"daclark" wrote in message
ups.com...

PipeDown wrote:
Many "born to be" engineers complete their apprenticeship (gain essential
skills and concepts) in the form of a hobby while in high school.

Good point. High school can provide initiation, but many of the
programs that we enjoyed are no longer part of the curriculum. One of
the essential tools of communications within construction and
manufacturing industries, mechanical drafting skill, is no longer
taught.
Shop classes in woods and metals have virtually disappeared from the
inner cities.
Derived in a cognitive approach, apprenticeship qualifies the
individual to enter a chosen profession as a journeyman with real,
substantial capabilities.

LivingTrade.org
http:/groups.google.com/group/senior-apprentice


I'm not talking about classes. I'm talking about dive right in get your own
book and use internet resources (websites, forums and NGs) to "just do it".
Far too many people forget that they can ALSO rely on themselves to learn
stuff.

I have a friend who joined the carpenters union as an apprentice. After
several years she only had a pittiful handful of experience because the
program is so overfilled and the jobs are pathetically sparce. Very few
people in that union (san jose local 405) appeared to make a full wage that
way. Consider yourself on the job list as the # 1 or #2 spot and still
having to wait 3-5 weeks for a job assignment only to get layed off after 5
days of work then returning to the line as #60. That sucks for income, one
week of work per quarter on average for my friend. I'm not sure its that
bad today but it was a waste of her time IMHO for the time she participated.

The root problem it seems was that the majority of jobs went to private
contractors who used (in this area) hispanic non union non apprenticed
workers instead of using the high priced (almost 2x more) union workers.