Journeyman

For other uses, see Journeyman (disambiguation).

A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee. They earn their license by education, supervised experience and examination. Although journeymen have completed a trade certificate and are allowed to work as employees, they may not yet work as self-employed master craftsmen.

The term "journeyman" was originally used in the medieval trade guilds. Journeymen were paid daily and the word "journey" is derived from journée, meaning "whole day" in French. Each individual guild generally recognised three ranks of workers: apprentices, journeymen, and masters. A journeyman, as a qualified tradesman, could become a master and run their own business, but most continued working as employees.

Guidelines were put in place to promote responsible tradesmen, who were held accountable for their own work and to protect the individual trade and the general public from unskilled workers. To become a master, a journeyman has to submit a master piece of work to a guild for evaluation. Only after evaluation can a journeyman be admitted to the guild as a master. Sometimes, a journeyman was required to accomplish a three-year working trip, which may be called the journeyman years.

Origin

German journeymen in traditional uniform during journeyman years

The word journey comes from the French journée (day), which in turn comes from the Latin diurnus (pertaining to a day, daily). The title "journeyman" refers to the right to charge a fee for each day's work. A journeyman has completed an apprenticeship but is employed by another such as a master craftsman, but they would live apart and might have a family of their own. A journeyman could not employ others. In contrast, an apprentice would be bound to a master, usually for a fixed term of seven years, and lived with the master as a member of the household, receiving most or all compensation in the form of food, lodging, and training.

In parts of Europe, as in Late Medieval Germany, spending time as a wandering journeyman (Wandergeselle), moving from one town to another to gain experience of different workshops, was an important part of the training of an aspirant master. Carpenters and other artisans in German-speaking countries have retained the tradition of traveling journeymen even today, but only a few still practice it. In France, journeymen were known as compagnons.

Modern era

In modern apprenticeship systems, "journeyman" is a primarily a licensure distinction unique to certain skilled building trades which requires the completion of a supervised apprenticeship under a master of that craft or trade. After fulfilling additional requirements (which vary widely), a journeyman may go on to be a master of their craft.

United States

In the United States, apprenticeship programs and occupational certifications are regulated at the state and local (city or county) level. As such, the requirements to be certified as a journeyman vary greatly depending on the trade and jurisdiction. In general, the term applies to one who has completed an apprenticeship program and earned the requisite certification, which may require the completion of a certain number of supervised field hours under a master of the trade and a certification exam. Journeymen steel workers, electrical workers, pipefitters, and iron workers, (to name a few) are represented by trade-specific labor unions.

Australia

In Australia, a journeyman registration allows the permit holder to work under the general direction of an advanced tradesman. A journeyman may oversee the work of apprentices and trades assistants but may not contract for work using that particular registration. A journeyman level qualification is obtained by completing a formal apprenticeship. An apprenticeship is learning a skilled trade under the supervision of an advanced tradesperson. An apprentice is a trainee who is becoming formally trained and qualified in a particular type of trade. The duration of an apprenticeship is usually three to four years, depending on the individual trade. On completion of the training the apprentice will receive a nationally recognised qualification, a trade certificate. Practical on-the-job learning makes up the majority of an apprenticeship, but it also incorporates some classroom learning. As of 2016 apprenticeships offered real-life experience in the workplace, a regular income and new skills. Examples of licensed trades are plumbers and gasfitters, electricians, air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and carpenters and joiners.

New Zealand

In New Zealand the Journeyman class recognizes that a person has had formal training in a trade and allows them to register and be licensed as a journeyman in that trade. While they are considered fully trained, their level of skill is considered intermediate. A journeyman is required to work under supervision from a fully qualified tradesman. An apprentice is eligible for Journeyman registration after they have completed the New Zealand National Certificate (Level 4) in Plumbing, Gasfitting or Drainlaying but haven’t yet passed the relevant registration theory examination. A candidate must apply formally to the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board. A journeyman cannot be a business owner or manage employees but is expected to do service calls in coordination with and at the behest of the master tradesman. They may also work independently when their skill level permits.

Canada

In Canada, in addition to completion of Apprenticeship in a Skilled Trade, the worker may also choose to write an exam to be recognized throughout the country via the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program.

"Journeyman" in the English Language

The modern journeyman is a term for the many paths of adult education and can be used to describe life's process of continual learning. Although the term journeyman is typically traditional, modern journeyman is also used to refer to current concepts of adult education: life-long learning, up-skilling, the knowledge wave and modern apprenticeships.

In American English, a journeyman is an athlete who is technically competent but unable to excel. The term is used elsewhere, such as in British and Australian English, to refer to a professional sportsman who plays for numerous clubs during their career without becoming a staple of any one club.

See also

• Air Force Occupational Badge
• Compagnons du Tour de France
• Journeyman papers
• Journeyman years (Waltz)
• Journeyman (boxing)
• Tradesperson
• Vocational education

Further reading

• George Sand: The journeyman joiner or The Compagnon of the tour de France. 1847 (in French: Le Compagnon du tour de France, 1840)

External links

• The modern Journeymen
• Taking it to the streets
• The Wander-Buch of Wilibald Koch