# When did you become competent?



## Mansfield97 (May 21, 2015)

Hi everyone, 

For the past year I have worked with my father as a carpenter. Recently everything I have learned from him has clicked. and I learn 100 more things every day. 

Im sure it will be another 2 or 3 years before I dare to call myself competent. A lot of you on hear have never had a formal apprenticeship and are equal if not better than someone with a certificate.

How long were you working before you were competent?

Sorry if its a strange question, but i look forward to your replys:thumbup:


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## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

I've been in the trades for 12 years, and in construction/carpentry for the last 8.
After 6 years I thought I was good, I've spent the last two realizing that I'm adequate. 
I've got competence in some areas that I've spent more time in, but I'm still far from being competent all around. 
Just keep learning and, more importantly, retaining that information. 

Welcome to CT.


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## BRShomerepair (Jun 28, 2015)

it depends how wide an area you wish to be competent in. You can really never stop learning new things in this trade, as well as being proficient in other trades, the common remodeling stuff, if that's what you do.

If you do nothing but framing, after a few years you should be a pretty good framer . If you wish to be competent in different areas, then add on some more years for each area, ex. finish carpentry. I would say give it ten years or so to be "seasoned". Of course the level of competency will go up with how eager you are to take on new challenges and learn new things, rather than be happy with just doing certain tasks over and over on each job.

I found it was when I finished my apprenticeship that I really started learning and expanding my knowledge base, and refining techniques. I am always striving to find ways to be more efficient, I enjoy the challenge.


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## Mansfield97 (May 21, 2015)

BRShomerepair said:


> I enjoy the challenge.


I love the problem solving.


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## BRShomerepair (Jun 28, 2015)

Part of it to for me was learning patience with stuff. When something isn't working, or an unexpected issue comes up, take a step back and think it over, instead of rushing ahead frustrated. 

I would focus on working at a steady pace and thinking jobs out and doing a proper job, making sure you aren't in a hurried rush type mode. For me jobs always go smoother when I am relaxed, and if you take your time and do a quality job, speed comes with efficiency, not rushing to do things as fast as you can, which can affect the quality of the end result. Generally speaking about renovation and repair work here, which can be quite different than building new stuff.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

Problem solving takes time and costs money. I prefer no problems and smooth sailing.

I hung vinyl and fiber cement siding for probably 3 or 4 years before I felt like I had a firm handle on it. I have been doing it for over 15 years now and I still have the occasional WTF? moment.

As for the other things I do, I tend to stay in my comfort zone. I stick with residential and small commercial glazing because there is way too much to learn in the large commercial glass wall systems. I don't have 5 years or more to become a pro in that area. Also, like I said, I don't like problems.


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

If you truly work to master one area of construction it will inevitably lead you into other areas. I started painting, then finishing floors, then tiling, gotta learn some plumbing if you're going to yank a toilet, then laying hardwood floors, base and case, sash window repair, glazing, pressure washing, fence building, decks, roofing etc etc. One skill leads to the next; one of the best things about being a ronin (woops meant contractor).


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## Mansfield97 (May 21, 2015)

Thanks everyone. :thumbsup:


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## Warren (Feb 19, 2005)

Competency is a good starting point. By asking good questions, and listening carefully, you will get there sooner. Once you have reached competency, the real fun begins.


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## Creter (Oct 13, 2009)

The learning stops only if and when you want it to :thumbsup:


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## Youngin' (Sep 16, 2012)

In talking to guys that just got their journeyman ticket that's usually a starting point of sorts for them. There's so much to learn past what they teach in school. 

I'm currently a 3rd year apprentice but I inherited crew lead after our last superintendent left. I'm competent in some areas but have so much more to learn in others and I've been at this 5 years now.

If I have a spare moment I'll ask our regular subtrades questions. Most are open to talking about their trade. There is a lot of knowledge out there but you need to take the initiative to ask and make sure to listen.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

I'd just trow 5 years out there for a number.


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

You are competent when you can accomplish a task to the satisfaction of the customer or owner (if you're an employee) consistently while making instead of losing money for you as a business owner or your employer as an employee...

Consistent doesn't mean you won't make mistakes...

You've mastered it when you find yourself in the position of others coming to you for advice on becoming better or more competent at that task because of your demonstrated consistent competency... this can happen sooner for some than others...

But there's always room for improvement... :thumbsup:


IMHO in asking the question, you are a few steps ahead of others...

.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

I'm hoping to get to a basic level in the next 2-3 years...:whistling


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## Texas Wax (Jan 16, 2012)

:whistling

Surround yourself with idiots and fools ..... Works every time :thumbsup:

:laughing:


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

griz said:


> I'm hoping to get to a basic level in the next 2-3 years...:whistling



You can back slide faster than that!:laughing:


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

griz said:


> I'm hoping to get to a basic level in the next 2-3 years...:whistling


That's where I'm at too. Let me know how it feels.


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

SmallTownGuy said:


> That's where I'm at too. Let me know how it feels.


In 2-3 years, you realize it's actually another 2-3 years...  :whistling :laughing:


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Thats what i consider myself, competent. I can and have set up a lot of square foundations, framed straight, strong houses, sided and trimmed that look good and im proud of,, roofed quite a few houses/buildings that didnt leak, had straight valleys, ect.... Erected/built/welded quite a few boat docks and some metal buildings that were quality, fabricated handrails, ect... I can make a living doing them. Been in construction over 15 years full time, part time for several years prior. 

But im not an expert in any of those, imo. There is a lot of trades im not competent in.


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## muskoka guy (Nov 16, 2013)

After five years you think you know it all. After ten years you realize how little you knew at five years . After twenty years you realize you will never know it all. There is just too many trades and skills to learn in one lifetime. If you were to stick strickly to one trade, you should be competent after five years. Hopefully after ten you should pretty much have it mastered. Every person is different. Some will never master anything due to lack of ambition or intelligence . Most people as stated don't stick strictly too one trade. I started out framing 32 years ago. I consider myself competent at many trades as trying to stay employed in hard times forces you to expand your knowledge. Every skill you get is money in the bank down the road.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

It takes about 10 or 12 years to figure out your not near as cool as you thought you were. :laughing:

These trades are testosterone and ego driven. That's not a bad thing, it's how we men are. It's a fact of life. We are competitive by nature.


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

I was competent after about twenty years. I've been in my prime for the last ten. 

I say prime because I'm old enough for people to respect the experience level I have. And I'm still young enough at heart to show enthusiasm toward the project at hand. 

Competence at a trade is one thing. Journeyman level is another way of saying the same thing. But when you step past that and run your own business, competence is measured in many other ways. It can only be measured by your string of happy customers, employee turn over, profitability, your own level of happiness, your ability to keep your home fires burning. Not necessarily in that order. But when you pull all of that together, I say you are competent. 

Once your name is on the truck, you can be a very competent tradesman but if you have nothing to do, you're broke and your family is in disarray, you need to learn some more lessons before you arrive to competent.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

I fake it every day.


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

If I ever get there, I'll let you know how long it took. :blink:






Delta


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> I fake it every day.



I believe you.
I'm one of the few that do. 

All kidding aside, there is something to the saying " Fake it till you make it".


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Gus Dering said:


> I believe you.
> I'm one of the few that do.
> 
> All kidding aside, there is something to the saying " Fake it till you make it".



I am getting really good at faking it now.:whistling:laughing:


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## illbuildit.dd (Jan 7, 2015)

muskoka guy said:


> After five years you think you know it all. After ten years you realize how little you knew at five years . After twenty years you realize you will never know it all. There is just too many trades and skills to learn in one lifetime. If you were to stick strickly to one trade, you should be competent after five years. Hopefully after ten you should pretty much have it mastered. Every person is different. Some will never master anything due to lack of ambition or intelligence . Most people as stated don't stick strictly too one trade. I started out framing 32 years ago. I consider myself competent at many trades as trying to stay employed in hard times forces you to expand your knowledge. Every skill you get is money in the bank down the road.


Perfect. When I passed 20 yrs I also told myself the same thing


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

Gus Dering said:


> I believe you.
> I'm one of the few that do.
> 
> All kidding aside, there is something to the saying " Fake it till you make it".


Agreed. The first few jobs I took on my own I'm pretty sure the customer knew I was full of ****, I knew I was full of ****, but we were both willing to let it slide because I was a nice guy and knew I'd fix whatever I messed up.
I never really messed anything up beyond repair, and the price was nice enough that they'd call me back.

I'm liking the five years number. It took me 4 with somebody else, then 1 on my own before I started to get the hang of a few things. I can walk into a room that needs crown moulding installed and say with confidence how much time it's going to take and how much material I'm going to need, and give a HO a price right then and there. I did it the other day. If felt nice. 

To the OP, best I can say is that you can kind of feel it when you're on top of the situation instead of the situation being on top of you.
Like everybody else said, there's no way you get this feeling with every discipline. Too much to learn in a thousand lifetimes.


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## Mansfield97 (May 21, 2015)

Thanks for all of your advice guys. I really appreciate it :clap:
I didn't think I would get so many responses.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Mansfield97 said:


> Thanks for all of your advice guys. I really appreciate it :clap:
> I didn't think I would get so many responses.


That's what happens when you ask a good question.:thumbsup:


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> I am getting really good at faking it now.:whistling:laughing:


That's what she said... :whistling :jester: :laughing:


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

I've also realized that the guys who are constantly trying to tell me how much they know or how good they are aren't usually as cool as they think they are. Whenever I've worked with a good, usually older carpenter they're never running their mouth always selling themselves.


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## country_huck (Dec 2, 2009)

Skills and an understanding of how things are suppose to be can be learned in a few short years. Of course there is always some new tips and discovery of better products ect.

Situations are what make you competent. The more situations you encounter the easier is is to make an educated decision on how to get the project or customer to where it is suppose to be. The more you see and LEARN from the more productive and more successful you will become


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## Agility (Nov 29, 2013)

*When Did You Become Competent?*

I can't wait to be competent. It's going to make my job so much easier. 

For the last two years things have been clicking for me. That's after 6 years as an employee and 1 year on my own. I think I regressed when I started working for myself.


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

Simply put, competency is the ability to do the job from start to finish without any inadequacies in the finished product.

Quality of work is a different issue which isn't the same as competency even though we tend to incorrectly equate the two attributes. So if someone can lay carpeting in a 900 square ft. basement and finish the job in 3 hours with only a few waste scraps, we would call them competent. 

But if you consider the guy who takes an entire day to do the same job and he ends up with more waste scraps than he has finished carpeting on the floor, he lacks a certain amount of experience and knowledge even though he is indeed competent. If there are no visible seems, and the edges make it under the baseboard, the worker is competent. He may lack efficiency but he can get get the job done and the rest will come in time.


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## aaron_a (Dec 18, 2013)

Easy Gibson said:


> Agreed. The first few jobs I took on my own I'm pretty sure the customer knew I was full of ****, I knew I was full of ****, but we were both willing to let it slide because I was a nice guy and knew I'd fix whatever I messed up.
> 
> I never really messed anything up beyond repair, and the price was nice enough that they'd call me back.
> 
> ...



I remember my first fake it till you make it gigs. Some guy called me up from a craigslist ad and somehow hired me on the spot. All hourly to just completely redo this terrible house he bought. He was just winging the whole damned thing. He actually talked me into cutting a dormer into his roof, which turned out great.

He turned out to be a crazy lunatic, in the end. But he did introduce to me to someone as "the future best contractor in Pittsburgh"

Not there yet, but I'm sure I'll at least be competent one day. I think I'm reasonably competent as a carpenter, but always still learning and progressing. Now it's the managing and the business aspect that I'm working to figure out more. I think that is what has the chance to sink me as a contractor.


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

Probably never be competent.


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## EthanB (Sep 28, 2011)

I honestly don't know how long it took me to establish a good "base" where I had enough general construction skills to start being proficient at the specialties. I know that it had happened by the time I was 19 but I started working very young and had several thousand hours of construction experience at that point. After that it seems to take about 1-3 years to get proficient in something new. At 21 I was a damn good scene carpenter, building sets and display work. After two years working in a cabinet shop, I was regularly getting compliments from the bench guys and the designers. 

Remodeling is much more diverse, so it's been 6-7 years of that and I still find myself lacking in some areas that I haven't encountered before but I've become pretty good at a number of different projects.

For the past year and a half I've been dedicating most of my energy towards decks and I'm at the point where I'd say I'm PROFICIENT but have a long way to go before being EFFICIENT. I'm paraphrasing but I remember one of my early mentors saying "It takes twice as long to get from "okay" to "good" as it does to get from "zero" to "okay" but it takes 10 times longer to get from "good" to "great", and most people can't even then."


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## illbuildit.dd (Jan 7, 2015)

Some people in this business are extremely competent and know everything in the whole wide world. Like the guy I just met.
:blink:


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## oldfrt (Oct 10, 2007)

After 40 years in the trades I guess I can identify with #2 the most.
Only because its hard to accept new products and procedures that
may not have withstood the test of time,yet are readily applied as
industry standards.

Seems like a full time job separating quality from hype.So I stick with what I know until I've seen long term results.

So................I'm adequate for the purpose for the time being.
But.............My competence may be dated.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

I lived through the Recession !!!:whistling


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

I was feeling competent today. Until I made a wrong cut. First one on the entire house. Now I feel sad.

Seriously though, these days I can usually go through a project with no miss cuts or noticeable mistakes. It has taken a long, long time to get there though. 

It isn't really bragging, it is more like confidence in your trade. I'm sure most of the long time guys are the same way.

I also approach things with more finesse instead of Hail Marying it, I remember when doing vinyl siding and half my fancy cuts were off or my layout was off, etc.

Of course next week it will take a whole box if siding to make one rip cut right. : grin


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

This was a great thread. I sure didn't mean to kill it.


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## carpenter uk (Nov 25, 2009)

You can be competent in aspects of your trade fairly quickly but many trades have thousands of aspects and a lot of tradesmen never get chance to do many so never become competent overall in their trade.

Take carpentry for example, you should be competent in fitting base board within 6 months from a standing start if you are doing it week in week out but generally you will be doing a bit of this and a bit of that and each time you come back to a job you will have forgotten half of what you learned.

A good way to learn quicker is to go through jobs in your head after you have done them and work out a better way to do things and how you could have made the job better overall 

The biggest problem when your young is learning patience


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## Mansfield97 (May 21, 2015)

carpenter uk said:


> Take carpentry for example, you should be competent in fitting base board within 6 months from a standing start if you are doing it week in week out but generally you will be doing a bit of this and a bit of that and each time you come back to a job you will have forgotten half of what you learned.


I completely agree. One day we could be hanging doors, the next day building a deck. 

Recently we have been doing base board. I fix them and my dad cuts them. although I would like more experience cutting.


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## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

6 months to learn the technical requirements to be a great framer.

A lifetime of learning how to deal with so many different people (know-it-all cowboy fellow framers, seriously over blown homeowners, arrogant condescending builders, prima-donna architects) You see, framing is an exact science of angles, loads, spans............where dealing with people..........holy crap Batman!


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## shanewreckd (Oct 2, 2014)

Personally, I remember just realizing one day that holy ****, I really do know what I'm doing. I had been free forming concrete foundations for about 3 years, 2 as a labourer and then the first year of my apprenticeship, and I always had that fake it till you make it approach. Might make a mistake or two, have to ask a bunch of questions or get shown a thing or two. Then one day I wasn't faking anything, and I felt competent. That was about 3 years ago now. I'm still learning new tricks, old tricks, and the like, but I can walk into any job and be totally confident in myself. That has transfered into Peri and Symiens forming systems as well.

That's only a small part of carpentry I know, but I did extremely well on my Red Seal journeyman testing, so there is that. I am proficient at framing, I know most of the ins and outs, but without the sheer speed of the more experienced. And I'm absolutely abysmal at finish work, but I also have no interest in it.


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## KennMacMoragh (Sep 16, 2008)

After 10 years I felt competent enough that I could take on almost anything. Now, after 21 years I still come across times where I'll lose sleep at night trying to think about how to accomplish certain tasks. If you specialize, you'll gain competency a lot sooner on that task. After about my third year framing, I could frame a whole house without having to question anything. It feels good when you finally realize "Hey I could do it!".


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## builditguy (Nov 10, 2013)

I think it is different for everyone.

A guy worked for me this year, until last week. I had enough. He has 17 years experience. He considers himself confident. Probably considers himself more than confident.

I consider him incompetent. I could list hundreds of reasons why. Mistakes are only one part of it. He was missing a basic comprehension of the overall picture. 

The only example I will burden you with: We were building a deck. Treated wood. Nothing fancy. I show up to the jobsite and I find alot of deck board pieces about 2" long. They are all over. At first I thought someone screwed up the joist layout and was compensating. When I ask about it, "I'm just squaring up the ends of all the 16' deck boards." So your cutting 2" off each end of a 16' board making it 15' 8"? And then cutting it again? You just spent the morning making 49 - 16' boards too short to reach the joist and you want to cut them again to 14'8"? His reply, "Well they don't come square from the factory. You always have to cut them down."


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

Sounds like a painter...


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## avenge (Sep 25, 2008)

builditguy said:


> I think it is different for everyone.
> 
> A guy worked for me this year, until last week. I had enough. He has 17 years experience. He considers himself confident. Probably considers himself more than confident.
> 
> ...


Sounds exactly like something the guy had would do with 25yrs experience.

We were putting vinyl lattice on a deck, he couldn't get the concept of lining up the diamonds it was like he was looking through a kaleidoscope. I then told him not to cut into a full piece I needed, he cuts a 1ft x 2ft piece off of it and he has a 2ft x 4ft piece that he had just cut from.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

I worked with a siding crew that refused to use scraps. They would grab a full box do do an entryway. Cut 6 inch piecesnoutnof full 12 foot panels instead of grabbing a stack of panels. The main sidin ccb contractor would then end up n paying them for hanging much more siding.


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## Robinsonfam1 (Feb 17, 2011)

when you have truly realized that you THOUGHT you've seen it all......now you have to re-learn what the previous "competent" guy did and overcome it.

In all seriousness though.....I dunno......I keep doing the very best i can every day and to continually learn more as often as i can. 23 years later (my high school counselor has one coming!) im still learning new ways/tricks to do things all the time.


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

muskoka guy said:


> After five years you think you know it all. After ten years you realize how little you knew at five years . After twenty years you realize you will never know it all.


This reminds me of a sad story from Michigan years ago. A cop was killed doing a PIT maneuver and they tried to hang a charge on a young kid driver. The kid's lawyer found out that it wasn't the rookies fresh out of training or the guys with 30 years on the job that got killed doing this. It was the guys with 5-10 years experience, like the cop who died. Interesting. The kid walked.


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## deckman22 (Oct 20, 2007)

You'll know you are competent when you go to work and not have to think about what you are doing, you just do it all natural like.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

deckman22 said:


> You'll know you are competent when you go to work and not have to think about what you are doing, you just do it all natural like.



 this. 


Mike.
_______________


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## avenge (Sep 25, 2008)

Don't think it's competence because I'm pretty sure I was never incompetent.


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## enterprise (Dec 5, 2017)

and the advances and changes in the trades means what you thought you knew is all brand new .


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## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

A good gauge is when you're faced with a problem and you already have a solution (or more than one) in mind.
We get paid to solve problems, not point them out. 

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk


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## Youngin' (Sep 16, 2012)

It's been 5 years since I last answered this thread. What have I learned?

Being trusted to be left alone with a project is a good indication. I've had the boss say he likes being able to show what needs to be done, leaving for a week, coming back and it's finished.

I know so much more than 5 years ago but man there is so much more than I'll be able to learn in a lifetime. Gotta try though!


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

I keep hoping it will happen next year, or the year after...

I think I actually have forgotten more than a lot of guys know.

I find myself going, " Oh, yeah, I have done that before.'

I thought that was just old guys blowin' smoke.

The changing procedures and materials is a big one. I am constantly having to read instructions and best practices.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


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## Ed Hartmann (Dec 26, 2018)

The most important things is your mindset. If someone decides they will set out to complete a project with a determination to deliver a professional product, there is a high probability they will. It is about pride. Not that you are the best, but that you are the type that will dig deep and make it happen no matter what. My opinion is that working for your parent is a bottle neck. You will grow faster working away from them.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Took me three years to become competent in the shop. After I finally learned to be square in 3 dimensions. Out in the field took a bit longer with scribing and all. Especially since I learned on 18th century homes which were never true, flat, square, plumb or level.


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

Youngin' said:


> It's been 5 years since I last answered this thread. What have I learned?
> 
> Being trusted to be left alone with a project is a good indication. I've had the boss say he likes being able to show what needs to be done, leaving for a week, coming back and it's finished.
> 
> I know so much more than 5 years ago but man there is so much more than I'll be able to learn in a lifetime. Gotta try though!


That's called job security... :thumbsup:


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

Bump . corona !!


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Leo G said:


> Took me three years to become competent in the shop. After I finally learned to be square in 3 dimensions. Out in the field took a bit longer with scribing and all. Especially since I learned on 18th century homes which were never true, flat, square, plumb or level.


True, flat, plumb, square, level are overrated unless you're a machinist....


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Or a cabinet maker.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Or a deck builder.


Mike.
_______________


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## builditguy (Nov 10, 2013)

Some days I’m still not competent. Brain isn’t what it used to be. 

My son does a great job. Still makes little mistakes, now and then, that don’t add up to anything. Might be where you’re at. 
He will have a problem with something minor. I can figure it out in seconds, because I’ve done it a million times. He is then hard on himself and is frustrated with himself. 
No big deal. Next time he will remember 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

I always feel competent until I try and do something.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


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## Todd_B (Aug 13, 2020)

I guess it's something you're learning your hole life. You cant just become competent one day. Times changin', new tools, new approaches - you always learn


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

Still trying to become competent like everyone here


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## Kingcarpenter1 (May 5, 2020)

^^^^^ What Greg said. After several years I feel great about certain things, then there are others that wake me up out of a dead sleep although things are fine. Did I get that plumbing in the wall, tough roof to cut etc. Human nature no matter your skills.


Mike


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## A.R.A Home Solutions (Nov 8, 2020)

Mansfield97 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> For the past year I have worked with my father as a carpenter. Recently everything I have learned from him has clicked. and I learn 100 more things every day.
> 
> ...


interesting question. Being a nostalgic guy I had to answer. 24 years ago I dropped out of school and started roofing. That is where I learned all of my basic fundamentals and most importantly, how satisfying it is to complete a huge job with just a few guys. I liked that so I kept roofing for years. I worked for every crook in central Illinois. I literally remember my lead saying " grab me a bucket of tar and my trowel, ive gotta flash this chimney" . not a bit of metal to be seen anywhere. 
Then I moved on to siding and Windows. We worked will all kinds of product. Asbestos to vinyl. Concrete is my favorite. Siding taught me how to pay attention to the small details and a bit about angles. I liked it so I kept doin that for 2 years and started doing sub work for a big company. Didn't do so hot but I paid the bills and learned alot. Got sick and tired of siding. So I got on with crew that framed everything from decks to houses. Did that for a few years met my wife and she does all the calls and customer stuff and I help with bids and do the work.
So all in all id say it took me a dozen or so years to become competent. In those dozen years I practiced and read and watched everything I could get my hands on. 
I'm still trying to make every project better than the last. 
The craft is hard but very rewarding.


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## Mcjarod (Oct 28, 2020)

I like to view competence as a decision.

I am 18 years old and often educating both the rest of my crew, and often times when project managers.
There is no limit to how much you can educate yourself, don’t be afraid to apply what you know, and to test what you have learned.

I’m currently running a crew of 15 guys in 2 7000 SF buildings


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

A.R.A Home Solutions said:


> interesting question. Being a nostalgic guy I had to answer. 24 years ago I dropped out of school and started roofing. That is where I learned all of my basic fundamentals and most importantly, how satisfying it is to complete a huge job with just a few guys. I liked that so I kept roofing for years. I worked for every crook in central Illinois. I literally remember my lead saying " grab me a bucket of tar and my trowel, ive gotta flash this chimney" . not a bit of metal to be seen anywhere.
> Then I moved on to siding and Windows. We worked will all kinds of product. Asbestos to vinyl. Concrete is my favorite. Siding taught me how to pay attention to the small details and a bit about angles. I liked it so I kept doin that for 2 years and started doing sub work for a big company. Didn't do so hot but I paid the bills and learned alot. Got sick and tired of siding. So I got on with crew that framed everything from decks to houses. Did that for a few years met my wife and she does all the calls and customer stuff and I help with bids and do the work.
> So all in all id say it took me a dozen or so years to become competent. In those dozen years I practiced and read and watched everything I could get my hands on.
> I'm still trying to make every project better than the last.
> The craft is hard but very rewarding.


Welcome! That's a great third post by the way. 


Mike.
*___*


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## StabMasterArs0n (Nov 17, 2020)

I've been in the trades nearly fifteen years and I'm still learning. I suppose it depends on what your definition of competent is.


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