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I'm Smart Enough for the Trades

It's amazing to me how little the average person knows about how the trades system works. And how could they know? In my experience, our educational culture pushes university and college as post-secondary school options. The stigma I've witnessed surrounding the trades is that you only do it because you are not smart enough for college or university. This misconception frustrates me.

I've had people say to me, "you're so smart, why did you get into the trades instead of going to university?" You have to be smart to understand the theory, be it university, college or trades school. Typically, when you attend trades school you have 8-10 weeks at a time to consume a lot of information. You have to stay on top of the assignments, and tests. There is no slacking your way through. You either know it or you don't.

I believe our society needs to get more on board with the trades being a viable career path. Just because I'm working towards being an electrician now doesn't mean that's what I'll be doing for the rest of my career. Eventually, I could start my own business, be a project manager, an Electrical Inspector, work for the College of Trades, or become a trades school teacher just to name a few. 

Now granted, when I was starting to look into this path, it was difficult to find the information I was looking for. Some of it was on the College of Trades website, some through the Ministry of Training, or other general Government websites. But no one really painted the full picture. Here is some of the information I've gathered along the way with regards to my experience.

A Construction & Maintenance Electrician (309A) license is a 5 year apprenticeship. And in those 5 years, there are 3 levels of school that you go back for. An apprenticeship, regardless of what trade your in, averages about 90% of your time on the job, and 10% in school. That's just the way it works.  

To go to school for your selected trade, you need to be registered with a company that is sponsoring your apprenticeship. This registration is done with the Ministry of Training. Once you are registered with a company, you need to pay to be a member of the College of Trades, which provides proof that you are a registered apprentice. You will have both a card from the Ministry designating your registration and sponsorship, and another from the College of Trades, showing that you've paid your membership fees. 

There has been a lot of leg work involved just to get my foot in the door of the trades system. Our government is getting there by getting more information out there. The biggest hurdle I had when starting out was finding a company to sponsor you. 

To combat this, pre-apprenticeship programs are becoming more popular. Companies typically are reluctant to hire someone that's 'green.' (AKA: a newbie). These pre-apprenticeship programs give people a leg-up, some basic knowledge and hands on in the shop. This way they can begin contributing a little more from day one and bring added value to the company as a new apprentice. It is also important for companies to remember that we need to support those who want to get into the trade. We all started somewhere. 

It was a program similar to this that gave me my start. I firmly believe this has been one of the best decisions I've made in my life. 

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