The exception being when, as is increasingly common lately, the Company no longer exists. In some cases, the *industry* no longer exists locally, either, so retraining isn't an option, but a necessity.
Anyone I know even slightly who loses their job nowadays has my sympathy, accompanied by a sense of relief that it wasn't me this time.
Yes - that's become an annual event at my current job.
Gas or oil boilers?
Gas is becoming steadily more difficult but oil is a little more straightforward to get into. Your locality will have a great bearing on the prospects of success.
I suppose boiler engineers don't need an assistant so, in some ways, it must be more difficult to get into. Plasterers OTOH probably need all the assistants they can get, but I've never seen one that isn't short and stocky with large shoulders, so you need to be physically suited to the job
???
A sparky needs to do one C&G course - two days, and then be assessed on 2 pieces of domestic work, with one being of a notifiable type. Does that really take 2 years?
My wife is 56, just finishing a 4 year Uni course. Prior to that, she did an access course, so she's been at this for rather a long time. It looks like there are no jobs in her chosen profession, anyway, AND it's badly-paid. At least, after April 2011, they won't be able to sack her just for reaching age 60/65.
Shame you're in Medway!
I have no idea what the correct answer is, but there was one answer missing from all the others in this thread. I would suggest starting up as an ordinary plumber. There are no training requirements (afaik). You can then see how the job is generally, without spending the money to become Gassafe qualified.
You can also get some specific training, eg qualification to install pressurised water systems, which may give you an edge but not be too expensive. Megaflo or their competitors may provide specific training courses that are subsidised/free.
Which one is that - the 17th Ed multi-choice? You'd struggle to do the others in 2 days.
[snip]
See previous comment.
Did you have to study to be this pompous, or did it come naturally?
No, your English comprehension skills are at a low ebb.
Sadly you failed to understand that I understood that the OP was *made redundant*. Perhaps this is due to your poor English comprehension skills?
I've never been called Norm.
It is nowadays a relative rarity to be able to stick with the same career for life or even for much of a decade. The world of work seems to change every more rapidly and if one wishes to remain in decent employment being adaptable and willing to retrain is essential.
Thanks for proving that you're a pompous tit. However you did that with your first post, there was no need to continue.
Yep, just about everyone I know, mostly in their 50s has to retrain and retrain and retrain just to stay in employment. Life's also getting harder with the plethora of "guilds" although that's not what they call them, but the intent is the same.
If one wishes to be a tradesman, or a white collar professional, increasingly one must join a professional association, take exams and maintain a professional standard just to stand still. The carrot is supposed to be that one is joining a closed shop, although that's not quite how the associations punt themselves. However that's the intent.
Wow! I expected some sort of childish retort. I didn't realise you'd go the whole hog, and make such a show of yourself. You have exceeded all expectations.
Thanks for that - you've made my day - and probably reassured the OP that he can safely ignore you.
Ah - is that "retrain to stay in employment", or "get made redundant and retrain to get another career"?
Hmmm...if you maintain something you keep it in a certain state. So surely that equates perfectly with 'standing still'. And for professional occupations, the joining of associations and taking exams is nothing new.
Gosh! That! Told! Me!!
While that could be right, in reality, it is not. Yes, you can take the 17th Ed. course in 2 days, but that is the exception, most people do a 5 day course. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not easy. If you have no prior electrical experience, I dont think you would be able to do it first time. The College I went to would not allow anyone to enter without a quick interview asking about relevant experience - they said anyone they thought did not know enough would have to go on a basic electrical course first, to understand the basics.
Yes, you are then assessed on 2 pieces of work. That has to be done to confirm completely with the Regs. Anything wrong, and you get a black mark, 2 things wrong, and you fail. One thing wrong is a screw not tightened enough, or a cable not clipped down.
Then there are the theory queries during the assessment. 2 hours of questioning. It is hard. (how many smoke alarms do you need in a 4 bedroom house? How many energy saver lamps do you need when you rewire a house? What is the maximum allowable impedance of a 32A circuit on a TT supply? - those were 3 questions (amongst many others) I got, and you wont find all the answers in the 17th Ed. or OSG.)
Then you go on to testing the installation. "Do R1 on that circuit, then a R2 on that one, and a RCD test". It all has to be done correctly, do anything in the wrong order, or without safe isolation, and you fail. I found the testing the most difficult bit. You need to know exactly how your tester works. I made a right balls up of it in front of the Assessor. Tripped the RCD when doing a test. Instant fail - unsafe. It is experience that helps, and you need hours working with the tester to get it right very time.
Then paperwork. I failed my paperwork. I put down a main fuse as a BS60009 switch iirc, when it is a BS1361 fuse. My Safety assessment wasnt complete, so I got a warning about that.
Costs - £400 for the 17th Ed course. £400-600 for tester. £150 on various books and tech. material. A multitude of other kit that you wouldnt need if you werent a full time sparky - £200?. Registration - £550ish. £2M Insurance - £125 Add in the missed working time, and it comes to well over £2500 for the initial registration.
Ongoing costs - £550 a yr. registration. £65 tester calibration, £125 Insurance, additional courses (I'll be doing 2392 in Feb at £400 for 5 days).Paperwork ~£100 a year.
I started mine last July. It'll be February when I'm assessed again, and hopefully passed as Competent. I've been doing domestic electrical work for 10+ years, that experience has helped, and I'm pretty sure it would take far longer without my relevant prior experience.
So, no, you dont need 2 years working time to become a full time competent electrician, but without prior knowledge, I'd think it would be very difficult to do it in anything less than a year.
Alan.
TBH, getting a job with W-B as a Service Engineer is not going to happen. They will require someone with a lot of experience, and good fault finding abilities. You will not get either of them from a College Course.
I looked into Gas registration, but found it too onerous to do. The College course is not bad, but afterwards you need at least 6 months of 'on the job' experience with a Registered Company. Unless you are very lucky, you will not get this. Most Plumbing/Heating Companies are feeling the pinch, so will not take on people who cannot do the job on their own, hence no chance of employment. Thier reluctance is also due to people doing their 6 months experience, getting Registered, then going off as Self-employed. I know 2 18 yo's locally who have passed the college course, but cannot get a job to allow them to qualify for GasSafe.
I'd be looking for something other than gas related employment.
Alan.
A bit silly since the word need depends on who it is. Most people don't need any smoke alarms or energy saving lamps. The fact that its four bedrooms has little influence on the number of smoke alarms, if that is an actual requirement rather than understanding how they work and where they need to be based on the layout then someone needs to rewrite the rules.
My experience of WB is that they send out relatively inexperienced fitters by default, and the main man in the area follows up if things get complicated. If that's what the OP wants to do, I'm sure he'll get there in the end. Asking WB what they want would be a good start
On the other hand, a good one could easily save you the cost of their services, depending on how well you could do the job yourself, or not.
MBQ
Man at B&Q ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) wibbled on Wednesday 19 January 2011
12:09:
Perhaps - but it's not easy to find them.
I had a "good" one (recommended by someone I knew).
They did find a fair few savings. Then, mysteriously, their final bill bore no resemblance to their original estimate (which should have been accurate because I only did "services" (few materials) and I gave them a very accurate outline of the volume of paperwork up front.
Strangely the bill minus the estimate seems to be around about the "savings" that they had made...
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