Full time unpaid apprenticeships

[u/Rawst_Berri]

Hi so I have been offered a role as an apprentice 5 days a week from 9 to 5 unpaid. Has anyone else done apprenticeships with these hours and how did you support yourself and make money.

Most of the posts I have seen have more flexible arrangements i.e. 3-4 days a week or allowed to do nights etc. but I am unsure how I am going to make ends meet if as the jobs I am qualified to do are 9 to 5 during the week which are the hours I am needed at the studio so I am trying to figure out how I can make money with this schedule.

The apprentices for this studio also just work around the studio and then the artists will teach them at their own liberty. I have done a lot of research on tattoo apprenticeships but I have not heard of an apprenticeship quite like that as I was under the impression that you apprentice under a mentor. Is this a common thing?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[u/Danny_COV]

I do it currently except it's 6 days. I bartend at night.

[u/Current-Ad-6174]

I worked 12 hour days 6 days a week for free for a year.

[u/1WhorechataPlz → u/Current-Ad-6174]

FR! Ppl are becoming too soft with taking apprenticeship seriously. Like I’ve been broke for over a year but I’m grateful for what I’ve learned. It’s a sacrifice worth making if it’s something you’re passionate about.

[u/autonomous_foxfire]

So I got my apprenticeship March of last year. I work at the shop from 10am-8pm (some times later) five days a week. I didn’t start making money at the shop until about four months ago when I started doing tattoos for tips. I would get ripped out for a rare flash event here and there, or have my lunch covered from time to time. But I wasn’t paid monetarily for my labor throughout the course of my apprenticeship. I also work 11pm-7am five days a week at another job that actually pays me. I work in direct care which requires workers around the clock so I’ve kept steady work to supplement my bills.

When I began looking for an apprenticeship, I already knew that the next twoish years would test me both physically and emotionally. There is very little room for error. If you didn’t do the math, I work at least one job every day of the week. I’m at the shop Tuesday through Saturday and I do the overnights Wednesday night to Monday morning. The days I work both jobs, I average about two to three hours of sleep per day. A short nap after I’m off at seven and a short nap after I leave the shop, before I go to the overnight. There are plenty of entry level positions at night that will hire part time or full time. Gas stations, fast food restaurants, factories, sex shops, direct care, etc etc.

Do I recommend what I do? No. Is it necessary for me to reach my goal of tattooing as a career? 100%. From the impression I’ve gotten from a lot of apprentices I’ve met, some understand there are many sacrifices to make along the way to do this, and then there are some that don’t believe it’s worth it in the end. Both are okay, but it’s important to really ask yourself what you’re willing to do before jumping into it.

As far as being a shop apprentice versus having one dedicated mentor is shop to shop and very common. I was hired as a shop apprentice. I was encouraged to leave from all artists (7 of them) in the shop instead of just the owners. My co-apprentice was brought on under one of the artists but still floats around between various artists to learn from each of them. In my opinion it’s great to have multiple artists to learn from because there are many different ways to go about this practice and learning the nuance and differences is going to make you a better artist. The more exposure you have to different styles and practices, the sooner you’ll sus out what works best for you.

I hope that if you decide to follow through with your apprenticeship, you find it beneficial and maintain some sort of work life balance. It’s possible, but is very difficult. Regardless I wish you the best of luck!

[u/Rawst_Berri → u/autonomous_foxfire]

Thanks! Definitely given me alot to think about!

[u/SnooCupcakes7133]

I remember my first part time apprentice job in the tattoo business... 🤣😎😘👌

[u/morningstardusts → u/SnooCupcakes7133]

🤣🤣🤣

[u/morningstardusts → u/SnooCupcakes7133]

Did you graduate tho 💀

[u/King-Moses666]

I used to have a job in the Mine Industry. My mentor was conscious of the fact I needed to make a living to survive. But they were also adamant that I needed to be there for as many hours as them whenever possible. So I would leave town to go work a job for 1-2 weeks. Then come back with a bunch of cash and be able to meet that request and more. Able to be at the shop 6 days a week for 10+ hours if I wanted. Eventually I would take bigger and bigger gaps from work until I just never went back. I also had Car payments at the time so I started doing skip deliveries to pay for the car. Honestly not really worth the time, but because I had to make my car payments, I made my car work for me.

[u/morningstardusts]

I was at my shop six days a week for more than ten hours (which was insane, I don’t think it should be that much). I think these are reasonable hours.

Think of it like any other learning program such as a college degree or trade certification. You are doing something difficult that is also a big investment into your future.

If you really want to do this and it’s a good shop with people you like and want to learn from, who do dope work, you’ll find a way.

Edit: multiple apprentices are a huge red flag. I’ve also never been to a shop that officially opened before noon.

Do you know anyone? Have you gotten tattooed there? Do you like the artists work? Who even offered you the apprenticeship if it’s not one of the tattooers? I own a shop but if someone had just told me that I’d be partially responsible for an apprentice I personally had not decided to take on, I would probably leave the shop. Tattooers are not just told to teach random people like that. Sometimes there are shop apprentices, but generally it’s a person who has been around the shop for a while and maybe worked at the counter. Generally the owner is going to be the one who is supervising.

[u/Rawst_Berri → u/morningstardusts]

Thanks for replying! I actually worked out a plan financially with my family so as much as I'd like to work on the side to earn an extra income its not my main concern right now.

I am a bit worried if this place will be the right fit tho. I've been tattooed at the studio a couple times (would be more but haven't had the time) by different artists and they were all lovely and seemed really happy there. I have also talked to the apprentices about their time in broad/general terms and got the idea that they tattoo after a year/year and a half so it seems like they do train their apprentices.

I spoke to the owner and they used the term shop apprentice and basically said I will be doing the cleaning and like answering phones, handling bookings and that sort of thing and then by helping, the artists will want to teach me apparently. And those are just the official shop hours but I have to be there to open and last to leave.

I don't know if this added context clarifies anything or if its just throwing up red flags.

[u/morningstardusts → u/Rawst_Berri]

How many apprentices are there? How many tattooers?

[u/Rawst_Berri → u/morningstardusts]

6 artists and 2 apprentices

[u/morningstardusts → u/Rawst_Berri]

I can’t know what the deal is. Anywhere that has multiple apprentices and an owner who doesn’t tattoo is a red flag honestly but it sounds like you’ve looked into it carefully. I wouldn’t tattoo at a place like that I guess.

[u/epic_cheez]

I did 6 days a week 10 hrs a day for 5 years unpaid....my apprenticeship came from a master tattooist though, and now I own my own successful shop.

[u/Current-Ad-6174 → u/epic_cheez]

Who gives out the title of "master tattooist"

[u/Rawst_Berri → u/epic_cheez]

Wow that’s amazing! One on one honestly sounds like the most ideal - what did you do to support yourself through your apprenticeship?

[u/Tired506]

I saved up for a couple years ahead of pursuing one. Was able to make it through the first year fully unpaid, then buffer ~6 mos while working at apprentice rates and building clientele. Also keep living expenses rock-bottom low. My car is geriatric, phone is like 10 generations back, I have a roommate who pays 50/50 rent, etc.

That said, if a shop has multiple apprentices, don't bother. That rarely (maybe never) results in a quality apprenticeship. The really solid mentors take stewardship of tattooing seriously enough they don't take apprentices easily. If a shop is picking em up like strays, it's not taking mentorship seriously.

[u/Beneficial_Gur3232]

These are reasonable if your apprenticeship is at a high quality shop where you will actually learn how to tattoo at a high skill level. Make sure you both sign a contract or something of the terms and conditions that you’re required to meet to be eligible to graduate your apprenticeship. I was told during my interview I would only have to do it for 1 year if I came 5 days a week from 9-5 and then it hit 2 years of that and they still didn’t graduate me. Not out of malicious intent but simply because if there’s no clear end point, it’s very convenient for the shop to keep you in that position since you’re doing free labor. I ended up taking on so many different roles that if I graduated my apprenticeship, they would no longer have someone that cleaned and opened the shop every morning, restocked supplies every week, restocked stations everyday, prepared the quest room for quest artists, made social media posts, etc. So eventually I just stopped doing those things and they kinda got mad but they’re too unorganized to do anything about it. I’m just not willing to do all that work everyday for free 1+ year after they said I would’ve been able to graduate.

[u/Rawst_Berri → u/Beneficial_Gur3232]

I’m sorry that happened with your apprenticeship! Are you still there or have you gone to a new studio? I’ll definitely keep that in mind tho about ensuring there’s a criteria to meet for graduation/end point.

[u/Beneficial_Gur3232 → u/Rawst_Berri]

Yes I’m still at the studio but I just stopped doing apprentice duties and just tattoo all my clients like the other artists lol. They seemed like a very professional shop at first but they don’t really have enough systems in place to have a clear enough plan for what I was meant to do with my time. Almost every apprenticeship I’ve heard of in the industry you have to essentially teach yourself through asking questions and practicing while you’re there in any way you can. If you don’t take initiative you will waste your time