Is this career worth it? (Or is it even just a job?!)

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graezyb

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Im 19, and absolute no idea what to do. I have the school grades to go to uni, but I think it could be a waste of time.

I have to say I am interested in becoming a plasterer. I think the idea of learning a trade and eventually becoming your own boss seems much better than most jobs...

1. I want to earn at least £30k. I know its not completely about the money, but is this possible as a plasterer? I am reading some of you charging £200 per day, x5, x52, is over £50K a year. Surely this isnt right?

2. Are you guys in demand? Or struggling to find work?


Any feedback will be extremely useful in my decision!
 
your always learnin depends on whos teachin you and how quixk you pick it up. oh and dont listen to him ive forgotten more than he knows ;)
 
you can realistically earn 30k + but the fella i workin with at the min in the last 3 years earned 38k 47k and the last year 13k due to the dwnturn in work its swings and roundabouts in this game you can be makin a bag of sand one week then no gear turns up on site and your left twidleing your balls in the digs earning nothing!
 
if u do a degree & there's no job for u at the end, is there much point in doing one. or there is a job and there's 20 other students going for the job aswell.

i went to university after leaving school and to be honest i was way out of my depth. so i just got p.i.s.s.e.d right up for 2 years then droped out and did a nvq in painting and decorating. its probably the best thing ever did..... get in to a trade i mean.

if i was u i would get a trade.... get qualified....... then go to university and if its not for u, then u will always have a trade to fall back on... and if u do stay in uni u'll be able to do a bit of skimming on the weekend for beer money.

only my opinion though. skyzoo
 
if u do get a trade and earn up to 30k a year... i dont think you'll be swaping it to go and live in a shite hole and living of a fiver a week drinking white lighting before u go out on the piss.
 
you can get £200 a day every day from either -

1) being fast as fooook on site which takes years of experience, i been doing it 5-6 yrs now and can just about manage 70 m2 a day skim to board about £165 a day

2) have a reputation in town as being the best plasterer known alive which again takes years of experience and get every job you quote

i think being a plasterer at the minute is about plodding on and keeping in the game, the big money not comin back for a while, so its a bonus just to make a living.
if you are coming into the trade the only advice i can give is just do your best, make a nice neat job be nice to customers and keep it clean.

1 mistake can cost you a lot of future work.
 
If you have the school grades then you are too clever to be a plasterer.

Get some money together and go traveling mate.

Your still young so enjoy the freedom while you can.

While you are away have a good think about what you want to do with your life.
 
there's lots of different types of people about but I would say that if your not neat in everything you do and not creative at all it prob aint for you. However, sometimes you can just get the decision wrong. I played saxophone in the army for 5 yrs and no matter how much I practiced I could not get as good as I needed to be in order to satisfy my own gremlins about being good etc. So I left and became a plasterer and took to it straight away. It's nice to be able to say to yourself when you come out the other side in whatever you do that I'm good at that and know it. It's not an arrogance just a confidence in what you do which was certainly absent with the damn horn.
 
islandview said:
If you have the school grades then you are too clever to be a plasterer.

Get some money together and go traveling mate.

Your still young so enjoy the freedom while you can.

While you are away have a good think about what you want to do with your life.
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I disagree, although they may not have the school grades all the best tradesmen I've meet have it all going on up top and that's not just spreads but all trades. I left school without a thing and have done alright in this trade, my wife worked hard at school, went to uni and became a school teacher she earns about £36000 a year and I certainly wouldn't trade places with her work load.
 
I'm with Andy, uni and paper qualifications don't assure you a career you enjoy and get job satisfaction from or the money. I must admit I enjoy what I do, working at different locations, meeting people and doing a damn fine job!! Also, to a degree on your terms!!!! ;D
 
I have 5 GCSE's above C grade, a GNVQ, an NDD, and a HND and I'm a plasterer. If your a perfectionist with hint of creativity, give it a go. I wasted a lot of time at college (& I was s**t hot at what I did) when I could have been earning money from a young age and could of had a lot of things sorted in my life. My Dads a 37 years in the trade spread so it was inevitable I would end up doing it. You not thought about becoming a surveyor or on-site engineer, architect?

Clint
 
Thank you for the replies!

Really mixed opinions...

I will give a bit more info. I have spent days, so many hours, exploring jobs, not uni courses. I feel its the job you will be doing for 40 years, not a degree, so I have been researching hundreds of jobs, for hours and hours, trying to find the one...
I really want to work alone, is this possible for a plasterer, or are they surrounded by people all day? I am an introvert.
I used to aim for the money, now I am just focusing on the job, as long as it pays decent (+30K) and I dont mind working hard if I get paid well. Most of my friends/family know I am probably clever enough to become a doctor, but I am not interested, I could not jag a patient, or remove a mole with a scalpel, regardless of the massive salary. I have researched lorry drivers, the shell drivers get £35K basic, but I am still a bit young, most drivers employed are 25+. Then all types of engineering, but then again I cant see myself dealing with clients all day, as I am not strong at socialising with strangers. People would think something like an accountant/actuary would be perfect for me - you think these are associated with antisocial bores. I thought the same, until I realised that you need to be a confident extrovert, who deals with clients all day long, giving presentations etc. You need to go to a recruitment centre and deliver team talks etc. I would have no chance!

So I am now focusing on a trade. I have the image of me being self employed, working alone, and making good money. Please warn me if this is not regular for a plasterer! Before I go any further (start training)...

Is plastering also the highest paid trade out there?
 
you'd get more money as a plumber(heating engineer)..... i think british gas people get 21k basic.
but if u want a trade with job satisfaction plastering is the way forward
 
SkyZoo...what would you say is average gross for a plasterer?

I know this is me dreaming but, £200 a day = £1000 a week, = £50K a year?
 
where did you get the idea of becoming a plasterer from if your clever enough to become a doctor,go to uni mate youll regret it in a few years time,if it dont work out then start thinking about it,if you aint strong at socialising with strangers and taking the stick that comes with it this aint the trade for you
 
I would say that you should expect to earn a minimum of £130 - £150 (on-site) a day when things pick up.

Clint
 
while you're young you should try everything once! its as important to find out what you don't want to do as what you do want to, you might hate plastering!
 
graezyb said:
SkyZoo...what would you say is average gross for a plasterer?

I know this is me dreaming but, £200 a day = £1000 a week, = £50K a year?
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i earn on average about 20k a year but im not a qulified plaster. i also do decorating.... but the lads on here who are qulified and have been doing it for years and have the right contacts. probably earn between 30K-50k a year, probably even more.

im not intrested in earning 50k a year..... i do it because i like it. also as pug said it might not be for u..... if i was u i would see if u can get a few days labouring with some1 first
 
Why don't you try and get a job labouring on a site where there's a bit of everything going on and you'll see what happens in all the trades. Then you'll get an idea of what goes on. Site work is full of loud simple people that think they know everything(but can actually only do one thing) though so you might be better off speaking to smaller builders and getting a start.. My opinion and not meant to offend anyone.
 
clinton78 said:
I would say that you should expect to earn a minimum of £130 - £150 (on-site) a day when things pick up.

Clint
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By on-site I mean not domestic. On-site is usually working on a building site for a building company as a sub contractor mainly new build homes etc and usually you would get paid on a £ per square metre or day work or a price for completion of a single house/unit. Much stricter Health and Safety rules (hard hat, hi-vis, boots, gloves, goggles etc) and you can generally not need to be quite as pristine when it comes to tidying up after yourself. Where as with domestic you work in someone's house usually with them living in it so ultra tidy and clean working practices basically so you don't have to pay for a new carpet when you f**k there's by getting plaster all over it etc. (dust sheets). You would usually have to view the job first and give/negotiate a price before start, supply all the gear (plaster) and arrange for it to get to the job (money can be a bit better because you set the price yourself). Might need insurance. Some of you guys might want to elaborate on this as I don't do domestic.

What do you think gents have I about summed it up?

Clint
 
graezyb said:
Thank you for the replies!

Really mixed opinions...

I will give a bit more info. I have spent days, so many hours, exploring jobs, not uni courses. I feel its the job you will be doing for 40 years, not a degree, so I have been researching hundreds of jobs, for hours and hours, trying to find the one...
I really want to work alone, is this possible for a plasterer, or are they surrounded by people all day? I am an introvert.
I used to aim for the money, now I am just focusing on the job, as long as it pays decent (+30K) and I dont mind working hard if I get paid well. Most of my friends/family know I am probably clever enough to become a doctor, but I am not interested, I could not jag a patient, or remove a mole with a scalpel, regardless of the massive salary. I have researched lorry drivers, the shell drivers get £35K basic, but I am still a bit young, most drivers employed are 25+. Then all types of engineering, but then again I cant see myself dealing with clients all day, as I am not strong at socialising with strangers. People would think something like an accountant/actuary would be perfect for me - you think these are associated with antisocial bores. I thought the same, until I realised that you need to be a confident extrovert, who deals with clients all day long, giving presentations etc. You need to go to a recruitment centre and deliver team talks etc. I would have no chance!

So I am now focusing on a trade. I have the image of me being self employed, working alone, and making good money. Please warn me if this is not regular for a plasterer! Before I go any further (start training)...

Is plastering also the highest paid trade out there?
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cut the mole off..jab the patient...become a doctor......then in 25 odd years when your sitting in your foreign hideaway in the sunshine/or boat drinking pina coladas..youll think back and remember back to how you once wanted to be a plasterer...and you know what youll say/.........





thank f**k i didnt do that....your young enough...get schooling..get your qualies get travelling .and the worlds your oyster...f**k plastering
 
Hey man stop this s**t!! You old school putting off the young. I'm 35 and fresh enough cos I got into the game late and was fortunate enough to get in with a man who knew what he was doing!! A modern approach is what's needed not this old crap about muck on walls. Times are changing and if you want to be the best at what you do then embrace the future.
 
islandview said:
i was joking about the school grades andy. I didnt mean to offend.
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None taken Islandview, I didn't get any quals at school because I didn't want to work not because I couldn't.
 
You need to look to the future and what is to come , energy prices expected to increase by 60% in the next 7 to ten years , that is a prediction of the energy company watch dog not the energy companys , so i think i know which way i would be heading , good luck in which ever endeavour you choose
 
Pug said:
while you're young you should try everything once! its as important to find out what you don't want to do as what you do want to, you might hate plastering!
Click to expand...
deffo .....you should try everything once ;D
 
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