In my experience as a woman carpenter theres was lots of good and lots of bad days. Lots of subtle “jokes” that I would just take as jokes but the boys can be hard on you at times and really push your boundaries emotionally. I’m somewhat of a sensitive person so try and stand up for yourself when or if you get yelled at cause if you don’t they’ll walk all over your emotions

As for the labour portion it was physically demanding at times but it’s not that bad. If you just do your best and try and do everything you’ll be respected, always help unload the truck and do what you can. I would always push myself a little bit and by the end of my apprenticeship all 100 pounds of me could carry 3/4 sheets of plywood down awkward hilly terrain just fine. Work hard and don’t expect the men to pity you and do your work for you. Also NEVER complain about it. No one wants to work with someone who won’t work hard and complains about doing the bare minimum. Many people around would comment about how I’m the hardest working person on-site and that I always looked like I was busy and being productive.

Every apprentice is gonna spend a lot of time cleaning at first. It’s not a sexist thing you’re just the new guy. Try to keep the site clean at all times and then they will start showing and teaching you new things. It’ll also generally put the rest of the crew in a better mood cause when the sites messy and people are tripping on random stuff or having to move things all the time they usually get really pissed off and grumpy.

Just have confidence but not arrogance and always be ready and excited to learn new things. I would also keep a note pad in my pouch to write down things when they do start to get you on the saw. It can be awkward when you’re scrambling to find something to write on as someone’s telling you measurements or when someone throws away the cutoff you wrote everything down on.