Ok i'm looking for a apprectinceship for my 16yr old son.
He is not interested in school constantly skips class regardless of what i say and is in yr11.
You can't force a 16yr old to do school work you can't legally beat your children anymore so the other day i told him to think about what he wants to do for a living.

I've given him 2 weeks to decide and if he cannot i will decide on a trade for him.
He is not a bad kid hangs out with reasonbly good kids but just is not interested in school, so if he does not want to be a kid for a couple of more years then its time to be an adult.

He currently works at macca's on the weekends and does close shifts but its definatley not a career so any idea's or if you know someone who has a opening for a apprenticeship (anything except hairdressing and floristry ) let me know.


Cheers
Scott

Group Training NT- they source the work and can even shift him around sites every so often (as in every 6 months) if the work runs out, or if he just hate the c*nts...... nice people, very friendly to talk to. Might be able to guide you in the right direction.

Good advice and a option.

I'd rather just drop him in with a hardarse tradie though so he can see what life is going to be like without some f**ker molly coddling him if he does not like it.

try diesel mechanic.....

pretty tuff kinda job other half does it for a living.... and there is oppturnity to work in town or out at mine sites either way the moneys good even for an apprentice. there are plenty of places in town he could go and work at and alot also service the mines.

But that all depends if he's into that....

May be worth checking out the Skills Shortages website and seeing if any of those industries interest him. Would help the country out a bit too.

GTNT are below us in Woods Street! They are very good - recently won National Awards for there work.
You could also venture upstairs to the Construction/Electrical Unions and ask them for some advice - the guys are tops up here and have a lot of insider knowledge on the better employers....

All good advice ty peoples.

the other thing is if he's interested PAWA (power and water) are tops with their apprentices! Good pay and conditions and you get to travel around the NT a fair bit- so he's still feel heat if you know what i mean!!

not really a fan of GTNT

airnorth haven't taken on any new apprentices yet afak guess you could try round there?

theres plently of apprentaships/traineeships out there.
mechanical, communications, IT,cooking whatever

though just because he won't be school dosen't mean he is going to just do hands on work he'll will be eventually be sitting in a classroom again for coursework/exams as required.

Yes i understand this with schooling but i think it is my only option now, if he is forced to grow up in a real job then hopefully the education side of things (coursework/exams) will follow and its a break from work.
He is educated quite well just not wanting to continue it right now.
If i could get him in the army right now i would.

How's his maths? Everyone needs a sparky.

Yeah good much better than mine
He isn't failing with grades but enthusiam is gone especially when the intranet/x-box/playstation is calling.
I destroyed 1 x-box last night and will confiscate the laptop back and thinking about melting the x-box 360.

How about Apprentice Boiler Maker... Hard, dirty propper gritty work. Starts out sweeping floors, and learning the basics of welding, but there's university involved in it too (Tafe anyway).

If he's really keen to grow up, he'll enjoy it. If he's slack, he won't last.
That's not a bad thing in either case, because at least then you know what you've got to work with on a personal level.

I think on a side note, it's too easy for kids these days. Leaving school was never an option for me, though it was about that time that kids were starting to do it more and more frequently. I'm no father, but I look back and think of if I were in that situation, what would I do...
If he's independant, then there's not a whole lot, and I dare say, he's probably grown up enough.
If he's not, he'll be affraid to rock the boat too much.

but yeah, Boilermaker mate, can't get more gritty then that without going into Sewage or garbage... Just make sure he goes to a good place.

agree with the above....

got to love stickin ya head in a bucket for 8-12 hrs a day in 35 deg heat with 90% humidity.

very good money to be had though.

workpac rang me last saturday for a days work at perkins.... cleared 500 for 8hrs.... errr work

Well he does like working with steel.
Most of my family (mums side) were boilys.

I might put that to him tonight after i melt his x-box 360.

Ever thought of a computer technician apprenticeship if he has so much interest in that stuff?

Yeah but his interests in computers is mainly manga porn so i have learnt.

That's true... Interest in computers these days isn't interest in computers like the old days.
Our family business is in the steel trade, we don't have any apprenticeships going at the moment (we have two apprentices, and it's pretty quiet with work right now), but there are others out there.

Personally licensed trades are the go electrician or plumber, locksmithing is about to get a form of regulation that takes it pretty close otherwise indoors work would have to be IT for a decent pay.

Brothers mate is an eletrical engineer never gets his hands dirty but works in desal plants and mines pushing $200k+ but got to admit he is smart bastard with experience behind him.

look into aviation

has so many skills doing aviation,

good money in it once qualified.

Scott, ummmmm, I mean Sir,

I've got the exact same "view" as your son. I go to Darwin High School and to be honest, I don't see the point in going to certain classes as it's a real headf*ck, I can't concentrate if kids are constantly yelling right next to me during an essay or whatnot, and the teachers don't seem to do anything about it.

I went to Group Training for about 2 months, then decided to go back to school for some reason. Now I wanna leave again. The thing is, I believe I'll have a better future IF I finish year12, which I bloody hope happens.

It's a great idea to do an apprenticeship, but I would think that a school based apprenticeship would also work very well, seeing as he can then get the qualifications he need AND finish school, which will look rather impressive - this is my option at the moment.

I'm also in year11, and 16..... so I kinda now what he's going through. If he's in Darwin High, I'd suggest he go talk to Ms. Meg Davis in the Career Hub, she deals with situations like this one. She'll be able to find your son a suitable apprenticeship/school based and she'll even call around for him if he's shy like me.

Hope you figure something out.....

EDIT:

My dad says you can still slap your kids as long as it doesn't scar.....




I can vouch for this, when I did group training they drove me out to Berrimah everyday to hand in my resume at different places, and I got about 3 callbacks - people who really wanted me, but things happened at home so I couldn't get there and back home every day of the week, but group training is really good option.



Wait you work in Woods Street? My dad used to work there - think it was no. 49 or something - Worley Parsons

put a bar of soap into a sock. it doesnt bruise mate!

hrmmm communications is a choice trade to be in man.. in saying that it realy depends on what type of comms work he get's trained in..

Thanks guys,

All this info helps and Balsak i must say with a name like Balsak i wouldn't of imagined you could of said much that would be intelligent and mature sounds like you have your head screwed on good.....ish. Call me sir again and i will kill you though..... lol

LOL at scarring and soap !

Does your son go to Darwin High? Maybe he's one of my wagging buddies?

Nope CSC wannabe Casboi centre of Darwin.

x2
will set you up for life too...

use me as an example. too much wagging and now im a fucking coles worker.

tell him to pull his head in and finish school, if hes in year 11 then hes come so far just to throw it away now, i had the same veiw when i was in year 11, couldnt b bothered going anymore but my parents convinced me to stay.. now im a second year sparkie apprentice with power and water and the best thing i did was finish school. its getting harder and harder to get a trade, yes even non ticketed trades like mechanic/boily without yr 12 maths/english.

How important is science for apprenticeships?

(Physics, Chemistry etc)

add maths to the equation and you could even try to be a pilot ...if you have the Attitude and Apptitude for it thou..




this man ...he knows....good money..

Damn I would like to be a pilot, I love flying, it's the falling that scares me.

I'm pretty good with maths, unless the kids in my class are a bunch of dumbshits?

he needs to finish his education coz that just something nobody can snatch of him ever ...though most of the schools are teaching half irrelavant things...but this is where u set ur bases for the future...sometimes it might be a good idea to walk him thru a step by step elimination process of wat he wants and does'nt want to do...so it is his decision at the end of the day( You can at times try to manipulate the CORRECT Answers, CORRECTLY TERMED AS GUIDENCE)...at his age kids take their parents to be their enemies..so it is hard to get thru to them as well..
understanding that he's got a laptop...X-box .....he's got it all sorted....guess u'r maybe fullfilling his needs ...maybe u just ensuring ur son gets the best as all fathers would but ensure he Understands that !
cosidering he is working in MAccas , wat are his thoughts about the hopitality industry ...there is a huge Shortage in there as well ...Chefs ...Service...
Goodluck mate ...thankfully i still have a few more years more left before i have to deal with the same situation ...as my kids are only very young ..toddlers .. growing very quickly..
but regarding the scarring and the soap trick...ensure no Bruising occurs ...and inform the disrepectfulTeen...might be 30 mins before rescue arrives..you u might know someone who might be very very HURT by then... Just JKs

good luck ...if he want to the hospitality way ...send me a PM ...might be of some assitance...

is he interested in auto electrics/electronics. for this he needs good grades in math/science. also not afraid of long hours.if a truck,excavator,trawler or ship is broken down it needs to be fixed now
not when you feel like it. if his attitude is in the right place give me a call

I'm gonna be finishing school, then may be going to the army to do mechanic apprenticeship or something that tickles my fancy, but I heard that even mechanics have to go through some kind of training..... I'm a bit on the chubby side.

fitter/machinist is a option, opens you to a whole new world with many directions. And if you get the right job set up for life

e.g. 3 weeks on 3 weeks off 3 weeks on 6 weeks off get paid monthly regardless if your working, $200 grand p/a. Not what I'm doing but I'm trying hard to get my foot in the door Otherwise just a throw around fitter $76hr... not to shabby

But at the end of the day if you don't finish school that goes out the window...

Employer: So why haven't you stayed in school

Son: Not interested

Employer : so how do I know you'll stick with this *throws paper work in bin* Theres the door...

School is the shiznit

if your not an aussie citizen dont even bother man.. no offence. if you have dual citizen ship say good by to the south african 1... just a heads up.

Nice advice,

I have always told him Army.... Mechanic, Fitter, Electrician, Auto elec etc etc etc. You will be trained make friends travel and get paid to do it and he is happy with that in fact he is happy to do a apprenticeship and then go to the army after he is completed shame the army age isn't 16.

He might have a interview in a cpl of weeks for a RF Technician apprenticeship so i've told him to study what a RF tech does and go from there.

School is the shiznit but you cant force someone to do something they do not want to do regardless of how you beat them bruising or not, here is the phone son call child services... go on.... it'll take them 27 mins to get here and in that time somebody gonna get real hurt... yeah i think you know who i'm talking about,.... yes you know him....real well..... lol YOU !

hrmm i think that gap year shit mite be 16? dunno.. ring em up n ask them mr feelgood..

Will do that....

dont push him into a apprenticeship , he wont last in it . I was in the exact same situation , was pushed into it at 16 lasted 3 years till i chucked it in cause it wasnt what i wanted to do . had a years brake then did what i wanted not what everyone else wanted am now triple traded HVM , Plant mech , Auto sparky . i work 7am to 3pm mon-fri on $44p/h . just my opinion .

lmao sure sure barry

Rf tech, he will never, I repeat never be without work. I know, I am in the industry. Just dont let him be a cabler, its a legacy industry that will actually shrink over the next 10 years. RF is getting bigger and bigger as the tech improves. Its fantastic now and will only get more interesting and demand is on the rise. RAAF's the go.

yer coz machinery n cammeras at places such as mine site are controled by rf.. ohh whoops tis all done by fiber. copper cableing will be gone in 10 years id say so unless rf shit is funneled into fiber i can see you RF "techs" gone aswell!

You are a little boy, you dont know what is going on.

Check the camera on the descriminater at ERA. wireless you dumb fuck.

I stoppped a 250k fibre job with a 10k encrypted link running 5 channels streamed video/audio at 100% for 3 weeks. De-mobbed and utilised for other purposes after that. Do that with fibre you stupid little fuck.

Anyway Scott, see if you can keep him in school, or he might end up like Riley here, l.iving life with a set of blinkers on.

Thanks RBNT,

Yeah this whole "I'm dragging you out of school" thing has given him a shake up and he has changed his attitude somewhat and the fact i have shown him this thread with the advice from you guys n girls maybe he will pick up the slack but you know he is young and sometimes school isn't what kids want. Some prefer to be working and i'd rather see him start a apprenticeship now rather than fuck around at school and fail so when he is 20 he'll be a ticketed tradesperson with some goals, working fulltime for some people is the only way to learn.
When he is working and enjoys what he is doing he is fullon into it and i'm hoping that i can get him into something that will make him want to get up in the morning and run around like a non reflective on pension day.

We're getting citizenship or whatever it's called, a South African guy I know is in the Air Force, I'll talk to him and ask what's the go with things, or I'll just pop into the office in the city.

But yea I reckon army is a good way to get things rolling, and even make a decent living.



Would be really good for him to go back to school, if he just does what's right, there won't be any trouble, and if he wants to be "naughty" he should just do it where nobody sees him

yer im pretty sure that was teh 1 that we werent able to do mate.. go to SX mate. if ya get spare time.. hrmm all fibre just like 99% of all teh cameras out there! kudos to ya for doing teh rf stuff ken.. doesnt apeal to me 1 little bit..

I say get him into an apprenticeship now. i was in the same position while i was at school ended up getting expelled in grade 11 but did finish year 12 and got sweet fuck all out of it. I wasn't a dumb kid i just couldn't stand going to school, i mean who would.
As long as he has a good attitude to work he'll be fine in most apprenticeships. Im a boilermaker now and took to it fairly easy the hard work will do him well

You only need to look at the city camera job, all wireless. No fibre, no copper. Its where its headed, thats all.