Where would you look for a plumber's mate?

[David Wright]

As plumbing gets mentioned here quite a bit, I thought I'd give this a shot....

I'm a 35 year old NVQ Level 2 year 2 heating and ventilation student trying to do my NVQ 2.

In the next two months, they need us to find a Corgi registered plumber with an unvented Certificate and Electrical Part P. And under the supervision of that person, I need to install and test the following items, 3 times each: Heat Emitters, Pipework, Brackets and Supports, Boilers and Flues, Storage Vessels, Mechanical & Electrical Controls, Sanitary Appliances and pressure vessels. (More than one of these can be checked off on one job.) Also, pre-commission three systems, and de-commission twice.

I'm well presented, can talk proper like, and communicate well with people, but I'm not a city ponce. I'm also strong and reliable.

What I've done so far is:

Drop round piles of leaflets to plumbers and builders merchants.

Looked on Jobcentreplus, Reed, Jobsite, Fish4, Gumtree etc etc

Tried some of the agencies: The story is the same everywhere; they either need a fully qualified person, or they make use of the plentiful supply of cheap skilled Polish labour.

As for ringing round - it's already been done by everyone else, but not believing the stories, I tried three: one was polite, the others were "piss off" and a hang-up! And that was after "Hello, I'm doing NVQ ....."! Do I keep going on that track?

As for the college - unless you are in a wheelchair or claim minority status, you have NO chance of getting any help from them at all.

So...any ideas? I know the theory, and what I've fitted for other people works fine. But finding that magical Corgi registered unvented certificate plumber who needs a hand is proving to be a little trickier than I imagined...

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Put a card in as many plumbers merchants as possible and even ask the PM does he know of any plumbers who need a hand, here and there.

[David Wright]

Been there, done it :)

OK, I used leaflets, others have tried cards. Net result is the same.

[dom]

I appreciate your plight, and well remember similar looking for student placements - er - 24 years ago.

Have you considered larger institutions/organisations rather than domestic plumbing businesses?

e.g. hospitals, large industrial premises, council maintanence departments and the like - all of which may have their own in-house plumbing services. You might find qualified plumbers and qualified electricians - rather than that being one person.

It may not exactly fit the formula - but your college isn't exactly being helpful - and the examiners will have to be realistic about the opportunities students can find (and speaking as a former lecturer - quite a few of the staff probably need a rocket up the bum to realise they should be out there building up those business networks that students depend on).

BTW - whereabouts are you based?

[Cicero]

======================== Has your local Council (or any neighbouring Councils) got a Direct Works department? If so ask your local councillor for an introduction. Wolverhampton Council is planning a £400 million council house programme over the next few years so there should be some scope for work there and in similar wealthy local authorities.

Cic.

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[MikeH]

Are you expecting to get paid for this?

I've recently retired from the IT industry where "getting started" was a problem for many of those who wanted to work in IT. The emphasis was on experience, and the problem got much harder for those who were no longer twenty-something.

I often wondered what I would do if I had been out of a job in my latter years, and came to the conclusion that if all else failed I would be willing to work for nothing for a few months just so that I could prove my capabilities and be able to 'tick the boxes' in terms of up-to-date experience.

Of course finances may dictate that this is not an option, but it might be worth a shot if nothing else works. If you under-cut that cheap Polish labour small businesses working on tight margins might then find you irresistable :-)

Good luck.

Mike

[Stephen Dawson]

You are absoluteley right about colleges, we approached a large technical college to tell them that we were doing a job with MI Cable and they said they would place a couple of lads with us to get MI skills signed off but never heard from them again.

Steve

[David Wright]

I've already factored that in - 50% of my leaflets mentioned this, and I said that I'd work for free on "tick the box" jobs, but would expect at least SOME pay if I got sent out to change a load of taps or pull a turd out of a toilet....

Hmmm, I'd assumed they'd be closely tied with agencies

Reading.

Same thought as before, wrt agencies and insurance and general jobs-worthiness.

Will give it a go in the morning!

Thanks for the suggestions and lateral thinking so far!

[Doki]

Perhaps try people who do heating installation on new builds etc?

[John Stumbles]

What are you planning on doing when you qualify? Would you be looking to work for a local business? If so I'd suggest talking to them from that POV. If I were running such a business and looking to take on someone new in the near future then the chance to try out someone would be quite attractive. Of course not all businesses will be looking to recruit but some must be. Likewise some will be ungracious, unfriendly etc - but you probably wouldn't want to work for them anyway, would you - you want the nice ones! :-)

I'd be inclined to ring round all the likely local businesses, maybe asking who to talk to about getting a job and/or help with work experience for your NVQ and sussing out whether you could come along in person to talk to someone about it or maybe they'd prefer you to write or email them about it?

You might also ask the staff in some of the plumbers' merchants if they know of any of their customers who might help. I'd go at a time when there are other customers around but not when it's heaving - some of the other customers might pick up on what you're asking and be helpful. Merchants I'd try first Slough P+H (aka Renaissance Bathrooms) at the 3 Tuns Xroads, PTS in Elgar Rd, City Plumbing (was Jayhards) in Oxford Rd.

(I picked up from another part of this thread that you're Reading based. BTW where are you doing your training?)

If your tutors are prepared to be flexible about the work experience you get I could offer you some general P&H including gas work & boilers, but not unvented or Part P. However I'm a one-man band so you'd get a wider range of experience more quickly with a bigger outfit.

Good luck, and please let us know how it goes.

[Dave Baker]

Up a plumber's crack?

-- Dave Baker

"Why," said Ford squatting down beside him and shivering, "are you lying face down in the dust?" "It's a very effective way of being wretched," said Marvin.

[Guy King]

The message from "Dave Baker" contains these words:

Usually in a plastic tub.

[Andy Hall]

Every one a winner.

[Owain]

Wouldn't using condoms be more comfortable?

Owain

[David Wright]

Honestly? Getting the hell out of this craphole of a country. To a place where not only do you have to prove they need YOU, but once you're there, they appreciate the givers more than the stealers and overall life tax isn't

70%.

Wouldn't qualify until next May/June (tbc).

Oh yes!

Ah, OK. It was mid-afternoon when I did the rounds!

Well, if I tell you that most of the others there make moo-ing sounds and consistantly fail key skills level 1* and are mostly there because they've been told they have to be, could you guess? Actually, that's a bit disingenuous - year 1 is like that, year 2 is an entirely different barrel of prawns.

*Sample question: What usually belongs at the end of a sentence? A full stop or a llama? (Everyone knows it's a llama - and still they fail).

That said, you're a one man band who can form a sentence, and in English too. From my experience and others, this is fairly unique in this area. Half my problem is that because I talk proper like and my knuckles don't drag on the ground, a lot of plumbers think I'm one of these toff city types, when in fact I'm a reliable hard worker. Bottom line is that I've been offered experience from a large outfit, but they pay nadda. Zip. Zilch. Which is fine for a couple of months, but I can't self-sustain on weekend work alone much more than that, so ideally I'd have end up somewhere where I could gain experience but also been of enough use to them to warrant at least enough pay to live on.

Well, it's going! Thanks for your help and suggestions - I'll see how this outfit works out and let you know.

Oh no, stop, stop now before my sides split. How do you do that? I mean, just come out with stuff straight off the top of your head three days later? That's really good - I'll have to remember that one...

(that reply was straight from "How to endear yourself to the plumbers in a group you're trying to get help from", Volume II).