[mejanke]

I'm 29 years old, (overweight and have a good ass crack. Worked for the television industry for a total of 12 years.

Times have been tough most recently and have been placed out of work. I was trying to work independently in the video production industry, but am finding that there is too much competition to jobs right now. So I am considering a career change, and have thought that I might be a good candidate for plumbing.

I have looked into the Second Career program currently offered by the government, and it looks like I should qualify. There is a program offered in Whitby in the fall, and i'm considering it.

I have a couple questions for you guys...

how long would it take to become a fully licensed plumber? (ball park), program descriptions aren't that specific, I just thought I'd ask the pros...

What do I have to do other than school initially to get an apprenticeship?

How much (ball park) does an apprentice earn?


Do you always have to deal with bad smells? If so, are there ways to deal with it without puking my guts out? I have a bit of a weak stomatch, just trying to figure out if that is something I can get over or not.

What is the pace like in the plumbing industry?

I think thats enough for now. Thanks for reading...

Mike

 

[donovplmb01]

I'm 29 years old, (overweight and have a good ass crack. Worked for the television industry for a total of 12 years.

Times have been tough most recently and have been placed out of work. I was trying to work independently in the video production industry, but am finding that there is too much competition to jobs right now. So I am considering a career change, and have thought that I might be a good candidate for plumbing.

I have looked into the Second Career program currently offered by the government, and it looks like I should qualify. There is a program offered in Whitby in the fall, and i'm considering it.

I have a couple questions for you guys...

how long would it take to become a fully licensed plumber? (ball park), program descriptions aren't that specific, I just thought I'd ask the pros...

What do I have to do other than school initially to get an apprenticeship?

How much (ball park) does an apprentice earn?


Do you always have to deal with bad smells? If so, are there ways to deal with it without puking my guts out? I have a bit of a weak stomatch, just trying to figure out if that is something I can get over or not.

What is the pace like in the plumbing industry?

I think thats enough for now. Thanks for reading...

Mike

The hardest part is finding a company that will sponsor you. Once you have your foot in the door you will have to accumulate a minimum of 1000 labour hours and then apply for your first year apprenticeship program. The best program is in Kingston at St. Lawrence college in this area. To become fully licensed you will need to complete four years and have 9000 labour hours by the end of it. Here you can go on to obtain your Master Plumbers license which you will need before you can run your own business.

An apprentice qualifies a percentage of what the employer makes. This may have changed in the last fifteen years since I was an apprentice, where I was only making 10.00/hour. The more qualified you become the more you can earn.

Plumbing is competive and cut throat. The pace depends on the company you work for and their reputation. If they're busy they have a solid foundation, if they're sitting around waiting for the phone to ring...run.

If you can't handle a bit of poop, this may not be for you. It's not all about fecal matter though. But be warned, first year apprentice's are usually the go for guys and ditch diggers. You have to start somewhere.

Here's a site if you haven't already looked into the Red Seal Program
http://www.red-seal.ca/Site/about/index_e.htm

 

[strathd]

How do you get from t.v./video production to plumbing? It's a world apart in every way.

If I were you, I'd go into telephone sanitizing instead. There's always a need for good wipers.

Is satan BACK

 

[mejanke]

The hardest part is finding a company that will sponsor you. Once you have your foot in the door you will have to accumulate a minimum of 1000 labour hours and then apply for your first year apprenticeship program. The best program is in Kingston at St. Lawrence college in this area. To become fully licensed you will need to complete four years and have 9000 labour hours by the end of it. Here you can go on to obtain your Master Plumbers license which you will need before you can run your own business.


An apprentice qualifies a percentage of what the employer makes. This may have changed in the last fifteen years since I was an apprentice, where I was only making 10.00/hour. The more qualified you become the more you can earn.

Plumbing is competive and cut throat. The pace depends on the company you work for and their reputation. If they're busy they have a solid foundation, if they're sitting around waiting for the phone to ring...run.

If you can't handle a bit of poop, this may not be for you. It's not all about fecal matter though. But be warned, first year apprentice's are usually the go for guys and ditch diggers. You have to start somewhere.

Here's a site if you haven't already looked into the Red Seal Program

Don,

Thanks very much for your information... The cut throat part might not be the greatest for me, but would you say that its "less cut throat", for the employees then the employer, or is it cut throat for everyone in the business?

I can handle a bit of poop for sure, dead animals might be a bit of a problem, but it might be something I can over come.

My brother is an estimator in the construction industry Waterloo, he also mentioned about apprentices being "go for's", or ditch diggers as well. I understand the whole initiation process (happened to me in TV as well). Like you said, "you've got to start somewhere"...

Thanks again for your input, and I'll check out that red seal sight..

 

[mejanke]

SRAT HD,


Lol. Good one. :thumbup: Well its mainly because TV and Video production is over flooded right now, and I need to find work that is in demand. I like fixing things, and learning how things work, and fit together, etc., and out of the other trades I looked into so far, I like it the best. Maybe the fact that it is totally different is appealing to me as well, even though I do love video production, I think learning a new skill could be a good thing as well. Then I'd have two professions under my belt, and still do video stuff on the side if I want/need to.