education available to the masses as well as getting people into work.

And i do agree with the fact that some companies do require you to have a uni education to become management however a lot of people now are led to believe that they have to go to uni as soon as they leave school which personally i think is a bad move. If you decide that you want to do a job when your in school, how do you know what that job is REALLY like until you do something in that field or similar. This is why i think apprenticeships are good for younger people (less than 25).