Bowers Residence, Utah, 2022
Starting your apprenticeship as a plumber is exciting! An apprenticeship is a great way to jump right into your plumbing career while you earn money working as well. Here at UMC, we’ve helped many of our team members work their way through their apprenticeship. We offer to cover 100% of our apprentice’s tuition costs and 50% of their books. Many of our apprentices start in our pre-apprenticeship program right in high school, where they begin working part-time on the job site while finishing their diploma. Once they graduate, they can move into the apprenticeship phase, they work full-time on the job site and attend school in the evenings twice a week.
As great as starting an apprenticeship is, it’s sometimes challenging to balance the demands of working and completing school work. We understand that and do our best to help support our apprentices while they meet their certification requirements. We often have more experienced team members mentor and guide our apprentices during this time. But ultimately, succeeding as a plumbing apprentice will come down to hard work. So what can you do to manage the demands of an apprenticeship better? Try these five tips!
- Adopt a time management system. You can try many methods to help you utilize your time most effectively. Experiment until you find the one that works best for you, and use that system to help you stay on track with all your work and school demands.
- Ask for help. We know that apprenticeships are not easy, and we want you to come to us if you are struggling. DeeAnn Devey, our HR supervisor, oversees our apprenticeship program, and she is an excellent resource if you need it.
- Keep healthy. A healthy lifestyle and diet are great ways to give you the energy you need. Make time for exercise, adopt a healthy diet and take charge of your mental health.
- Take breaks. The worst thing you can do as an apprentice is burn out because you are working too hard. If you need extra time to complete your certification or licensing exams, ask for it. Your supervisor will do their best to help you find the right balance.
- Adopt a can-do attitude. The reality is that the years you work and attend school will probably be tough. But adopting a positive attitude or mindset can make all the difference!
We know that starting a career in plumbing or HVAC isn’t easy, but we also know that it’s worth it. Yes, you’ll have to go to school and work simultaneously, but when it’s over, you’ll have a fulfilling and dependable career!
