New Member, Looking for advice

Valiant87 · Mar 24, 2019

Hi All, I have joined the forum hoping for a bit of advice. Looking to get into the Plumbing trade after working in the merchants for 12 years. Got a level 2 Plumbing qualification at college after school but for some reason after been unable to get an employer to do my 3rd year I went onto other things. Got a job in a plumbers merchant a few years down the line and been happy doing this for many years but now I've come to part of my career where I want to give it another go as I am now in my 30's .. Hopefully You can give me some great advice.. sorry for the long introduction
Thanks

JCplumb · Mar 24, 2019

Get into a couple of local colleges, see what plumbing courses they do and check if your 12 year old qualification is still valid. What qual is it? NVQ/C&G?
You should be in a great position to get on with a plumber for your portfolio considering you've worked in a merchants for years. Don't expect good wages off the plumber helping you out unless you're already good enough to earn a decent wage, a lot of people work for free to get their portfolio signed off.

Valiant87 · Mar 24, 2019

JCplumb said:
Get into a couple of local colleges, see what plumbing courses they do and check if your 12 year old qualification is still valid. What qual is it? NVQ/C&G?
You should be in a great position to get on with a plumber for your portfolio considering you've worked in a merchants for years. Don't expect good wages off the plumber helping you out unless you're already good enough to earn a decent wage, a lot of people work for free to get their portfolio signed off.

Thanks for the reply, it's actually 14yrs old now so I understand if it could be invalid. Its a City & Guilds level2.
Yes I'm pretty sure that I will have no problem getting some experience with a plumber, think i'll be looking at working at weekends if I'm lucky enough to get someone who works weekends. I would definitely need a bit of hands on experience first before been able to be good enough on my own.
I am hoping there is a plumbing college course available that I can go to whilst still working full time or at least Part time.