Where to next with work?

[Phillay]

Hi all,

I'm hoping some guys whomay have already been through it could give me some ideas on where Ican go next with the career I'm trying to kick-start.

Not knowing what I wanted, I chose A Levels instead of the apprenticeship route when I was younger...After 9 years working in financial services, I had the opportunityto change career and work alongside a local builder. I started outlabouring, cement mixing etc... and gradually built up my skills totake on tasks myself to a high standard.

After us building several extensions,refurbishing bathrooms and kitchens etc... I decided to get a tradeand as Plumbing seemed the most interesting and challenging, Ienrolled with my local college on the part time night course to do myTech cert level 2.

The recession obviously hit and I had topart ways with the builder and quickly got an office job to keep megoing financially and finish my tech cert. I then went on and gainedmy NVQ level 2 qualification by completing all the required evidenceduring the evenings, over the weekends and using my annual holidayentitlement.

Once qualified, I left the admin job I was in andset myself a little company to take on plumbing and some multi-tradeproperty maintenance. My intention was only to refresh my practicalexperience so companies or other plumbers would take me moreseriously when looking for work.

So my current situation isI'm 33, NVQ level 2 qualified, but still lack a lot of practicalexperience and confidence. I'm not looking to run my own business or have a desire to,I'mlooking to work for or with someone as that's more suited to me as aperson. The government seem to be changing the qualifications, so Ican even enrol to take on the level 3 tech cert and advance myselfthat way.

I'm not having much joy finding the opportunitiesand it's really frustrating as I consider myself a hard working,loyal, intelligent bloke, but have a horrible feeling things are happeningto late in my life for me to be able to pursue this career path. Doesanyone have any advice or good ideas they can offer?

Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 25704]

Yea I have to stay in the uk as I have kids and my partner wouldn't want to move abroad otherwise I would of left this country years ago. I was gonna start a business/finance degree with the open university which was gonna take 3 years and cost £15k but not sure if its better to just do a couple of quick courses and get an entry level job and work my way up.

University applications down in the UK. Professions will suffer their own skills shortages but don't believe anything sector skills councils say about skills shortages - look at what happened to plumbing.

If you can get into university then go for it, but be cautious about doing a degree through FE and paying top dollar. Admissions are down in the 3rd rate universities so pick out those in red brick or russel group to take out an investment on.

Apprenticeships and trades are less than minimum wage potential, because there is nothing else. Alternatively there is a gap in the higher education market openning up, with low interest loans and no need to pay it back if you do not earn anything - its a no brainer if you have A levels.

 

[plumb-tech]

I just don't know weather to spend 3 years studying to then not be able to get a job because I will be 32/33 year old graduate, do you not think its better to try and get an entry level job and work my way up

 

[Phillay]

It's interesting to read mate, here I am having spent 9 years working in the financial industry and then IT... and I've been trying to break away from it for the last 4 years to move into construction, hence me starting this thread.

Yet it appears there's alot of guys like yourself plumb-tech who want to go the other way and leave construction for the office industry.

Obviously the experienced plumbing guys here say the grass isn't greener and it's funny because it's the same thing I'd say for those moving out of construction into other areas.

The harsh reality of financial services (unless you're really qualified), is working for a salary of between £15-18k (that's midlands based, so will obviously be higher under London weighting), all your work is unit timed, you're expected to work at a speed of 110 mph without making mistakes, managers treat you like your 5 years old, and you have to suffer alot of office politics... It's fast paced and there's a lot of headache and stress.

But provided you can get with the right company and work with good people, you can progress and make a handsome salary, some of my mates earn circa of £30k, but it's a lot of responsibility. My suggestion would be to look at evening courses/qualifications with a local college, something you can do alongside your job, then hopefully start applying for some starter jobs, they'll take you more seriously (and you're not spending out too much money upfront).

It's very hard to obtain work in the construction trade when your office based and very much vice versa, trust me I know first hand, employers really struggle to take you seriously if you haven't had a proven background.

 

[Deleted member 25704]

I would go for the 3 year graduate qualification because it has currency for life

A plumbing NVQ3 is regarded poorly in the construction sector and has worthless currency because anyone can do an ACS in weeks and become registered. After five years you are paying for it again.

The long term value of a degree is proven - for existing vocational qualifications you are speculating.

If have a history degree, geography or anything you can teach - there is 30k a year and it doesn't have to be in your first subject area.

In addition, if you don't get a job, then you don't pay back the loan.

Those adult students thinking of spending £thousands should take note, that they can also apply for a student loan and pay it back when you earn over 21K - which will be never!

However, this is seen as some as scandalous, it is one way of financing your investment in training on the cheap if not for free:

UCU - University and College Union - Apprentices will have to pay to work

 

[plumb-tech]

I have thought about this a lot in the past 3 years, i started as a plumber back when i heard all these stories about how much they earn and as my dad was a plumber i thought id go for it, worst decision i ever made. Its very hard to make any money in plumbing these days unless you have a very large and loyal customer base. I dont know what its like in the midlands but down here you've got the ever increasing traffic everyday (very stressfull). A lot of polish builders claiming to be plumbers and doing jobs for half the price. If you dont speak fluent polish you will not be able to get a job at a site. And now they have said in jan 2014 were letting all the bulgarian and romanians over and guess what industry most of them are gonna work in??? (construction). There average wage in bulgaria is £20 per day so what you will have (like we had with the polish) is they will come over with there wife and kids, get a council house for free as they will say the wife is on her own, and then undercut every decent plumber trying to make a living, if they earn £40 per day they will be happy as they will not have any outgoings so will be sending £20 per day home to there savings account and spending the rest at there bulgarian supermarkets which will start popping up ( like the polish did). I know this as i have a couple of polish friends that done this for the last 8 years they have now gone back to poland bought businesses and live a comfortable life while we continue to struggle. I dont blame them i blame us because if someone said to you go to france for 5 years and you will come back with loads of money you probably would.

Anyway apart from that you cant retire now until your 70, can you imagine yourself under sinks or climbing through lofts at that age, im 29 and ive already had a knee operation and back hurts like hell. when i started i thought id run my own company after a while and employ people, cant see that happening now, I struggle to make £20k a year.
The stress in running your own plumbing company is huge, im actually on prescription drugs because of this and got receding hair line....

Im not saying for anyone not to do it if it is something you want to do, but dont o it just for the money as i did because thats long gone, the only ones making money are those who have done it for 30+ years which if you did an office based job for that long you should be making good money.

Being filthy all the time, not what i enjoy i would rather be in a nice warm office and just ignore the ****s with there office politics.

 

[Phillay]

Fair play mate. I hear you as we're having the same problems here in Cambs. Our population has upped massively, but it's not only the construction jobs that are being taken up. I spent some time working in IT systems for a well known retailer's distribution centre when it opened. Pretty much everyone working alongside me had moved from Eastern Europe, well, recruited from Eastern Europe and paid to re-locate here... 'Every little helps' I suppose.

Very hard workers, for less money, but when you see the queues outside our job centre, it's just crazy.

My wife's worked for the same insurance company for 15 years, she started out at about £11k, and is now on around £19k... not a massive increase, but a decent wage all the same... she's pretty much stuck now as she's sitting at the top of her salary band. I faced a few redunancies which really sets you back.

But, if you're unhappy with the way work's going, you can only go and try something else... good on you for doing that. That's all I was trying to do by making a career change towards construction, not really money driven. One particular office job I encountered made me very ill and set in a lot of grey hairs.

Going back to what you were thinking though, if you can get in somewhere and start at the bottom, a lot of my mates have done that and managed to work their way up, it's a bit of 'right place, right time' and 'not what you know, who you know'... but definately give it a go.

 

[Heat Kent]

I think employers in any field are looking for experience over qualifications, but if you’re looking to change to an office based role you might find that there are skills you can gain which are far more valuable to employers than generic degrees (unless you’re looking to be a doctor or something that requires a degree). Often having a degree doesn’t make you qualified to do a job, but rather shows the employer you have potential to learn and apply new skills specific to the role. It’s not necessarily right, or fair, but you’ll find that your CV with a degree and employment history in construction amongst 500 others won’t even make it to the HR department if everyone else has got years of relevant experience behind them, just like most plumbing firms wouldn’t look at my CV.

My wife left school with just a handful of GCSEs and went to work in an investment bank as a low paid admin girl. She was always the first in and last out of the office, she did her IAQs (Investment AdministrationQualifications) in her own time, went on loads of spreadsheet and database courses, learned Mandarin and goes on all sorts of other management courses. She now manages a team and is the only person in her department who doesn’t have a degree, but it’s the relevant qualifications that make her invaluable to the bank. She earns a good wage, but it comes at a price… High pressure, constant redundancies, office politics and not stop deadlines. Our alarm goes off at 4:30 every morning so she can get the 5:30 train and she doesn’t get home until gone 10pm (provided no one on her team messes up). She wants to take redundancy in a few years and just do fun stuff like balloon twisting, DJing, wedding services and promo work.

At the end of the day, anyone retraining at our age will come across hurdles, but if you’re not happy doing what you do then it’s time to make a change. Maybe look to find the job you want and figure out what qualifications you need to do it rather than getting the qualification and looking for jobs to fit around that? The problem with office jobs is that most people fall into them by accident, it’s not like you can try a role out before you apply.

We should hook up, I’ll teach you everything I know about underwriting and loss adjusting, you can teach me everything you know about plumbing. Just do a job swap….:clap: