# "summer" help



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Carry things, dig stuff, sweep stuff, and carry more things. Usually heavy stuff. Go for coffee and lunches. Coffee runs might be one of the more cerebral functions casual labor performs. You're basically there to bring all the people who know what they're doing all the things they need to do their job, and to clean up after them. Keep the smart people doing smart stuff, and the dumb people (you) doing dumb stuff. On a big solar job, it's quite likely you'll actually get to work with a wrench, since 75% of the job is bolting together a mind-numbing amount of falsework.


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## BDB (Jul 9, 2008)

MDShunk said:


> the *dumb people (you)* doing dumb stuff.


That is pretty harsh to tell someone. Just because he is a helper does not make him dumb.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

BDB said:


> That is pretty harsh to tell someone. Just because he is a helper does not make him dumb.


I disagree. To say anything else would be to deny the reality that will exist for him, in the minds of the people he works around, this summer.


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## dawgs (Dec 1, 2007)

I dont think MD means he is dumb, just the work he will be doing is mindless. He will most likly be treated as slave labor.


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## Brother Noah1 (Mar 23, 2010)

MDShunk said:


> I disagree. To say anything else would be to deny the reality that will exist for him, in the minds of the people he works around, this summer.


 So we are to believe that you have ESP? I think not you are just on your egotistical high horse spouting trash.Any time you make efforts to improve your life there no choice but to learn as is every day we live we have little choice but to be educated more so than the day before.MDShunk has ill will in his intentions to make such post(in my opinion) Solar projects as a whole are boring to many OLD journeymen(such as myself) I would compare it to an assembly line where you do the exact same thing over and over every day until you are through but even this taxes the soul to be able to withstand this hardship(hence you will learn to gain mental and physical endurance)


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## BDB (Jul 9, 2008)

dawgs said:


> I dont think MD means he is dumb, just the work he will be doing is mindless. He will most likly be treated as slave labor.


I agree with how you say he will be looked upon, but to flat out call him "dumb" in my opinion is harsh and wrong (unless MD knows the young man and he is as described) To belittle someone is not going to "teach" them anything. I may be in the minority on this but it is just my opinion. If"in the minds" of others you are over weight, do you then believe it is ok to call the person fat?


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## duff7830 (Apr 29, 2008)

i am by no means "dumb"! i am not some 17 year old kid who's looking to make a few bucks to buy weed. i am a married 30 year old with a mortgage and all the other responsibilities of a grown man who is trying to join the union and put themselves in a position to better there family. if called to a job i will keep my mouth shut and my eyes and my ears open and try and soak in as much knowledge i can. hopefully one day i will be able to use some things i learned in my career. i expect to be asked to do the grunt work and thats fine but i will not be called dumb or disrespected by anyone. theres a difference between bustin balls and being a ***hole. i can take it and dish it with the best. everyone was "green" at sometime or another and anyone who chooses to look down on a helper or apprentice instead of guiding and offering advice is not only the dumb one but ignorant also.


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## Bob Badger (Apr 19, 2009)

It does not matter if you are 17 or 47, you will not know jack and you will be used as the gopher, all of us with licenses had to pay our dues and now you will too.

Marc was just giving you an honest answer.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

It was not my intention to be discouraging or ignorant. I gave the most accurate answer I know how to. Sorry it was not the answer you wanted to hear. The biggest mistake a helper can make is to act like he knows something. Work hard and make like you don't know jack chit, and things will work out fine.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

The phrase the boys on the job use is , "lacky" . I was once union and the laborers where known as ,lackys.


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## Bob Badger (Apr 19, 2009)

MDShunk said:


> The biggest mistake a helper can make is to act like he knows something.


Pretty much.


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Once again the king of the forum sh*ts. OP, don't listen to these jerk offs. They have never stepped foot on a union job site in their life. They might say they have, but we know better.
Its not at all what they say. Of course you do the stuff that the journeymen don't do. But its not bad at all. If you are humble and do your work, you just might get in with one of these so called "smart people". Then you start learning a trade.
Just because they were treated this way does not mean you will be treated that way.
I know I was never ever treated like they say you will be treated.
Just because this is a Union section does not mean you are taking to union people. Keep a close watch and see who is in the union and who is here just to push right wing ideas and to make remarks about things they know nothing about. PM the right guys if you have a union question. Good Luck!


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## duff7830 (Apr 29, 2008)

i will work my balls off like i always do and ill be the first one to admit I DONT KNOW **** ABOUT ELECTRICAL WORK! im as green as they come, but i wanna learn and be taught how to do things the proper way. i know my place fully and the jobs that will be assigned to me are the jobs a caveman can do. like i said in my earlier post "im going to keep my moth shut and my eyes and ears open" but im not going to be disrespected. thank you for your advice ill take it for what its worth.


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## duff7830 (Apr 29, 2008)

thanks valdes.....but one question man whats up with the dolphins logo.....start rootin for a real nfl team like the new york football giants!....


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## BDB (Jul 9, 2008)

duff7830 said:


> . i know my place fully and the jobs that will be assigned to me are the jobs a caveman can do. like i said in my earlier post "im going to keep my moth shut and my eyes and ears open" but im not going to be disrespected.


Then you should do ok


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## BDB (Jul 9, 2008)

duff7830 said:


> start rootin for a real nfl team like the new york football giants!....


Ok I was trying to be on your side on this BUT it looks like MD was correct:laughing: j/k


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## Bob Badger (Apr 19, 2009)

John Valdes said:


> Once again the king of the forum sh*ts. OP, don't listen to these jerk offs.


F you and your constant PMS attitude. 



> They have never stepped foot on a union job site in their life. They might say they have, but we know better.


I can't speak for Marc and while is true I have never been in the union I have worked on many jobs with the union.

But who cares, this is not a union issue, it is simply a fact of life for helpers be it union or merit.






> I know I was never ever treated like they say you will be treated.


I find that hard to believe, a guy with such a crappy personality as yours was surly picked on at some point in his life. 



> Just because this is a Union section does not mean you are taking to union people. Keep a close watch and see who is in the union and who is here just to push right wing ideas and to make remarks about things they know nothing about.


And just because someone has been in the union in Florida does not know they mean jack about the union in other places. 

Now John, go take some Midol and lay down, your rag is dripping.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

Just show up and work. You aren't going to learn a lot but you'll get familiar with materials and how a larger job runs. I have no idea if this will help you get in to the union or not. Don't kill yourself, don't get hurt, don't carry stuff to heavy without help. Look at it like another job. If someone is being abusive or giving you crap you don't have to take it. Flip it back at them. If they can't take it screw em. Don't get them thier materials. Make them understand that the people you like get their materials and tools first. Everyone else gets stuff as you like.


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## mikeh32 (Feb 16, 2009)

um, our summer help guy did just what the others said. swept, cleaned up trash, put away ladders, kept count on all materials.... Maybe would be asked to help with a pull or two, but other wise he was basically a laborer. And yes, I am union


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

duff7830 said:


> i am by no means "dumb"! i am not some 17 year old kid who's looking to make a few bucks to buy weed. *i am a married 30 year old with a mortgage and all the other responsibilities of a grown man* who is *trying* *to* join the union and *put themselves in a position to better there family*. if called to a job i will keep my mouth shut and my eyes and my ears open and try and soak in as much knowledge i can. hopefully one day i will be able to use some things i learned in my career. i expect to be asked to do the grunt work and thats fine but i will not be called dumb or disrespected by anyone. theres a difference between bustin balls and being a ***hole. i can take it and dish it with the best. everyone was "green" at sometime or another and anyone who chooses to look down on a helper or apprentice instead of guiding and offering advice is not only the dumb one but ignorant also.


Your career should of came long before any of those other things. Maybe Marc does have ESP and was correct.


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## miller_elex (Jan 25, 2008)

If you pretend to know something electrical: JW whoever will likely play along, and let you make yourself look like a dumbass for laughs.

The trick for me, is to keep how much I really know to myself, and pull the solution out of my a55 at the last second when nobody else is looking. More than once, I've let someone whose pissed me off, give incorrect input, and make himself look like a dumba55.

Electrical is a trade where it is more important to be able to figure something out, than know a piece of knowledge, IMO. If you can't learn to be a thinker, you will end up in a long line of production electricians.


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## duff7830 (Apr 29, 2008)

hey knowshorts you should change your name to know****....because thats what you don't know is ****. you don't know me from adam.....you don't know my life experiences.......what job i currently have........what job my wife has.......you don't know **** about me! you are one of the ignorant people i was talking about earlier.....im done with this forum BS...... its ridiculous!.....i merely went on here looking for a little advice and got nothing but a bunch of stupid ****in 2 cents. thank you to the people that actually gave me advice and were cool about the whole thing......


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## JohnR (Apr 12, 2010)

duff7830 said:


> hey knowshorts you should change your name to know****....because thats what you don't know is ****. you don't know me from adam.....you don't know my life experiences.......what job i currently have........what job my wife has.......you don't know **** about me! you are one of the ignorant people i was talking about earlier.....im done with this forum BS...... its ridiculous!.....i merely went on here looking for a little advice and got nothing but a bunch of stupid ****in 2 cents. thank you to the people that actually gave me advice and were cool about the whole thing......


You are correct. We don't know about your life, we only know the question you asked and what you have posted. You asked a question, got a few answers and didn't like some of them. So you posted back with a MAJOR attitude. What does your life up to this point have to do with what you asked about what to expect?

My answer to your OP is this, What you will expect to find is nothing but an argument every time someone tells you to do something different to what you are used to doing. Then you will find yourself going back to the un-employment line for constant arguing. This due to your personal complexes
If you don't get off your high-horse you will not be happy in life or at work.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

duff7830 said:


> ........i merely went on here looking for a little advice and got nothing but a bunch of stupid ****in 2 cents.........


So did anything even cost you two cents? :no:


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Being in the union on the low pole is a complete conformist position. Some guys like to think for themselves so they go on their own. I'm a non conformist.


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## Wingnut (Jan 31, 2010)

WOW in 05/08 you interviewed , I would say you're
chances are... not looking GOOD :no:


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

If you want to succeed in this trade, you are gonna have to grow a thicker skin.


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## miller_elex (Jan 25, 2008)

Dude, if you are experiencing this onslaught of negativity as a helper....

Then you don't want to see how the big shops weed through journeymen when times get slow...

It goes something like this: You get told by the shop that such and such job is a loser, we thought the job had drop ceilings, but it is all exposed EMT, can you go and try to get it done as quick and dirty as possible? Because the last guy couldn't cut the mustard and got smoked. So you go and give it your best, break off a piece of hump on that bitch. Then you find out the PM is a screamer when he calls you to the office, and sit down to be berated for fifteen minutes, because that's all the time he has for you and your tiny job. The mind fuhcks don't stop when times are slow, because that's how they weed through the guys, anybody who has some balls and stands up for themselves is going down the road, probably under their own initiative. When times are slow, this routine plays itself over and over.

So Duff, if you do have a militant attitude, I am going to save you alot of pain down the road, go non-union, because then you can go find your own work and won't have to wait for two years because the shop you worked for is only searching for mindless drones.

And to all the true leaders out there, who shield their subordinates from the nasty turds falling from above, you have my sincere commendation.


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## duff7830 (Apr 29, 2008)

listen i apologize for the attitude the whole thing got blown out of proportion i just got a little pissed the guy called me dumb and that the other guy agreed. i know ill succeed in my career one day. funny thing is im the nicest happy go lucky guy you could ever meet goin back and reading some of the stuff i wrote maybe i over reacted a little but moone likes to be called dumb


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## Bob Badger (Apr 19, 2009)

Welcome to the forum duff. :thumbsup:


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

duff7830 said:


> ...Maybe i over reacted a little but noone likes to be called dumb


 No argument. But there is some truth to getting thick skin, because odds are good you'll eat a fair bit of crap as a helper.

Like you said, nobody here knows you, which just means that if someone here runs their mouth, they don't have the first clue what they're talking about. Learn to let it slide.

-John


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

Going back to post #2. You were called dumb, not because of your IQ. You were called dumb because of your lack of experience. I don't care how smart you are, or how many degrees you have, if you're new blood, your gonna be the "dumb" one on the job site. It just means you are not gonna be the thinker. The thinker is gonna make sure his job gets done by utilizing his "dumb" helper to do all the crappy work. You are applying for a "helper" position. You aren't there to learn. You're there to help. That's it. Apprentices are there to learn. A helper is a step below apprentice. Just the facts, man.

As far as myself calling you dumb. I never did. I just agreed with Marc based on your comments. I probably would have ignored it, but you started to have an attitude and the piranha in me smelt blood. 

I do stand by my belief in getting your career set in place long before marriage and kids. I firmly believe in purchasing your home prior to marriage and kids also. It is much easier to raise a family that way. I will tell anyone that. You weren't special in that regard.


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

I always promised myself I wouldn't treat rookies like I got treated coming up thru the ranks. Like a lackey.


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## duff7830 (Apr 29, 2008)

knowshorts....i apolagise for calling you ignorant.....just like you don't know me i don't know you.......as far as the whole career before mortgage and marriage thing all i can say is i agree with you that you need to have your stuff straight before you jump into that stuff but, i do have a good paying job, my wife has a very good career and we both have good enough heads on our shoulders that we wouldn't jump into something we cant handle. the thing is my hours blow, the job itself sucks, no bennies, no advancement, and you wanna talk about thick skin.........i get called a piece of **** and get talked down upon by customers on a daily basis!.... i have a *JOB* not a career....and when i say i wanna better my family i mean i want to be home with my wife (and kids when we are blessed with them) on holidays and weekends. i want to be able to advance years down the round. i just want a better life for us...our bills get paid every month and then some....we aren't struggling by any means.


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## sparky908 (Dec 3, 2010)

i am currently working for a larger EC on a job in central nj as a "summer helper" the pay is first year rate in this territory that translates to $15.44 an hr you'll start like i did about a year ago doing basic material work tool holder box mover basically whatever your crew needs! but since ive been with the same group of people pretty much for about a year now and over the span of 2 jobs i have been giving MUCH more responsibility it is a great way to get you're feet wet and see if this is what you want i've applied to the union im still waiting to get in so in no way is this a "summer" job for me i would say go for it especially if you have the slightest interest in the trade ive learned alot i still learn more everyday:thumbsup:


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## gold (Feb 15, 2008)

Summer help, summer no help at all.


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## kaboler (Dec 1, 2010)

Say ignorant instead of dumb next time hahaha.


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