Pre-apprenticeship vs. apprenticeship

admin

As employees or employers do you feel it is better for someone to go to college before he starts his apprenticeship or jump right in to it(structural steel and plate work apprenticeship). are employers only willing to sign you as an apprentice if you have been to college first?M Fed
Reply:How does your parent or guardian feel about this?City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:As an employer I would prefer they went to college first. I say this because I think education is important and in this business things like metallurgy are becoming more and more important not to mention the math (which you can never have too much of) as well as improved communication skills. It isn't an absolute and for the right person an exception would definitely be made. I am unfamiliar with the union apprenticeship programs and don't know what they teach so I can't voice an opinion on it. I have worked with guys who went through the 798 apprenticeship program and they were all very good welders.If you are going to weld learn to fit. I won't hire a welder that can't fit, no exceptions to that rule. In some places there is no such thing as a fitter. I didn't know fitting was considered a trade until I had been at this for over 30 years and went from oilfield to construction. Master the cutting torch as it will save you so many headaches.Last edited by Jolly Roger; 06-23-2008 at 09:25 PM.Reason: left something outThe difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:Go to college first. The apprentice program I am going through counts as college credits.when we are finished, my classmates will have to take other classes to get a degree. All I have to do is apply the credits I have already earned. Plus you may find something else you like doing better.
Reply:There is no real correct answer to this question, one on hand I am all for someone to further their education, but on the other hand there is no knowledge better than hands on experience. It would be a answer only you can answer for yourself as to what you see yourself doing in the future.Jolly Roger, like you, I never knew that fitters existed. I have always had to wear many hats in the day to day operations of any company that I had worked for and now that I'm paying the bills myself, you bet your @ss I'm still wearing the same hats and many more.I am what I am, Deal with it!If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!
Reply:No kiddin' dabar. Some days I have a whole lot more hats than I can wear. I thought those two accounting classes I had to take were a waste of time, but they sure have come in handy the last couple of years in fact I often wish I had taken more. I've told my nieces, nephews and sons to major in what they want but to minor in business or accounting. I minored in computer science and really don't have a lot of need for those programming classes, lol.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.