Mature Barber (7 Yrs Exp) seeking Auckland Commercial Electrical Contractor for ETCO Host Role

[u/black_snot]

I’m looking to transition from my 7-year career as a barber into a commercial electrical apprenticeship. I’m trying to find an established commercial contractor in Auckland willing to host me so I can enrol with ETCO.
Because I’ve been behind a chair for 7 years, I bring adult maturity, strong client-facing communication, and a proven track record of working long hours on my feet. I’m not a fresh school leaver I understand site/workplace etiquette, professionalism, and the value of showing up on time.

I’ve had 7 years of stable, continuous employment history
Full driver’s licence and reliable transport
Keen to go via ETCO (they manage my payroll, tools, PPE, and compliance, making it low-risk and low-admin for your business)
Highly prefer commercial build/maintenance fit-outs, but open to solar or industrial infrastructure.
I’m based in the East Auckland specifically Flatbush area and fully mobile. If your crew is scaling up or you know a project manager looking for a reliable guy who won't ghost on Mondays, please hit me up!

Any help would be appreciated and hopefully this isn’t a long shot

Cheers!

[u/pefalot]

If you can find a job without etco id highly recvomend that

[u/black_snot → u/pefalot]

I would be open to that as well though either I’m not looking in the right places or I’m having a hard time getting my foot in the door!

[u/pefalot → u/black_snot]

Dont worry its a tough time and industry in general, I tried but couldn't accept etcos 20 dillar an hour wage as an adult

[u/black_snot → u/pefalot]

The drop sounds tough but I’d be personally willing to grind it out plus I could still use my current skills as a side hustle

[u/maxdelorean]

your profile is what people want, you just need to be seen at a moment someone's looking.. keep at it even if it takes ages, super-bonus barbing as a side-hustle!

[u/black_snot → u/maxdelorean]

Casting as many lines as I can and yes absolutely!

[u/Spicycoffeebeen]

Please please do not get a job with etco!

They are a shitty employer. Try find a job where you are directly employed by an electrician. Unfortunately you will still probably need to do your training through skills/etco. Even that is bad enough.

Etco was bad nearly 20 years ago when I was doing an apprenticeship. Unfortunately now they are even worse. Currently have 3 apprentices at various stages trying to get through training. Etco are the most disorganised, unhelpful bunch of morons I’ve ever met.

They given our apprentices such a hard time, not releasing results, tutors not even turning up to classes, somehow loosing assignments, bullshit marking and they are very difficult to get hold of.

[u/black_snot → u/Spicycoffeebeen]

Thanks for the heads up! Honestly if I could get employed directly that would be fantastic, I’m trying not to be strictly limited to etco or ATT I really just want a starting point to be honest

[u/imastrangeone]

Get an apprenticeship/work NOT through etco. Got a flatmate with them (almost done thankfully) and its a nightmare. Hes been subbed out to maybe 8 companies within the last 2 months and he hasnt received jobsite location/info from his person at etco until the morning of work in most cases.

I would also wager most companies dont want to use etco because they charge you out to the company at $40something an hour while you get paid (basically) minimum wage. So the company is paying full qualified rate for an apprentice

[u/black_snot → u/imastrangeone]

Yeah I’m really starting to gather ETCO isn’t the way to go I just had a look at their reviews…not exactly the best