Plumbing training courses

[Gaisford]

Hi all,

I have recently been made redundant and at the age of 44 seriously considering my career options. I used to be a highly paid recruitment executive, away from home for most of the week, and I am fed up with not seeing my wife and children. I have been searching for a job for the last 8 weeks, but things are slow. The only opportunities I have seen will mean going back to a life away from home most of the time, and there is more to life than that! Anyway, that brings me to the point of this post....For a not inconsiderable amount of money, I could train as a plumber over the next 12 weeks, set myself up as a sole trader and market my new business to the local area. I have considerable experience in marketing businesses and have run my own business previously, so that doesn't phase me, however I do have a few questions:

1. Will 12 weeks training give me the basic knowledge to be able to trade effectively and proficiently as a self employed plumber? (I realise nothing can be more effective than years of experience working alongside experienced professionals however I do not have the luxury of time) I do however want to offer a reliable and professional service to all my new clients.

2. In your experience how long does it take to build up a busy business that is self sustaining. I realise that "busy" is subjective, however with aggressive marketing how many clients would I be able to win in the first 3 months for example?

3. What is the state of the market at the moment? I am thinking of setting up specialising in domestic work (not site work). I imagine business is a little slow at the moment, or as people are not moving house is trade picking up?

4. Realistically, how much can I expect to earn in years 1, 2 and 3?

5. Any further advice before I embark on this new experience would be much appreciated.

Mark.

 

[SimonG]

Your not going to like this,

1. No, not a chance.
2. A good 5 years, all depends what your targetting and if you're any good.
3. Slow in a lot of areas.
4. With your training costs and set up costs it could take you 3 years just to break even let alone earn anything.
5. Forget the family life for quite some time, staying up all hours doing estimates, putting miles in looking at jobs, working odd hours just to help build up a reputation etc etc

Ultimately my advice would be not to bother and find something easier.

Might seem very harsh but I'd rather tell it as it is rather than the rose tinted glasses stories from 'training' centres.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

[desrob]

Your not going to like this,

1. No, not a chance.
2. A good 5 years, all depends what your targetting and if you're any good.
3. Slow in a lot of areas.
4. With your training costs and set up costs it could take you 3 years just to break even let alone earn anything.
5. Forget the family life for quite some time, staying up all hours doing estimates, putting miles in looking at jobs, working odd hours just to help build up a reputation etc etc

Ultimately my advice would be not to bother and find something easier.

Might seem very harsh but I'd rather tell it as it is rather than the rose tinted glasses stories from 'training' centres.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

spot on advice,lets hope he takes it seriously,for his sake

 

[Gaisford]

Too be honest, I was expecting that kind of reply. So, in your opinion the only sensible route into the industry is start young, serve your apprenticeship, work in the trade for a number of years and pick the time to set up business carefully after much research and potentially a number of customers prepared to go with you, and even then with your fingers crossed, a following wind and a certain degree of luck?

 

[GQuigley67]

http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-courses/19241-info-people-considering-fast-tracking.html

read this

 

[Gaisford]

Ok, message received loud and clear. It's back to the industry I know after many years of experience in it.

 

[SimonG]

http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-courses/19241-info-people-considering-fast-tracking.html

read this

Hadn't seen that one, very good comments all the way through.

 

[fuzzy]

believe me this is not negtive but realistic, listen to the comments. if you still want to do it knowing the facts then i support you, but dont make the decision without the facts or feel that people are negative. i have heard centres telling people that the advice given here is negative because they dont want you in the indusry to try to negate the comments

if u feel that do this, apply for 100 jobs but put donw you have completed the quals they say you will get ie. tech certs only. see how many replies you get, that will give you an idea of the work out there for newbies or anyone else for that matter

 

[Veggie Dave]

I do wonder how many people who comment on these training schemes threads actually have any direct experience of them rather than basing their judgement on second-hand info and, possibly, on meeting people looking for experience/jobs from them.

The following is direct, personal experience:

First off, even the best course will still be a bit s**t. It also seems that most of the people 'running' these courses are actually just selling a product and you'll end up at a training centre that has nothing to do with the people you paid. You pay them and they then pay the training centre. This wouldn't be too bad but if you have a complaint or a problem it can be very, very difficult to get sorted as no one wants to take responsibility.

And yes, the courses all seem to be varying levels of bad, but if you ignore the crapness and use them to get as much info and training as possible then it can be worth doing but you have to put far more effort in than you probably should have to (particularly considering how expensive they are) as there's just so much you're not told or shown. These courses are aimed at getting you through the exams, not training you and giving you invaluable experience. What's worse is that they'll get people through the course who really, really shouldn't pass. Every time I'd go for a week at the centre there was always at least one person in my group who was so incompetent and, quite simply, thick as pig s**t, that you wouldn't want them anywhere near your plumbing or, worse still, unvented water system.

As for which course to take, any that claim to offer employment at the end or guarantee an NVQ are to be avoided at all costs. To get an NVQ you *must* be working in the industry already. C&G technical
qualifications will help you find work (compared to someone with no experience or qualifications) but they don't give you much actual experience so employers won't be that impressed purely with C&G qualifications. And finding work placements/apprenticeships is incredibly hard so getting experience isn't easy, either.

Thankfully domestic plumbing is/can be, for the most part, pretty basic stuff (simple leaks, replacing taps, fixing toilets) so it's possible to start working for yourself and slowly gain experience by starting with simple stuff and slowly working up to bigger jobs. But, obviously, you must be honest with yourself and accept you still have so much to learn - stick to simple stuff, don't be an arrogant idiot who thinks he knows it all because he's passed a basic plumbing course and you should be able to gain invaluable knowledge and experience over time while also providing an excellent service to your customers.

If you're intelligent then it's certainly worth looking into as you'll go out of your way to find out all the things you should have been taught but weren't - plus you're probably far more likely to ask
questions during the course (something the vast majority just don't do, but if you don't constantly ask then you simply won't be told so much stuff that's absolutely invaluable). If you're not (and, if we're honest, so many people on these courses just don't seem to be) then you can expect to pass but you're going to find working in the real world a nightmare - for you and for the poor people you do work for.