Success Stories

“What made you decide to become a CTMAA Apprentice?”

0:00
I wanted a career for my lifetime. Didn’t just want a job anymore. Yeah, it gives you the opportunity for more money. There is a lot of advancement in this field. The technology is ever-growing, so it’s always more to learn. That’s why I wanted to do this course.

 

0:18

“How did you get started with your CTMAA Apprenticeship?”

I started off as a shop boy, you know? I got in sweeping floors, cutting basic metal pieces, grinding edges, deburring parts, and then…  They saw my aptitude for the smaller things and my employer offered the deal to me and I gladly accepted it. It’s a great opportunity in life to be a part of the program.”

 

00:44

“How has your CTMAA Apprenticeship impacted your career?”

“Through career it’s definitely slingshotting me ahead I do believe. If you are part of the apprenticeship I believe people look at you more closely and give you more opportunity because you’re showing the willingness to take the time to learn and go to school.”

 

00:59

“What advice would you give someone considering a CTMAA Apprenticeship?”

It’s worth putting in the time and effort to have the payoff in a long run.   You know, more money, more responsibility, more advancements. You know, if you just kind of languish and just push through the days as an employee and not actually get the proper training, you don’t really excel that far. I mean, you can operate for the rest of your life. You never stop learning. There’s always more to learn here. Always more.

 

00:00
So tell me about the apprenticeship program. You’re participating in the CTMAA, right?

00:05
Tell me about that program. How does it work? Well, the idea is you hire someone who’s relatively green, someone who’s got limited experience. You bring them into your shop, and you start exposing them to things. And as they show promise and capability, you quickly identify them as a candidate. And that’s where you work them into this program. And they do the schooling, and they do the on-the-job training and go through this curriculum.

00:35
So I know when I talk to employers, their first question is, well, how much does this cost? You know, what’s it cost to train somebody? As far as the people, they’re doing a job and there is a little time where a lead man or a senior machinist or a foreman is training them.

01:02
If I had all the time in the world, we could do all our own training. And we do train. We do train. But what I’m trying to get at is the apprenticeship program is a proven program.

01:14
I heard that they have 60 apprentices in the Bay Area right now. Basically what I’m trying to get you to do is I’m not in the training business, I’m in the machine shop business. I’m producing high quality complex parts for my customers. I’m not in the training business. Something like that. So, we’re not talking about the on the job training. We’re talking about it all. But we do some on the job.

01:44
you know, supervisors, you know, you learn by doing. But the other components, the night school, the NIMS projects that they have to do, you know, hearing from experienced people throughout the industry. So it’s complementing the training they’re getting on the shop. Right, right, right, right. Okay, so let me start that over.

02:09
So it’s not a perfect world. I understand that you would, if you could hire everybody you needed off the street, all ready to go, you’d do that. But we all know that’s not possible. So the next option is you have to train them up. How does that work?

02:26
Well, we on the job, we’re teaching them and they’re learning things on the job. But in addition to that, that needs to be complemented with some instruction in the classroom, some textbook training, also just hands-on experience in a shop environment where they’re doing things in that class that they’re not learning at work. They’re learning some of the fundamentals that maybe they pass up at work. So it’s filling in the gaps.

02:56
speak and helping them understand the big picture. So let’s say I’m trying to get you in to talk about apprenticeships. Okay so let’s do that one again and what I want you to the way I want you to get into is we do train but we train through a proven program an apprenticeship program okay we train through an apprenticeship program.

03:20
So we do on the job training, but I’m counting on them being exposed to the fundamentals in class so that they come from class and they practice those fundamentals under my supervision until we feel that they’ve become really skilled, qualified machinists, something like that.

03:48
Okay, so let’s just model our way through it. So… This is going to get edited like crazy. Don’t worry. We’re creating a lot of work for you. When he’s done, you’re going to be like the smartest guy in the world. Alright, so… So, in a perfect world, you’d hire everybody you need off the street. I mean, there’s hot and cold running skilled machinists out there just ready to be hired, right?

04:15
Right. All right. So Plan B. Plan B is you got to train up promising people, right? How do you do that? You start with a diamond in the rough and you…

04:30
expose them to things on the job. You send them to this training program that is well proven. From what I understand there’s 60 plus apprentices in this program around the Bay Area and they’re learning the fundamentals. They’re developing advanced skills, things oftentimes that they’re missing out on in the shop floor. So this is…

04:54
sending them to the shop floor with information and understanding that they otherwise wouldn’t have. So you mentioned a key word here, apprenticeship. What’s the difference between an apprenticeship and I mean I can send my guys to night school on my own. Why do I need an apprenticeship? Well you can you also write a curriculum.

05:15
and decide what’s important and what they need to be taught. These are proven curriculums that have been, and I was on the curriculum committee for a period of time in my organization, and we worked on the details of what we want these kids learning. So the employers are also contributing to the…

05:36
what we’re teaching. It’s not just something we pulled out of a textbook that was written in the 1950s. This is current technology. The people running these programs are actively involved with the local shops and visiting shops and seeing what they’re doing, talking to managers about what they’re looking for, what they need, and that just makes this program all the better because it’s current. It’s not old school technology.

06:06
The shops that are used to do this training have been adding new equipment, some high-end CNC equipment and programming systems. It’s come a long ways from the shop I was working in in the 70s and 80s. You were an apprentice one time, right? Oh, yeah. So, from the apprentice’s point of view, what do you think is important?

06:32
Well, a blend of the academics with the practical and the technical, I mean, you need it all. In my case, I had to take remedial math because I didn’t pay attention in high school. I had to improve my basic soft skills, we’ll call it. And that’s something that’s really lacking in this current crop of kids we’re experiencing. We have kids coming into the shop that need to be taught how to read a tape measure. So do you teach them that at the shop?

07:02
or do you expect them to do it? Well, we’d rather not. We’d rather have them come already knowing that. But if there are things that are lacking, it can be caught up. But it’s preferred if they have these skills already. What would you tell other employers, your competitors, I guess, but what would you tell other employers about the apprenticeship program? Do it, don’t do it, what’s good, what’s bad? Well I say do it.

07:32
And ideally, you hire a guy, you invest in him.

07:36
And there’s a loyalty that’s developed where they’re going to stick around and you take care of them and they take care of you and you know you have a win-win. And if by some chance they end up deciding to move to Idaho or something they can get another job. And when they tell their person where they learned the trade from, you know, and they’re good, that’ll be a feather in the cap of the shop owner that did the training. Right. Again, that’s important but I don’t want to emphasize that.

08:06
Good, this is better. All right. OK, now I’m going to put you a little on the defensive. We’re going to switch gears here. I’m going to put you on the defensive, all right?

08:18
I’m going to play the hard guy. I’m going to play the devil’s advocate. And what I basically want you to… So I’ve got to change my body language? Basically, you’ve got to tell me to shut… Go ahead, dumbass, if you think the world works that way. But basically, devil’s advocate. So I’ll just pepper a few and these are short answers. You know, like…

08:48
You know, look, I can send them to night school on my own and I can train them here. What’s the difference? So we’ll start with that one. That’s a good one. I’m going to ask you to put your knee down. OK, sorry. All right, how’s that? Can I cross my legs? Fine, yeah. All right. You’re good. So I’ll let you think about the answer to that one. And if you want a tip from me, it’s like, look, I’m not in the training business. We do training on the job. But.

09:16
There’s curriculum, there’s a hundred other things. And this is a proven program that has 60 apprentices, right? You don’t have to hear, I heard. You’re not just cut to the chase. What you’re doing is you’re shutting me down, kind of like they do on politics with the news people. You know, you’re shutting me down, right? I’m giving you objections and you’re just like, shoving them right back at me. You’re too nice a guy to do that, but trust me, it’ll look good on video. All right, so here we go.

09:46
Okay, I get it. They work for me during the day and they go to school at night. Why don’t I just send my guys to night school? You know, I can send them to night school on my own. Why don’t I just do that? Well, you get what you pay for. Okay. Yeah, you could send them to night school, but what are they teaching them? Are they going to stay engaged? Are they going to come back to the shop the next day and…

10:13
relate what they learned that night before to the shop floor. Or is it just going to be a waste of time for them and you? So are you telling me that the apprenticeship program follows up with the apprentices? Yeah. Yeah, they keep track of how they’re doing. They communicate with the employer. And they communicate with the apprentices. And there’s a regular check-in. OK. So.

10:42
Is it expensive?

10:46
I don’t think so. This is my board member. I’m really putting him through this shit. $1,200. It’s $1,500 a year plus the cost of tuition, which is… Is anybody around here? Is this on tape? Which is fucking peanuts. I don’t want you to say, hey, Dick, it’s fucking peanuts, but come on. I’m shocked, okay? As an employer, I’m shocked. $2,000 a year to bring somebody up and make them…

11:17
almost a journeyman, right? That’s nothing. That’s nothing, okay? And if I’m lying, you tell me, alright?

11:28
But yeah, when I was a small shop and I brought on my first apprentice, it seemed like a stretch. I think it was $1,200 a year at the time. But I didn’t flinch once paying that bill because this kid was excelling and he was doing complex setups. He was learning things quickly. And he was operating at a journeyman level within no time. And today,

11:58
I’m happy to say he’s run into advanced machinery five, six years later. So it was worth every penny. So you’re a much bigger shop now. I’m part of the group, yeah. Am I to believe then that it worked so well for you before? You have apprentices now?

12:21
We do. We have one that recently transferred into a fifth access area. He’s working side by side with the top guy there. Another guy, he’s been working side by side with the gal who runs the production line and soon to be moved into our model shop which we’ve recently enhanced so that we can not only so we can respond to customers needs but so that we can train up.

12:50
the next machinist because we need more machinists and we need to have a place to bring them in and get them started. And then from there, they’ll move into other departments. And it’s real key. So what would you tell other employers? I mean, I’m sorry, but your competitors, what would you tell them? Hey, do it yourself or try to roll your own? What I tell them is don’t wait for the government to put together a program. Don’t wait for your competitor to train up a guy that you can steal away.

13:20
skill set and put them in an apprenticeship that’s structured and proven and not expensive compared to if you were going to manage it and try it out. Put one or two apprentices in there. If you can put in two, that’s great because there’s camaraderie that’s built up. They’re in this together. They’re supporting each other, helping each other out. So it’s a good thing. And they’re learning from each other.

13:52
fucking perfect. That was good. That was like, I couldn’t have scripted that. That was perfect. That was perfect. I’m going to let you roll through, take a look at that last, take a look at those last two segments because I think that’s what I want to use and just make sure our sound and everything’s good and then I’ll let you.