Apprenticeship hours vs actual skill, two book guys and a job in Decatur

So I checked the state records last month and found out my apprenticeship logged 8,000 hours, but my old foreman only had 4,000 when he topped out back in '89. That surprised me because he could lay a bead I still can't match. I see two sides here: one says hours on paper prove you put in the time, the other says it's the quality of those hours that counts. Where do you land, and does anyone else think the 8,000 hour rule is just a gate that misses the real test?

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margaretshah24d ago

The hours rule keeps a lot of folks out who might be great, but it also lets in people who just showed up and punched a clock. I had a buddy who hit his 8,000 and still couldn't weld a vertical joint without it looking like rusted spaghetti. Paper time means you endured, but it never measures how much you actually cared about getting better.