u/genshinnya

okay, so to start this off im 18f and i started my apprenticeship in january. my first red flag should’ve been the fact that i had to pay five THOUSAND dollars for my apprenticeship, but i was just out of highschool, trying to get my foot in the door. they wanted me there for five days a week, 8 hours a day, so that’s what I’ve been doing.

it started off as basic stuff, they would only let me clean, which was expected. now that im three months in, I’ve started working on fake skin, maybe have been at it for 2-3 weeks. I was told earlier by my “mentor” ( who honestly doesn’t teach me much of anything ) that my managers told her to tell me that im now allowed on fake skin anymore, or allowed to draw in the studio, because the owner had noticed dust bunnies. maybe im just being dramatic, but it feels very strange to me that they’re sending me back to the beginning/essentially restarting my apprenticeship because of this. especially because I paid 5k. my managers also never told me about these concerns until today.

another thing I should mention is that there are two other apprentices at the shop, who are both tattooing by this point, but not getting paid from any tattoos that they’re doing. only getting paid from tips. there definitely shouldn’t be three of us to begin with, but they actually have punished the other apprentices to the point of making them clean out managers houses, cars, etc. they are extremely exploitive and clearly only care about money/free labour. I do ALL the work for them, which i understand is part of the apprenticeship, but have to deal with a huge amount of disrespect. I have a few other friends who are apprentices at other places who have told me they think I am getting taken advantage of.

any input/advice? I know apprenticeships can be difficult but this shop seems extremely corrupt and everyone I’ve talked to has said the same. but all my coworkers just say “we’ve all been there” etc.

okay, so to start this off im 18f and i started my apprenticeship in january. my first red flag should’ve been the fact that i had to pay five THOUSAND dollars for my apprenticeship, but i was just out of highschool, trying to get my foot in the door. they wanted me there for five days a week, 8 hours a day, so that’s what I’ve been doing.

it started off as basic stuff, they would only let me clean, which was expected. now that im three months in, I’ve started working on fake skin, maybe have been at it for 2-3 weeks. I was told earlier by my “mentor” ( who honestly doesn’t teach me much of anything ) that my managers told her to tell me that im now allowed on fake skin anymore, or allowed to draw in the studio, because the owner had noticed dust bunnies. maybe im just being dramatic, but it feels very strange to me that they’re sending me back to the beginning/essentially restarting my apprenticeship because of this. especially because I paid 5k. my managers also never told me about these concerns until today.

another thing I should mention is that there are two other apprentices at the shop, who are both tattooing by this point, but not getting paid from any tattoos that they’re doing. only getting paid from tips. there definitely shouldn’t be three of us to begin with, but they actually have punished the other apprentices to the point of making them clean out managers houses, cars, etc. they are extremely exploitive and clearly only care about money/free labour.

any input/advice? I know apprenticeships can be difficult but this shop seems extremely corrupt and everyone I’ve talked to has said the same. but all my coworkers just say “we’ve all been there” etc.