shold i leave my carpentry apprenticeship

Hi, from reading your post it seems to me that you are ambitious which is always a good thing however in the construction industry experience is key and I would advise you to keep your feet on the ground for the time being and liaise with the gaffer and more experienced members of the work force to demonstrate your communication skills and determination to succeed. If this is a legitimate apprenticeship you will gain the qualifications and skills you will require to go forward. Above all be assertive and polite to everyone you come into contact with as networking will play a big part in your progress in the industry. All the very best for the future. Kind regards Jez Hanrahan

Yes Hi there. I totally agree with Jez you must give this apprenticeship time to settle down. The 1st year is really simple and can be a bit boring and also there arent many companies out there offering apprenticeships so count your blessings and stick with it. On site you will have to hang doors the traditional way and cut roofs on by hand along with fitting kitchens and making staircases etc. You need to learn to do this properly and not pick up get around habits on site. Im a lecturer and my nephew had the same scenario as you. He now owns his own company and doing bespoke work and making a lot of money. Yes you will have bad days at college but stick with it and good luck for your future. Andy Herbert

I agree with Jez and Andy - take your time it's all boring at the start my apprenticeship lasted 3 years and then I still had much to learn.

Stick with it, If you miss your chance for an apprenticeship and you want any kind of qualification in the trade then you have to pay a lot of money for training later on. An apprenticeship (if done properly) will set you up for life.

I would stick at it if I were you. There is always a trade off with apprentices and the company and it comes down to money. If you are relatively unskilled and you need lot of training and supervision then the work you can do is unlikely to make the company much money. As you get more skilled and can do more without supervision then you become more valuable. A good company will reward this by increasing your wages but it is often the case that the apprentice thinks they are worth more than the company does. In the end if you are time served you will earn good money for the rest of your working life. In the meantime there is nothing to stop you improving your skills on your own. At some point you will have to drive so why not start to learn now, even if you just do the theory and leave the expensive lessons until you have a bit more cash? There are also a lot of free online courses for English and maths. No one should ever stop learning how to improve these skills. Continuous personal educational development is really important if you aspire to have your own business or play a senior role in a company in the future.

I’d stick with it as it is very hard to find another apprenticeship and after your first year the money will surely go up. I was in your position at my old company and when I was finally qualified I still didn’t feel like I could do everything and still had loads to learn afterwards but the qualification will definitely open doors for you as far as getting into a different company’s and you will be able to adapt the skills you already have to the way the new company does things. Hope this helped.

Hello, If you enjoy Carpentry then please stick at it. I was in a similar situation as you. I worked for a company that put me through my apprenticeship, I struggled to keep up with the other lads at college as they were doing it day in and day out and the Carpentry work I had was very intermittent to say the least. Anyway I stuck at it, finally after completing my apprenticeship I approached loads of other company’s explaining the situation. I was soon taken on as an improver. Now I love my trade. Work for myself and I’m still learning. For me it was worth it.

Hi mate if you want to learn all aspects of carpentry best place for me was on site I went to college for 2 years and got my nvq level 2 but in my experience I think you would learn more on the job site carpentry pretty much covers everything you need to gain knowledge also the wage will stay like that untill you have qualified through college at your age stick at it try and get an apprenticeship on site carpentry don’t give up!

I’d recommend looking and asking round local family run businesses, that’s how I started out 10 years ago now

Hi mate, I was exactly the same as you. I ended up leaving as I wasn’t learning much, I left and joined someone else that could focus on me a lot more. 3 years down the line I can confidently say I’m good at what I do. I’d recommend going to a smaller business, your money will most likely be the same but your knowledge will increase, give it a few years and money will come following

I’d stick with it as it is very hard to find another apprenticeship