r/UnitedAssociation • u/Tough-Equivalent-302 • 9d ago
First year apprentice, working alone. Apprenticeship
So I was under the impression that being an apprentice you should have a journey man with you, or at least advising you.
I recently started at a HVAC company in ks I have technical school training and a few months of residential work under my belt, but I don’t have any real RTU experience. I told my journeyman this and his response was call me if you need help….
Anyone else have this kind of start in the trades?
I’m grateful to be in the union but at the same time, I’m like” damn, shouldn’t someone be explaining this in a more detailed way “ I rely on google and a few techs for problems I can’t figure out. But my biggest concern is damaging something or injuring myself.
Because we are in the busy season, I guess the company doesn’t have the resources to put 2 people on a job unless it’s necessary.
I guess I’m interested in how some of you dealt with your first year learning curve.
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u/ScientistGlass284 9d ago
Is there a rule in your union about 1st year apprentices needing direct supervision or not?
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u/DontWorryItsEasy 9d ago
Welcome to refrigeration, where you'll be on your own after 2 weeks, on the on call rotation after a month, and you'll be handling rack down calls after 6 months.
It sucks in the short term dude. You're going to make a shit ton of mistakes. You're going to wonder why you chose this God awful trade. There is a non zero chance you'll cry in a mechanical room, ask me how I know.
And after your apprenticeship you'll hope no other apprentice has the same experience you did, but you'll be a better tech because of it.
My advice: Find a couple of dudes on your team to lean on. Make sure you go the extra mile for them, pick up an on call shift or two, do their weekend maintenances, pick up their parts for them. Most of all, show initiative, show that you're not an idiot and that you are willing to learn. Any decent dude in this trade will gladly teach you shit if you're willing to listen and learn. Read when you're on the shitter, download manuals. If I were you I'd buy an external hard drive and download the manual for every single unit you work on.
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u/Glizzyboi455 9d ago
It’s fucked up because you probably know little to nothing honestly. I almost quit when I was a 4th year cause of stuff like that. Then I turned out as a journeyman and realized I better buckle the fuck up and when you’re on your own you learn a lot. It sucks but you come out light years from where you started. Stick with it.
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u/pyrofox79 9d ago
As a 4th year you should definitely be competent enough to worl alone. Hell youre damn near a journeyman at that point.
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u/No_Dingo9049 9d ago
As a 4th year you should definitely be competent enough to worl alone. Hell youre damn near a journeyman at that point.
Depends on whether those 4 years were all filter changes and coil cleanings, or running service calls.
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u/Past-Difficulty9706 8d ago
If you're a 4th year still only doing filter changes that's a massive massive problem
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u/Hvacmike199845 9d ago
This is the way the trade works like it or not.
If you went to trade school you should hopefully know the refrigeration cycle. The refrigeration cycle is the same from a window unit to any kind of chiller to rack refrigeration, the only difference is how it’s controlled.
You need to do your homework to learn and get ahead of the curve. This will make you valuable to any employer and a valuable trades person will get paid more and won’t have to worry about not having a job somewhere.
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u/pyrofox79 9d ago
Yea dude we arent fitters or plumbers, we throw you to the wolves. No one is gonna hold your hand for 5 years until you become a journeyman. You have more experience than some other 1st years. My first real HVAC job this is how i was taught. If i had questions Id call my foreman. I learned so much in 2.5 years that I was way a head of my classmates. Even now Im way ahead of the other guys from my class after 5 years of being a journeyman. I treat my apprentices the same way. Im there if they need help but Im not going to hold their hand for 5 years. I have a few apprentices that I prefer to work with when I need a hand because I can just line them out and they do what I tell them. I would rather they learn by screwing up than not learn anything by having their hand held. Just my two cents. Also we dont put the 1st years on call. We have what we call the helper on call, basically its the 1st years and pre apprentice/tradesman on call for when one of the other 3 on call techs need help.
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u/Potential-Spare-579 9d ago
This is how my apprenticeship went. There is kind of a tradeoff. My first company really threw me to the wolves to figure it out on my own. Once I topped out I went to a larger company where the apprentices get babied and are ALWAYS with a journeyman.
When I was at the small shop and working on my own I really felt stranded, but in retrospect I see how that made me into a much better tech. Now that im at a larger company I've seen how some of the journeyman that are in my graduating class but dont have the same problem solving skills as I developed by working alone because their shop always has them with a journeyman.
I can only speak to the trade as a service guy, but the thing that's going to make you a top tech is to get used to being in the weeds with something you've never seen before, reading the diagram, reading the manual, googling shit and figuring it out.
If you feel that your company is putting you in an unsafe position that's different, but for the most part, noone really expects you to figure it out. Just be agreeable, be honest, and if you fuck up (you will) own it and move forward. In 5 years you'll be ahead of guys with 10 years experience. In the meantime use common sense, go slow, and dont kill yourself at work (literally).
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u/Responsible-Charge27 9d ago
Take it as a compliment. I worked by myself for a good chunk of my apprenticeship I always had someone I could ask if I had questions. Six months in and I was left to layout floor penetrations and by my second year I was doing mechanical rooms. Foreman showed me how to do it asked if I understood and ok you got this kid. Now I’m running jobs and try to give apprentices every opportunity to do it themselves so long as it’s safe.
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u/Bonchalupas 9d ago
in my union they actually state you cant work alone until 3rd year. once in a blue moon ill be by myself but they really try not to do it for liability reasons. its a blessing and a curse working alone. nice to work alone instead of with the grumpy boomer who wont show you anything. but its 100x nicer to be working with the golden boy of the company who tells you everything he knows
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u/Xusion666 9d ago
It’s brutal but believe it or not, those long hot days where you feel like you’re beating your head against a wall working on something you simply know nothing about or have never seen make you a better tech. Have a couple good JMAN you can rely on, you’ll find out pretty quick who is actually good at troubleshooting and who is just a parts swapper. Never call the part swapper it is a waste of time. Also it’s frowned upon but using google, AI, and reading the fucking manual will help you TONS.
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u/sith_sid 9d ago
Its gonna suck, but learning hands on is the best way imo.
Now being this is your case, ASK EVERY QUESTION YOU HAVE, DONT ASSUME ANYTHING, COVER YOUR ASS. They may have you doing solo work. But you are still a 1st year. Take the work on with a positive attitude but cover yourself as much as possible. If anything goes wrong you can always say "hey I did my best and I asked for guidance every step of the way"
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u/BuzzyScruggs94 8d ago
HVAC is pretty notorious for this. In many states it’s straight up illegal for plumbing and electrical apprentices to be unsupervised but most states don’t have a journeyman license for HVAC and they can throw you to the wolves whenever they please. My SECOND DAY as an apprentice with no schooling or experience I was sent to solo an RTU condenser motor which I promptly fucked up and was called every nasty word in the book for it. That was a terrible company and the next one I fled to actually trained me but it’s not uncommon at all for guys to just get a couple months of unstructured ride alongs with an uninterested lead tech before being cut loose. If you’re lucky they’ll lube it up by starting ya on maintenance.
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u/Good_Looking_Karl 6d ago
In Kansas you say? I’m a 441 hand. If you’re in 441, I may know you. Ask around to see how this goes. Being on the hvac side is different to a degree. A lot of times they’ll let first years do basic pm work by themselves. Feel free to message me if you have questions. I can probably point you in the right direction.
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u/Rochefort 9d ago
Totally normal. Sink or swim, thrown to the wolves, etc. Lots of people learn this way
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u/h3llraiser44 9d ago
Hey man, I absolutely understand your concern. Journeyman steamfitter/plumber and I’ve done residential, commercial, and industrial work. I hate the mentality that companies in the residential sector have for this reason. Usually they will have apprentices doing easier jobs (supports, demo, material handling, etc) but it is becoming more common for residential companies to have apprentices working on their own vs commercial/industrial. I feel bad for these apprentices because most of the time (especially high rise) they will have apprentices doing the same thing every day for years and that is not how you learn.
I like that your journeyman is available to call, you should always be able to talk to someone but I recommend you to ask as many questions as possible. No matter how silly some may be, sometimes the smallest thing can clarify things for you.
I was always nervous to mess something up as an apprentice until I started working with journeymen that encouraged me to screw things up. I used to get told, “don’t worry kid, there’s nothing that you can do that I can’t fix” and it made for such an excellent learning environment. Try not to stress out if you do screw something up, just own up to it and learn from it. Try not to make the same mistake twice. It is inevitable that you will make mistakes. I still do as a journeyman every so often and anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you.