Apprentice Stories

CWC Apprentice Transition Questions and Answers from WHS Students

Remote work is proving difficult for many. We are proud to announce that 6 out of 7 of our current CareerWise Colorado (CWC) Apprentices are currently still employed! The support of their transition to work from home has been exceptional, their supervisors and managers have not only had to make their own transition but lead the torch in creating a learning environment for our students. This is yet another reason why CWC continues to provide empowering learning platforms while earning money for our sophomores and juniors. CWC is STILL hiring for the start of the next school year! CLICK HERE for application and resume support.

How is it working for our 6 students? Let’s hear from them!

Angelica - Colorado Department of Higher Education

How did your transition go from working on-site to working from home?
“For me, it was hard at first figuring out how to balance classes and work meetings, but communicating with my boss and teachers helped and now I have a set routine for each day. It was weird at first but my team has been open to helping me out with getting familiar with Zoom.”

How are you staying in contact with your employer?
“I check in with my boss almost every week but recently changed into every other week since I do meet with the team every day. have been keeping touch with them and I feel confident about all the work I am doing right now in our grant process.”

What are the major challenges that you face working from home?
“The past week we were having some internet problems but I think we are good now. Also, I've been trying to get my sleep schedule under control but it has improved and I'll be okay.”

What are the perks of working from home?
“I get to be safe, I get to work alongside my dog for extra support, and I like being able to take breaks from the screen to go on a walk or do something else productive.”

How many hours are you working?
“About 20-24 hours a week.”

Cal - SAS Manufacturing

Emily - CareerWise

How did your transition go from working on-site to working from home? (How many hours are you working?)
“I am actually still working, from home of course, and my hours are 8 am-12 pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. My transition went fairly smoothly since I was already working remotely for the majority of my apprenticeship.

How are you staying in contact with your employer?
“The communication with CareerWise is great; Dave and I have weekly check-in calls every Monday for around 30 minutes as well as, I meet through video conferences with anyone else if needed.”

What are the major challenges that you face working from home?
“One of the biggest challenges I'm facing right now is probably time management or just feeling/staying productive. It's definitely a struggle being home so much and having my family around when I try to join meetings, but they have been very respectful of my schedule and space.”

What are the benefits of working from home?
“ I'm very fortunate to keep my hours and have the flexibility of working on projects at home - especially since transportation was hard.”

Iomy - Home Advisor

How did your transition go from working on-site to working from home?
“My transition from working on-site to working from home was pretty smooth, I’ve worked from home before so I didn’t need to set up anything.”

How are you staying in contact with your employer?
“I’m staying in contact with my employer through Slack and Email.”

What are the major challenges that you face working from home?
“The major challenge of working from home is staying focused because of many distractions.”

What are the benefits of working from home?
“The perks to working from home are having more leniency and freedom in a way because you’re working from the comfort of your own home.”

How many hours are you working?
“I’m usually working 20-25 hours a week depending on whether I’m busier on some days or not.”

Tyler - Home Advisor

How did your transition go from working on-site to working from home?
“It went pretty well as they had everything ready to go. It was a matter of just taking it home.”

What are the major challenges that you face working from home?
“The biggest challenge is not having my coworkers around to help me when I need it.”

What are the benefits of working from home?
“I don't have to dress up. I can stay in comfy clothes.”

How many hours are you working?
“I am working from 2-5:30 every day. Sometimes earlier depending on what I have going on that day.”

Valerie - Geotech

How did your transition go from working on-site to working from home?
“So when it all started my boss told me not to come in for a while until they figured everything out and took precautions. For the past two weeks, they’ve just been calling me when they need me urgently. I’m still working on our job site but my hours are just cut way shorter. In order for me to work from home, they’d have to come to my house and set up all of our programs and software.”

How many hours are you working?
“I think for the most part I’ve been working 2-3 days per week. Recently they’ve been giving a lot of my coworkers the opportunity to work from home but it’s not a lot of us. They’ve taken a lot of precautions and only have a certain amount of people in the office at once.”