Shelby Hall: A Truly Experienced Apprentice
She’s not the first woman boilermaker apprentice. Nor is she the oldest. But chances are, 48-year-old Shelby Hall of Wiarton, Ontario is the oldest woman boilermaker apprentice in Canada.
“In my apprenticeship class—with the exception of one guy—I’m old enough to be the mother of every guy there,” says Shelby. Not that being the oldest bothers her, or the people she works and studies with.
“On the contrary,” she says. “While younger people are sometimes startled to see a woman my age as an apprentice, they soon find out I’ve done this kind of work for years—and that I’m good at it.” As for the older guys, she says most of them have grown up working around women so there’s rarely a problem.
That’s a positive change from when Shelby, a trained welder for 25 years before deciding to become a boilermaker, left her southern Saskatchewan farming and ranching operation in the 1970s. Recently divorced and with no immediate means of support, she called on the experience she’d gained on the farm, as well as in a welding class, to earn the right to work as a permit.
“I worked as a permit for years,” she says, despite the fact that working as a permit meant being shuffled to the back of the line when new jobs became available and to the front of the line when it was time to let people go. That was no problem when there was lots of work but it did become an issue when opportunities grew scarce in the 1990s.
“I’ve always enjoyed welding—there’s always something new to learn—so I didn’t want to give that up,” says Shelby. “Also, over the 25 years I was a welder, I especially liked working with boilermakers.” For Shelby, the solution must have seemed obvious. “I set aside the fact that I’m about to become a grandmother, focused on the fact I wanted to continue welding and opted to join the boilermaker apprenticeship program.”
The one thing she feels is in her favour, says Shelby, is her experience. “As you get older and more experienced, the jobs just seem to get easier.” Still, she knows her time on the actual job site is limited.
“I can see a time where I might be in a position to encourage others—especially women—to try boilermaking as a profession. The attitudes of the 70’s and 80’s are gone, for the most part, and men are more accepting of women in the trades. In spite of the fact that I was a ‘mailbox mom,’ this is still one great career choice.”