# To be a Shopee or Not to Be



## DIYer4Life (Nov 11, 2013)

Being a company guy is what can set you apart from the guys who sit the bench X amount of months per year.

If times are good and the hall is a walk thru, then it doesn't matter. But when times get bad, you better hope to hook up with a company.


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## Potential11 (Nov 14, 2011)

DIYer4Life said:


> Being a company guy is what can set you apart from the guys who sit the bench X amount of months per year.
> 
> If times are good and the hall is a walk thru, then it doesn't matter. But when times get bad, you better hope to hook up with a company.



I can agree with you on that concerning JOURNEYMEN, but JW's can also travel to where the work is good increasing their work experience. Of course, that is early in their career at a young age. 

Apprentices should not sit around for shops in order to increase their work experience. I also understand that some shops will not trust apprentices do certain work because not being familiar with their work practices and ethic. Its a tight line.


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## DIYer4Life (Nov 11, 2013)

Potential11 said:


> I can agree with you on that concerning JOURNEYMEN, but JW's can also travel to where the work is good increasing their work experience. Of course, that is early in their career at a young age.
> 
> Apprentices should not sit around for shops in order to increase their work experience. I also understand that some shops will not trust apprentices do certain work because not being familiar with their work practices and ethic. Its a tight line.


You could work for the same company and do all kinds of work. Or you can work for different companies and do the exact same work.

In the end, do what puts food on your table. There is one clear choice.


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## Potential11 (Nov 14, 2011)

DIYer4Life said:


> You could work for the same company and do all kinds of work. Or you can work for different companies and do the exact same work.
> 
> In the end, do what puts food on your table. There is one clear choice.


If your lucky you can get with a company and do all kinds of work. Its a very small percentage that do.


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## Cl906um (Jul 21, 2012)

if the company doesnt take advantage of you, its fine. just remember your ba's phone#. after a few years steady, they will try to screw you over.


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## Potential11 (Nov 14, 2011)

cl219um said:


> if the company doesnt take advantage of you, its fine. just remember your ba's phone#. after a few years steady, they will try to screw you over.


who will screw you over, the company?


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

I have men that have been with me 27 years and I will guarantee you they are the best rounded electricians you will ever meet.


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## DIYer4Life (Nov 11, 2013)

brian john said:


> I have men that have been with me 27 years and I will guarantee you they are the best rounded electricians you will ever meet.


Yeah, I don't understand this crap about having to rotate. I learned more when i was hooked up with a contractor for a long period of time than when times were slow and I was jumping around.

I'd much rather have full employment.


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## butcher733 (Aug 4, 2012)

It's hard to get well rounded when your not working. Steadies tend to work on jobs start to finish, they see everything from the mud to the rug. Who cares if you never worked at a nuke plant or ran robroy at a wwtp.


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## Potential11 (Nov 14, 2011)

brian john said:


> I have men that have been with me 27 years and I will guarantee you they are the best rounded electricians you will ever meet.


Good for those men. 27 years of steady work is remarkable and note worthy.


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## Potential11 (Nov 14, 2011)

DIYer4Life said:


> Yeah, I don't understand this crap about having to rotate. I learned more when i was hooked up with a contractor for a long period of time than when times were slow and I was jumping around.
> 
> I'd much rather have full employment.



why didn't you stay with that contractor you learned more with? 

why jump around?


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## DIYer4Life (Nov 11, 2013)

Potential11 said:


> why didn't you stay with that contractor you learned more with?
> 
> why jump around?


Things get slow, layoffs happen. If it wasn't for slow times, I would have been happy to stay with the first contractor I ever worked for.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

brian john said:


> I have men that have been with me 27 years and I will guarantee you they are the best rounded electricians you will ever meet.


Yeah, but I bet you screw them over something awful with paid vacation, sick days, quality vehicles, steady paychecks, and having an owner that gives a crap about his guys. Stupid contractor.


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## Potential11 (Nov 14, 2011)

DIYer4Life said:


> Things get slow, layoffs happen. If it wasn't for slow times, I would have been happy to stay with the first contractor I ever worked for.


I understand that if things weren't slow you'd be content to stay with the first contractor. I think many guys would say that about many contractors they have worked for. It's not a perfect world and unfortunately and fortunately you can go to another place and work and add experience to your resume and add skills. 

Some guys get that choice to sit or not to sit and that's where guys separate themselves from from shopees.


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## Cl906um (Jul 21, 2012)

I just hate when it gets all political and people start wearing knee pads to work. Not one to bAckstab for my job.


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## ibuzzard (Dec 28, 2008)

Other than a couple bad years, when I worked in both Iraq and Afghanistan to stay afloat, I have been steadily employed. I never was layed off, but rather quit one employer, and requested a reduction of workforce from the other, anticipating a layoff that may or may not have come.


I never had to suck up to anyone, never drank with the boys after work, or bought bottles of single malt for the bosses. I never had to get political.

All I have done was mind my business, work and not talk much, and keep it positive while working safely. Continues to work for me, and now also to my two sons.

If you always work, you'll always work. My first obligation is and always has been to my family, and I do not apologize for being steadily employed these 25+ years. Not everyone is a suck-pump.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

DIYer4Life said:


> Yeah, I don't understand this crap about having to rotate. I learned more when i was hooked up with a contractor for a long period of time than when times were slow and I was jumping around.
> 
> I'd much rather have full employment.


I do think it is a good learning experience for apprentices, I have some good apprentices that know circuit breakers, generators, batteries and cable testing ETC, but know little about basic branch circuit wiring.


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

Apprentices should be transferred IMO. I know of some that kept going back to the same shop. IMO they got too comfortable and now most of them are sitting on the books like everybody else, afraid to take a call to another shop. Seeing different contractors as a cub will diversify you and better you as an electrician. 

Once you top out you can do as you please. Also keep in mind there is a referral system in place for a reason and a majority of these shoppies abuse it by never signing the book, jumping in front of everyone with a foreman call, sitting at home waiting for the contractor to call them back. The ultimate brother####ing. Don't be that guy. 

You can make plenty of money without stabbing your bro's in the back.


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## mr hands (Sep 15, 2013)

You should change it up every year to two years. Especially early on in your career.

Get that wide range of experience, meet all those different people. Work big jobs and work small jobs.

And don't be judgemental, calling people pieces of sh, and what not. People aren't pieces of sh. They just been through different circumstances and got discouraged somewhere along the way. It's a really small world, and everybody knows everybody else. You will see everyone again. It keeps me honest.


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## eejack (Jul 14, 2012)

Personally I prefer to bounce from project to project. It does hurt me when the economy is bad but the variety of work and people makes up for it. 

I know it is possible to become attached to a shop without being stuck doing just one thing all the time - but that is very rare. Most of the ones I know 'do' power houses, or data centers, or the airport...basically one style of work all the time.


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## Loose Neutral (Jun 3, 2009)

You have well rounded guys steady and off the books. like eejack said you can have contractors that stay in their niche. I worked for a tele data contractor on a data center and they kept me after the job. I asked for a layoff 2 weeks later. Boring as hell waiting around a bank half the day to install a couple cat 5's. I do find guys that work out of the hall to be more well rounded than others though, you see more kinds of work and work with many different people and see way more methods and material.


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## oldtimer (Jun 10, 2010)

I think you should change your name to LOU SNEUTRAL ! :laughing:


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## Loose Neutral (Jun 3, 2009)

oldtimer said:


> I think you should change your name to LOU SNEUTRAL ! :laughing:


I think you need to lay off the prune juice.:whistling2:


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## jordan_paul (Oct 4, 2011)

al13nw4r3LC76 said:


> Apprentices should be transferred IMO. I know of some that kept going back to the same shop. IMO they got too comfortable and now most of them are sitting on the books like everybody else, afraid to take a call to another shop. Seeing different contractors as a cub will diversify you and better you as an electrician.
> 
> Once you top out you can do as you please. Also keep in mind there is a referral system in place for a reason and a majority of these shoppies abuse it by never signing the book, jumping in front of everyone with a foreman call, sitting at home waiting for the contractor to call them back. The ultimate brother####ing. Don't be that guy.
> 
> You can make plenty of money without stabbing your bro's in the back.


 
NVM not worth it.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

al13nw4r3LC76 said:


> Apprentices should be transferred IMO. I know of some that kept going back to the same shop. IMO they got too comfortable and now most of them are sitting on the books like everybody else, afraid to take a call to another shop. Seeing different contractors as a cub will diversify you and better you as an electrician.


I agree 110%



> Once you top out you can do as you please. Also keep in mind there is a referral system in place for a reason and a majority of these shoppies abuse it by never signing the book, jumping in front of everyone with a foreman call, sitting at home waiting for the contractor to call them back. The ultimate brother####ing. Don't be that guy.
> 
> You can make plenty of money without stabbing your bro's in the back.


Just my experience but the best of the best do exactly what you said and get with a shop are treated well and return the favor to the contractor.


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## mr hands (Sep 15, 2013)

Alienware hasn't figured it out yet.

The brothers who scream the loudest about brotherhood and it's many rules, are the ones who need to be shielded by the herd the most. Because they can't perform. Or they won't perform, because hard work takes effort. Exerting effort seems to be something the brotherhood's more backward members are allergic to. The number of men who says, 'I am from the hall and here to help,' and actually helps like he means it, is like one in fifty.


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

mr hands said:


> Alienware hasn't figured it out yet.
> 
> The brothers who scream the loudest about brotherhood and it's many rules, are the ones who need to be shielded by the herd the most. Because they can't perform. Or they won't perform, because hard work takes effort. Exerting effort seems to be something the brotherhood's more backward members are allergic to. The number of men who says, 'I am from the hall and here to help,' and actually helps like he means it, is like one in fifty.


You have no idea how I work. I show up everyday and work hard. Just because someone actually believes in the Bargaining agreement doesn't mean they are a slug or some POS worker. 

Work is extremely slow at home with 50%+ unemployment. I went out traveled 1000+ miles from home so I didn't have to sit here and back stab brothers for work. I'm not some lazy guy looking for a free ride. I was actually invited to join the Local I traveled to because of my work.

Either the contract means something or nothing. There are many members but brothers can be hard to find when times are tough.


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

For the record I'm not saying its bad to work for one shop once you turn out. But if you back stab fellow members or abuse the referral system you need to take a look in the mirror.


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## DIYer4Life (Nov 11, 2013)

al13nw4r3LC76 said:


> For the record I'm not saying its bad to work for one shop once you turn out. But if you back stab fellow members or abuse the referral system you need to take a look in the mirror.


And see a man with a job? :thumbsup:


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## mr hands (Sep 15, 2013)

When did I ever say it is okay to backstab?

People who operate with scorn for others typically do themselves in, given enough time and opportunity. The shops with foremen who treat people like dirt eventually go under. I mean, everywhere is a day of reckoning on the horizon. Even in our own lives, eventually we all go kaput. Are you going to take yourself there prematurely, stepping on the necks of others? Not wise decision. IMO nice guy always wins, the nice guy who isn't dumb enough to work himself too hard.


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