A construction boss was stunned when his apprentice sent him a casual text message to announce he had resigned.
Scott Challen, who runs QHI Group, a Brisbane-based home renovation company, said he was stunned to receive a short text message announcing the apprentice would no longer be returning to work.
The text message read: ‘Thank you for the opportunity. I’m sorry I disappointed you, see you later.’
‘We put this young man. “It was fantastic,” Mr Challen said. yahoo.
‘And then, suddenly… He took out the insurance overnight without warning and decided he was going to move interstate.
“That lightness about his own career… he seemed committed, and suddenly he wasn’t committed anymore.”
The apprentice was only one assessment away from completing his first year.
Despite the abrupt notice, Challen said there were “no hard feelings” and he would welcome the young worker.
Scott Challen, group director of Brisbane-based home renovation company QHI, said he was stunned when an apprentice quit via text message.
However, he said it would have been preferable if the trainee had spoken to him face to face rather than simply sending him a text message.
Challen added that he had noticed a tendency among young workers not to communicate properly.
Another Brisbane-based builder, Corey Tomkins, tOld Daily Mail Australia is concerned about the current generation of apprentices rising through the ranks.
Tomkins, who founded Ideal Group in 2018, said social media had presented a false view of how easy it is to succeed in life with influencers displaying enormous wealth without seemingly having to work very hard.
This meant Apprentices are not prepared for long, grueling days with tools after finishing high school.
“Some find it difficult having to do that constantly, five or six days a week, and usually they only have one break a day,” Mr Tomkins said.
When a promising apprentice joined his business, it was sometimes difficult to keep them focused and many quit prematurely.
However, young traders would see rewards if they persevered through their apprenticeship.
“Construction is a career you tend to stay in, and if you stay in it long enough, you can see the financial benefits,” Mr. Tomkins said.
The abrupt resignation was also surprising because the trainee only had one more assessment left to complete in his first year.
Challen said it was disappointing that the trainee did not tell him face to face about the abrupt resignation (file image)
Tomkins has started hiring apprentices solely for their attitude and personality rather than their skills.
He added that his first apprentice, Jake, worked in a bar in the evenings and was still on site every day, working hard no matter how mundane the job was.
“So for the first two months, I didn’t care what he did outside of work, but he had to make sure it was balanced. And to his defense, he showed up every day,” Mr. Tomkins said.
‘We have a boy, he’s been an apprentice for a while. He is a mature learner, has a son and shares a car with his partner.
“But he still shows up on time every day, he works hard, he works on Saturdays and I don’t know how he does it, but he does it.”
‘But on the other hand, I have kids who live at home, their parents buy them a car and the only thing they have to worry about is going to work and getting the job done.
‘I can teach them everything there is about how to do the job, everything that can be taught.
“What you can’t teach is your attitude,” he said.
