My first Apprentice....

[jdunc2301]

Hi All,

At the end of this summer i will be getting my first Apprentice!!!

The guy we will be taking on will be primarily with me out on the road and occasionally with the service manager.
His experience being 20 years, mine being 5 years.

When i started in the trade i was with the service manager, and due to City & Guilds Not running any A/C&R courses near us, all training was work based for 18 months (or until he was happy with me) and over time all CITB courses attended.

Electrics
Safe handling
Install commision etc
Pipework & Brazing....
List goes on................

Purely so that we would have proof of competency etc. Luckily i took to it like a duck to water and now pulling in my own!!! Service manager want's us to expand and wants me to be incharge of training a newbie up, with his involvement before any critics arrive!! But the main responsibilty is on me.

Im happy enough to do this and feel confident in managing it, i was pondering whilst sitting in traffic today.......

Would it be an idea to start putting some stuff together for the newbie:-

What we work on.
Fundamentals.
The basics.
Different applications of Ref etc.
Parts.
Electrics
How components work.
Site conduct
..............................You get the drift......

Any tips or advice, good books floating about?! What would you do? What have you done?

Cheers Guys

P.S V small company only 3 of us atm.

[chillin out]

The 1st thing I would like to say is well done to you.

I am so glad you have taken the time and effort to seek out and arrange a plan for your new apprentice. Too many people expect apprentices to just carry the tools and make the tea.

I am sure you will get many replies on this.

Chillin

[Grizzly]

I totally agree with Chillin!
Just remember as the Chinese say
"how does an Mouse eat an Elephant..... Slowly"
If you hit him with all your knowledge at once...Mental burnout!
A little bit relevant to what you are doing each day . Soon becomes a lot!
Good Luck Grizzly

[nh3wizard]

Congrats to you; How I have always handled things were, never forget were you came from, treat them like you would have wanted to be treated, be patient, and always remember everyone has a bad day.

[taz24]

Hi All,

At the end of this summer i will be getting my first Apprentice!!!

The guy we will be taking on will be primarily with me out on the road and occasionally with the service manager.
His experience being 20 years, mine being 5 years.

When i started in the trade i was with the service manager, and due to City & Guilds Not running any A/C&R courses near us, all training was work based for 18 months (or until he was happy with me) and over time all CITB courses attended.

Electrics
Safe handling
Install commision etc
Pipework & Brazing....
List goes on................

Purely so that we would have proof of competency etc. Luckily i took to it like a duck to water and now pulling in my own!!! Service manager want's us to expand and wants me to be incharge of training a newbie up, with his involvement before any critics arrive!! But the main responsibilty is on me.

Im happy enough to do this and feel confident in managing it, i was pondering whilst sitting in traffic today.......

Would it be an idea to start putting some stuff together for the newbie:-

What we work on.
Fundamentals.
The basics.
Different applications of Ref etc.
Parts.
Electrics
How components work.
Site conduct
..............................You get the drift......

Any tips or advice, good books floating about?! What would you do? What have you done?

Cheers Guys

P.S V small company only 3 of us atm.

Hello mate.

I was always told

"See it"
"Do it"
"Teach it"

So start small and work up.

When you do somthing tell him why you are doing it.
Don't let him stand around with his hands in his pockets, keep him active.
Be worried if he stands back and watches you struggle, He may not be aware that it is his job to help you.
Let him have ago at brazing and other complicated jobs, it will give him a sense of achievment (just check his work afterwards)

The big thing is
Monkey sees Monkey does he will do things because that is the way you do it, so you must be aware of Health & Safety, wear your glasses and gloves when you need to and such like.

Don't be too quick to teach him, let him watch you and just explain the basics. In six months time he will be ready for profesional training like CITB and City & Guilds.

Cheer taz

[jdunc2301]

Cheers For the comments all being stored in the memory banks.
When i was learning having some referance material like what different parts actually do and how they look on the inside (roughly) 4 way valves etc would have helped.
I think il start like you say with some real basic stuff.

Keep it coming.

J

[taz24]

Cheers For the comments all being stored in the memory banks.
When i was learning having some referance material like what different parts actually do and how they look on the inside (roughly) 4 way valves etc would have helped.
I think il start like you say with some real basic stuff.

Keep it coming.

J

When it comes to parts let him cut them open when you remove them from the system. He will appreciate what the do more.

Ps I keep saying he but there is no reason why in can't be a she.

taz.

[Jadeair]

Just started a new apprentice about 4 weeks ago and one of my first suggestions was to join refrigeration-engineers.com.
Just remember they know nothing and feed them as much hands on experence as they can handle.