It has been said that the purpose of basic training (army style) is to break you down, so they can build you up again. There's some truth in that approach.
Let's assume you get some kid in, who has never had a real job, has never even seen construction, and hasn't a clue.
The first thing you have to address are some misconceptions that he's likely picked up. Such as: Trades are for the goof offs / incompetent / stupid / not quite good enough for college.
Then he has to learn that, in any trade, that results are all that matter. We don't accomplish our jobs by circulating memos; either the light goes on when the switch is flipped - or it doesn't.
Just as you learned to read one letter at a time, you learn the trade one skill, one task at a time. For example, at one of my current jobs I had to make a framework using strut. The mechanics in the shop were most impressed; to them, it was magic. Yet, cutting and joining strut is just one of our routine chores.
That's where you have to start teaching the newbie patience. He has to trust that, some day, all the bits and pieces will come together. He has to understand that 90% of our work has nothing to do with wires, or electricity. Instead, it's all about getting into tight or high places; working in bad weather; bending pipe, cutting wood, making holes, digging ditches, pouring cement, patching drywall, etc. And, yes, cleaning up the mess we make!
Another comparison is learning to play a musical instrument .... you have to work at it for quite some time, put in a lot of effort, before you know enough to really be able to tell if it's for you - or not.
Remember ... kids these days never MAKE anything ... they sit at desks, and look things up. They have yet to experience the joy of slogging through all the mundane tasks that lead to the magic moment when you flip that switch - and it WORKS!
