Trades (Apprenticeship)

[djhi9hlit3]

i'm thinking of switching to sait...
and wondering what trade is good to get into.
and experience u had with it?
how much do tradesperson make anyways? and how did it work out?

[redblack]

Lots of good usefull information on this website
http://www.tradesecrets.org/

[djhi9hlit3]

thannks for the site man great help!!

im thinking of becoming an electrician, so what do u guys recommend i do?

i want to know about the people who are already an apprentice... or journeyman

did u guys just go get a job straight away? or did u go to sait?

i found two programs at sait. anybody took them? and have any comments on them?

pre-employment electrician(Earn while you learn)- 12weeks(30hrs per week)-tuition $3,995

& then theres

Pre-trades electrician program(20 weeks)- 16 weeks at sait, 4 weeks at a industry work practicum-tuition $975

any help would be much appreciated!

[pyro]

i went to SAIT for the pre-employment electrical program i found it extremely useful. They teach you alot of the hands on kind of work, well worth the tuition, i thought.

[danno]

it's so busy in the electrical trade it shouldn't be hard to get a job. i'm a 3rd year and did not take pre employment, basically you throw that 4g's into school when you could make that money working and learning on the job. that's if you take the pre-employment of course.

i strongly reccomend going to the companies in town dropping off resumes, if you don't get a job then consider pre-employment.

btw most companies pay your school fees for your 4 years too. about $800/year

[djhi9hlit3]

do you guys know which companies are hiring right now??

how much are u guys currently making?

[danno]

call around, i bet all companies are looking for people. take a day and send resumes, the more work you do the more oppurtunites there will be. i make third year wage:D

[kowalsy]

I’ve heard that starting out wage is somewhere around $12.50 per hour and that after your 4th year and you have your ticket, you shouldn’t really see anything under $30 bucks an hour. I think the hardest part is trying to find a good company that is willing to hire you on as an actual apprentice and willing to put you through school

[redblack]

actually most commercial places in town are paying 27-29 buck an hour plus 10% vacation for a journeyman. As a first year apprentice you should get 50% of that so, between 13.50-14.50.
To find someone to endenture you, if you can you should try to speak with the hiring guy in person.

[kowalsy]

Good information.. Typically, can you find an employer to hire you with 0 experience and hire you on on as an actual apprentice right from the beginning? Or do they like to hire you on, train you a little and see if you dedicated and THEN make you an apprentice?

[redblack]

when i started 5 years back, my first employer hired me as a starter, i would help out on the jobsite, clean up, do deliveries and learn some basic wiring skills, after 2 months of that, he endentured me as an apprentice.

If you do start out as a "starter" if your empolyer doesnt endenture your within the first 3 months , i would go try somewhere else

[HuMz]

Alot of companies will hire you with no experience as a starter, and if they think you have what it take's they will start your apprentership after 3 month's.............And with most companies those 3 month's as a starter will still count towards your apprentership.

[Civicguy]

im a ticketed plumber/gasfitter.....I had a hard time finding work after my journeyman ticket cauze if u were the head of a company and a asshole y would u pay a journeyman more when a 3rd or 4th year can do it and for a cheaper pay....but I did get a job after being jobless for a month and I get 22 a hour now (work in Lethbridge not as big as Calgary) but ya their are always jobs out there and the stuff in the paper is only 10% of whats really out their.

Like people said find a job first before u do pre-employment cauze its WAY cheaper even if the company pays for it and thats pretty pricey considering pre-employment is $4000 without books I assume while the price of tutition is going up its still half the cost of pre-employment and thats with books

[djhi9hlit3]

so where do u guys currently work? and where would u recommend i check out?

[HuMz]

Originally posted by Civicguy
im a ticketed plumber/gasfitter.....I had a hard time finding work after my journeyman ticket cauze if u were the head of a company and a asshole y would u pay a journeyman more when a 3rd or 4th year can do it and for a cheaper pay....but I did get a job after being jobless for a month and I get 22 a hour now (work in Lethbridge not as big as Calgary) but ya their are always jobs out there and the stuff in the paper is only 10% of whats really out their.

Like people said find a job first before u do pre-employment cauze its WAY cheaper even if the company pays for it and thats pretty pricey considering pre-employment is $4000 without books I assume while the price of tutition is going up its still half the cost of pre-employment and thats with books

you would probably be able to find a job tomorrow if you were in calgary, there alway's wanting J-man plumber's, and you will be starting between 27-32$ a hour as well.

[Steve-O 00]

trades is were its at in alberta and the preemployment thing is good if you got the scratch to go and do it but f not definatly try what buddy said and be a starter. I took the preemployment thing in bc at the universtiy in kamloops mind you it was for HD tech but it was still very useful:thumbsup:

[Alex_FORD]

One dilema that I have is I can only afford to take an aprenticeship if they pay me enough wages and OT to make about $20 an hour.

Also, I have over 12 years experience with electronics, you would think this is a good thing but no one takes me serious about my desire to become an industrial electrician.

Currently, I've capped in my salary unless I move into a less hands on direction in my carreer. I like the hands on aspect of electrician, and I like that it can pay tens of thousands more than hands-on electronics.

[msommers]

My god don't be another sucker in that pre-employment garbage. I know too many electricians that went into it and regret ever doing it.

djhi9hlit3, it depends if you want to work in town or not. If you're wanting to work out of town, I'm sure I could get you a job for Monday even. Look into companies that use the IBW union, you don't get jerked around like my company. I'm only working electrical as a summer job but Pyramid Corporation is one of the worst.....WORST companies to work for. But they are always looking for electricians so it isn't hard to get a job....trust me I know.

I hear Residential is good to know stuff, bad to stay in. Commercial I hear is the best to work for but the pay isn't usually the greatest. I work 9 days on, 5 days off and make pretty good money but it is out of town work which can be shitty sometimes.

Also, if you're thinking out of town, try to get a job in BC, they tax you alberta income tax but their pay scale is different, u automatically get a 10% raise as an apprentice!

Redblack, what companies in Calgary doing commercial are paying 29 bucks/hr?

[Rockski]

in the field, as an electritian first year, your gonna be pulling cables.... the best thing to do is field work for your 1560 hours or whatever then go to sait for your school for 8 weeks. dont let other people decide what trade you should go into, pick for yourself. get more then one ticket.... i know im going for 3. welder, pipe fitter, and a sprinkler fitter

[Maxt]

Yeah I agree with not taking Pre-employment course, why pay Sait nearly 4K or more, instead you could be getting paid to learn the trade. They arent going to teach you anything you wont learn in the field, I would say you will learn about 98% of the knowledge you need on the job , actually on the job...If you work under a good Journeyman, they will pass onto you the finer points through example. In fact if you cant find 1st year work, you would be better off to sign a contract with an employer to work for free for 3 months, rather than pay for Pre employment..
I went through Sait, I found the quality of the institution and instruction poor, and the people teaching it, were generally failures as actually trades people...Some nice people, but not what I would call decent tradesmen to be learning from. With what trades people are making, you have to wonder why they would stick around Sait for 35 k a year..
That Pre employment thing, I really think is a bit of sham, its basically a pay off scheme to get you your first year apprenticeship via paying, rather than working, and proving to yourself and your employer that you are geared to the work,and can actually do it... Lots of people that come through that PE course have a distorted view of the trades and are all thumbs, theyshould never have even thought of being in the trades.
They would have figured that out alot cheaper and alot sooner, if they just followed the traditional path, and let the job find them...
Pick one trade, when you have multiple trades, employers tend to want to pay you for the cheapest trade you posses, regardless of what actual work you are doing..Maxt

[Rockski]

pre employment is a joke at sait... i had to leave a note in my welding booth to the new pre employment night crew because the fucker accross from me took my brand new wire brush... and no matter what the trades teachers ive came accross at sait are all a joke.... if you cant actualy do the trade, you go to sait and teach

[*prettyboy*]

What kind of trade are you looking for? I would first check out maybe looking for an employer that will hire you with no experience because than you can learn as you go along, its almost like a apprencship program your should call Trades Labour Corp they will hire you on the spot and teach you.

[djhi9hlit3]

thanks everyone for all your advice! i went to talk to the work experience teacher at my highschool... and after 3 weeks i went through alot of places... applied at sait/careerpathways/etc... and now i finally landed a spot... start on tuesday!

woot woot thanks everyone!