# Union apprentice boot camp



## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Brandon.
Just be glad you got in. Don't sweat the little stuff.
Besides, you don't know everything yet........lol
Good luck!


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## Brandons5891 (Jul 21, 2018)

Lol agreed man! I agree I certainly do no know everything so if I have to do it I’m more than willing. One of the things I’m most excited about the union is the great education, I feel it’ll be far superior to what I was getting for the non-union company I’ve been with. The journeymen there would always try to deter me from joining the union because there would be way more school..thing is I don’t look at that as a bad thing but a great thing!


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2014)

That’s a good attitude. Even when you feel like the JWs are being mean to you and make you sweep up around the gang box while most of them are headed for their cars, just do it. It will be a blink of an eye and suddenly you’ll be the veteran JW. Time passes real quick.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome aboard @Brandons5891!

There is more to the bootcamp than meets the eye.

Seeing you show up on time dressed for the task at hand and not playing on your phone while you're there is just a part of the 'audition'.


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## gnuuser (Jan 13, 2013)

MechanicalDVR said:


> Welcome aboard @*Brandons5891*!
> 
> There is more to the bootcamp than meets the eye.
> 
> Seeing you show up on time dressed for the task at hand and not playing on your phone while you're there is just a part of the 'audition'.


and just think you do have an advantage of prior knowledge and experience to help you
that being said the extra training is always a good thing.
welcome aboard brandons5891!


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

gnuuser said:


> and just think you do have an advantage of prior knowledge and experience to help you
> that being said* the extra training is always a good thing*.
> welcome aboard brandons5891!


Absolutely a plus, hands down!


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

To anyone who served it's kind of an insult to the calling a few hard days "boot camp" and this is coming from zoomie.


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2014)

I agree. 

Plus, he probably doesn’t even wear boots. You know the guy - wears low-top Keenes and pretends they’re safety toe when in fact they’re really sneakers! Man. 

Although Carolina makes some nice slip-on safety toe shoes that are good for many indoor jobs:

https://m.shoes.com/carolina-lytning-carbon-composite-esd-double-gore-slip-on/674846/1382198


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

drsparky said:


> To anyone who served it's kind of an insult to the calling a few hard days "boot camp" and this is coming from zoomie.


True but we can let them slide a little!


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

tjb said:


> I agree.
> 
> Plus, he probably doesn’t even wear boots. You know the guy - wears low-top Keenes and pretends they’re safety toe when in fact they’re really sneakers! Man.
> 
> ...


I like the Timberland safety toe sneaker type shoes.


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## gnuuser (Jan 13, 2013)

drsparky said:


> To anyone who served it's kind of an insult to the calling a few hard days "boot camp" and this is coming from zoomie.


 got that right! at the time i enlisted it was 18 weeks of ball busting physical training in the summer in Orlando Florida
then 4 months in great lakes for Gunnery school (winter months) talk about temperature shock!


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Brandons5891 said:


> Hey guys, so a little bit of background..I’ve been working as an apprentice from about 2 years now with a non-union company but have decided to make the switch to the union. I’ve already submitted everything as far as applying goes, have done my interview and just received my acceptance letter yesterday went down and UA’d. They’ve stated all new apprentices have got to do a mandatory boot camp which is a couple of days a week for 6 weeks. I know it’s to teach you things like first aid, tools, scissor lifts etc. I’m coming into the program with already about 3,700 hrs logged in the field, does it make sense to you guys that I’d be having to do this boot camp that basically sounded like it was for newbies fresh in below 2k hrs?


Sure it makes sense, since you don't have any standardization there's no real way for the union to know what you learned or did not learn. It's reasonable for them to want you to learn certain essentials THEIR way right off the bat. 

I often pick something up from very basic training materials, books, videos, etc. and I always get a kick out of it when that happens. But then I am easily entertained.


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## Brandons5891 (Jul 21, 2018)

splatz said:


> Brandons5891 said:
> 
> 
> > Hey guys, so a little bit of background..I’ve been working as an apprentice from about 2 years now with a non-union company but have decided to make the switch to the union. I’ve already submitted everything as far as applying goes, have done my interview and just received my acceptance letter yesterday went down and UA’d. They’ve stated all new apprentices have got to do a mandatory boot camp which is a couple of days a week for 6 weeks. I know it’s to teach you things like first aid, tools, scissor lifts etc. I’m coming into the program with already about 3,700 hrs logged in the field, does it make sense to you guys that I’d be having to do this boot camp that basically sounded like it was for newbies fresh in below 2k hrs?
> ...


Oh yeah I totally get it, it makes sense. I was purely just curious if that sounded typical. I’m almost positive even with 3,700 hrs there are still a few things I haven’t learned as a 2nd year that the union 2nd years have. Honestly it’s no sweat off my back to do the boot camp, really I’m happy to, just glad I got accepted into the union period so I’ll do whatever they ask of me. In the end when I card out I want to have as much knowledge as possible so I can be fully capable of whatever job I’m sent to go do. I know I won’t get that kind of education with the non union company I’m with now.


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