Electrical Apprenticeships - comparing offers . what do you think ?

poopyhead

I'm asking for a young lad who has at least two main offers of an electrical apprenticeship

The first is with Jones Engineering but involves an initial 3 month probation at apprentice rates which doesnt count retrospectively towards his apprenticeship as the papers would not be lodged with Solas until after those 3 months are done. Therefore his 'apprenticeship' becomes 4 years and 3 months instead of 4.
Now the company may very well have its reasons but that 3 months doesnt appear to be mentioned anywhere in its apprenticeship brochure to applicants.

The second is with Winthrop who would register him immediately.

Can anyone discuss both companies ? Is there any reason to stick with Jones and do an extra 3 months at low pay ?


The young lad and I both have a very high opinion of the staff and reputations of both companies which only makes the decision harder but why should someone choose an extra 3 months when he doesnt have to ?

thecomedian

The 3 month probation is common enough with electrical contractors. Both should be similar contractors.

poopyhead

thecomedian wrote: »

The 3 month probation is common enough with electrical contractors. Both should be similar contractors.

I'm not talking about regular employment probation though. Its the fact those 3 months dont count towards time served which makes it harder to swallow.
With one theres an extra 3 months at apprentice rates which doesn't count towards the apprenticeship . With the other you just get registered immediately and start counting down the time until you qualify.
So the question might be , is Jones in so much more high demand in the free market that they can do this ? Normally the free market would sort this out.

salmocab

Free market is irrelevant, what your looking at is two companies with different systems. I presume the info you want is which company delivers a better apprenticeship, in future the lad would not benefit by being with one over the other as both are reputable contractors.

poopyhead

salmocab wrote: »

Free market is irrelevant, what your looking at is two companies with different systems. I presume the info you want is which company delivers a better apprenticeship, in future the lad would not benefit by being with one over the other as both are reputable contractors.

I always thought they are both highly reputable contractors.

salmocab

poopyhead wrote: »

I always thought they are both highly reputable contractors.

Highly might be a push for any contractor. If it was me and all things being equal I'd go with winthrop as it saves 3 months but thats it. Id be more interested in where I'm being sent location and type of site wise but that is probably info than your likely to get before committing to starting.

thecomedian

poopyhead wrote: »

I'm not talking about regular employment probation though. Its the fact those 3 months dont count towards time served which makes it harder to swallow.
With one theres an extra 3 months at apprentice rates which doesn't count towards the apprenticeship . With the other you just get registered immediately and start counting down the time until you qualify.
So the question might be , is Jones in so much more high demand in the free market that they can do this ? Normally the free market would sort this out.

Electrical contractors won’t sign someone up straight away as they might not keep them on after the 3 months.

poopyhead

thecomedian wrote: »

Electrical contractors won’t sign someone up straight away as they might not keep them on after the 3 months.

I value your opinion but ... I pointed out in my first post that one major contractor offered exactly that - to register him with Solas right away . The other major contractor is asking for an additional 3 month requirement as an employee which wont count towards time served, unfortunately not as an apprentice at the lowest beginner apprentice rates - well below minimum wage.

salmocab

This was talked about a few weeks back on another thread, they aren’t supposed to do this anymore and most contractors are now registering from start date as paying someone below minimum wage that isn’t registered with Solas is illegal.

thecomedian

As said previously, try and find out the sites he will be on and where they are located.

locustfurnace

Forget about the 4 or 4 year 3 month apprentiship. It'll take your son longer. Solas is backlogged and it also boils down to companies if they put a stop to leave for Solas/Collage due to work load etc...Jones will be O'Sheas which are Dublin county, Meath, Cork City and county. Wintrop being Dublin city and Waterford. Now this isn't the only jobs they have obviously but their bigger ones which I'm led to believe they are recruiting for. So locations might help. Also I'm pretty sure on the site I'm on (I'm with a Cork based company smaller then Jones but bigger then Wintrop ) I've been told O'Sheas have been paying apprentices General Operative rates the first 3 months which is above minimum wage. Our crowd just backdate the registration forms to their start date when the 3 months is up. I wouldn't be suprised if this is also the way Wintrop do it but less open about it.

Sorry for the big wall of text but I'm on Hols and I've have a few bevvies (the missus is putting kids to bed incase you think I must be having a ****e holiday to be on Boards.ie )

poopyhead

locustfurnace wrote: »

Forget about the 4 or 4 year 3 month apprentiship. It'll take your son longer. Solas is backlogged

Do all of them go to DITs ? Do the course work 'release' phases classes run in both September and in January ? I wondered if the extra 3 month could cause him to miss a release phase module due to bad timing and hence waste extra time unable to progress

locustfurnace wrote: »

I've been told O'Sheas have been paying apprentices General Operative rates the first 3 months which is above minimum wage. Our crowd just backdate the registration forms to their start date when the 3 months is up. I wouldn't be suprised if this is also the way Wintrop do it but less open about it.

A conversation with Solas and the ETB made sure I would be left in no doubts whatsoever about backdating that it cant happen. He said time served only starts ticking down from the moment he receives the papers. And he said it again for emphasis. So I dont know . Rules and bureaucracy change over time but they only tend to tighten up , not loosen.

thecomedian

I wouldn’t get too hung up on the 3 months thing. The other points are more important in the long run. Rates of pay can vary anyway.