Why I miss the old way of learning a trade

I started in pest control back in 1998 with a guy named Frank who taught me everything hands on. We spent six months riding together, and he showed me how to bait for roaches in an apartment building in Newark. Today, new hires watch videos on a tablet for two days and then get sent out alone. Has anyone else noticed mentorship getting replaced by online training?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinc661d ago

Read somewhere that hands-on mentorship builds instincts you just can't get from a screen, no matter how good the video is. It's a different kind of learning when someone's right there showing you the tricks.

schmidt.amy1d ago

My uncle taught me how to weld on the side of a dirt bike track when I was 14 and honestly I still mess up more than I like to admit. Videos give you the basics but watching someone's hands shake when they're tired or seeing how they angle the light in a real situation is way different. You can rewind a tutorial 20 times but you still won't catch the tiny adjustments they make without thinking about it. That stuff only comes from being right there.

uma3066h ago

Read some study that said hands-on learning actually changes how your brain stores the information.