training to become a gas engineer

[thetruth]

Dear all,

I am thinking of a career change to become a gas engineer. I have found a course near Dartford by ableskills for around £5k, and was wondering if anybody had any advice or experience of going down this route.

apparently this group are very good and once I complete the course exams, ill be fully qualified. is this true?

 

[tolly]

This may be true, you might be qualified but be realistic in how much you are planning to earn as a new entrant with no experience.

 

[SimonG]

Now. Do you want the real truth or the truth you want to hear?

Able don't get a good reputation.

It won't include onsite assessments that you will need.

You may have a bit of paper at the end and be 5k lighter but no nearer to being a qualified gas engineer.

You will have no experience which prospective employers are looking for.

Could have sworn you were in property development when you last took a hissy fit on here or are you trolling again?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Now. Do you want the real truth or the truth you want to hear?

Able don't get a good reputation.

It won't include onsite assessments that you will need.

You may have a bit of paper at the end and be 5k lighter but no nearer to being a qualified gas engineer.

You will have no experience which prospective employers are looking for.

Could have sworn you were in property development when you last took a hissy fit on here or are you trolling again?

Yes he was

 

[Ric2013]

Hi again thetruth.

Nice to hear from you again. You're certainly an unforgettable member of these forums, and I think we're lucky to have you on board.

I have heard ableskills training it itself very good, but, as others have commented, getting the onsite assessments required to get qualified can be a nightmare.

It was hard enough for me getting the level 2 plumbing NVQ site work (and I was not at a fast-track college). Not because I couldn't get the work, but because I struggled to get the work where there was a Work Based Recorder to oversee and certify that I had done the work; the person I had initially hoped would be my main man for this later refused to sign a lot of the documentation I had hoped to use, for reasons I still don't fully understand. If you are currently a property developer, you may have contacts that will be happy to help you out?

What I would ask is what your motivation is? Because I became a plumber because I liked most aspects of the job, but, following a housemove that lost me my existing regular customers and referrals, I am considering a minimum-wage salaried position doing something completely different due to not making enough money. I'm not saying there isn't any money in the industry, all I'll say is I haven't found it yet

 

[richard978]

Dear all,

I am thinking of a career change to become a gas engineer. I have found a course near Dartford by ableskills for around £5k, and was wondering if anybody had any advice or experience of going down this route.

apparently this group are very good and once I complete the course exams, ill be fully qualified. is this true?

I hate putting people off but my advice is don't waste your money. It will take years to become competent and the first thing you'll have to learn is plumbing because it starts there. We make our money from all different avenues, service work, plumbing, installs etc etc etc.....it isn't easy these days and I've found it very hard over the last 6 months. You also have to remember that these qualifications only last 5 years....

You might be qualified but I can tell you for a fact you won't be competent and ideally you will want to working with someone who has the time to at least teach you how the job is done in the real world.

There are hoards of people out there who have retrained, many are lucky if they are even working.

My advice is to apply for an apprenticeship with Cadent, they will pay you 18,000pa to train and when qualified you will earn at least 15 pounds per hour for a standard day and a lot more for weekends.

 

[Ric2013]

£18,000. Isn't that what the Prime Minister gets paid?

Joking aside, this:

Will work for free, merry xmas

 

[richard978]

Yes how appropriate, everyone thinks plumbers and electricians are earning 100,000 pa. These stories are peddled by the likes of the daily mail and while you will find some earning those sums, they tend to be people employing plumbers to do work for them or people doing work in central London.

You can earn up to 40k being a boiler breakdown engineer for a major insurance contractor but they will expect 8 repairs a day at least, oncall rota and plus overtime. But its a skill that takes some time to pick up and not everyone has the mind for it.

My wife works three days in an office, she has no stress and has to basically turn up and work. For that she is paid 20,000 per year....and compare that to what the average heating engineer earning 29,000 per year working 40 hours a week with gas, water and electrics.

 

[firemant]

Could have sworn you were in property development when you last took a hissy fit on here or are you trolling again?

Yes he is, to both questions. (although we have no evidence that he actually is a successful PD)

Now he is taking the direct take the pis$ route, and trying to provoke an argument. He will then go on to say that all gasmen are rip off merchants, useless and unreliable, so he is going to get trained himself, so he doesn't have to be messed about by us.

Tos$er

 

[Ric2013]

Well, so far, he hasn't tried to provoke an argument. Perhaps let's wait and see if he says anything and give him the benefit of the doubt until then. After all, I think he's had the answer to his original question. He may have been in a very bad mood in his first thread and now he's got over it.

 

[interested]

I work as a civil engineer, earn decent money and do property developing on the side.

my plan is to change career from being a civil engineer to become a gas engineer.

PS, on no occasion did i have a hissy fit, or try and provoke an arguement. read the posts and stop being dramatic

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I work as a civil engineer, earn decent money and do property developing on the side.

my plan is to change career from being a civil engineer to become a gas engineer.

PS, on no occasion did i have a hissy fit, or try and provoke an arguement. read the posts and stop being dramatic

I guess your the truth ?

If so your only allowed one account and not multiple ones so pick one else I will delete one for you

 

[richard978]

I work as a civil engineer, earn decent money and do property developing on the side.

my plan is to change career from being a civil engineer to become a gas engineer.

PS, on no occasion did i have a hissy fit, or try and provoke an arguement. read the posts and stop being dramatic

I don't know of any civil engineers that would even consider the idea of becoming a gas engineer. Most of the civil engineering firms around here struggle to find engineers so the pay is never short. Even a graduate would be earning close to 30,000 pa. I have an old school friend who went to University and now works as a civil engineer in Australia, his life comfortable to say the least. He's probably retired now at 50.

Its a profession and its one that is in demand all over the world. So I struggle to see why you would even consider the move. Surely if your doing up houses it would be easier and cheaper to employ a good builder to do it all for you and that way you can keep on earning. Builders always have good plumbers they call on.