4th year in 164. foreman paired me with a first-year on a warehouse fit-out in secaucus about 2 months ago... good kid, shows up, doesn't complain on the job. but at lunch he told me he thinks he's being used as a laborer. material, gang box, sweeping, fire watch. he's thinking about quiting.
problem is i half agree with him. i don't want to lie and say it's all fine. i also don't want to go over the foreman's head for him.
what do i actually tell him... what's normal at 2 months and what isn't? and is it my place to say something to the foreman? appreciate it
Mechanical contractor (HVAC + plumbing) · 24 years · Burlington County, NJ
Mentor✓ Accepted answer
Here's what I look for when I hire, and what I'd want a 4th year doing for my first-years: give him one real task a day that you can check. Pull a run, terminate a row of devices, label a panel schedule. Then tell the foreman what he did right, by name.
You're not going over anyone's head. You're vouching for him. Foremen move the first-years somebody vouches for.
Tell him the truth, kid. The first months are carrying stuff, and the way out is being good at carrying stuff. He knows where everything is, has the next thing in his hand before the journeyman asks.
Then tell him the other truth: if it's still only material at a year, he should say something. Different trade, same job.
Master Plumber, second-generation shop owner · 23 years · Hudson County, NJ
Mentor
My father used to say the apprentice who complains at the lunch table is still learning, the one who complains to the foreman is gone. Tell him to bring it to you, not the table. Lunch table talk travels.
Nobody explains anything even when he asks. Still nothing but material at a year. Paid off the books. No talk about school. He's in the Local, so school and paper are handled. That leaves the first two. At two months, neither one is true yet from what you're saying.
I was that guy a few weeks ago, plumbing side. What helped was someone telling me the actual red flags instead of just 'it's normal.' Then I asked for something specific and got it.
Electrical Contractor · 22 years · Monmouth County, NJ
Mentor
Honestly the union side and the small-shop side look different here. In a shop like mine a first-year is doing real work by week three because there's nobody else. On a big job you can sit in material for months. Neither one is wrong, but he should know that's the trade-off he picked.
Electrical inspector (former contractor) · 26 years · Ocean County, NJ
Mentor
From the inspection side: have him walk with you when the inspector comes through. A first-year who hears why something passes or fails learns more in twenty minutes than in a week of material runs.
Mechanical contractor (HVAC + plumbing) · 24 years · Burlington County, NJ
Mentor
One more, since you'll top out soon: this is part of the job now. Teaching the first-year is what makes a good journeyman. Foremen notice who the first-years want to work with.
4th-year apprentice, IBEW · 4 years · Bergen County, NJ
update: told him basically what Haddad and Ziggy said, the red flags and the one-task thing. had him terminate a whole row of receptacles yesterday and i checked every one with him. foreman walked by and saw. kid was smiling at lunch for once... appreciate everybody