How I Joined the Plumbers & Pipefitters Union (And You Can Too) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00all right guys the time has finally come
2. 0:02when I give you guys a rundown of how
3. 0:05the process was for me and you know join
4. 0:08the Union as an apprentice you know
5. 0:10going in as a pipe fitter Apprentice I
6. 0:13know that is a new year and a lot of you
7. 0:16guys might be looking into this career
8. 0:18or already in the process and let me
9. 0:20just say that it's definitely worth it
10. 0:24so we are actually going to take this to
11. 0:26the very beginning to when I first
12. 0:29applied
13. 0:30to my local union so back in May of
14. 0:342023 I saw an ad on Facebook that the
15. 0:39union my local union was looking for
16. 0:41applicants it said the dates and time
17. 0:45and the time frame to go pick up these
18. 0:48applications I just knew as early as
19. 0:50possible I had to get this application
20. 0:53so I go and grab the application meet
21. 0:55the training director shake his hand and
22. 0:57you know go on my way like any
23. 0:59application this one had you know things
24. 1:02I had to bring in for example my high
25. 1:06school diploma or a GED you know do you
26. 1:10have any certificates that might help
27. 1:11you they he they also needed three
28. 1:14reference letters I was just so excited
29. 1:16to get the bar rolling I got all those
30. 1:18things done in literally just one day so
31. 1:21of course on that same week I dropped
32. 1:23off my application mind you guys we are
33. 1:26still in May of 2023 so in late May I
34. 1:30will schedule to take my aptitude test
35. 1:33before I go deep into the process of how
36. 1:35the aptitude test went and what it
37. 1:38requires just know that every local is
38. 1:42different they could have different way
39. 1:44of testing you know the applicants I am
40. 1:47simply just giving you guys my
41. 1:49experience on how it is in my local
42. 1:51that's why I would advise you to call
43. 1:54ahead and ask what kind of test are you
44. 1:57going to be given I actually did I
45. 1:59called them and asked them hey what kind
46. 2:01of test are we taking and you know they
47. 2:04were very nice the people in the front
48. 2:05test were very nice they actually gave
49. 2:07me all the information I needed and to
50. 2:09prepare there was actually two tests
51. 2:11that we were given the first test being
52. 2:13the Bennett mechanical and the second
53. 2:16part of this test being basic math so
54. 2:18let's begin with the banet mechanical
55. 2:20that test is built just to see how
56. 2:24mechanically inclined you guys are so
57. 2:26you could say in a way you got to use
58. 2:28your common sense when taking this benit
59. 2:30mechanical test like I'll give you an
60. 2:32example there was a page where it showed
61. 2:34gears a gear um at the bottom and a gear
62. 2:37at the Top If this bottom gear is
63. 2:39turning this way which way will the top
64. 2:42turn things like that another example I
65. 2:45can give you is there was I believe two
66. 2:47tanks filled with water with two
67. 2:51different size holes and it showed you
68. 2:54know it asked which tank will empty the
69. 2:58fastest and once again they just want to
70. 3:00see how mechanically inclined you are as
71. 3:02a person I'm actually going to give you
72. 3:03guys some of the tools that I actually
73. 3:05used on the benett mechanical test there
74. 3:08is this app on Android and on iPhones
75. 3:12and it's called Bennett test I will
76. 3:15mention that it is free on Android but
77. 3:18it's a dollar on the iPhone so with that
78. 3:20being said I linked down below where you
79. 3:23could guys check out a website like a
80. 3:26free course you guys can take that I saw
81. 3:29was
82. 3:30kind of similar to the Bennett
83. 3:32mechanical test like on what on where I
84. 3:34took it my local but I got to say that
85. 3:36this app called B bet test is the most
86. 3:40accurate that I have seen by the way all
87. 3:43this information will be listed Down
88. 3:45Below in the descriptions for you guys
89. 3:48this is basically a tool that will help
90. 3:50you you know better prepare yourself for
91. 3:53the aptitude test and now moving along
92. 3:55to the math portion of this test and
93. 3:58that is some BAS basic math so what I
94. 4:01received on this section of the test is
95. 4:03basically questions asking me if I know
96. 4:06how to read a tape so it would give me
97. 4:08like an image with an arrow pointing
98. 4:09like at a um at a fraction and I would
99. 4:12have to write oh it's pointing to the
100. 4:14half inch or it's pointing to the inch
101. 4:16and a quarter let me mention this to you
102. 4:18guys right now I have taken this test
103. 4:21before back in 20122 unfortunately I
104. 4:25failed you know this aptitude test so
105. 4:28mind you I knew in a way what I was
106. 4:32expecting and I knew if I got this
107. 4:34opportunity again I knew I am going to
108. 4:38study even harder I'm only telling you
109. 4:40this because I didn't know how to read a
110. 4:44tape I honestly did not know how to read
111. 4:47a tape so I will explain to you guys how
112. 4:50I bettered myself in that section so
113. 4:54this math test is going to give you of
114. 4:56course what I just mentioned how to read
115. 4:58a tape and and of course some basic math
116. 5:02which is you know adding you know
117. 5:04subtracting
118. 5:06multiplication division all the good
119. 5:08stuff it will also give you adding
120. 5:10fractions subtracting fractions
121. 5:12multiplying fractions dividing fractions
122. 5:15it would also give you adding decimals
123. 5:19dividing decimals subtracting decimals
124. 5:22multiplying decimals so let me give you
125. 5:24guys some of the tools that I used to
126. 5:27help me in this you know math section
127. 5:31let's first start off with how I learned
128. 5:35how to read a tape something that helped
129. 5:37me you know learned uh how to read a
130. 5:40tape is embedding it in my head every
131. 5:44single day and you guys are probably
132. 5:46wondering how did you do that it's very
133. 5:48simple what I did I went onto Google I
134. 5:52searched up an inch on a tape where it
135. 5:54shows the fractions and what I did was
136. 5:57set that as my lock screen something we
137. 6:00do as people is unlock our phone 150 to
138. 6:06200 times a day or even more so what I
139. 6:09told myself is before I unlock my phone
140. 6:13I have to go over the inch before
141. 6:16unlocking my phone I will look at my
142. 6:18phone and be like 1 18 38 58 78 1/4 3/4
143. 6:23half 116 316 516 716 96 16 1116 1316
144. 6:331516 and I would do that every single
145. 6:35time up until the test and trust me it
146. 6:38was already embedded in my head before
147. 6:40the test so that was part of the math
148. 6:43section but there's also basic math and
149. 6:46what I did a tool I used was YouTube I
150. 6:51just simply went on YouTube and I
151. 6:54searched how to divide fractions you
152. 6:57know how to multiply
153. 7:00factions and when I would look at those
154. 7:02YouTube videos I would also use an app
155. 7:06called math this app would of course
156. 7:09generate math problems on what you were
157. 7:12exactly looking for if you wanted to do
158. 7:14let's say division you know you hit this
159. 7:16app and put division so whatever you
160. 7:18know problem the app gave me I would
161. 7:21write it down on paper and learning from
162. 7:24the YouTube videos I would try to solve
163. 7:28that problem and you know guys I did
164. 7:29this every single day all the way up
165. 7:32until my test I knew I did not want to
166. 7:36fail and now after completing my
167. 7:38aptitude test I just left and all you
168. 7:41have to do from there on is just wait it
169. 7:44out you will receive a letter telling
170. 7:47you if you passed or if you failed and
171. 7:50in that letter it will also give you the
172. 7:53information on when the interview will
173. 7:56be and I'm going to read it to you guys
174. 7:58dear applicant congratulations on
175. 8:00passing the aptitude test portion of the
176. 8:02application process the next step in the
177. 8:05process is the interview your interview
178. 8:08will be conducted at the plumbers and
179. 8:10Pie Fitters Local and down below it
180. 8:13reads your interview has been scheduled
181. 8:16for July 18 of 2023 at 9:20 a.m. so that
182. 8:22gave me an entire month to prepare for
183. 8:25this interview and now let's get into
184. 8:27the last portion which is the interview
185. 8:31of course I was going online you know on
186. 8:35Reddit on anything you know to find what
187. 8:38kind of questions I was going to be
188. 8:40asked you know to prepare myself and
189. 8:43trust me I was getting I was getting
190. 8:45prepared to take this as the days got
191. 8:47closer of course I got nervous you know
192. 8:50anxious to get this over with so the day
193. 8:53of the interview comes of course I dress
194. 8:56casual I think I was just wearing like a
195. 8:57white sweater some jeans and some dress
196. 9:00shoes nothing you know crazy just being
197. 9:04casual you know I saw some guys there
198. 9:06with some flannels I saw some guys there
199. 9:08with you know a button up with that
200. 9:11being said just dress presentable so I
201. 9:14am there waiting you know the interviews
202. 9:18actually weren't that long I believe the
203. 9:21interviews were five to 10 minutes
204. 9:24because remember guys they are trying to
205. 9:26interview many many people so you know
206. 9:29they want to do this literally in one
207. 9:31day you know I saw people come out the
208. 9:32room you know a guy actually told me hey
209. 9:36man H good luck and I was like okay
210. 9:40thanks now I'm even more anxious so I
211. 9:43asked the guy hey what kind of question
212. 9:45did they ask you you know so I could
213. 9:46maybe I'll get this ask the same
214. 9:48question so I asked them hey what did
215. 9:49they ask you and he said well they just
216. 9:52asked me if you know how were my grades
217. 9:54in high school you know were my grades
218. 9:57good basically getting to know him they
219. 10:00asked him like hey were you late to
220. 10:02school many times you know did you miss
221. 10:04school many times and then boom it was
222. 10:06my time you know the training director
223. 10:08said hey Alex here's the room go in I'm
224. 10:12a person who has a lot of faith so I
225. 10:15just said you know God if it's your will
226. 10:19ain't nothing got to stop that I walked
227. 10:20into the room and I wasn't as nervous
228. 10:25as I was I was calm collected one of of
229. 10:29the things I was going into this room in
230. 10:31with with it in mind is oh I'm going to
231. 10:33go Shake everybody's hand but that was
232. 10:35impossible because of the layout the
233. 10:38room was going into this I knew I was
234. 10:40going to be you know interviewed by
235. 10:43three contractors and three you know
236. 10:47members of the Union so I walked in so I
237. 10:50am sitting there with this layout that
238. 10:53looks like the letter n and you're
239. 10:55basically at the bottom so there's the
240. 10:57letter n and then you are at the bottom
241. 11:01facing these guys the first thing they
242. 11:02asked me was tell me about your trade
243. 11:04school that you went to and I told them
244. 11:06you know this was back in
245. 11:082019 or 2018 I went to a trade school
246. 11:12for nine months I took a little bit of
247. 11:14Plumbing experience I told them that I
248. 11:16went to trade school you know for
249. 11:17plumbing out in Connecticut and told me
250. 11:19oh that's good that's good so honestly
251. 11:22it felt like they were trying to get to
252. 11:24know you as a person I told him that
253. 11:27that was back in you know 2019 that I
254. 11:29took that trade school and I know it's
255. 11:31been a few years but I told him that
256. 11:34this is it they also asked me you know
257. 11:37if I've ever been late to work if if I
258. 11:40missed many days of work and I bet I was
259. 11:44honest I you have to be honest in these
260. 11:46things cuz these guys are trying to they
261. 11:48know when you're not being truth and of
262. 11:49course as people we know we have issues
263. 11:51sometimes emergencies come up so I just
264. 11:54said I don't miss work because I want to
265. 11:57I miss work because I need to they also
266. 12:00asked me where I was from and I said hey
267. 12:02um I live near here like literally just
268. 12:055 minutes away they also asked me hey
269. 12:08are you willing to travel far sometimes
270. 12:10you would have to travel far for some
271. 12:12jobs and I said that's not an issue they
272. 12:15also asked me how I was working at this
273. 12:17Warehouse you know they just trying to
274. 12:19really get to know you as a person so
275. 12:22they will act they were curious about
276. 12:23the warehouse I was working in they're
277. 12:25like oh man how how's working at that
278. 12:27warehouse and I told them h
279. 12:29do a night shift you know 60,000
280. 12:33packages a day barely getting any sleep
281. 12:36the night I told him yeah the night
282. 12:38shift can be brutal and you know I think
283. 12:39at one point I I made him laugh once
284. 12:42again these guys are trying to get to
285. 12:44know you as a person you know when I
286. 12:46told him I live nearby he asked me oh do
287. 12:49you own a home and I had mentioned to
288. 12:50him that me and my wife actually bought
289. 12:52a home here you know we have a daughter
290. 12:55here these you know the union is looking
291. 12:57for f family
292. 13:01oriented people in a way people that
293. 13:03have responsibilities people that can't
294. 13:06just up and just leave the union they're
295. 13:08looking for people of course who have
296. 13:10bills to pay in a way so my tip to you
297. 13:13guys is is if this question ever pops up
298. 13:16let them know that you are here for a
299. 13:19reason you are here to build a
300. 13:22fulfilling career and support my family
301. 13:25in general it just has to be you're here
302. 13:28to grow you know learn a life skill that
303. 13:32you're going to use
304. 13:33forever support your family one of the
305. 13:36last questions that they asked me it was
306. 13:39out of the blue I wasn't even expecting
307. 13:40this question like I was so like over I
308. 13:44let me say this I overthought so much on
309. 13:46this question they asked me what do you
310. 13:49like to do on your free time I honestly
311. 13:52still don't know why I said this but I
312. 13:54said on my free time I like to do some
313. 13:57social media marketing and they looked
314. 13:58at me like like huh and I just simply
315. 14:02like switched it up and said I like to
316. 14:04do YouTube you know um someone who likes
317. 14:07mountain biking I'm someone who goes you
318. 14:09know loves hikes who loves fishing I I
319. 14:12just simply love the outdoors you know
320. 14:14kaying or and they ask me oh what kind
321. 14:16of YouTube do you have I'm like oh I
322. 14:17have a m biking Channel I like to
323. 14:20explore trails in New England and
324. 14:22they're like oh wow that's cool so
325. 14:24honestly it didn't feel much like an
326. 14:26interview but they're just literally
327. 14:29trying to get to know you as a person so
328. 14:32when you go into this interview go as
329. 14:35yourself of course be honest be calm and
330. 14:38collected respond to them with
331. 14:40confidence as well and one of the last
332. 14:42things they said was do you have any
333. 14:44questions for us and I I believe I asked
334. 14:46a question about plumbing
335. 14:49and everybody just looked around the
336. 14:51room like oh there's only one plumber
337. 14:54here so he answered the question I asked
338. 14:57I believe the question was what do you
339. 14:58guys enjoy of your plumbing career the
340. 15:00guy giving the interview you know he
341. 15:04said so you don't want to know about the
342. 15:06pay and he explained to me the you know
343. 15:08the pay breakdown he showed me you know
344. 15:09how much I was going to make as time
345. 15:11went on I was like oh great that's
346. 15:14awesome from there on I got up said
347. 15:16everyone have a great day and I left so
348. 15:20I have the paper here that interview
349. 15:22once again was on July 18 and then I
350. 15:25received another letter on August 1st of
351. 15:2923rd and it says on behalf of the Joint
352. 15:32Apprenticeship Training committee it is
353. 15:34my duty to inform you that you have been
354. 15:36placed as number seven on the list of
355. 15:39eligible Apprentice applicants so it
356. 15:41said I will stay on this list placed on
357. 15:44number seven until I receive a call with
358. 15:47that being said after the interview and
359. 15:49after you get this letter of what number
360. 15:51you're placed in all you have to do is
361. 15:54be patient your time will come so on May
362. 15:5828th
363. 15:592024 was my first day on a job I really
364. 16:04hope you guys found this video very
365. 16:05informative if you're out there try to
366. 16:07join this you know just know to be
367. 16:10patient and your time will come remember
368. 16:12guys everything will be linked Down
369. 16:15Below in the description but for right
370. 16:17now guys have a blessed day