Suggestions welcome!

[KMC]

Good evening Gents and Ladies (if there are any more of you out there!),

I have just completed C&G 6035 L2 and have now just had the bombshell dropped that I need to not only take three weeks off of work to complete the onsite NVQ assessment, but I have to find a willing 'volunteer' (my words, not theirs) who can offer me their time on site to prove I can do basic fault finding and maintenance work on a simple plumbing system before I'm even allowed on site to do these NVQ three weeks.

My main issue is I'm not yet in the industry so I have no contacts and taking three weeks off of work is going to be nearly impossible to achieve (I have a hard enough job taking any holiday time as it is). Incidentally, I am job hunting as it is (trying to get into this line of work), but my success rates are currently zilch.

As a 30 year old female in a massively male-dominated industry, I feel I'm slightly at a disadvantage before I start.

I'm Gloucestershire based, desperate to get my foot in the door, but no one wants to employ me.

How does one get started?????

 

[Masood]

Welcome to the forum KMC.

Keep trying is all I can suggest. Phone around every plumber in your area, leave cards in merchants, put them behind the wiper blade of every plumber's van you see. You may have done some of this already, keep pushing.

If you can get to a busy merchants early in the morning, go and hang around and talk to the people coming in. Have cards with your contact details ready to hand out. Offer to work for free on your days off just to get your foot in the door.

A lot of the small maintenance jobs can be done as self-recorded evidence. Ask friends and family if you can repair their taps, siphons, etc, and get them to photograph you doing it.

Being female could turn out to be a massive advantage as some customers feel very reassured by a woman rather than a man.

Good luck!

 

[julesverne]

Like masood says you just gotta stick at it, and someone will see how determined you are give you a break keep at it dont give up.

 

[zzzjim]

Stay positive ( you are not the next female in politics , about to get the blame. )
( I have a shy daughter , also looking for that break )

 

[jtsplumbing]

Good luck with your job search, lots of press saying there is a massive shortage of Plumbers ! My area its just the reverse , to meny Plumbers, The way things are at the moment your best bet ! Find a single Self Employed Plumber and get married. then start up a His & Hers Plumbing Co :37: