A Catch 22 situation?

[GasLearner]

Hello!
my name is Adam,
i have completed my level 2 in plumbing (the college half) and require an apprenticeship to get the NVQ!

i am currently studying level 3 in plumbing (Gas.. and only on mondays) and would be looking for a company to work for,
if you can help in any way I would be extremely grateful

i am very hard working and have had a bit of plumbing experience. i am a fast learner and will hopefully be completing my apprenticeship asap!
i learn extremely fast and have been announced plumber of the year in my college course for being the most involved and hands on with the tasks at hand,

if you can help me find an apprenticeship in any way shape or form please don't hesitate to email me!

 

[Agile]

Hello!

i am currently studying level 3 in plumbing (Gas.. and only on mondays) and would be looking for a company to work for, if you can help in any way I would be extremely grateful

Whilst you ask anyone to email you, I dont see your email address in your profile!

The apprentice scheme is only for those up to 26 ! Are you within that range?

The reality is that there are too many plumbers all chasing too little work.

I wish you luck but would have expected you would have said the important things like where you live, if you can drive and if you have a car or van.

Be aware that apprenticeships are for about three years and have limited pay rates. Can you live on those?

In any case you should have been on the apprenticeship DURING your NVQ2 study. It sems you just want to do enough for a few weeks to get the NVQ so that you can set up on your own and undercut and take away work from existing firms in your area.

BG charge £18k we are told for taking people on for training!

 

[GasLearner]

Apologies my email adress is [email protected]
i am 23 years old from buckinghamshire (chesham) i understand that in a perfect world i would have been doing my level 2 NVQ whilst doing my level at college,
but apprenticeships are extremely hard to get hold of when you are at my age.
i can drive and have my own car
i can live on the limited rates an apprenticeship provides as it will be aiming me in to a career,
ideally i would be looking for a local company to take me on so i can learn from them and become a loyal worker.

 

[misterdubya]

You won't find anyone in Chesham, Amersham, or Babysham.

 

[gasman26]

What is going on just lately..... In the last month I have had 4 letters from guys with a similar story, looking to gain gas experience so they can build a portfolio...

I have also had 2 phone calls of the same description, one of them a 45 yr old ex forces, who openly admitted he wanted to get his hours experience in buddying up with an engineer so he could go self employed.

It could`nt be a worse time to be trying to gain a foot into this overcrowed industry IMHO, who in their right mind would be interested in entertaining these guys.

These are getting on par in frequency with the annoying phone calls & correspondence from the annoying leeches at yell, thompson, corgi, police diarys, fireman calenders, orin, electrotec, trustatrader, insurance & seo companies..

Hardly any time left in the day to get any work done after dealing with all
these important phone calls

Rant over............

 

[muggles]

apprenticeships are extremely hard to get hold of when you are at my age

I suspect your age is the least of your problems, indeed it could work to your advantage depending on what you've been doing with your life since you left school seven years ago. The bigger problem you have is simply that the trade is already saturated and there's not a lot of work out there. It's better in some areas than others but quite a lot of plumbers out there are struggling to find enough work for themselves, let alone someone else as well who they are ultimately going to have to either continue to employ or let go so they can then become a rival for the meagre amount of work available. You have, I'm afraid, picked the wrong trade to start training in really, or rather the wrong time to be training in it.

I can live on the limited rates an apprenticeship provides as it will be aiming me in to a career

Are you sure? Are you aware of what you're actually entitled to be paid? In your first year your employer would only have to pay you £2.50 per hour as you would be classed as an apprentice and wouldn't qualify for the standard minimum wage. In the unlikely event you do manage to get an apprenticeship somewhere, you'd most probably be contracted 40 hours per week, and could therefore expect to take home £100 a week. Out of this, as well as paying rent/bills/food/whatever else, you would normally be expected to be starting to build up, fairly quickly, a toolbox full of tools of your own. You can quite easily spend £300-£400 on this, it's no good buying cheap crap cos it won't last long, if you're going to do the job you need to buy tools that work well and will last a long time, and these don't come cheap. For example, good adjustable spanners are about £15 each and you'll want three minimum, look at £20-£25 for grips and again you'll want two different sizes, and oh there goes pretty much all of your first week's wages and you've only got five tools, which ain't going to make you a lot of use.

If you really can manage to live on that then good luck to you and I hope you find a post soon, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope.