Things to keep in mind as an apprentice?
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, North Shore
Re: Things to keep in mind as an apprentice?
As for torque wrenches, AMO's will have controlled calibrated / tested equipment you should be using. Check with your supervisor about even having calibrated equipment of your own in your toolbox. Some outfits are OK with it and will pay to keep the calibration tests current on your personal equipment. Others will ask you to leave specialty tools at home and use the shops equipment.
love it when it's four wide, love it when it's fast
Re: Things to keep in mind as an apprentice?
With regards to tools, my personal experience was that everything I had to get through college, was enough to get me started on the job. If I didn't have something, I'd seek out someone in the hangar who did have a suitable tool, and borrow it, once. The collection of tools I have is modest compared to what others have, but I have everything I need for the aircraft I've worked on. Most of the tools I use every day fit into a hard plastic roller box, and I can do a surprising amount of work using just what is there.
The suggestion that at least one other made about finding the right mentors is an important one. Pay attention to people's attitudes and their skill. There may be people that are very quiet, have zero social skills and can be difficult to talk to, yet once you work with them you realize they are among the smartest in the hangar, and you can learn a lot from them. You'll find others that can talk at great lengths about how wonderful they are, how terrible the company is, what a piece of garbage the plane is, every job they've ever done.... eventually you realize that talk is what they are best at, and while they may entertain you, you wont learn much of value from them.
The most valuable lesson I was ever taught was given to me before I even started college. You are always learning, even when you get your AME license, it is a license to learn. Never assume you know everything, and take every chance you can to develop personally and professionally. Seek out training, seek out the difficult jobs, do them over and over again until you can do them in your sleep. Read through the manual, go to the sections that everyone skips past, there is lot of interesting information out there. Some day you may be able to pull that information out of your brain and have the answer when nobody else does. I've heard from several people that the most frustrating thing they've run into with an apprentice is someone that thinks they know it all already.
Keep an open mind, and have fun. I graduated in '09, so I'm still relatively new, but I love it, I've worked in some interesting places with different companies, and I have had great experiences. I've worked for airlines, and overseas operator, and currently for a parts manufacturer/eventual component shop (long story) and I've had fun every step of the way. (PS: I left all jobs voluntarily and on good terms, have not been laid off, even though it was threatened on day 1 at my first maintenance job, where I worked for 3 years.)
If you enjoy it, don't let the nay sayers get you down. If you don't enjoy it, get out before you are in too deep.
The suggestion that at least one other made about finding the right mentors is an important one. Pay attention to people's attitudes and their skill. There may be people that are very quiet, have zero social skills and can be difficult to talk to, yet once you work with them you realize they are among the smartest in the hangar, and you can learn a lot from them. You'll find others that can talk at great lengths about how wonderful they are, how terrible the company is, what a piece of garbage the plane is, every job they've ever done.... eventually you realize that talk is what they are best at, and while they may entertain you, you wont learn much of value from them.
The most valuable lesson I was ever taught was given to me before I even started college. You are always learning, even when you get your AME license, it is a license to learn. Never assume you know everything, and take every chance you can to develop personally and professionally. Seek out training, seek out the difficult jobs, do them over and over again until you can do them in your sleep. Read through the manual, go to the sections that everyone skips past, there is lot of interesting information out there. Some day you may be able to pull that information out of your brain and have the answer when nobody else does. I've heard from several people that the most frustrating thing they've run into with an apprentice is someone that thinks they know it all already.
Keep an open mind, and have fun. I graduated in '09, so I'm still relatively new, but I love it, I've worked in some interesting places with different companies, and I have had great experiences. I've worked for airlines, and overseas operator, and currently for a parts manufacturer/eventual component shop (long story) and I've had fun every step of the way. (PS: I left all jobs voluntarily and on good terms, have not been laid off, even though it was threatened on day 1 at my first maintenance job, where I worked for 3 years.)
If you enjoy it, don't let the nay sayers get you down. If you don't enjoy it, get out before you are in too deep.
Re: Things to keep in mind as an apprentice?
We are getting them to read this thread on the first day of classcasey wrote:Excellent posts
All the above should be required reading on the last day of classes
