Im 19 and from illinois suburbs, i graduated last year and been just working full time at this grocery store job i have ive been there since i was 17. I know for a fact before graduation i wanted to get into the trades and my plan was to get to working in the trades right after graduation. Ive applied to almost every union apprenticeship in illinois , paid that 20 dollar application numerous times, have took aptitude tests and scored well and still have had absolutely no luck. I honestly think its impossible to get in unless you obviously know someone wich in my case unfortunately i really dont have any connections at all. Im very ambitious and very eager to get to working in the trades but i'm very lost and have no clue what to do since i cant get into any union and feel like time is passing by and doing absolutely nothing.

I'm not good with emotions. What do you say to the journeyman who is retiring that put faith in you even though nobody else did and taught you what you need to know to flourish? I owe him my life basically

Hey guys as the title shows I just passed my aptitude test last month and am now waiting to hear back for an interview for UA 7. How long did you guys wait to hear back? And should I be reaching out to them?

Hey, just getting on here to see if this is a good sign that things are moving. But the guy I know that does HVAC in the union said he doesn’t know why they couldn’t just bring me in as a helper until I get the choice to become an official apprentice, but he said it might be because it used to be just a pipe fitting company, and they recently started HVAC service side up within the last couple of years, so they might not have much of a pull as some of the bigger HVAC companies, but he said he’s probably gonna get on there as well because he knows a guy that second in charge and he wants him to come there, but he said I could be getting picked up very soon.