Mentorship and prep key to apprentice success: Carpenters’

While the dropout rate among young workers in many fields – including the building trades – is high, new recruits stand a good chance of going onto successful careers when their trainers/educators and first employers spend the time to properly prepare them for the work ahead.

“In the construction trades in general if you take on 10 pre-apprentice, only two might work out,” explains Samer Ismail, general superintendant, Oakdale Drywall Acoustics Ltd., a Concord-based drywall contractor that goes the extra mile to keep young apprentices happy and on the job.

A case in point is at a wall and ceiling contract at the YMCA, currently under construction as part of the Pan Am/Parapan Am Athletes’ Village in downtown Toronto.

Oakdale took on six pre-apprentices from the Drywall Acoustic Lathing & Installation Local 675 about two months ago at the job. Four of those recruits are still there today, three of whom have signed up as first-year drywall apprentices with the fourth soon to follow.

David Semen is the industry apprentice liaison for the Interior Finishing Systems Training Centre (IFSTC), where Local 675 apprentices learn their trade.

“The success at Oakdale is the result of a group effort between the contractor, us (IFSTC) and Carpenters Local 27, which provided training and support for the program,” Semen says.

Ismail praises the IFSTC and Carpenters Local 27 for ensuring the pre-apprentices sent out to Oakdale are well suited for the trade. Furthermore, he credits Semen for doing extensive follow-up with the pre-apprentices. “David’s gone to great lengths to help make them work out for us,” says Ismail.

Semen says keeping tabs on students — that includes regularly calling and texting them after hours — is a priority. “I ask them how their first day went, were they happy with their first paycheque and generally to how the work is going for them.”

“The idea,” says Semen, “is to keep them motivated, so they don’t get discouraged with the work. They seem to appreciate that support.”

While some contractors undervalue training, Ismail says it is a priority at Oakdale because having a good complement of skilled workers allows a contractor to bid on more jobs.

“If you give your workers the right training and don’t make them hate the trade, you will make money off of them and they will make good careers for themselves.”

One of the successful pre-apprentices (now a first-year apprentice) at Oakdale is Jacky Joseph, who credits Oakdale’s on-the-job training methods and Semen’s follow-up with keeping him and other recruits happy on the job.

Joseph, 35, says after doing a lot of different jobs over the years, moving into the field of drywall has been a smart career decision.

“I can say I am looking forward to a career in this.”

Christopher Valle, 27, graduated from George Brown College with a diploma in human resources but was working as a supervisor for a maintenance company before he signed up for the pre-apprenticeship program and landed work at Oakdale Drywall.

“It has been a great experience. I definitely see myself sticking to this,” says Valle.

Ismail says Oakdale’s training methods starts by easing pre-apprentices into the job. They begin by moving materials around to gain familiarity with the products and their installation methods. “Then, we slowly introduce them to the tools.” Each new recruit is paired up with a journeyperson.

“We have found that if they are only interested in a pay cheque, they don’t last. When someone shows interest in learning that is who we want to keep and train.”