The traveling German carpenters

My good friend is a journeyman, and I always wished there was a US equivalent, especially in the realm of software engineering. I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy coding with brilliant programmers and traveling around the country.<p>Anecdotally speaking: My friend has a "wunderstick", which is a hand made walking stick. When we go into bars in Germany, he taps it, and the bartender gives us free drinks. Before we leave, he taps his stick again, and says some big speech in German (about how grateful he is, etc). Most bars and hotels cater to the journeymen quite well. While we were in Berlin, he also had girls run across the street to him and kiss him on the cheek or lips. I guess it's good luck to kiss a journeyman.

This article talks only about journeymen and women who are truly exotic and rare but it doesn't really emphasize that vocational training — the alternative to college — still is alive and well in Germany. You usually don't got to college if you want to become a hairdresser or a mechatronic engineer.<p>After they finish school, the apprentices work three or four days per week at some company and go to a vocational school the rest of the time.

Yeah I experienced this growing up as a kid in Germany. I remember these people from other towns in their "strange" outfits. Over the years they got less and less but you can still find a few.<p>Now living here in the U.S. I wonder how something like this would maybe translate over to coders and designers in startups. Seeing that we have these startup heavy areas across the country. Why not have people work a year in the Valley, then move a year to NYC, followed by another year in Boston or Austin. Would be a fun and rewarding program for young talent.

It's worth keeping in mind that the travelling carpenters are a souvenir from dark times in Europe, when economic progress remained extremely slow because craftsmen were evaluated by their belonging to a guild and would not compete.

In France there is a related system, "les Compagnons du devoir". However, it exists for carpenters, masons, sculptors, bakers, etc. Almost all hand crafts, in fact. They must travel around the country to learn their craft, and present a "masterpiece" as a proof they master it.<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnons_du_Tour_de_France" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnons_du_Tour_de_France</a>

Reminds me of a proverb from Nassim Taleb: "Skills that transfer: street fights, off-path hiking, seduction, broad erudition. Skills that don't: school, games, sports, laboratory - what's reduced and organized."

Back when I was in undergrad, I met a German exchange student who mentioned something about this. He may have been part of it at some point. They have a special belt buckle or something which identifies them and he said it was almost a status symbol (the belt buckle). I believe he was a roof-shingler and not a general carpenter though.

I really wanted to see those beer-giving sticks, and found that the magic google word for more pictures is 'Wanderschaft': <a href="http://www.google.com/images?q=Wanderschaft" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/images?q=Wanderschaft</a>

Corey Haines has done this with software development. In a similar fashion working for room and board. Which turns out to be a great deal for the company and I assume great experience for Corey.

Did anyone else read that title as "time traveling German carpenters?"<p>Does the internet make this less relevant for those in the software field?

Interesting article, it's one of the directions I want to take with Answer in 30. We're very people focused so I think it's essential to be out and about with the 99% of people who aren't tech startups, getting work, getting to know our customers and seeing how our product can make their lives better and businesses more successful.<p>I want to take a van and travel North America working on the startup and talking to our userbase and customers. What could be better from a community management perspective than to get a visit personally from the founders. I think it says a lot more than some silly badge you can display on your profile.

Funny, I have seen these guys in a bar a few months ago (in Germany). I didn't talk to them. However, that would've been interesting I guess. Anyways, interesting story.