NVQ Level 2? General career advice needed for wannabe plasterer. Please help!

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Finn McCarthy

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Twenty-four with no post GCSE qualifactions, a minimum wage job in soul destroying retail and a newly receding hairline, the need to get my life on track (or at least some other track!) is starting to feel urgent. Although having never even tried a single bit of plastering myself, from talking to plasters and doing a little online research I have come to the conclusion that it may well be the perfect trade for me for the following reasons:
* the physical nature of the job (I need the opposite of a desk job)
* I am naturally hardworking and have excellent levels of patients
* the idea that plastering is a real art that can be gradually honed over the course of many years I find enticing
* there's good job opportunities even during the recession

Please, please, any advice would be muchly appreciated as I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm considering getting a "personal career development loan" to enable me to do an 8 week C&G NVQ Level 2 course like the one offered here:
Plastering Qualifications | Plastering NVQ Level 2 Courses

What's your verdict on this kind of qualification? What other ways into the trade are there? Thanks kind people!

Finn McCarthy
 
first hi and welcome, rite to get on to the part of the course i wouldnt get a loan to pay for it. Try and get in with a plasterer to labourer on him (thats what i did although it was machine plastering) and see if he will send you to college 1 day a week. If not just stay with him if he will agree to train you up and show you the ropes. Just please dont go like some others on here thinking you can do a weeks course and then go out and earn the big bucks (if you can find the work)
any how good luck with what ever you do
 
do what i did mate sign up for college they do part time courses and night time courses to work around your job and then try get on with a spread.i was labouring for a plasterer for a year and a half and never got on the tools very often so i decided to go to college.i found myself a job at b&q trade point only been there a month and been offered work - just stay positive and dont give up mate - you will get there in the end.
 
Im 31 and in retail at the moment, I just finished a city and guilds course 3 weeks ago, i do little privates now and again so I dont forget what I learned. I did labour for a plasterer for 4 years on and off, very hard as well and learned a lot. Got on the tools for a little bit but then i had an injury (not plastering related). That was 3 years ago now, Worked in retail ever since, but now that i have finished my course I am waiting to after xmas and then im off out in the big bad world. I notice you gave a link to ABLE SKILLS in dartford, thats where I did my course.. Martin, spence and Joe are the trainers and are very experienced, and will look after u every step of the way. Why dont u book on the course for a weekend or a 5 day and then see if its for you. The city and guilds is £2400 and the NVQ is £2800, but u have to complete C&G first. You can only obtain an NVQ on site, so they have to come out and asses you. I will go for my NVQ eventually but I need to get more experience and then I will pay the extra £400 for it.
I think armed with a city and guilds, labouring experience with a plaster and being a member on here as there seems to be very experinced guys on here that when they are not taking the piss out of you they will give u great advice to any question u have - then u will have a good start. Thats the position i am in at the moment. Before I did the course I thought of other things, but now I am obsessed with plastering and anything related and its great if u come across something your not sure of or if something pops into your head u can ask the question on here...

anyway good luck mate in what ever you decide

Steve
 
Not a good time to be coming into the trade mate its not what used to be. I did full apprenticeship ie.. college and working with experienced plasterers for over 3 years, IMO the only way.
Anyway good luck in whatever you decide by the time your qualified the good times might be back !!
 
the good times won't be back for a long time. while plasterers are being churned out every week like a factory, there will always be too much competition and too many people thinking 70-80 quid for a days plastering is good money. it might seem harsh but unfortunately its true.
 
everyone i have met that came out of college has been s**t. not saying everyone that does college is, just my personal experience. i think if u do college they will show u how to do everything, but u will still need the experience afterwards. i would always try and be someones labourer and learn than go to college for 3 yrs. a few yrs labouring does the world of good. and ur earing 5 days a week. but just my opinion
 
If you can afford to go college do it, qualifications in the building game are getting more and more recognised, Work is getting more and more difficult to get coz the competition is fearce so dont expect to jump straight in like some people, who usual fail. get working with an experienced spread if you can, but dont expect to get straight on the tools coz this is where you start to learn again.
 
I was told that if I spouted "any of the sh*te they tell you at college, I'll smash yer face in":-0. Bit harsh like, he WAS a c**t to work for - but he was right, you only learn by putting the gear on in a REAL situation.
 
I got my NVQ for free 3months ago. Think the coalition government has fuckedd all that up :mad:Only thing i had to pay for was my CSCS test £17.
 

Thanks for everyone who's replied, given me a bit more perspective on the trade, cheers for that very much. So what you're all saying is: the scene's a bit flooded with newbies offering s**t jobs for £80 and the works not what it used to be but if I'm prepared to go it as a laborour for a while, then I should remember NVQs can be useful and are becoming increasingly recognised but does not compare to having experience of real plastering work so don't expect to make big bucks at first and beware of the *****. Got ya! Sounds like a pretty tuff ******* trade to me. Anyone out there thinking "I just love plastering and have plenty of work and am able to earn some decent dollar and its all gravy"?
 
I live south/central London. Why? Does the demand for plasterers vary a lot depending on which part of the UK you are looking at? Or is it that you are wanting to hunt me down and smack my nut in? If so, I did't mean it like that, honest, I am just curious!
 
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