heating engineering career a wise move

[sjm]

I am 24 and dont want a desk job as i would like be self employed one day and I prefer doing physical work. I was thinking of trying to become an apprentice and thought a heating engineer would be a good road to go down. Do you think this has a descent future in it and if the effort is put it let me earn a descent wage? I live in the central belt of Scotland so don't know how much work there would be available. Also is there much of a wage difference being self employed compared to working for someone else?

Thanks if anyone can get back to me
Steven

 

[gaspastemania]

I dont know what scotland is like work wise but down south in devon the money to be earned has dropped significantly. Maybe recession related i am not sure but thats food for thought straight away , dont be taken in by earn 40 K a year like the media states . Also your costs of tools and training to think about probably if your doing it properly about 10 thousand pounds.I get the odd call now from people same as you asking about plumbing / heating careers and i say the bubble has burst hard work for not mega money nowadays, consider tiling,dry lining/ plastering, bricklaying as money still good and nowhere near the outlay you have in the heating game.

 

[GQuigley67]

in Scotland you will need at least an SVQ3 to be considered as a tradesman off of any employer, down south its different you need a level 2, so in Scotland you need to do an apprenticeship of 4 years, the fast track courses will not get you a job and probably wont give you the skills to go it alone. The commercial side is dieing, not alot of contracts, and domestic is over crowded so there is alot of competition. 30 businesses registered with gas safe within a 1 mile radius of my house, says it all really.

 

[ballandco]

It is not as good money as it was,but you can still make a living,if you enjoy the job then thats fine but dont put your self through the training and pay out just to get rich quick because it isnt happening.Maybe try speak to local heating engineers and give it a go for a month or so,dont expect paying though,good luck

 

[fuzzy]

try some weekend work and see how it goes

 

[dontknowitall]

I posted this earlier today on another thread (Is it true) ... Please bear in mind that this was written for another poster but if it helps you make a decision ...

At present it is very difficult. With the right attitude and very hard work and depending on your local competition and jobs situation you can succeed.

The jobs market for plumbing is only after experience. No one really wants to take on trainees of any age.

As far as self employment goes, the plumbing world is over crowded at the moment though and I'm guessing that many new people are picking up around 2-3 small jobs a month. It takes a while to get going. In truth it takes around 2-3 years before you start to earn anything like a wage. There are experienced plumbers around me (not much competition) and even they seem to be working 3-4 day weeks.

As far as the maths goes you're looking at around £6,000 for a plumbing course. Then say £2,000 for a 10 year old van. Then around £1,000 for the bare minimum of tools (most more experienced plumbers have £2,000+ worth of tools). Then about £500+ of stock. Public liability insurance of £350+. Then van insurance, tax and servicing and petrol (around £2,000 a year). So your first year will cost about £11,000.

You have to beat competition to get going and this usually means under cutting them on prices so a call out will be £25-£30 and around £15 an hour. 2-3 jobs a month (say a tap washer, WC inlet valve and move a radiator) will give you £25 + £25 + £100 so average £50 a job.

£11,000 divided by £50 = 220 jobs. At 4 jobs a month this is 55 months or 4.5 years.

These figures don't look promising but as you get known this time scale will drop. Also with these figures you can see why the more experienced plumbers aren't taking on trainees. I've been going for over three years and am doing around 100 jobs a year and have still not picked up a total house re-plumbing and design project. This is partly the poor area where I live but also to do with the recession.

So, in answer to your original question it's easy to get PART qualified but the money is not good at all. At best for 80% plumbers (my guess again) it's only average earnings once you've been going for about 3-4 years.

There are much better opportunities elsewhere but if you want to ignore what I've said and want to give it a go, best of luck!!

 

[GQuigley67]

true true, i have only had a handful of jobs in the past few months and most of them have been from the same customer. I'm trying to get into contract work as I believe this wil be the only way that I'll be able to make money in my first year, and for someone who doesn't have the qualifications your not going to get any contract work.

 

[gaspastemania]

Thats very well put by dontknowitall , i have been around a long time doing contracting/site and my own works and it is a very expensive game to be in . I have not had my own full heat install for about 2 years , people are holding there money at the moment penny pinching so its probably not a wise idea to spend over 10 thousand starting a plumbing course.

 

[fuzzy]

Thats very well put by dontknowitall , i have been around a long time doing contracting/site and my own works and it is a very expensive game to be in . I have not had my own full heat install for about 2 years , people are holding there money at the moment penny pinching so its probably not a wise idea to spend over 10 thousand starting a plumbing course.

alot agree but there seems to be many who think its 10k well spent, now who would tell them that? the advisors?

 

[GQuigley67]

10k then you have all your tools, equipment, van, insurance...........glad i didnt have to spend money to become a plumber, if i had the choice i'd spend the money on something better

 

[fuzzy]

i agree, if i had 10k to retrain it wouldnt be as a plumber!

 

[mike_s]

I think plumbing/heating is still a very good carreer choice with many different routes to go down and specialise in however I would most reccomend it to a younger person as at your age you'll probably need 5 years experience before you'll be employed and most apprenticeships go to 16-19 year olds.
Self employed is harder and I wouldn't consider it without 5 years full time experience. I'm self employed and in the long run it can be worth it but without 10-20 grand behind you as well as the confidence and skill, it is no way to look for a quick buck.

I'm not saying it isn't worth it, but maybe consider what you are already good at, even if you don't like it. You have to do what you have to do and it isn't always what you want to be doing in the real world. If you've got the time and money then yeah, go for it.

At your age I probably wouldn't entertain the idea without having a good plan of how you are going to build up your practical experience whilst you are training.

 

[dboi78]

so basically if your 17, will work for free for four years then earn peanuts for the next three years, u might make a living out of it, if not then ur stuffed !! sounds great !! im 32 and i have just completed my c&G level 2 after working with a gas safe plumber of mine and enjoyed it so i decided to get some quals, as he earns 40k a year self employed and had two months off that same year, and now works for a co. earning 140-160 a day not including privates !! so i think there is a living to be made its tuff at the moment but itd tuff for "everyone" i think their may be a touch of beating down any potential competition and believe that people training hard and learning to do a honest worthwhile profession should be encouraged and helped!! typical british attitude !! but that just me...... and i am british incase u were wondering !!!

 

[GQuigley67]

I didnt work for free for 4 years

 

[metaldust9]

its a very hard job for little reward contary to what everyone thinks ,it has to not leak ,look right ,be cheap with no mess ,in quick time cos they dont really want you in there house,dont think i can let water or gas with someone who i dont no alot as lots of damage can be done ,a tear drop of a water leak can bring a ceiling down hence why i stay on my own then theres no one to blame ,to be self employed you need to no loads ie y plans s plan air in gravity fed systems and how to get it out ,unvented cylinders the list goes on ,looks easy to change kitchen taps but its not unless its a combi

 

[fuzzy]

so basically if your 17, will work for free for four years then earn peanuts for the next three years, u might make a living out of it, if not then ur stuffed !! sounds great !! im 32 and i have just completed my c&G level 2 after working with a gas safe plumber of mine and enjoyed it so i decided to get some quals, as he earns 40k a year self employed and had two months off that same year, and now works for a co. earning 140-160 a day not including privates !! so i think there is a living to be made its tuff at the moment but itd tuff for "everyone" i think their may be a touch of beating down any potential competition and believe that people training hard and learning to do a honest worthwhile profession should be encouraged and helped!! typical british attitude !! but that just me...... and i am british incase u were wondering !!!

for 100s of years people have entered appreticeships and not earnt alot while they trained. why should a company pay you alot of money to train? seems arogant to me, also ranting about being encouraged, why do plumbers owe you a living?

 

[CES]

Why does a guy earning £40K self employed in 10 months have to get a job with a company earning less if this is such a good game to get into? That's what I would be asking myself.