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Does anyone know if the UA has any age restrictions on beginning an apprenticeship? Is it possible to be too old?
Reply:I think all unions used to have age restrictions but have since dropped them. They were sued for discrimination.
Reply:Thanks for the reply. I'm 32 and I wish I would of joined about 10 years ago, but I suppose it's never too late.
Reply:I've got a buddy I taught how to weld when he was 35. He signed up for the Boilermakers apprenticeship program while I was working with him...2 years later they sent him notice that he'd been accepted. Right now is a great time to get into a program, going to be a major shortage of qualified welders before to long. Some in the industrial sector already claim there is because they can't hire qualified welders. They just won't accept that by them driving the wages down that that influences welders to stay clear of them...lol.Anything worth doing is worth doing RIGHT
Reply:Originally Posted by AltobeThanks for the reply. I'm 32 and I wish I would of joined about 10 years ago, but I suppose it's never too late.
Reply:I'm really considering it. I feel that I am a damn good natural welder, I think I just need to do it.
Reply:Originally Posted by SandyWhen you said "old" I thought you might be "old".   32 is still a kid.
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Reply:ive seen 50 year old apprentices out on jobs!! 32 is not too old at all. Also dont limit yourself to trying to get into just one union. Piledrivers, Operators, Millwrongs, Longshoremen, Iron workers and even electricians all have welders in there trades as well, and some of the specialty trades pay better.  Id sign up on all of them and see who calls first. Sometimes certain trades only take a few applicants a year so if you set your sites on one trade you may be dissappointed.
Reply:I've seen 50 yr old apprentices too.  One was a brain surgeon who got shaky and couldn't operate safely anymore so he joined the Carpenter's Union.And i've heard about a 17 year old who joined and a company wouldn't hire him because he was under 18.  The Union pulled their contract so they couldn't operate anymore and it changed the way all Union Contractors operated from there out.  Now you can be any age.
Reply:I teach apprentices at a tech. college, we have them from kids as young as 16 through to adults of 45. Give me the adults any day, they are there to work and get stuck into it, the kids on the other hand should still be at school and spend more energy avoiding work than they would if they got in and worked. But hey I'm a grumpy old sod so I'm bound to be biased.