Teenage Locksmith Apprenticeship?

[rzr800]

Ok, buy a lawn mower and mow lawns for a few years and use the money you make to buy tools and practice. Then place a phone book ad in the local phone book and in a few years that guy would of wished he hired you.

[easy-e]

So when I talked to him, I kind of made a fool of myself, and the conversation lasted a total of about one minute, and he rejected me.
He said "Nope, maybe in the summer. I'm making it pretty well as a one man shop around here." Is there any coming back from that without pissing him off, or am I screwed?

How did you make a fool of yourself?

I had a similar situation. When the liquor industry privatized in my state I decided to try to apply at the largest distributor because I had been handling their largest suppliers deliveries for the past few years. Each week I arranged about 10 full container deliveries and 10-15 special orders we pulled from stock we held at our warehouse every we. It took a few months, but they called me in for an interview that ended with me feeling pretty dumb. I was uniquely qualified but it turned out to be a management position instead of a logistics/analyst position. There are very few people they could have hired who already had full knowledge of most of their products but I have almost no management experience. Anyways, they asked me "What exactly does a Spirits Account Manager do?" At that moment I realized I phrased it wrong on my resume. I should have put "Logistics Specialist" because it sounds better and doesn't need as much explanation. My explanation made it sound like I don't do much work, but it's a small company and I wear lots of hats. I would have done better applying for an IT position because I'm also a programmer/embedded systems guru and they have a crazy computer controlled conveyor system. Either way, it was a good experience and every interview I've messed up has taught me something that made my next interview that much better.

I would wait a week and ask him if you could get any locks he's planning on throwing away to practice with.

Ok, buy a lawn mower and mow lawns for a few years and use the money you make to buy tools and practice. Then place a phone book ad in the local phone book and in a few years that guy would of wished he hired you.

^or this.

[ARF-GEF]

I think you should wait more than a week. I think patience is a key skill in locksmithing, (especially at the beginning for example at repining locks).
And don't worry to much if you made a bit of an ass of yourself. Everyone does that now and then, and everyone knows that everyone does that .

Just go in sometimes and ask a few questions. Most locksmiths (at least the ones which will be presumably the best teachers) won't resist to have a nice chat about locks and maybe even teach you a few things about specific locks. Maybe buy something small now and then and use that occasion as a conversation starter.
A good intelligent talk always leaves a good impression.
If you do that once every 2 weeks or so he might offer you a job himself in a few months. I think of it like that: in the worst case I had a nice chat with someone who knows a lot more about locks than I do. Just don't bother when he is busy, simply ask him whether he has the time to chat around. My experience is that the pleasant ones which I would like to work with can usually spare a few minutes pretty much any time.
I did just that and I got offered a job a few times even though I wasn't looking for one. Although eventually one made an offer I couldn't refuse <insert Godfather theme song here>.

And as others said: be nice, polite and respectful. Show that you want to work and that you are motivated. I think I got the job because the owner saw the potential in me: that I know the locks a little bit and that I have enthusiasm and diligence.(At least I hope so... To be honest I've never dared to ask why he wanted me to work there so much, I'm just happy that he did.)

[rzr800]

You should go in the and ask him to make you a SC1 and a KW1 key with 99999 bitting and see what he says. LOL j/k dont do that.

[Alera]

You should go in the and ask him to make you a SC1 and a KW1 key with 99999 bitting and see what he says. LOL j/k dont do that.

Ok, buy a lawn mower and mow lawns for a few years and use the money you make to buy tools and practice. Then place a phone book ad in the local phone book and in a few years that guy would of wished he hired you.

Both of these are excellent ideas. Might have to try 'em sometime >:3

I think you should wait more than a week. I think patience is a key skill in locksmithing, (especially at the beginning for example at repining locks).
And don't worry to much if you made a bit of an ass of yourself. Everyone does that now and then, and everyone knows that everyone does that .

Just go in sometimes and ask a few questions. Most locksmiths (at least the ones which will be presumably the best teachers) won't resist to have a nice chat about locks and maybe even teach you a few things about specific locks. Maybe buy something small now and then and use that occasion as a conversation starter.
A good intelligent talk always leaves a good impression.
If you do that once every 2 weeks or so he might offer you a job himself in a few months. I think of it like that: in the worst case I had a nice chat with someone who knows a lot more about locks than I do. Just don't bother when he is busy, simply ask him whether he has the time to chat around. My experience is that the pleasant ones which I would like to work with can usually spare a few minutes pretty much any time.
I did just that and I got offered a job a few times even though I wasn't looking for one. Although eventually one made an offer I couldn't refuse <insert Godfather theme song here>.

And as others said: be nice, polite and respectful. Show that you want to work and that you are motivated. I think I got the job because the owner saw the potential in me: that I know the locks a little bit and that I have enthusiasm and diligence.(At least I hope so... To be honest I've never dared to ask why he wanted me to work there so much, I'm just happy that he did.)

I'm a bit worried about talking locks with him, not necessarily because he's intimidating, but more so because my age leads me to look more like a trouble maker than anything. I think I agree with the other posts on staying away from the topic of SPP'ing.

So when I talked to him, I kind of made a fool of myself, and the conversation lasted a total of about one minute, and he rejected me.
He said "Nope, maybe in the summer. I'm making it pretty well as a one man shop around here." Is there any coming back from that without pissing him off, or am I screwed?

How did you make a fool of yourself?

I had a similar situation. When the liquor industry privatized in my state I decided to try to apply at the largest distributor because I had been handling their largest suppliers deliveries for the past few years. Each week I arranged about 10 full container deliveries and 10-15 special orders we pulled from stock we held at our warehouse every we. It took a few months, but they called me in for an interview that ended with me feeling pretty dumb. I was uniquely qualified but it turned out to be a management position instead of a logistics/analyst position. There are very few people they could have hired who already had full knowledge of most of their products but I have almost no management experience. Anyways, they asked me "What exactly does a Spirits Account Manager do?" At that moment I realized I phrased it wrong on my resume. I should have put "Logistics Specialist" because it sounds better and doesn't need as much explanation. My explanation made it sound like I don't do much work, but it's a small company and I wear lots of hats. I would have done better applying for an IT position because I'm also a programmer/embedded systems guru and they have a crazy computer controlled conveyor system. Either way, it was a good experience and every interview I've messed up has taught me something that made my next interview that much better.

I would wait a week and ask him if you could get any locks he's planning on throwing away to practice with.

Ok, buy a lawn mower and mow lawns for a few years and use the money you make to buy tools and practice. Then place a phone book ad in the local phone book and in a few years that guy would of wished he hired you.

^or this.

I pretty much just acted rather nervous and talked fast. He rejected me in less than a minute, and it kinda bummed me out. I plan to stay persistent though, I would really like to do this. It's very interesting to hear your story though. It gives me some hope for the future

[mastersmith]

Alera,
The best thing you can do in my opinion is to stay persistent and make you get across to him that this is a PASSION for you. Do not irritate him, but don't give up. If he see's you will put all you have in it, he will change his mind about the value he will derive from your employment. But remember that the bottom man on the totem pole gets the jobs that others don't want. You have to maintain the same enthusiasm, ALWAYS. Good Luck, and keep us posted. Mark

[Alera]

It was a no go. I've been persistent but he's just not biting :p no biggie. Thanks to everyone that gave me feedback and advice though, I have high hopes for the future