A Change In Career.. Plumbing.

[Fargo]

So ive decided to take this oppurtunity (of being made redundent) to retrain my skills, so ive turned down the job offer i had and im soon to embark on a city & guilds plumbing course with a view to gaining the NVQ2/3 with practical work experience then onto the ACS Gas installation stuff..

SO if there are any plumbers out there that could use a second pair of hands to allow me to get some experience i would be MOST grateful..

[stuwood]

So ive decided to take this oppurtunity (of being made redundent) to retrain my skills, so ive turned down the job offer i had and im soon to embark on a city & guilds plumbing course with a view to gaining the NVQ2/3 with practical work experience then onto the ACS Gas installation stuff..

SO if there are any plumbers out there that could use a second pair of hands to allow me to get some experience i would be MOST grateful..

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Hello Mate

Thats someting I was considering, I work in IT & it is soo boring sometimes...

I basicly taught myself to plumb, bought the run down house & read books & then thought afterwards, I wouldnt mind doing this as a job.

Trouble is though with a wife & kids to support & just couldnt afford to take the risk.

Good for you though, go for it. Just remember that there will always be someone wanting you to remove their floaters when the toilet gets blocked!!!

:winky:

Stuart

[SHAHZ]

Good luck Paul :luck:

[Fidgits]

I always said I should've been a plumber...

good luck mate...

[ColinBarber]

I've thought about it too.

Someone I know does boiler servicing, contracting to British Gas. Earns good money and there is a lot of work out there.

[lexi1]

Nice one mate, if your serious go for it. I will say though, now more than ever people are changing there jobs to plumbing and thinking after 6 mths training the money starts rolling in. This is not the case. When i done my apprentiship it was over 4 years and it it was 6 years before i was confident enough to start running jobs for the company i work for and doing my own private work. Plumbing is an excellent trade and you can earn great money, i would recommend it to anyone who is serious, but dont expect to it to happen overnight. Good luck mate.

[Fargo]

Nice one mate, if your serious go for it. I will say though, now more than ever people are changing there jobs to plumbing and thinking after 6 mths training the money starts rolling in. This is not the case. When i done my apprentiship it was over 4 years and it it was 6 years before i was confident enough to start  running jobs for the company i work for and doing my own private work. Plumbing is an excellent trade and you can earn great money, i would recommend it to anyone who is serious, but dont expect to it to happen overnight. Good luck mate.

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thanks all..

lexi,, i think things have changed somewhat ince the apprentisip days,, did you know some of these training places offer at leat 6 interviews or even job placement at the end of the training (they have x amount of business's on there books)

if i go the working for myself route then the only problem i foresee is getting business,

i have already done some private jobs with a mate who is in british gas, and i am confident with using tools and the like so i dont see any of that as a problem and i hope to get some experience with a plumber (even if its working for next to nothing)

[Gord]

im sure you will make it paul :D well done and good luck :D

[MrADeveci]

Go for it Paul ........ then you can come and replace my complete heating system (boiler)

Some plumbers earn in excess of 100K a year! - Go for it. B)

[lexus boy]

be a sparky more fun than plumbing, well as long as u dont do house bashing

:D

if u wanted to do that could come work with my lot for a bit :D

unfortunately im not a plumber

[Fargo]

Go for it Paul ........ then you can come and replace my complete heating system (boiler) 

Some plumbers earn in excess of 100K a year! - Go for it.  B)

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misconception about plumbers earning 100k,, more like 40/50/60k.

if you want to replace your complete system,, i got a friend who is a british gas buy and does private work,, catch me up on messenger and we'll talk..

be a sparky more fun than plumbing, well as long as u dont do house bashing

:D

if u wanted to do that could come work with my lot for a bit :D

unfortunately im not a plumber

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already got my city and guilds in electrical installation,,

[Mr Morse]

There will always be a shortage of skilled tradesmen - look at all the Poles and other East Europeans heading over here...

All the best Paul

Good

L = Labour

U = Under

C = Controlled

K = Knowledge

[lexi1]

Nice one mate, if your serious go for it. I will say though, now more than ever people are changing there jobs to plumbing and thinking after 6 mths training the money starts rolling in. This is not the case. When i done my apprentiship it was over 4 years and it it was 6 years before i was confident enough to start  running jobs for the company i work for and doing my own private work. Plumbing is an excellent trade and you can earn great money, i would recommend it to anyone who is serious, but dont expect to it to happen overnight. Good luck mate.

←

thanks all..

lexi,, i think things have changed somewhat ince the apprentisip days,, did you know some of these training places offer at leat 6 interviews or even job placement at the end of the training (they have x amount of business's on there books)

if i go the working for myself route then the only problem i foresee is getting business,

i have already done some private jobs with a mate who is in british gas, and i am confident with using tools and the like so i dont see any of that as a problem and i hope to get some experience with a plumber (even if its working for next to nothing)

←

Paul mate, i am only 31 and have been plumbing since i was 16. I have build up an excellent customer base, i am always booked up at leat 3 weeks in front of myself and have never had to advertise due to good word of mouth. I can honestly say mate if you think you will be any sort of plumber in 6 months, no matter how confident you are on the tools and regardless of what these 6 months schemes may promise unfortunately you have been seriously mislead. There are many different fields involved i.e sanitary, gas, lead work, guttering, drainage, heating etc. You may well pick up the very basics of plumbing in 6 months and no doubt if dedicated could be very good under supervision, but dont think you will be off working for yourself fitting heating systems etc and making good money in this short time. Is your freind in the gasboard knowlegable in all field or does he just deal with gas, if he is good in all fields i am sure he will back up what i say. As i said i am not trying to turn you off, infact if you are serious then i couldnt recommend the trade enough, i love my job and the money when competent is excellent, but honestly mate dont think it will all happen in 6 months. You will need at the very least 2 years site experience under supervision before you yourself will be happy to view, price and work on anything bigger than a basic bathroom swap. Good luck, hope you stick with it, you wont regret it.

[DAZA_W]

good luck mate

[Fargo]

yep i hear what your saying,,perhaps if i had mentioned my intentions then it would be clearer as to where im coming from. the plan is to get the qualifications (the course by the way covers all that you mentioned) then work for someone else for a year before even thinking about going it alone. im under no illusion there.

besides, part of the nvq's will me to do on site work that i can document and have assessed, which is why id like to get work experence with someone before (ideally) working for some other company.

[lexus boy]

There will always be a shortage of skilled tradesmen - look at all the Poles and other East Europeans heading over here...

All the best Paul

Good

L = Labour

U = Under

C = Controlled

K = Knowledge

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big shortage of skilled tradesmen in this country as i know

i have 4 ppl working for me...i want more but not many people in this country have the attitudo of working hard = money, they would rather be sat in front of TV or down pub that put extra hour in here or there

Hence why a company I work with doing High Pressure Water systems, have 2 men from poland currently working at our site. Which is a big shame.

[peter026]

Go for it Paul :D .The firm my son works for are going to re-train him as a heating engineer,so he isn't going to lose money whilst re-training plus he'll get more money when Qualified

[lexi1]

yep i hear what your saying,,perhaps if i had mentioned my intentions then it would be clearer as to where im coming from. the plan is to get the qualifications (the course by the way covers all that you mentioned) then work for someone else for a year before even thinking about going it alone. im under no illusion there.

besides, part of the nvq's will me to do on site work that i can document and have assessed, which is why id like to get work experence with someone before (ideally) working for some other company.

←

Good man, anything i can help you with on the way, just ask.

[Fargo]

There will always be a shortage of skilled tradesmen - look at all the Poles and other East Europeans heading over here...

All the best Paul

Good

L = Labour

U = Under

C = Controlled

K = Knowledge

←

big shortage of skilled tradesmen in this country as i know

i have 4 ppl working for me...i want more but not many people in this country have the attitudo of working hard = money, they would rather be sat in front of TV or down pub that put extra hour in here or there

Hence why a company I work with doing High Pressure Water systems, have 2 men from poland currently working at our site. Which is a big shame.

←

im a believer in working hard and earning good... incidently this course im going on is up in york,,,

yep i hear what your saying,,perhaps if i had mentioned my intentions then it would be clearer as to where im coming from. the plan is to get the qualifications (the course by the way covers all that you mentioned) then work for someone else for a year before even thinking about going it alone. im under no illusion there.

besides, part of the nvq's will me to do on site work that i can document and have assessed, which is why id like to get work experence with someone before (ideally) working for some other company.

←

Good man, anything i can help you with on the way, just ask.

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give me a job...lol

[lexi1]

wish i could mate, already training someone up.

[Fargo]

im sure you need staff to cover the middlesex area, DOT YOU lol

[lexi1]

Sorry mate, doing well but not quite nationwide yet. Watch this space.

[d3fy]

Good Luck mate, my brother in law did the same thing - took redundancy and retrained as Heating & Vent and just coincidentally he is coming around on Saturday to put be a new condensing system in for me.

[Dr Evil]

Credit to you for going for it rather than just thinking about it.

Quite a leap from what you were doing!

[LennyLexus]

Good Luck Paul ;)