Before I got into the Local I worked two years for a plumber in Garfield. All cash, every Friday. Now people keep telling me prior experience can matter later, either for credit somewhere or for a license someday. I asked him for a short letter saying what I did and when.
He won't do it. Says he "doesn't do paperwork." Not angry about it, just no.
idk what to do. Is it even worth chasing? Or do those two years just not exist now?
Master Plumber, second-generation shop owner · 23 years · Hudson County, NJ
Mentor✓ Accepted answer
This is the trouble with cash. He won't sign because a letter is paper showing he had an employee. My father put everybody on the books and used to say that's what lets you sleep at night.
What you can do: write your own record now while you still remember it. Jobs, towns, rough dates, what you did. Keep texts, photos of you on jobs, anything with a date on it. Whether any of it counts for anything, ask your apprenticeship now and the board later. Don't assume either way.
Electrical Contractor · 22 years · Monmouth County, NJ
Mentor
Honestly don't burn him over it either. He'll say no to a letter, but he might pick up the phone if somebody calls him someday to ask about you. Small state.
Keep them, kid. Screenshots, backed up somewhere that isn't your phone. Whether they count is for somebody else to decide, but you can't use what you deleted.