What to do when your plumbing foreman is a terrible teacher
Journeymen and foremen who get annoyed by questions make apprentices feel stupid for trying to learn basic tasks. This constant hostility makes the first year miserable and prevents new workers from getting the proper hands-on experience they need.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 16.1× more often in r/Plumbing than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1asking management to be rotated to other crewsDid this help you?
- 2leaving the company to find a better shopDid this help you?
- 3learning from other experienced coworkers when they rotate inDid this help you?
- 4Writing notes on breaks and studying plumbing codes, tools, and fittings outside of workDid this help you?
- 5Anticipating the journeyman's next needs and trying to fix mistakes independently before reporting themDid this help you?
- 6Switching employers or requesting a different journeyman through union apprenticeship coordinatorsDid this help you?
- 7Standing up to the mentor or pushing back directly when treated unfairlyDid this help you?
- 8Talking to other tradesmen friends for adviceDid this help you?
- 9Considering whether to suck it up, ask for a different journeyman, or talk to a supervisorDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Do they actually do anything? Or do they just drop out of teaching because they don’t like it or can’t handle it, then get “promoted” to tell teachers how to do the job they couldn’t/wouldn’t do? And justify their jobs with endless pointless meetings?”source ↗
“Sorry I needed to vent to someone who gets it.”source ↗
“I’m currently riding with a journeyman who I’m having a hard time working with and I’m looking for some advice on whether I’m overreacting.”source ↗
“he basically told me that I “don’t really have common sense.” I let him know this is my first job working with tools - and want to learn, just new to this.”source ↗
“What bothers me is that I don’t feel like I’m being taught much, and I feel like I’m being treated like I should already know things after only being in the trade for 3 weeks.”source ↗
“I don’t want to be the new guy who immediately starts complaining, but I also don’t want to spend the next several months learning nothing and getting treated like shit.”source ↗
“feeling frustrated and like im not learning as much as i could/should be.”source ↗
“my foreman is pretty brutal at times. She is not the best teacher or communicator and frankly not a great plumber either.”source ↗
“You’re gonna ask stupid questions and be made to feel that you're stupid for asking.”source ↗
“That first year is absolutely miserable. Stick with it.”source ↗
“My boyfriend is 25 and he worked as a residential side sewer laborer and he recently started a commercial service plumbing apprenticeship 2 weeks ago. He’s a really hard worker and he was so excited to get into this trade but his journeyman seems to only make him feel like he’s not doing enough.”source ↗
“My boyfriend tells me every day that he tries to ask as many questions as he needs but every time he asks a question his JM gets annoyed and acts like he’s dumb for asking him any questions.”source ↗
“He’s only been there TWO WEEKS! How is he supposed to know things that he’s never done? He got chewed out today bc he ordered a part (a specific number) that he was told to order but apparently he wasn’t supposed to order the whole part.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 15How to deal with a manager who is confidently wrong
- 2Why do coworkers just say "it just works like that"?
- 6How do I find a management mentor outside my company?
- 9Why is handling employee relations so overwhelming?
- 20How to handle a manager who insults you publicly
- 2Dog trainer uses choke or pull collars for training