ADVICE: My 5 top tips for Apprentices

Here's my 5 top tips for Apprentices to help you progress and be the best you can be.

If you're just starting your apprenticeship or considering your options ahead of college/job applications then this can be a daunting task, you may have little or no experience and if you're anything like me then you want to be the best in your chosen trade and learn all you can to succeed in your goal of being no.1. My aim with this post is to give you a helping hand and give you an insight of what is expected of you from your employer.

1. Be on time

When you start an apprenticeship your employer won't expect you to know much if anything, especially if you didn't study your trade at college, but what they will expect is for you to be on time, I cant express enough how important this is. If you don't show your employer enough respect to show up on time then why should they spend their valuable time and money trying to help you.

2. Be patient

Patience is important with an apprenticeship. You cant expect to turn up after a couple months and be sent off to work unaccompanied. Even if you feel you can do it you have to remember that in some cases your employer's reputation and money is on the line and when they feel you're ready they'll give you more responsibility.

3. It's not all about money

All too often I hear apprentices moaning about how much they get paid, now don't get me wrong everybody wants to earn as much as they can but it takes time. You may look at your employer or workmate and feel its unfair that they earn more than you but you have to remember that they have spent years perfecting their skills and all of that knowledge they're now passing onto you and giving you the knowledge to earn more later on.

4. Apply yourself

When you turn up in the morning don't wonder around like a zombie, show your employer you're eager to learn, ask questions about what you're going to be doing that day, ask them what tools they need you to get ready (or better yet, get to know which tools they're going to need). All of these things will go a long way with your employer and it will make them want to teach you.

5. Don't give up

There's going to be good and bad days just like everything in life but try not to dwell on the negatives. Whether you've made a mistake or somethings not gone your way, try and learn from it and take a positive away from it. We all make mistakes, but thats no reason to give up because there's always tomorrow. As long as you learn from a mistake it doesn't matter and trust me when you finally finish your apprenticeship you will be filled with the biggest sense of pride.

And that's it guys, those are my top 5 tips for the apprentices out there. I hope it helps somebody and I wish you all the best with your apprenticeship.