LESSON ONE - GIVE IT A GOOD OLD GO!
If you’re reading this, it means you are interested in joining the trades, or have already decided it’s for you and want to know the best way to go about finding an apprenticeship.
Well, let me start by saying that this is a great career choice! The construction industry is crying out for labour and for the younger generation to begin taking over from the old boys
So, there’s definitely incentive to become a tradesmen. But why is it that so many people struggle to find companies that will take them on? Well to tell you the truth we’d need a whole other course to dive into why that’s the case, luckily ‘Etiquette for Apprentices’ goes into further detail on this topic. For now though, let’s help you find a company and get going.
So, what’s the first step? The title of this lesson is a give away – Decide that you’re going to give it a proper go! The course ‘Etiquette for Apprentices’ available to buy from Toolkit Conduct begins by explaining why it’s so important not to give up after the first few months of it being hard.
For now, let’s illustrate it this way.
Imagine you’ve receive a letter addressed to you. It’s highly confidential. You take it up to your room to read it in private. You open the letter and it looks like something from the 1800s, with an official wax seal and text written with an old fountain pen.
It states that an incredibly rich, old distant relative has died and left his entire fortune to you. In order to claim these millions, you must travel to their country estate in the most remote part of Englands country side. On top of that, hundreds of deeds must be read through and signed by you and piles of paper work must be assessed to officially hand over the fortune to you.
Obviously ecstatic, you begin this laborious process. You spend hours a day, for weeks, reading through the old deeds, signing pieces of paper work, countless meetings with lawyers and solicitors. The day comes where you drive to the country estate and meet with the suits to finally claim your fortune.
The day comes where you drive to the country estate and meet with the suits to finally claim your fortune.
You step out of your car and walk up the mile long driveway. As you approach the door, you stop, sigh, and turn around to walk back to your car. One of the lawyers chases after you shouting “What are you doing? You were so close to becoming a multi millionaire!”
You simply respond with “Can’t be bothered now, it’s too much effort to get to the door.”
Have you realised the point of this story yet? How stupid you would have to be to go to all that effort and give up at the last second?
Explain to me then why in the UK alone, half of the people that start an apprenticeship don’t qualify and stay in the trades. That’s right, half. 45.6% of apprentices in the trades don’t follow through with a career in construction.
Okay, so in this case, it’s totally fair that some people realise it’s just not for them. That being a tradesmen just wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. But does that illustration start to make sense now? The reward once you qualify and establish yourself as a tradesmen can be huge! A great salary, the opportunity to work for yourself and choose your own hours, even the opportunity to start your own firm and have others working for you!
So the point here is simply. Don’t give up at the last hurdle, truly give it a go.