Does anyone else prefer jobbing work?

[WaterTight]

I've done bathrooms and larger projects but don't really enjoy them. I find I don't take breaks, don't eat, don't drink and get so tunnel-visioned that I end up stressed and slightly obsessed.

Yet give me 3 or 4 1-2 hour jobs a day and a couple of quotes and I'm ok. Infact I feel I'd be happy to install a bathroom in a day as long as the bath was in one house, the basin in a second and the loo in a third.

Part of me feels a bit like a cop-out for turning down work I can do because I find I just don't want to do it. Does anyone else find they prefer that format? My old boss said he found jobbing work to be "rushing around" and didn't like it.

It does seem jobbing is an unpopular niche which is good because there's often work around which other people don't want.

 

[paulnwales]

more cash doing lots of smaller jobs i find. personally i dont like full heating jobs either id rather do other things as i dont really like being in one house more than 1 or 2 days.

 

[Marty32]

I hated jobbing - worked for a firm who would make me and my work mates do 10 jobs in a day (maintenace mainly) and the thing was they'd be rushing you like mad so they could then give you more but what happens when you turn up at a job? Sometimes it not always straight forward.

I wasn't eating and got very stressed and certainly didn't get any support just told you to get on with it so I quitted.

 

[bathroomboy]

I would prefer to do smaller jobs but you can't seem to get enougth of them to keep you going, I specialise in full bathroom refits and as you have stated it gets quitr stressful at times and I am not enjoying it.
The last 6 months have been really bad for getting work, I don't know whether others are the same but I keep checking the phone to see if it's still working.

 

[kay-jay]

i'm pretty much a jobbing plumber. things aren't too bad at the moment. today is the first day i've not had 2-3 jobs to do for about 6 weeks.
i think i'm pretty lucky about where i live, its pretty densely populated and most customers tell me they have struggled previously to find someone who can give them prompt attention for those niggling little jobs. as a result i'm getting work from reccomendations as well as from advertising.

i do bathrooms as well though and unvented, and turn nothing down. if its a big job or beyond my expertise i get someone in to help.

KJ

 

[gaspastemania]

Dont like jobbing for a firm but love my own jobbing works , quick easy cash and beats cutting yourself ,sweeting over payments on big jobs , pricing heat packs and so on so on .
Give me couple gas hobs a day and a dripping tap every time home by 3 with a tidy sum of money ,,,,CHEERS !!!

 

[WaterTight]

Glad to see I'm not alone then.

 

[GQuigley67]

Dont like jobbing for a firm but love my own jobbing works , quick easy cash and beats cutting yourself ,sweeting over payments on big jobs , pricing heat packs and so on so on .
Give me couple gas hobs a day and a dripping tap every time home by 3 with a tidy sum of money ,,,,CHEERS !!!

would agree with this, jobbing for a firm is murder some guy sitting in an office telling you youve got x amount to do in a day even though he hasnt done a bit of plumbing in his life !! (with my old firm anyway)

I don't get many big jobs anyway so when I do I'd gladly squeeze them in somewhere, be it weekends or nights.

Plus I always get someone in to help so we do it quicker, and it gives them some money also

 

[villa_tom]

I love "jobbing" I have always done service and repair on heating installations and I have always enjoyed it. It can be stressful if you have loads of jobs on though. Where I uses to work you'd start the day with 10-12 jobs on you and you would end up rushing and it could be a pain. But now I am self employed and work as a contractor its easy! I start the day with 8 jobs and take more if I like and if not I go home.
Plus if your going from job to job you can get all nice and relaxed in the van between jobs, plus you get breaks alot more often and meet loads more people on your travels. I always wanted to do installations but never got the opportunity until the other week when me and my mate did one and quite frankly I'll just leave them for someone else to do, I am only 23 but felt about 123 by the end of it!!!

 

[villa_tom]

I hated jobbing - worked for a firm who would make me and my work mates do 10 jobs in a day (maintenace mainly) and the thing was they'd be rushing you like mad so they could then give you more but what happens when you turn up at a job? Sometimes it not always straight forward.

I wasn't eating and got very stressed and certainly didn't get any support just told you to get on with it so I quitted.

That happened to me aswell, I ended ip hating where I was but then the firm went bump! But now I'm self employed I like it again! Firms will always push you for more work so the office staff have not got it sitting on their desk.
I found the hardest part about our job when working for a firm direct was office staff

 

[Puddle]

I spend most of my time jobbing,I like both but as said jobbing is were the money is

When I do bigger jobs,usually do a small job on the way and a few on the way back

Got the habit years ago when I got took for quite a lot by a builder who went belly up,because I had the income from the jobbing side still ,managed to pull through it

you tend to get a lot more satisfaction from the bigger jobs though

imho

 

[royston]

Yep jobbing is great.

 

[Blackcatgas]

I hate any type of work full stop, is there somthing wrong with me?.

 

[SimonG]

I like a bit of both, like the longer jobs for a bit of 'security' and squeezing a small job in on the way home but also like busy days with 3 or 4 breakdowns, leaky toilet, dripping ball valve etc etc for a boost in the old funds.

The only downside now with the light nights is having my alarm set for 5pm otherwise I wiuld never get home!

 

[gaspastemania]

I spend most of my time jobbing,I like both but as said jobbing is were the money is

When I do bigger jobs,usually do a small job on the way and a few on the way back

Got the habit years ago when I got took for quite a lot by a builder who went belly up,because I had the income from the jobbing side still ,managed to pull through it

you tend to get a lot more satisfaction from the bigger jobs though

imho

very good point , always get paid when jobbing because most people have the money for small works , quite often hear of installers going belly up with builders doing bigger installs .

 

[Mikey456]

Love doing 5 or 6 mini jobs a day cant stand being in the same house for more than a day really kills me after 2 or 3.

 

[Blackcatgas]

I did a torbeck valve 2 weeks ago, very atractive female customer, gave me some cake and some orange squash and three crisp £20 notes, then when i mentioned that I was going to a BBQ that evening and hadnt picked up any drink yet she gave me a small case of lager to take with me. I like this type of job

 

[Dannypipe]

I find the grass is always greener syndrome strikes.

I've been working on a large heating and ho****er/coldwater distribution job. Hating it now as I just want to get it wrapped up and get away...however before we started I was desperate to win it, and kept saying how nice it would be to have a base for a few weeks!

I'll be jobbing again in a week or two, and no doubt I'll start bitching and moaning about this and that.

Like the sound of your last job Blackcat - cash, cake and lager....and all supplied by a nice looking female customer. Nice!

 

[pauls]

i thought it was just me lol. i would prefer to go around and do 4-5 jobs a day its so much better and easier just cant find enough of it at the moment though.

 

[turnpin]

Sometimes we are not able to pick and choose as we all have bills to pay I have done both static and mobile plumbing work but I have to agree jobbing only really works out when you are able to do it working for yourself as opposed to working for a firm who take the lions share of the money made.One of the down sides for me when jobbing is the grief we all have with parking it was never this bad when I was a lad never mind lot of folk worse off than me regards turnpin

 

[dontknowitall]

Golly I'm boring - I enjoy the variety of small and large jobs but that's probably because I tend not to have too much of either.

 

[unguided1]

I enjoy doing jobbing bits and the odd Landlords gas safety certificate I have stopped installing on large Jobs now and pass those onto a couple of mates who I trust completey not to bugger my customers about, when their busy I will give them a hand on their jobs to help crack them out and they pass on their little bits and pieces they dont want to do,

 

[mike_s]

Yes I do also, more interesting! Love doing boiler and heating system breakdowns.