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Let's Talk #Apprenticeships with Support Ontario Youth Mentor, Steve Wenzel

By Steve, Wenzel
June 10, 2021

Let’s Talk #Apprenticeship: ...finding work, securing a sponsor, and what it means to start your apprenticeship.

Job searching can be daunting, regardless of what field or industry you’re looking to get into. Getting an apprenticeship, adds an extra layer of expectations and ambiguity to the process. Trades can provide you with an exciting and lucrative career. But how do you get started? Like job-searching any career, it takes understanding the how, and making yourself stand out.

Steve Wenzel, Support Ontario Youth’s resident blogger on all thing’s apprenticeships and Journeyperson Candidate Electrician, joined us to share his wisdom and experience in an online session we called Let’s Talk #Apprenticeships… finding work, securing a sponsor and what it means to start your apprenticeship.

Stephen advised of three different approaches, which he has personally used, to look for an apprenticeship. The idea is that you must put yourself out there. You need to get creative and be memorable. Here is an overview from his online session.

Approach #1 – Networking

Tell people you know that you’re looking to do an apprenticeship, tell everyone and everybody! The more people you tell, the wider you cast your net. All you’re looking for is someone who’s already doing what you want to do. This is what’s called, “tapping into a warm market”, which is essentially “tapping into a network of potential contacts” that may be able to help you find what you’re looking to do.

Once you find that person, directly or indirectly, contact them as soon as you can. Arrange a time to speak with them. Ask for 10 minutes of their time and make sure you prepare for that time by writing down your questions in advance. Be very respectful of their time – 10 minutes is 10 minutes! This means that nine minutes into the call (you know this because you will be timing yourself), you wrap up, thank them for their time and insights, and if it went well, ask if they’d be opened to having another call in the future.

Be sure that you send them a message, within 24 hours, thanking them for their time. If you met this contact indirectly through a friend, be sure to follow-up with your friend, and send them a thank you as well.

Networking creates a snowball effect, and aligns you with people and opportunities that you need in order for you to make things happen. Remember that networking is two-way street (give and take), so be sure to show your appreciation by letting them know they can reach out to you in the future for help as well.

This strategy wasn’t successful for me in the beginning, so I chose to take a different tack, and moved onto the next strategy, which was responding to ads.

Approach #2 – Answer Ads (Online and Traditional)

I know this sounds outdated, but the average age of a Journeyman in Ontario is 47, which means they may default to platforms that have always worked for them in the past. That means you have to understand where they may have posted previously. All platforms provide leads and are worth looking into (websites like craigslist or Kijiji, and traditional print classifieds).

Find ads for whatever trade you want to get into and respond to them with a resume and cover letter (SOY has resources to help you put these critical documents together). Be sure to highlight what you can do for them. If they are interested, they will contact you. If you don’t hear from them within a week, you follow-up with a call.

Keep in mind, when you use this approach, you, along with many others, are applying to people who don’t know you. It’s reasonable to expect that you’ll hear more no’s then yes’ – don’t take it personally. In this scenario, the contractors are holding all the cards – they have what you want. Just understand, when you’re completely new to the trade, the person hiring you has to train you. It’s an enormous risk for them to take on an apprentice – so you need to make yourself valuable in any way that you can – be sure to strongly convey the benefits of hiring you above anyone else, when you make it to the interview stage, like what you’re able to uniquely bring to the table (like your work ethic and ability to be teachable).

Approach #3 – Create Your Own Ad

When I was searching through online ads, I stumbled across this technique, which really caught my attention, and made me rethink my approach. Honestly, I’ve used all three strategies, but this one got me started on the career path I knew I wanted. This was me creating an opportunity for myself. It meant that instead of the contractor “holding all the cards”, I was now the one in control.

Here’s the thing: if you’re writing your own ad, you’re not competing against anyone. Also, 60-80 per cent of jobs are not advertised, so instead of waiting for employers to post ads, posting your own puts you in the driver’s seat, and like the networking approach, lets “everyone and anyone” know you’re looking for an apprenticeship in the trades. It also makes you stand out because you’ve saved the employer the trouble of posting an ad to find you.

To create your own ad, start with taking the information from your cover letter and be sure to highlight why they should apply to have you come work for them. Make yourself stand out by understanding what’s needed from you to be successful with them and address each item with why you’d be the perfect candidate (e.g., you have your own transportation, tools, safety certificates, PPE, etc. – all things they’re looking for).

Every business owner is in business for one reason, and that is to make a profit. Show them how you can make them more profitable, how YOU can serve THEM, not why they should be lucky to have you.

Case Study: Me

I am a professional musician first and foremost; there are no transferable skills from that arena into the trades. When I started looking for an electrical apprenticeship, I was working part-time doing renovations, but I also had my own tools, PPE, and transportation.

When I came off cruise ships, I took two steps before I started on my path in the trades:

  1. I did some career counselling – this was a big career shift and I wanted to talk it out with a professional to make sure I was making the right choice. Trades, while being great careers, are very challenging and tough at times. Like any job, you will have rough days, stressful projects, and you might need to work with people you don’t necessarily like. Be sure you know that this is what you want; with a clear “why” you can bear any situation. As soon as you have that clarity, go hard because it is rewarding.
  2. I went to an employment centre to find out what my educational pathway and road to becoming an electrician was going to entail. I needed to know how to prepare for my career change, what employers want from an apprentice, etc. This step was not helpful in the least, as they tried to get me to pursue a different trade, as it was easier to get sponsored there. That only strengthened my resolve, and reinforced the clarity gained from my career counseling.

Next I started looking at online ads – which also did not prove successful. But because of this step, I found a person posting their own ad, with their experience and work ethic. Impressed by this unique approach, I posted my own ad, and within 24 hours, I had two offers. One resulted in a telephone interview AND a job offer starting Monday morning (this call was on Friday at noon). I showed up and worked hard. Within a week, my interviewer advised me to talk to the boss to get sponsored for an apprenticeship, as he could see I was serious. I ended up working with this company for a couple years.

That’s how I started in my apprenticeship, by going for it until it paid off, despite obstacles along the way. Each one merely made me want it more.

The second opportunity to continue my apprenticeship came from using approach #1, Networking.

Because work was slow, I found part-time work with a landscaping company for a couple of weeks, and one day, I mentioned to the landscaping lady that my boss was selling his company, and I needed a new sponsor. She said to talk to her super/handyman, who was a master electrician, as he had a friend that he used to work for, with a shop a few blocks away, who was looking for an apprentice (she knew someone who knew someone).

This is an example of a company looking for an apprentice, but they never posted an ad. I had no idea the lady that hired me for landscaping work also owned a commercial building, and had a super/master electrician on staff. Even though I went back to landscaping, I also surrounded myself with a trades network, and I ended up crossing paths with the trade I wanted to get into, because I was actively looking for the opportunity.

I am still working for this employer today. The work is hard and rewarding, demanding and productive, challenging and fulfilling. I’ve had some great and some not-so-great experiences in this career, but I always come back to why I wanted this in the first place, and it’s how I’m able to stay focused and successful.

Before you start, remember why you want to work in the trades, stay the course and let others help you along the way. When I started, Support Ontario Youth did not exist. By finding this new sponsor, I was introduced to them, and they are a Godsend, I’m very thankful for their guidance.

3 Bonus Tips

I wanted to end with 3 bonus tips to help you expand your knowledge, and get time on the tools:

  1. Use YouTube – find a reputable and knowledgeable trades professional on YouTube, watch their content, take notes, follow and connect with them for more information and guidance.
  2. Volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity build – again, surround yourself with the trades. Volunteering gives you access to this network, that includes industry-professionals that can provide you warm leads. You also get prove your work ethic on the jobsite (make an impression) among colleagues and gain hands-on experience – win-win.
  3. Find a mentor in the trades – ideally, this person is older and is eager to teach you while you learn from their experience, while working with them. These types of tradespeople are a wealth of knowledge and can help mentor you on site, in real work scenarios. You might even gain more experience because they’d be willing to have you on the tools while they coach you. Keep in mind you may start as a helper, then prove your worth to them, and they’ll give you more to do, and teach you more skills as well.

Summary

There you have it, some tools to help you find your “in” for the trades. If you’ve read all this and still thought “I don’t know anyone” then the first thing I’d advise you to do, is get to know “someone”, anyone, follow them on social media, research them in your local city, talk to them when you see them on the street.

Surround yourself with the trade you want to work in, and I guarantee you, you will eventually get an opportunity. There’s a lot of new technology that helps people connect, but no technology will replace connecting, and that’s entirely in your hands.

Never underestimate the power of networking with the people around you, you don’t know who they know, as proved above in my case study. It worked for me in the trades, and in many other areas of my life. Networking is a bit of a lost art, but one that is very worth cultivating and getting really good at, you never know where it can lead.

Play the long game, keep in mind what your end goal is, to land an apprenticeship, and take action, daily, towards that end. All of the above strategies work, but only if you use them, take action on them, continue to refine your approach, expand your knowledge and skills, the payoff is well worth the effort.

Happy apprenticeship-hunting!

 

Let's Talk #Apprenticeships with Support Ontario Youth Mentor, Steve Wenzel
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Related Topics: Apprenticeship Employment Opportunities

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