Combi boiler for a 4 bathroom house - Advice please

[timmyjane]

He could attain every qualification going but the sad truth is that no one will employ him until he has at least 5 years experience.
The only realistic future for your husband will be as a self employed plumber. And even then there is no way he will be capable of doing the kind of installation you had to wait for.
Realistically he will be doing bathrooms, plumbing maintenance and standard boiler swaps.

Is this enough to earn a living wage? Sure but its not nailed on certainty.
Look in the paper or the yellow pages and see just how many competitors there are in your area that are already well established.

Thanks useful advice Kay Jay - it is good to know what the reality may be.

With regard to other comments - yes marketing does probably pay more, but didnt whistle whilst he worked, does at home doing DIY. He has done loads in our house and accepting a lower annual salary acceptable if happier.

As for robbing jobs (bit rough) but get this may be a realistic thought process for many employers - working in accountancy I know as soon as people are fully qualified they can and often do walk away with clients if without morals, maybe a rough deal for the employer, its the way of most industries I imagine.

Hopefully employer makes a profit from work done or at least breaks even by paying low salary in exchange for a good dedicated person who is desperate to learn in the two to three years they have been there. And has option when training suffice to realise the potential and offer something more with a view to a long term benefit. Which is what most accountancy practices would do if someone proved to be excellent as a result of natural talent, hard work and good training. Think both parties benefit if handled right and neither needs to lose out.

Get what most are saying 5 years plus to be any where near good enough to make an a decent living, if he can find an employer after exams - so thanks for all advice, love this forum, always been useful, at least know the reality if he chooses this path.

 

[kay-jay]

The point is that even with all the quals available finding someone to give him a job will be nigh on impossible.
Prospective employers value experience far more than qualifications.
Unfortunately its a vicious circle.

Good luck with whatever decision is made.[emoji3]

 

[SimonG]

Doing diy at home isnt out in the real world earning a crust. Be careful and good luck.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Hi Ray

He is very practical and desperate to get out of the office environment and was thinking more along the lines of one years full time intensive training (which we could afford to do as insurance for redundancy should kick in) and this is possibly the only time in his life he will have such an opportunity to retrain, otherwise its back to stuffy office. Followed by a couple of years of on the job training. With a long view to doing contract work self employed afterwards (as he has the business, marketing and website specialist knowledge to hopefully drive people his way until recommends came in). It seems the work is out there from what you are saying if you are half decent.

Firstly what top notch examinations/courses would you recommend that employers might want.
Secondly - if really dedicated and quick thinker/learner would 3 years be enough time to afford a decent living.
Thirdly - Would age be a real block against outfits taking him on for a couple of years as apprentice/plumbers mate after completion of examinations.

Looked at Electrical work but general stuff on web suggests its better to train as plumber/gas engineer than electrician for numerous reasons.

Still a no go?

Certainly a year to train is better than a few weeks. However, the sad fact is that he will still struggle to find work - most employers would rather take on a 19 or 20 yr old in that situation than a mature adult.

There are others on here who can advise better than me on exactly which course.

They say it takes 10,000 of hours to become expert at anything. 40hrs per week x 48 weeks per year = 5 years to get 10,000 hours. In reality, probably closer to 10 years, by the time you take out the quiet weeks, the time spent waiting for gear or down at the merchant, driving to site or doing other trades to turn a few quid.

I'm not saying its impossible. Just very, very difficult. And just when he gets good at it, his knees and/or back may give out - an occupational hazard of the game.

My suggestion would be to keep looking for that marketing job, and do an evening course to see if the enthusiasm lasts.

 

[Millsy 82]

As has been said there are plenty of people coming into plumbing thinking there is plenty of work and good money to be made thanks to all the newspapers saying all plumbers are on £70-80k, in reality unless your a good gas engineer or well established you will be nearer £15-20k. Don't get me wrong there are plumbers out there who probably are earning mega money some good some bad but it will take time.

I have been in the trade for 16 years and I've worked for many companies and around the area and generally pay was rubbish until you got a good name because people will always work for less, I recently moved to a different area and with 16 years experience gas/oil/lpg qualified and I only got offered £22k so I decided to go self employed. As I have no name down here I'm lucky if I earn £100-£150 a week but steadily getting busier (I don't mind so much at the moment as I'm enjoying having more hours off and my outgoings are £200 a month).

The work is dirty/ heavy and awkward at the age of 32 my knees are shot even though I wear knee pads. Even if you do service/maintenance you still have to take boilers off the wall from time to time and they are never in a nice easy position.

If I had my time again I would of trained as a sparky (I will probably get banned now for saying that) the work isn't as heavy and good ones are few and far between but again there is plenty of useless ones.

Tilers/plasterers/decorators are all on good money (tilers down here £40per sq meter) and people want them as they make the house look good.