britains school leavers

[Pebbs]

We have been down the apprentice route so many times now, we gave up for a while. However we do have one now, and we are five months in. But he is not 'young' he's 26, so what is learnt from this? It means that for a lad of that age to start on an apprentices wages, he wants to learn the trade, and he will put in the hours and the effort. So far so good, no complaints. My advice would be to lift the age barrier thing, its never to late to learn.

Pebbs

 

[Andy Allen]

we used to take on loads of lads when we were doing the sites, and out of ten you might find one good one, infact one lad I trained, now lives in Germany and owns his own tiling business, we catch up from time to time, and it's good to see how he's turn out.....funny thing is out of all the lads we took on he was the one I gave the least chance of making it ....he wasn't very bright but he was a grafter, give a 100m2 floor to grout and he just got on with it, where as most of them would be fed up after 5m2..lol

 

[Sean SML Tiling]

I agree with you all im only 26 but I got common sense (a brain). Alot of people a few years younger than me are just lazy with no common sense and expext to earn money for not doing anything.

 

[afright]

Ive had my two grandsons work for me they lasted a day,told there mums to much hard work. Did a big floor and the carpenter said hes got a lad to help me told me he was an ex druggie I thought this is going to be a nightmare but he worked like a trojan so will be using him again hes looks eager to learn,just a shame it was not my own off springs.

 

[John Benton]

You can say what you like, but I think a lot of it is down to the parenting. My plumbers apprentice has had his ar$e wiped by his parents all his life.

21 yrs old, Vauxhall Corsa bought for 18th, Golf GTi for 21st, insurance paid for, Holidays paid for, gym membership paid for, never eats at home, always goes out with parents every night to eat, I could go on.

How can anyone carry on their lives like this, everything on a plate. Just wait until he leaves home (no doubt he'll be going home with his washing).

A lot of the youth just have no common sense and that is something you cannot instil into someone. You've either got it or you haven't. Intelligence, yes, common sense, no!!

I can remember years ago when I first started work, one of the lads nicknames was "bungalow", cos he had nothing upstairs :lol:

 

[steve187]

6/7 years ago i took on a son of a family friend, not full time as he had a job and needed some extra work/money for the days he didn't work, (Fri,sat and sun) he had done 5 years as an engineer in the navy prior to this, straight away he was on the ball, picked everything up easily and today i still have him with me on the odd day that i need a push with a job and he is free. he is fast ( an age thing compared to my ageing joints) and accurate, He has worked his way up in his day job from agency worker when he started with me, to now being a manager at his company, so he never took to tiling full time.
But i think it was the navy that shaped him and of course his own attitude to work/life

 

[Diggy]

Yep, discipline and a work ethic. Something - and this is not a political point - that the previous government killed and will be hard to get back.

Diggy

 

[Peter]

Had a wee lad with me for about 3 months there. He was 20 and real keen to learn, or so it seemed, until he never weighed in one day and I didn't hear from him til the Saturday night saying tiling wasn't for him. He had the potential but you needed the patient of a saint. Next time I think I'd go for a 3rd year apprentice.

To be honest I was a daft apprentice at 16 and was told I would never make it but that just spurred me on to work harder. 10 years on now my old boss is working for me a few days a month. :lol:

 

[jonnyc]

right maybe im an older monaing git :lol: but i have been looking to take someone on for while now and have tried a number of lads ages from 17 up to about 24.....not being funny but what a bloody disgrace these young lads are

is this schools standard nowadays of how they leave for the workplace....workshy,no manners,zero common sense and sorry but thick as a plank as well, i dont think this is a one off its no surprise the eastern europeans have dived in and taken so much work when our lads are like this

im sure not every young person is like this but sorry i think our next generation is lazy

i had an 18 year old lad who thought a square was a rectangle!!! and another one who couldnt work out how to lift up a box of tiles because they were heavy and lying flat on the floor!!!!!!!:yikes:

any opinions lol

I always thought a square was a rectangle.
if not i will sack myself immediately!
but I agree with you generally .i have tried out loads of young guys over many years and have found for most part that they lack basic common sense and practical ability,which I put down to too much computer games etcc and less outdoor activity.
I haven't taken on full time a youngster for 13 years now as the last experience was so painfully,but he is still with me.
that said I am going to try again soon as my gang are all getting older in body but this time I am going to look for a lad who is maybe 20-22 and keen to learn a new profession

 

[Peter]

I'd do an apprenticeship with you Jonny if I lived local. Something a bit different to being a run of the mill ceramic & porcelain tiler.