Ennoch

I am hoping that with so many varied occupations on here that some of you may be able to help me! I recently got to the point in my Degree course where I was hating it so much that I dreaded going into uni each day. In short, it was completely the wrong degree for me (Engineering). Whilst I am interested in engineering I am a far more hands on person and was finding more and more that it wasn't what i wanted to do. Anyhow, I originally was going to do a plumbing apprenticeship but was talked out of the and back into the university option before leaving school.

Now, at 20 (close on 21) I find myself in a position to choose something that suits me better than the degree I was doing. I am not adverse to the idea of going back to uni and doing a different degree but due to school experience I may not be able to do exactly what i wish to do. Also, at 20, if I have to go through a 4 year apprenticeship I will be close on 25 before even getting any qualifications whilst having to work with other apprentices a lot younger than myself. I have heard in quite a few places about these intensive courses that are aimed at those wanting to go into a new line of work and are aimed at the more mature person. Now, I view these as a possible way to get all the theory stuff over and done with. I do not view them as a way to replace the practical knowledge built up from hard earned experience but would these be a possibility? Have any of you done anything like this or considered it? What are the job prospects like with it and are there any particular things I should be looking at? I saw quite a few 4-6 week courses which seemed to have good reports. I imagine the 2 week ones to be too basic for what I am wanting to do.

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks

AudiLover

lol the 4-6 week courses are a scam. What I would suggest you do is enrol at college to do a city & guilds plumbing level 2, complete that course in a a year and then look for work or an apprenticeship in the industry of plumbing.

Once you ahve your level 2 you can apply for the likes of british gas who start you off on 13k and train you up in around 6 months. As you experience goes up so will your pay and in 2-3 years you can be earning 32k with them. The max is 40k but you will have to put in overtime to achieve that.

All the statements in the press about earning 70k+ is hogwash. it is achievable but only when you have a solid clientiele base and live to work. You wouldnt be able to keep up that sort of lifestyle. The average plumber will earn around 32k.

Oh and its extremly difficult to get your foot in to the door as you will be competing against plenty other hopefuls for limited positions whithin companies. However you seem to be well qualified and there are some real dunces in the business. This industry can also be very laddish and many people drop out who cant handle ribbing from their collegues.

Ennoch

Yeah, 70k is a bit steep. plumbers seem to be paid well round here but not that well! Is the level 2 part 'on the job' practical or is it all theory? What is different between these and the intensive courses as some of them seem to take you up to the Level 2 qualification? I am just trying to find out as much about all my options before deciding on anything as I don't want to make another mistake like choosing the wrong degree course. Is British gas a good way to get into it? In an ideal world I would like to be self employed but is there a vast difference in earnings between BG and a good self employed plumber? I imagine that the possibilities with working for yourself allow you to work massive hours to pay for a holiday etc and then be more flexible with working hours and holidays. That is the major enticement to me. So if I was to do the college course and then go to BG, which I imagine would be all gas work, would I have to do further training to become a normal domestic self employed plumber? I ask as I imagine that all the specialist training will just be in gas. I am open to as many suggestions as possible really. Like I say, just trying to make an informed desicion!

thanks!

AudiLover

With BG you would be an heating engineer so you would be able to basically do most plumbing. You just wont come into any contact with drainage etc. Its a clean job. Also wont have the bother with having to hammer lead all day if your doing someones guttering.

With BG you get 30 days paid holiday, pension, van, tools and a laptop which basically calculates everything for you. Most plumbers say that if you can work with BG your sorted.

The level 2 qualifications if doing fulltime is 2-2 and a half days a week at college depending on the college. A full day is usually 9-5 in which half the day will be practical and the other half theory. You take 1 tests for each topic and theres 12 of them with a big final test taking online on a computer. You have 3 chances to pass each test.

You can also do the level 2 course whilst working at the same time but then it takes 2 years to complete it. You only go to college one day a week then.

From what Ive heard these intensive courses are full of promises.If its not with a college I would avoid them. A friend of mine had a collegue who decided to pack in his high paying bank job to become a plumber. 6 months and a small fortune later he was back at the bank. The intensive course basically robbed him for his money. Also future employers frown upon non traditional methods of learning. The plumbing industry could be said to be very tight knit.

A self employed plumber can earn more money than with BG but its a hassle as you have to chase up customers who dont pay (be surprised at the amount of people who do that) and then you also have to buy the tools and van etc. Although you can cheat tax when your self employed

Either way you will start off with a company and they will tell you what they would like you train as. Once your qualified in one you can always decide to also become corgi registered when you have your foot in the door or leave the company and go out on your own.

ewanrw

I know exactly how you feel. Have done 2 degrees and ended up in sales. Currently unemployed (thru' choice and living off savings) but looking like I'll be back in sales by the end of next week.

A recent study showed that your average self employed plumber in Edinburgh earns £70k

Also, there were two finance execs in Edinburgh who quit their jobs, retrained as plumbers at the age of 35 and set up their own plumbing business which they sold for £3 million two years later.


Plenty money to be made in plumbing.

ewan

RR

I never earned 40k at BG when i was there the salary was 23-24k a year this was 4-5years ago. Overtime and bonus maybe got me upto the 27k a year mark if i was luckly. Working for BG your life will just be a misery, trackers shifts, managers on the phone 24-7 trying to get you into work on your days off, overloading you with to much work on a daily basis. I would not touch plumbing/gas work with a bargepole now. Stay at Uni and get the degree. There lots of 24 weeks wonders out there now who have full domestic acs and are flooding the market with cheap inexperienced low quality engineers and workers from Europe etc working cheap over here. Its driving the wages down and making work hard to find. I served my time at BG and i have full domestic Acs gas quals, and Full Commercial/industrial gas quals and i have been unemployed since December. Although my local council are looking for engineers with domestic and commercial gas quals at £7.59 and hour.

Its better to look for yourself than believe the miracle storys go take a look.
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/

Exspect to Earn 18-20k a year as a plumber/heating enginner.

2000TLondon

Even ten years ago I had to pay one hundred and sixty pounds call out charge for a plumber in Marylebone, London.

I'm sure self-employed plumbers can earn whatever they want, but it made me laugh a few years back when everyone wanted to be a plumber down to the HUGE amounts of money The Daily Star said they earnt. As Audi says, this is after a lot of hard graft, experience and repeat business, and probably having a couple of other guys on your books.

However, the point of my post is that there are many, many professions you can turn your hand to, and you have all the time in the world to decide. I dropped out and it was the biggest mistake I ever made! I never enjoyed shcool and am more practical, and was too impaitent to start earning.

How far into your degree are you? I guess a year or two? You may be able transfer your credits to another course? They should have advisors to tell you all your options. You shouldn't have to feel like quitting is your only option if you don't like the course. Also, just because you do an engineering degree, doesn't mean you have to go into engineering. If you can grin and bear it, just having the degree on your CV will be worth a lot, and the world is your oyster!

Petem95

Theres well paid people in any professions. There was a big shortage of plumbers for a time, and some of the rates hit the headlines, but I dont think theres as much of a shortage now. Still pays quite well however, but it seems to take a long time for people to forget the rates that hit the headlines.

Its like IT - great industry to be in in the lates 90's, but now theres hundreds of thousands of skilled people in the IT industry because soooo many people have gone into it, and many are stuck in crappy 18k positions.

Skilled hands-on work has got to be a good bet though I would say, whether thats plumbing, electrition, plaster etc. I think a lot of people have ignored these areas over the 5-10years, and thats why now you can earn a very good living in these areas.

mattsan

I wouldn't bother with the intense courses,because a lot of companys wont even consider you for a job unless you have done an apprenticeship.They will look at you as if you havent had the proper trainning,and how can you learn it all in 6 months? At your age you shouldnt have any trouble getting an apprenticeship.Once you have done your 3/4 years trainning,you should be earning around 30k.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Had a big shortage of plumbers around here for the past couple years. Seems to be a lot of polish and other foreign plumbers filled the gap now

Bram

I have been currently searching to aid my two sons on leaving school. Apprenticeships seem to be hard to get, one sons experience was he wanted to be an electrician, he sat the electrical training assessment and sat employers interviews and tests. At one interview he was asked how he would get to the job as he did not drive, he was just 16? Needless to say the people who did get the postions were over 17 and had been at college. A big difference from my day apprentices were taken on leaving school. Anyway he was accepted at college after sitting another entry test for HNC in Electronic engineering, who after a month got him a job at a local employer repairing and servicing medical equipment.

My second son did not get any replys to letters to get into Car Mechanic at all, he got a place at college but had to find his own placement at a local dealer two days a week along with his three days at college.

Due to my wife and my own salary's both my sons did not receive any support except for books and bus fares to college. My second son does not get paid for two days work but supplies a time sheet per job carrying out servicing and repairs under direction of mechanic. He is awaiting an interview with a national garage company and hopefully his endeavours over this last year will see some sort of benefit for him.

Just two examples of how desperate the current employers are in solving the current skill shortages. I could go on about my sons friends experiences on the same note.

Ennoch

Thanks for all the information guys, I really appreciate it all. I like the idea of the British gas route, at least to get me trained. If I go down the plumbing route then it will definitely be with a view to eventually working for myself. I am going to investigate the various routes that I could go down but avoiding a 3- 4 year apprentiship is always going to be the preferable route! I can certainly see what you guys say about the intensive courses, your views pretty much confirm what I thought.

I realise that the money aint going to be good initially, certainly for a fair period of time but I think that if I could become self employed at some point that it would certainly offset that. I really hate living in towns/cities and want to get out. Working for yourself it allows you to be that bit more flexible with where you live and what sort of life you live. I am not looking at plumbing as the sole option but it is certainly very tempting if I can find the right way into it.

Thanks!

mart360

Stick with the engineering....

i was talking to an old boy, at the palace where o now work

hes 62 and his colleague is 61, when they retire the next age down is 40 and after that its nippers in there 20,s

the nippers in there 20,s are all the cnc boys, the other guys are time served heavy engineers,

when they retire there is going to be one hell of a skills gap


Mart

AudiLover

What sort of qualifications are required to do an engineering degree at Uni? Do you have to have A-levels or can you take a engineering course at college to get access?

Always been interested in engineering, and I might switch from plumbing to engineering If I get bored of it.

Mungo

Don't even consider an engineering course at university unless you're a good mathematician. I got an A in A-level maths (16 years ago) and ven then really struggled with Mechanical Engineering. You need to be very bright and very keen.

Regarding plumbers' wages, I am surprised to read of earnings at only £28-30k. I've been paying plumbers £65/hr - even if they only work 4 hours a day, that's the best part of £60k a year. Yes there are overheads, but the tax breaks in being self-employed more than make up for these. Having said that, the last 2 times I've needed a plumber, I've got one at a day's notice, so I'm either paying too much or there are a lkot of guys out there without much work on.