apprentice woes

[Spud]

i started my son as an apprentice , he has been helping me occasional weekends and one day a week for about 3 months now he is full time he hates it all i am hearing is that his mates are on better money doing less hours ,he handed in his notice today he is 16 and wants to take home £200 per week i pay him £125 he cant grout yet and seems reluctant to even try to learn how to do it .do you think it is an age thing or is he just not cut out for the game ?,all i keep thinking is there must be loads of lads out there who would appreciate the opportunity to learn a trade any advice would be appreciated

 

[davy_G]

Let him go and see life in the real world isnt as easy as his mates say. He will have to get up earlier to get himself to work, the boss might not be as understanding and the £200 might be more money but the job might not be worth doing.
Let him go and if he comes back well and good, if not then its just not for him

 

[MrSpoon]

16 is young tho, i could never work in the same place as my dad, no particular reason really other than wanting to do my own thing and not be like every other family member earning big money at rolls royce, so i chose sainsburys :lol::mad2:

 

[White Room]

I think some of the lads don't look to the future it's now and I want to earn good money. It sound like he's not interested at the moment, Let him go and he'll find work somewhere else and then see what he thinks he may even have second thoughts or make his own way. I know your concerns but you can hopefully advice him in any future career

 

[pjtiler]

i started my son as an apprentice , he has been helping me occasional weekends and one day a week for about 3 months now he is full time he hates it all i am hearing is that his mates are on better money doing less hours ,he handed in his notice today he is 16 and wants to take home £200 per week i pay him £125 he cant grout yet and seems reluctant to even try to learn how to do it .do you think it is an age thing or is he just not cut out for the game ?,all i keep thinking is there must be loads of lads out there who would appreciate the opportunity to learn a trade any advice would be appreciated

its ether in them or its not mate you cant force them these days
200 today or 150 leading to 1000 plus in 4 years

 

[MrSpoon]

could perhaps get him into the idea of plastering or plumbing? or something along those lines, then when hes older and wiser you'll be sending eachother work left right and centre and making a mint too ( all being well)

 

[pjtiler]

could perhaps get him into the idea of plastering or plumbing? or something along those lines, then when hes older and wiser you'll be sending eachother work left right and centre and making a mint too ( all being well)

you need someone else to have a word with the lad really
kids just dont lision to dads
i wish i could but im to far away

 

[MrSpoon]

very true, the more my old man used to get me into things and tell me to do stuff the more i did the opposite :joker:

 

[pjtiler]

very true, the more my old man used to get me into things and tell me to do stuff the more i did the opposite :joker:

aye
and yet a compleat stranger they,ll lision to

kids eh

 

[MrSpoon]

just like women, strange beings:crazy:

 

[sWe]

Perhaps it's good to let him fool around for a bit, and get some distance. Perhaps he'll see the light in the long run, and come back to you, more motivated...

It goes with the times. Everyone expects to travel the world and make 5k a month the instant they start working, even burger flippers.

God I sound old... And I'm only in my mid twenties...

 

[Varley]

could perhaps get him into the idea of plastering or plumbing? or something along those lines, then when hes older and wiser you'll be sending eachother work left right and centre and making a mint too ( all being well)

Thats a very good idea, a plasterer I know told his son (a very good one at that) persuaded his son to learn the tile trade rather than plastering, so off he went and did his appreticeship and turned out to be a damn fine tiler. Now 20 years on you should see the business these two drum up between them!

 

[bencurtis]

anyone can go and earn £200 in a factory shift work etc, but you will still be on that in 10 years time. he is still young but the chances he will listen are poor. iv been there we all have (16 know best ) :mad2:

 

[TilingLogistics]

Sons just don't seem to listen to their Dads. I have tried with my son. He has just completed his Sparks exams and decided he doesn't like it. Now he wants to join the Forces. Seems a waste to me another year or so and he could have gone to Uni but what can you say! Kids Eh!!! Who would have them.

Kev

 

[Turkish]

Sons just don't seem to listen to their Dads. I have tried with my son. He has just completed his Sparks exams and decided he doesn't like it. Now he wants to join the Forces. Seems a waste to me another year or so and he could have gone to Uni but what can you say! Kids Eh!!! Who would have them.

Kev

NOT ME!!!!!!!!

Turkish

 

[CJ]

My boy wants to join the Army..........can't until he's 18.

"I'll come and work with you for a year"...........he says

"Chuffing won't"..........................................I say

He thinks wot I do is boring.

Kids today don't really show much interest in the building trade................or anything else for that matter.

If he could get a job testing PS3's............he'll be as happy as a pig in poo

 

[Grace'sDad]

When I was 16 I turned down an offer from my Dad. He was a partner / sales director in a large firm of Engineer's merchants.

Turned him down for two reasons:

Had a strange relationship with my Dad at the time - looking back it was down to me being like Kevin from Harry Enfields TV. The other reason was he expected me (quite rightly) to start as a picker in the warehouse and work my way up.
When you're 16, two or three years seems like a lifetime, and I was impatient.

I was the classic "Prodigal Son". I turned into a real waster and it took me 5 years to get myself together.

Turning down that offer was a real mistake. Alright, it didn't sound like much - working in the warehouse for not much money, but it would have been a real springboard and because my Dad was involved, I would have been "coached" through the company pretty quickly.

Your son's 16 and impatient, also young people today expect everything all at once. Show him this thread - he's throwing away a good opportunity.

Why not offer to set him some targets - once he reaches them he gets more cash?

Hope it works out well either way....

 

[tiler burden]

hi gary

you say he might not be cut out for it but i think anybody is cut out for anything if they have the right attitude and WANT IT!! enough..

you lad is typical of a lot of 16 yrs olds. he's growing up now and wanting to make his own mark on the world and he will 'rightly or wrongly' be influenced by his mates opinons. hes got alot to go through yet!!! if i recall some of the things i did at 16 then i cringe. if i recall some of the things i did last week i cringe lol

just let him do his own thing. let him find out the answers to his own questions. he will get hurt along the way but he'll learn much faster!! dont we all that way. be there to give him a shoulder to cry on when hes down and dont get into arguments over his decisions. i wish my dad at 16 would have done what you have done for your lad. the sad thing is, most kids have it easier now than ever. they have higher levels of comfort now and they expect the money to go with it.

anyway. let him go and see if he can make the money he expects, if he cant well he''l learn and then come to respect what you have tried to do for him.

its better to lose an apprentice than to lose a son !!!

'youth is wasted on the young'.......george bernard shaw

regards
ed

 

[Spud]

thanks for all the post guys really good advice from you all i had achat with him over a pint when i gave him his wages this evening and told him that if tiling is not for him to go out and find something he enjoys as he will be sucessful at anything if he likes doing it
thanks again
gary

 

[bj F]

Spare the rod and spoil the child. to much carrot not enough stick these days.