Plumbing C&G 6129 Technical Cert...........Then what??!!

[ninjastealth187]

I am studying for the C&G 6129 Technical Certificate and I will be finished in June (with a pass I hope!).
I am finding it increasingly hard to find a Plumbing company or independant Plumber to take me on, even as a Plumbers mate and even for free!!
As soon as they ask my age (27) they are immediately not interested and tell me that 18 - 24 is the usual age that they would even think about taking someone on if at all.
Any advice please on which direction to take in June? A few people have advised me to set up as a self employed Plumber. What do you think? I will not be fully qualified to a NVQ level, but to get there I need to be working for real!
Any advice would be greatly recieved.
Thank you and Regards.

[Smcart5]

I've had the same problem and i'm 24, the guys here dont think there's any work for us when we finish it.
My tutor's say its possible to get site work in plumbing even without and quals but i'm not so sure.
i'd hazard a guess and say finish the course, go to a company saying you've got the technical cert and can they take you on as a trainee, thats what i'm going to do.
Could always start off on your own and do some small self employed jobs for friends and family to get a bit of experience but i'm wary of that incase i screw it up and cause more damage when i'm supposed to fix things

[ProffesorPlumb]

Go self employed and don't look back. Use places like this forum to help solve problems that you may come across, if you can't do it yourself.

Get yourself on a BPEC water regs course and start building up your plumbing CPD portfolio.

At level 2, all you need is confidence and support from other like minded people (on here) to go and build your career.

Good luck mate

[james]

[quote=Smcart5;1125]My tutor's say its possible to get site work in plumbing even without and quals but i'm not so sure.

I think you need a cscs card to enter site, on this card is your trade be it plumber sparky joiner labourer tainee or apprentice, i think each trade has a different colour card with the different trade, plumbing goes from green to red( (i think). You can do a 45 min test at college for the CITB-HVACR and apply for your card but on this card is.. as stated your trade. ATB james.

[jberry]

Hi from jberry, If you want to go forward in your career check out British Gas homepage,
they will train you as an engineer, as long as you have a full driving licence and can use a laptop computer, this information i gleened whilst working with a british gas engineer, check out the website chaps and give some feedback to the forum

[fuzzy]

its ssssoooo hard to egt a start with only a 6129 and if your over 24 because thats a funding issue at colleges. your only option may be self employed but without the skills i couldnt recommend you charging people for work, best left to fully qualfied tradesman