Apprenticeship... training assistant... "helper", terms now rarely used but were quite common back in the day where any job had a SENIOR person quite proven and skilled, mentoring others in the same occupation/work effort.
This is NOT how things get done today!
When I got in the trades as an apprentice electrician, the union contract stated 3 journeyman to one apprentice ratio. When I retired it was one to one under pressure from non unions contractors some of which had all apprentices except 1 journeyman. If people who sign up for apprenticeships really look at that, there isn't a lot of incentive to make it a career when there is no room for advancement.
A lot of finger pointing with a lot of truths being singled out, with a fair degree of looking at were we really are today in this global community.
The two above quotes also share in the
ability factor of people in the different fields of work where there is little in the way of an established system to both train and grade future participants in the work force.
With the different unions/guilds/apprentice boards either weakened, or gone, there's little to gauge the end quality of who gets to be in the work force. Europe held held high standards much above what was experienced in N America, but as evidenced by some posts, that too is changing.
People often want cheap, either out of necessity or just because it's available, but there's always a caveat attached when the
shoddy results become apparent. And usually there's no come back.
I've found that there's only two ways to address/prevent poor standards that you may have to deal with. One is to go only on
referrals esp from people you know, and to take a long look at the company that you intend to hire. I suppose a third way might be to attain the skills to do the job yourself, but today you have to be aware of any future insurance claims if you do make a serious error. In these DIY projects, some work just needs the expertise of people who do the work. But, here again, an intensive examination has to be done
before they do the work, esp in the area of
their insurance coverage while working on your project.
Q