The owner of a Perth air and refrigeration business says he has been overwhelmed with applications, after posting an ad for an apprentice on Facebook - telling young hopefuls not to apply if they intended having “cool crap in their noses or ears” or calling in sick in birthdays.

Kim Allen from Allen Air and Refrigeration told Gareth Parker’s Mornings program on Radio 6PR his most recent apprentice had been excellent and left for his own reasons but he had bad experiences in the past.

He said the response to his ad had been so strong that he was on the verge of having to take it down.

Got some kind of cool crap in your nose or a hole in your ear? Forget it - go join the circus.

“I think what happens is kids come out of school start to earn some money and get rock star status and find some disposable income start to party...as we all have as young teenagers,” Mr Allen said.

“And it can go wrong pretty easy and they won’t finish what they started.

“I think people take it for granted. They go ‘I can get a job and I can go mad on weekends and it doesn’t matter if it affects the employer’.

“One of the beefs I have with apprentices is that when people go to university they have to pay their own way. They have to support themselves during their degree working in takeaway shops or wherever it might to sustain themselves.

“When you do an apprenticeship, your employer pays for all your training and you just go along for the ride.”

Camera Icon There’s an apprentice job waiting at Allen Air and Refridgeration - for an applicant who meets some pretty strict criteria.

Mr Allen said appearance was highly important to him and his clients.

“Our uniforms are smart – I like them to be ironed, shirts tucked in. Appearance is important,” he said.

“Some of our clients could be the owner of a penthouse suite in the city or Mosman Park and Claremont mansions...or we might be in the law courts doing work there.

“We need to represent ourselves well. Some of my clients might not want that kind of guy [with a big earring] walking through their business or their home, which is partly unattended.

“That all comes back to my business and how I want to operate it.”

Mr Allen’s ad noted that it was a privilege to be granted an apprenticeship and urged people not to apply if:

- Just because Mum and Dad said you need a job. You need to want a career all on your own.

- If you think you might lose your license once, twice or even 3 times,

- If you have a drinking problem,

- If you do recreational drugs,

- If you think it’s OK to chuck sickies on your birthday or the day after a big night out etc.

- Got some kind of cool crap in your nose or a hole in your ear? Forget it - go join the circus. This is a job where you are representing my business and I don't suffer fools.

- If you can't pass a drug test on your first day, don't apply

Camera Icon There’s an apprentice job waiting at Allen Air - provided the applicant meets from pretty strict criteria.

Mr Allen, who is based in Port Kennedy but has clients around Perth, including the northern suburbs, said apprentices showcased his business and needed to be presentable - hence the earring and nosering criteria.

He said the preference was for a person living in Mandurah or Rockingham but that a licence wasn’t essential:

“If you don’t have a licence yet, we can usually pick you up from a train station on the way to the first job, I can cover all of this during an interview.

“However, if you can accept that this is not just a joy ride you could be on the path to a great career where you will do amazing jobs all throughout this wonderful industry.”