Advice on training a trainee

[AyJayAreDii]

Hi guys,

I have been tasked with taking out a young trainee, I have never done this before and was wondering if any of you have done so. I have a young lad out of school who has no techical experiences either from collage or hobbies, (I know we all have to start somewhere) who I have to take around customers and "show him the ropes"

The problem is that he has almost no experience with tools, he is passing the theory off as too hard before he has even tried to think about it, he is not very inquisitive and he looks board most of the time. our workshop/HQ is too far for him to travel to, and I don't get much quite time to sit with him and talk as I am a walker in London.

I want to get him involved so he doesn't lose interest, but anything I try and show him seems to intense for him at the moment. I have asked for an old machine from the workshop to be brought down to our local sales office so I can take out all the units in order for him and go though the processes., but still waiting on that. And no word on a course just yet for him but they said that they are going to.

Any advice anyone? Or if anyone has any useful documents for training that would be great.

[Coptech]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

First off, it sounds like you are starting with the wrong guy. That being said, the work ethic of today's youth leaves much to be desired. The entitlement generation...Find out what his interests are and then try and relate that to the copy process. You have to get him to absorb the theory. That is the only way they will be able to think for themselves. The practical experience can follow that. The sad truth is, about the time you make something useful out of them, someone else will take advantage of your efforts and pay them a little more to steal them away.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

If you had the right guy, he would be naturally curious, and asking you a million annoying questions. And he would be taking the screwdriver out of your hand, because it's just to difficult to watch without participating. It took me a good 10 years before I could step back, and let somebody else take the lead.

In this situation I would muster all my patience, and put the screwdriver in the guy's hand. See what he can do. If he won't take the lead he's just the wrong guy. I don't think that you can teach somebody to be interested and participate. He's just got to have that innately. =^..^=

[AyJayAreDii]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

Well i have him this morning and I have a simple jamming on a MPC2551 so I think I will let him clear it and see if he can find the cause. Don't really care if he does or not. Just want to see how he try.

[Hansoon]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

If you had the right guy, he would be naturally curious, and asking you a million annoying questions. And he would be taking the screwdriver out of your hand, because it's just to difficult to watch without participating.

EXACTLY, well said Cat.

Hans

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

There's a saying that, 'you can take a cow to the river to drink water, but you cannot force it to drink!' The guy himself must be interested in the business and be willing to learn; this will make you psychologically prepared as well to teach him. Attitude is everything. Alternatively you could send him to the HQ so that he could 'idle about' in the workshop, this would gauge to see if he can develop any interest at all in the profession. Otherwise, judging from your post, he doesn't appear to be a 'tech material'.

[imihm]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

Hi guys,

I have been tasked with taking out a young trainee, I have never done this before and was wondering if any of you have done so. I have a young lad out of school who has no techical experiences either from collage or hobbies, (I know we all have to start somewhere) who I have to take around customers and "show him the ropes"

The problem is that he has almost no experience with tools, he is passing the theory off as too hard before he has even tried to think about it, he is not very inquisitive and he looks board most of the time. our workshop/HQ is too far for him to travel to, and I don't get much quite time to sit with him and talk as I am a walker in London.

I want to get him involved so he doesn't lose interest, but anything I try and show him seems to intense for him at the moment. I have asked for an old machine from the workshop to be brought down to our local sales office so I can take out all the units in order for him and go though the processes., but still waiting on that. And no word on a course just yet for him but they said that they are going to.

Any advice anyone? Or if anyone has any useful documents for training that would be great.

Hi there..
Please let him go on ricoh on line taring that would help much ...

Thanks

[fixthecopier]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

EXACTLY, well said Cat.

Hans

I double that. If he is bored and not trying to learn, he is not going to make it. To get rid of the boredum, time to throw him in the lake and he will either drown or swim. Put the screwdriver in his hand and make him do it all, and you just answer questions.




Some people will go through life feeling more comfortable with the phrase "May I take your order" than the phrase "What's going on with your copier".


I can be tough on people I train. I used to train people in the forge plant I worked at. You either want the job or you move on. Goes back to the very first leson I ever learned about getting a job. It was a high school job program. It was between myself and one other for a factory job paying well. You got to leave school at noon to go work. I didn't get the job. Guy said I didn't look interested or ask enough questions. Only other job I had been offered was at a tiny mom and pop [ litteraly] factory, making blown insulation by hand. It was the dirtiest nastiest job I ever had, for minimum wage.

[D_L_P]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

I found it got boring watching someone else work all day or tiresome trying to involve them in every single thing during the day. I'd let them have the tools in the morning while I did all the paperwork/looking up parts/codes/etc, then switched in the afternoon. Or let them have a few days doing something then switching. It seemed to work better making them responsible for just a few pieces rather than involving or explaining every single thing we do during the day.
Good Luck!

[slimslob]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

If all else fails, when you are back in the sales office, let him talk with one or more of the sales people. He might be sales.

[AyJayAreDii]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

Alternatively you could send him to the HQ so that he could 'idle about' in the workshop, this would gauge to see if he can develop any interest at all in the profession. Otherwise, judging from your post, he doesn't appear to be a 'tech material'.

I think i will ask if they could book him into a hotel to stay in the workshop for a week. They are going to try and get him on the ricoh exams and probably konica and kyocera. As we have a fair spread of the 3 in the field. i printer out a load of diagrams of drums and Dev process. And expand it in a simple manner. It is just i got my training doing workshop refurbishments and install setups for about 7 months. Then i went into the field. So this out with the engineers training is new to me either way.

[kei9tha]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

im in the same boat. i have to hire a new tech very soon. i dont know anyone that is even remotely techie enough to hire. i was told to hire a complete green and train him myself. i was never trained in the normal sense. i rode with the boss for a month, was then given tools, a vacuum, and a stack of service tickets and was told good luck. i say give him a month then send him into the world. he will either sink or float. i just happened to be able to swim real good.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

im in the same boat. i have to hire a new tech very soon. i dont know anyone that is even remotely techie enough to hire. i was told to hire a complete green and train him myself. i was never trained in the normal sense. i rode with the boss for a month, was then given tools, a vacuum, and a stack of service tickets and was told good luck. i say give him a month then send him into the world. he will either sink or float. i just happened to be able to swim real good.

To either sink or float, drown or swim when thrown into the river or lake would again depend on one's attitude on the circumstance! The young men of these days, unlike us baby-boomers, have negative attitude towards work; they're only very good at 'get-rich-quick' schemes. Giving him training for only one month and then sending him into world, as you say can only boomerang on the hard earned reputation of your company which you might have painstakingly built over the years! A good starting point would be to deploy him in the workshop first to polish his skills...that is if at all, before sending him into the field. This would give you ample time to observe his capabilities.

[fixthecopier]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

im in the same boat. i have to hire a new tech very soon. i dont know anyone that is even remotely techie enough to hire. i was told to hire a complete green and train him myself. i was never trained in the normal sense. i rode with the boss for a month, was then given tools, a vacuum, and a stack of service tickets and was told good luck. i say give him a month then send him into the world. he will either sink or float. i just happened to be able to swim real good.

You may not find someone with copy skills, but someone who has done HVAC or auto mechanics knows how to use tools and understands troubleshooting process. Don't hire someone who has never used tools to make a living.

[wester]

Re: Advice on training a trainee

I'm getting ready to hire my grandson. When he was younger 6-8 years old I'd bring home old copiers and have him "tear em down". Just get use to the tools and the various parts. I made it fun for him. Now when I train him I think I will train him the way I would like to be trained.