I need a little help...

[P1mpF0x]

I am in 9th grade and am intersted in locksmithing. For school we have to find out what some of our options for our career pathways are. I was wondering how you would go about getting an apprenticeship or training for locksmithing and how old you have to be to start working for a locksmith.

[TorchBlower]

you could always ask a local locksmith about it or wait for a locksmith in the forums to respond....

[helix]

Getting good grades shows that you are not a loser and can learn.

Not to disrespect anyone who got bad grades because so did I.
Mainly because I wasn't there, not because I couldn't learn.

If someone came to me wanting a job from school, they'd have to
have a good attendance record from
school, and decent grades.

Ask your school about a work experience program as well.

Going to your local locksmith dressed not like a bogan,
nor like a rapper or a businessman and asking to
help out in the shop is a yes or no answer. 50/50
chance of an opportunity, so take it.

maybe learn as much as you can about locks and their
inside bits, how they work, a little bit of basic
terminology will help, he may ask, "Have you ever
disassembled a cylinder...?"
"Do you know why a plug doesn't turn without the key?"

If you at least know what he/she is asking, that
is a start.

Never pretend that you know more than you do.

You will learn this stuff by reading the MIT Guide to Lockpicking, http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html

checking out this site by Deviant Ollam:
http://deviating.net/lockpicking/topics.html

Bookmark these pages onto your computer.

Reading this site and asking questions on this site
after you have searched the site yourself and still
not got the answer you need. (unlikely)

Good luck with the apprenticeship, dude

[Chrispy]

bogan...

For those not familiar to Australian language, a bogan is an aussie redneck.

[keysman]

If you are in the states you may want to take the Foley Belsaw Course, while it won’t
make you a locksmith it will give the basic skills to build on. I am sure there are similar
courses available in Europe.
This will show your perspective employer that you have an interest in the field and the
staying power to at least “get the job done”. Try E-bay for previously owned courses, save
some $ .

While you are in school take as many industrial arts classes as you can , carpentry and
metal working are valuable skills to any locksmith, as is a working knowledge of
electronics.

The thing to keep in mind is locksmiths are in business to make money. Very few do it as
a hobby.

What a perspective employer would be looking for is someone he/she can put to work
on “easy jobs” with a minimal amount of training.
You may ask if you can work part time, many small shops have no need for another full
time employee and the owner just needs somebody to run the shop for a few hours a day
while he/ she is out running calls .
Also don’t expect much pay, maybe none at all for the first few months ,especially in
small businesses it will be some time before you actually make money for the owner ,.




1. Be the most value to the employer you can. (education training)
2 . Be willing to do any job from cleaning the toilets to getting coffee and doughnuts
3 .Have a good attitude and be friendly to the customers other employees
4 .Be willing to admit when you make a mistake, find out what you did wrong and
DON’T do it again.
5. Be willing/able to learn. Even 20 year veteran locksmiths learn something new all the
time.

Last but not least: Be willing to give more than you get. This may sound strange but read
Napoleon Hill, “Think and Grow Rich” for a more detailed explanation of why you
would want to do this.

Good luck on your quest ..please keep us informed of your progress

[P1mpF0x]

Thanks a lot guys, this really helped.

[kodierer]

Also you should learn about the best areas to be a locksmith in. For instance in a town with less than 1000 people a locksmith can't make money even as a hobby, and most police have snap guns, and an extensive car lockout kit. In a small yet not tiny town a locksmith can make a lot of money. However in a town like the one I live in there is 3 different locksmiths, and all of them only do it as supplement income because they can't make enough money to call it a living. However they could make more than enough if there was only one.
In a larger city a locksmith can make decent, or very good money. In a big city however you should either work for a shop, or own one, because it shows more professionalism, and thrustworthiness. Where an individual doesn't appear to be backed by anything. In a small town however I have never seen a locksmith shop, and this is probably because a shop can't make enough money to stay open, and the backing of a company for trust issues isn't really needed as much.

[kodierer]

I'd probably be a locksmith if I though I could make enough money as one.

[HeadHunterCEO]

Go to a shop and work during your summer break
tell the owner you are interested in locksmithing andf would like to join the shop for the summer
get ready to sweep the parking lot and wash vans but thats your in

[P1mpF0x]

Haha, sounds good. Thanks.