Work experience

[Fah_Cue]

Hey guys, dam i havent posted in ages but be assured ive been still lurking I just have a few question that i hope i can het some help with before i ask my local locksmith if i can do work experience with him.

What can i say to them to let them know iam not a little punk kid who just wants to learn how to pick locks?

I can pick, i have my own picks. Should i keep this from them? or should i just judge how i think they would react after a few days (if they let me do work experience there)

Ive been thinking of what i should say to them and ive thought of; "I have exclent knowledge of how locks work and repin etc." and iam gonna say like "Iam eager to learn more about the locksmith business" thats all ive got so far . Any ideas of anything general i should say.

Hmm thats bout it,
Thanks guys
F_C

[JackNco]

tell him your teacher recommended you look in to learning an honest trade and that locksmithing apealed to you. I wouldn't mention that you pick locks till the second or third day.

John

[globallockytoo]

Agreed. Dont let them know at all that you have your own picks or that you may already know much about locks. Definitely display an interest....show them how quickly you learn.....dont give them the idea that you know it already.....otherwise they wont be interested.

dress well and be polite....conservative dress is better....depending on the Suburb of Sydney

I wouldnt even suggest telling them that you have your own set of picks for a few months into the job at least.

After displaying your prowess...you could tell them that you love practising all you are learning from them at home.

[JackNco]

months? work experience here lasts 2 weeks!

[zeke79]

I have to agree with global. Wait a few months before mentioning picks. Even at that point you might not mention how long you have had them.

[Raccoon]

It really depends on the locksmith. There are locksmiths who may even enjoy the challenge of shaping a "young lockpicker" into something more, or at least try to give that kid a taste of what locksmithing is really about.

So, try and judge for yourself before deciding that you shouldn't mention anything about picking locks or prior knowledge. But be prepared when questions are asked. My best advice is to not go in there with resume guns blazing-- just magically show what you know when the time comes to learn or apply it. OR, show sudden interest in things you find around the shop with statements like "Ooh, a Schlage Primus! What level dealer are you?"

I like JackNco idea of "teacher recommended you look in to learning an honest trade and that locksmithing apealed to you". This isn't even a lie, because all teachers recommend it.

Take Digital_Blue's locksmithing quiz. If you can answer those questions, you have enough information with you to speak intelligently.

[parapilot]

when i made the move from hobby picker to locksmith i was amaized about the amount i had to learn, i could pick most stuff i had my hands on and thought it would be easy! Wrong, a hobby picker is not a locksmith, its not that easy, so go to a locksmith and learn from fresh, keep quiet about picking, but show an interest in locks and how they work.

Dont know about anyone else, but if someone comes up to me in the shop or on site asking about picks i normally fob them off and im not happy talking about it to strangers, i also hate people watching me pick on the job, it always takes 10 times longer to

I love my job, its interesting and exciting, so go for it and good luck.

[LeaKeD]

So you tell them that it appealed to you.. Now the next questions. What about locksmithing appealed to you and why? Why should we hire/apprentice you? What are some words that best describe you?


those are the questions i still fear..

[Raccoon]

I think you could seal the deal if you took apart a baldwin lock, tossed it in a salad bowl, then re-assembled it in under 5 minutes.

I'd pay money to see this.

[Peaky]

If two people came to me for a job and one said they didnt know anything or at the least simply said they can not pick a lock but the other one sits down and gets out his picks and opens a lock in front of me i know which one i would employ,

Theres a differance between what is picking and what some think is picking, sure someone sitting down and opening a lock as seen on youtube would get them kicked out but if someone sat down and showed a careful and thoiughtful picking process they would get the job,

Picking isnt cooking, theres one way to do it and thats it, pick a lock until it opens, nothing more to it so showing you can do it isnt gogin to put you down but rather show the employer that he doesnt have to spend weeks teaching you how a lock works and why one can be picked,

Im a great believer in taking things to interviews to show and proove what you can do, the person showing me they have made an effort and can pick a lock is always gogin to get the job over someone who wants to be a locksmith but gives the impession that they havent even looked into how to pick a lock,

First impressions count and someone sat in front of me for a locksmith job telling me they cant or havent picked a lock is never gogin to get any job from me where as someone showing they have made an effort to try and learn before hand shows the willing and forethought a succesful job applicant would need,
Someone saying they havent picked a lock then gogin through loads of meetings and training sessions to teach them to then be found out they were infact lying and infact wasted my time wouldnt have their feet touch the floor on the way out of the business,

I suggest you dont dumb down and instead take a case with your picks and some locks and show them what you can do, it can only impress that you know some of what you are goign to be expected to know by the end of it,

Work experiance in the uk is somthing that the kids do during school and thats where the comment of it only lasting 2 weeks came from, i assume in this instance you are refering to trying to get a foot in the door by offering to work for a local company for free to get some experiance? if so they wont care what you already know,
If you refer to an apprentiship then again it wont matter if you have some bad habbits as they will be weaned out of you by a good teacher,
Other than that in the uk we dont understand your concept of work experiance im afraid as we dont have any differant system to what ive mentioned, i guess you could have the same system but get summer out of it instead of our systems that only offer a few days up to 2 weeks when at school,

[Fah_Cue]

sry i should of specified what i ment by work experience.

I mean work experience as in going to a business for a week instead of school to see how that job operates and what that job consists of. So just to clear up, iam not going in for an interview to get a job. Then again i wouldnt mind getting a part time job out of it but iam not putting my hopes up for one.

Iam currently searching for d_b's "locksmithing quiz" to no avail:( my search-fu is failing so if anyone can give a hand, thanks. ill keep trying, hopefully ill find it.

Theres some great info here thanks guys
F_C

[Peaky]

viewtopic.php?t=16003

If it is just a weeks work experiance then i sugest you tell them all that you know so you can get some decent experiance otherwise they will act as if you dont know anything and instead of sending you out on jobs with people and maybe getting a go you will instead have to sit there while some old croner explains how a lock works for 3 days before your let loose repinning one.

[globallockytoo]

I think you could seal the deal if you took apart a baldwin lock, tossed it in a salad bowl, then re-assembled it in under 5 minutes.

I'd pay money to see this.

You're probably right....except that Baldwin locks are not sold or even seen in Australia

[lockpicker69]

the first question i was asked when going into my local locksmiths was "was aspects of locksmithing do you want to learn most "?
of corse i wanted to say picking locks but never ,i told him i wanted to know everything there is and armed with my one day corse on the introduction to locksmithing certificate from the BLI which i paid for off my own back i was told i could start monday .
so he was looking for somebody who had already looked into the game and not just someone who can pick locks ,he will probably show you that a few months down the line .first of all i was making tea, cutting the odd key,sweeping up ,all the crappy jobs .
hope this helps
richard.

[lockpicker69]

the first question i was asked when going into my local locksmiths was "was aspects of locksmithing do you want to learn most "?
of corse i wanted to say picking locks but never ,i told him i wanted to know everything there is and armed with my one day corse on the introduction to locksmithing certificate from the BLI which i paid for off my own back i was told i could start monday .
so he was looking for somebody who had already looked into the game and not just someone who can pick locks ,he will probably show you that a few months down the line .first of all i was making tea, cutting the odd key,sweeping up ,all the crappy jobs .
hope this helps
richard.