6128 or 6129?

[Winston]

Well I am currently coming up to 2 years after completing my course and no company will take you on. If you want to have ago at it be aware college practical isnt real life.

Be very careful as to what work you take on, because once you start you have got to finish the job. I have been fortunate to meet up with a few gas guys who have taught me heaps more than my course.

I have generally done well, but in recent weeks it has gone quiet again But instead of sitting at home feeling sorry for myself I meet up with one of the gas guys even for his boiler servicing for nowt. But I do get paid when I actually do some plumbing.

As a marketing tool I have also organised for our business cards to be double sided ie my details one side his the other. Good luck but be careful, and always consider would you be happy with this in your home. If the answer is no then its not good enough for a customer either.

 

[REDSAW]

career,& changing career. is just that. as long as people realise a career takes around 5 years to achieve and get on full money whether your course is for 6 days or 6 years it does not matter. full money for a self employed plumber at the moment with 7 years experience is £18,000 p.a, some do better than this but it is an average compared to recent surveys.

truck driving takes 4 months to qualify and your on £25-35,000 p.a. from the first mile. the only risk is crashing. and there are more and more jobs available each day.

 

[newbie1]

the training companies love the guys with redundancy money in their pocket and offer help finding placements which actually will turn out to be as much good as a chocolate tea cake at a barbeque
going self employed and training will swallow at least 10k of your money and then you will struggle like hell to get work because its daunting when you do that first handfull of jobs because there is noone to fall back on and once started the job has to be completed
its a vicious circle and there is a high percentage of people pay their 5k and fall by the wayside because there isnt enough work to make a living
if you are considering this route just post on here and ask how many guys in your area have a full order book as oppsed to scratching for work

 

[kingm1988]

the training companies love the guys with redundancy money in their pocket and offer help finding placements which actually will turn out to be as much good as a chocolate tea cake at a barbeque
going self employed and training will swallow at least 10k of your money and then you will struggle like hell to get work because its daunting when you do that first handfull of jobs because there is noone to fall back on and once started the job has to be completed
its a vicious circle and there is a high percentage of people pay their 5k and fall by the wayside because there isnt enough work to make a living
if you are considering this route just post on here and ask how many guys in your area have a full order book as oppsed to scratching for work

Please forgive newbie1's negativity and constant pessimism

 

[helpsy]

Please forgive newbie1's negativity and constant pessimism.

Newbie1 is only stating the realism of the situation.
I've been "out on my own" since July last year(I was made redundant the week I passed my 6129), there are many days when sat at home with no work.
You have to be realistic, you're not going to get 40-50 hours a week from the off(you'd have to be really good with all the variation of work you could fit into 50 hours straight out of training to even be able to cope.You need to take it a step at a time,otherwise you'll come unstuck), lucky if you get 4-5 hours work.
I absolutely enjoy what I do but you're dreaming if you think you'll make a decent living from day one.I expect the more experienced plumbers on here will tell you it takes years to build up a decent client base and gain trust/respect for your work, and get your name about for all the RIGHT reasons.

 

[REDSAW]

so true helpsy, started plumbing 30 years ago. this week i have 11 hours work total. next week 5 hours so far.....
dreamers.

 

[newbie1]

am not negative i am a realist and i am trying to save someone from spending 10k and then barely earning enough to cover start up costs
peoples desperation leads them to ignore the facts and the training companies still advertise plumbers wages of 40k
that is pure fantasy and like i say there was a poster on here the other day doing gas who doesnt even know corgi are no longer the regulating body and after 10days classroom was asking about subcontracting for british gas while he builds a portfolio....his training company have sucked him in and spat him out and just from his post i doubt he can even solder a joint and has no chance of earning a living
why these guys dont do a search and get the facts instead of blindly signing their savings away i dont know
i quote redsaw with 30yrs experience has 11 hours work this week what can a 6129er hope to get with limited experience
this trade is struggling like hell and the fall out rate must be huge and those that do stick it out ask them what they are earning

 

[helpsy]

The majority of people on the 6129 course with me who passed about the same time as me are NOT WORKING IN THE PLUMBING INDUSTRY, and had all good intentions of going it alone. I am one of the few who is still doing it (I consider myself very fortunate). I think I know of about 5 others who are plumbing from the course, but I saw an awful lot of people training!
I think the only option is to go out on your own, you then have to have a list of things to get sorted just to be out there like:-
Public Liability Insurance
Van Insurance/Van
Tools
Materials
Nat Ins
Fuel
amongst just a few.
If you manage to get all this then you need to be able to go out unassisted and see the job through knowing that there is nobody watching over you to lend you a hand be it physically or knowledge wise.
I remember when I did my first few jobs,if I'm honest I was really nervous myself. I still get slightly nervous now and then.
You have to be able to go into a property and recognise what system you're working on before you even start and it isn't anything like in the training workshop.
Good Luck

 

[Gassy]

Why is it such a fantasy to think plumbers earn 40k plus? I earn it, surely others do.
What on earth are people doing if they are only getting 5 hours work a week? Doesn't that tell you that you are doing something wrong? Phones don't ring themselves you know. You got to go out and find the work.
It's easy to complain " theres' no work out there". Every house I know still has a plumbing system as far as I am aware. And most have heating systems.

 

[newbie1]

no the point is established plumbers with good contacts within the trade do earn good money in the south BUT the north especially has suffered with large scale redundancies from manufacturing etc and as such the training companies have targeted those redundancy payments and left a glut of semi skilled hopefulls scrabbling for little work
so my point being what good is a glut of 6 week 6129ers all scrabbling for little work how can they compete with your experience or contacts answer is they cant so will never earn 40k a year