Company or Self employed sub contractor?

[marcwhittaker]

I'm looking into doing a intensive plumbing course and was wondering wether its better at the end of it to go self employed or sub contracting or into a company. I've heard that sites, e.g. new builds don't really take people without experience, so i was thinking of going into a company to get experience.

 

[moony]

good luck - loads of people in same boat and companies are wising up the the fast tracker

 

[tackleburger]

No-one will take you on unless you have served your time mate. Unless you are extremely lucky even at that you'll struggle to get paid anything decent.

 

[GreenArmy]

The only intensive plumbing course that i know of that will make you decent plumber is a four year apprenticeship followed by a further six years experience. Even after this you will be learning for life.

 

[Blackcatgas]

Id work for your self youl earn £50k in your first year easy.

 

[Puddle]

Id work for your self youl earn £50k in your first year easy.

Is that one of those chineese 1095 day years ,squeeezed in between a leak year

 

[PGS_Plumbers]

We'll if it's anything to go by, we only consider engineers with a lot of experience and top qualifications. Our engineers are the face of our company, so they've got to be of a high standard!

Best of luck with whatever route you decide on.

 

[fuzzy]

good luck but lower your expectations so youll be less disapointed

 

[cr0ft]

If you're after honest advice here it is.

I spent a considerable amount of money 'retraining' as a plumber. Had I done a bit more research before, all of the information on the course was freely available on the internet.

I did a course with OLCI. They passed everyone and anyone who came through the door, so in effect the end qualification was worthless.

I would have liked to secure work with a plumbing company afterwards, but nobody would take me on as I was 'just another person doing a fast-track course'. Please realise, you come away from this course with nothing apart from some limited knowledge. What you learn on this course is such a far cry from plumbing in real houses.

This said, you certainly can be a success doing these courses and working on your own. It takes a LOT of hard work and I don't mind saying some stressful experiences. My first year was very stressful but now I am a confident plumber and I do all my own tiling/carpentry etc as well. Over the last 6 months I have stopped advertising and all my work is from my website or word of mouth.

As long as you recognise that the course you will be doing isn't worth the paper it's written on and that your first year will be very, very hard then it's worth considering.

I don't believe you need to do a 4-year apprenticeship to become a good plumber but the point is valid that you do need experience. 1 year should do the job in my opinion. That said, you never stop learning - the learnings just become less frequent.

Good luck!

 

[wnjswozo]

good luck,
in the current climate,you wont get a job,think how many apprentice trained unemployed plumbers out there.
you will be lucky to get work un paid plumbing work.
its tough out there and will be for at least 2 years.
as an employer,i have 1 apprentices who we pay £93 a week,young and keen.
if you go self employed make sure you have plenty of reserve money,and good pli

 

[mrlennie]

If you're after honest advice here it is.

I spent a considerable amount of money 'retraining' as a plumber. Had I done a bit more research before, all of the information on the course was freely available on the internet.

I did a course with OLCI. They passed everyone and anyone who came through the door, so in effect the end qualification was worthless.

I would have liked to secure work with a plumbing company afterwards, but nobody would take me on as I was 'just another person doing a fast-track course'. Please realise, you come away from this course with nothing apart from some limited knowledge. What you learn on this course is such a far cry from plumbing in real houses.

This said, you certainly can be a success doing these courses and working on your own. It takes a LOT of hard work and I don't mind saying some stressful experiences. My first year was very stressful but now I am a confident plumber and I do all my own tiling/carpentry etc as well. Over the last 6 months I have stopped advertising and all my work is from my website or word of mouth.

As long as you recognise that the course you will be doing isn't worth the paper it's written on and that your first year will be very, very hard then it's worth considering.

I don't believe you need to do a 4-year apprenticeship to become a good plumber but the point is valid that you do need experience. 1 year should do the job in my opinion. That said, you never stop learning - the learnings just become less frequent.

Good luck!

Thats the same as me dont learn anything at college except the very very basics. I have been self employed for a year and I don't see what the big deal about 4 year apprenticeships are. people seem to spend 3 years hanging rads lol. the rest you pick up as you go along in your first year. TURN DOWN JOBS YOU CANT DO. lol that includes full bathroom suites 4 weeks after you finish college.

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm!

The idea of fast tracking really came about because an apprentice spent so much of their apprentice time working and only a small amount doing college work.

The government looked at this small amount of college time and lumped it all together which came to about 3 months over an apprenticeship. They then decided to make fast track courses of 3 months intensive college work.

The problem is they could not easily make up for the three or four years work experience. Basically the colleges still seem to be offering the 3 months intensive college work but not the work experience.

Having been a course tutor I can tell you one of the hardest jobs is not doing the course theory work, but finding work placements for trainees.

The companies obviously only want experienced people there is usually not enough fat left on the prices to allow for none productive training time especially in a possible recession.

Its why they tell you to go self employed. Thing is your on your own then.

Incidentally as somebody said you have got to be flexible, it may take a long time to build up a Plumbing only business, so learn to do other things. But also be aware that people probably still regard you as a real Plumber only if you do Plumbing.

 

[kay-jay]

sorry to say that i'm also in the same boat.
i have my quals c&g and nvq, niceic certification for unvented and water regs.

i have had no apprenticeship and am unable to find a job in the current climate.

i have now decided to go down the self employed route also, while i understand the sentiments of the previous poster who said don't take on jobs you can't do... i think a better approach is to refer the work to an experienced local plumber and let him take the money for the job while allowing you/me to work alongside him to gain some valuable experience. this way both confidence and competence can grow much quicker.


IF ANY PLUMBER IN THE BOLTON, WIGAN, ATHERTON, LEIGH, CHORLEY AREA IS NOT OVERRUN WITH WORK PLEASE PM ME AND ANY JOBS I CANNOT UBDERTAKE ALONE OR AT ALL I WILL PASS ON TO YOU>

KJ

 

[wheeto]

The only intensive plumbing course that i know of that will make you decent plumber is a four year apprenticeship followed by a further six years experience. Even after this you will be learning for life.

Really? That seems a bit excessive. 10 years of training will make you a surgeon, is plumbing really as difficult?

I agree completely with the "learning for life" bit though.

 

[Gray0689]

The only intensive plumbing course that i know of that will make you decent plumber is a four year apprenticeship followed by a further six years experience. Even after this you will be learning for life.

Hello DR M MOSS lol wise up