Discuss Advice required for 'too old' trainee electrician. (I'm 29!!) in the Electrician Courses : Electrical Quals area at ElectriciansForums.net

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Victorcrane

Hello all, I do hope someone may be able to give me some advice.

I'm currently studying the C&G 2330, and am about to finish my second year. I decided to do the course full time in an effort to better my prospects, and after working as a mate for nine months I found the career an interesting and fulfilling one. Keep in mind I am the grand old age of 29.

The problem I have is that I am now looking to find work as of June and intended to work whilst doing my 3rd year of the 2330 which is only part time in the evenings, and every single contractor I have approached has turned me down on the basis that I'm too old!

I understand the governement provides funding for apprentices aged below 24 and this is attractive to companies. All the companies I spoke to said that because they won't get funding for me, they won't take me on. They will only consider an apprentice below 24 or a fully qualified spark.

I have pointed out that I have paid in full for myself to do the course and will continue to do so, but nobody wants to know. I have also pointed out that I have achieved a Distinction in every exam so far, and all of my practical assessments.

I'm very sad about this, as I'm now 2 grand down the line, more able and reliable than the other lads on the course, and yet they're grabbing apprenticeships left right and centre purely because they're young. Honestly, some of these lads still don't know how to select an appropriate cable and yet in three months they'll be running about in peoples homes.

So... what on earth do I do? Has anyone been in my position and can anyone tell me who I may approach. I just feel I have a lot to offer and nobody wants to give me a chance. It rather makes a mockery of all these 'change your career now' ads on tv!

Any advice greatly appreciated.

A very miserable Victor. :)
 
Hi Victor. I came into the trade in my early 30's but a relative gave me the break I needed. The trouble is that companies get given money for taking on apprentices under things like the JTL scheme so they seem more attractive than taking on somebody over the age of 24. My advice - keep trying as I found that employers were interested when I told them I WOULD be at work every day as required because of a £1300 a month mortgage, expensive wife and 2 kids. You will find an employer who needs reliability and maturity over youth so keep plugging away chap and the best of luck!
 
hi,
hard to understand the problem, your not asking a potential employer to fork out any money or pay for any time off ?
age is not a problem and you cant refuse someone a job on those grounds ,
how are you doing your approach and what part of the country are you in?
 
Good luck with your job hunt,it does seem like most sparkies want the younger kids to use and abuse at work over the older folk....but generally speaking the older ones work harder and want to learn more.
I personally would be more willing to set an older lad on than a younger one as the younger ones tend to be less eager to work.
i think you'll find somewhere if you keep trying as hard worker are hard to find sometimes..
again good luck!!
 
there is no work about in leeds area at the moment. im out of work and ive done the 2330 l1,l2 and l3. ive also done ecs cert 16th edition and the am2 plus im waiting for my nvq l3 cert and i cant get a job at 35.:mad:

ive tried agencys and firms but at the moment its dead.

i walked out of a agency job today after the electricians job i turned up for for a week turned out to be a handy man:confused:. this morning i changed 4 flouri tubes filled all the photocopiers and filled the drinks machine with plastic cups. i then asked what my next job was and they told that was it for the day really but i had to stay on site till 5 pm. at this point it was only 9.45am. well i lasted till 12.45 then jacked and went home throughly depressed and dishearteden. i need to work i have to work hard to be happy i cant just ---- it off like they wanted me to.


the best bit was at this job this morning was that when the toliets were blocked they expected me to don the marigolds.

i havent done all that training to clean out other peoples ****.
 
Hi Victor. I came into the trade in my early 30's but a relative gave me the break I needed. The trouble is that companies get given money for taking on apprentices under things like the JTL scheme so they seem more attractive than taking on somebody over the age of 24. My advice - keep trying as I found that employers were interested when I told them I WOULD be at work every day as required because of a £1300 a month mortgage, expensive wife and 2 kids. You will find an employer who needs reliability and maturity over youth so keep plugging away chap and the best of luck!

Jeez, Cirrus

1300 notes a month

wot you bought, a freekin mansion:eek:

Hello all, I do hope someone may be able to give me some advice.

I'm currently studying the C&G 2330, and am about to finish my second year. I decided to do the course full time in an effort to better my prospects, and after working as a mate for nine months I found the career an interesting and fulfilling one. Keep in mind I am the grand old age of 29.

The problem I have is that I am now looking to find work as of June and intended to work whilst doing my 3rd year of the 2330 which is only part time in the evenings, and every single contractor I have approached has turned me down on the basis that I'm too old!

I understand the governement provides funding for apprentices aged below 24 and this is attractive to companies. All the companies I spoke to said that because they won't get funding for me, they won't take me on. They will only consider an apprentice below 24 or a fully qualified spark.

I have pointed out that I have paid in full for myself to do the course and will continue to do so, but nobody wants to know. I have also pointed out that I have achieved a Distinction in every exam so far, and all of my practical assessments.

I'm very sad about this, as I'm now 2 grand down the line, more able and reliable than the other lads on the course, and yet they're grabbing apprenticeships left right and centre purely because they're young. Honestly, some of these lads still don't know how to select an appropriate cable and yet in three months they'll be running about in peoples homes.

So... what on earth do I do? Has anyone been in my position and can anyone tell me who I may approach. I just feel I have a lot to offer and nobody wants to give me a chance. It rather makes a mockery of all these 'change your career now' ads on tv!

Any advice greatly appreciated.

A very miserable Victor. :)

Victor, is this not just an issue of money

surely the only advantage for the under 24 for the company is that they can pay him less, so you may have to bite the bullet and work for next to nowt for a while, just to prove yourself
 
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alex , what type of work you into ,other than toilets:D? would you go the self employed route? and what about working away from home ?
 
Nope, just a humble 3 bed end terrace in the gloriious cotswolds Shakey
 
Victor, is this not just an issue of money

surely the only advantage for the under 24 for the company is that they can pay him less, so you may have to bite the bullet and work for next to nowt for a while, just to prove yourself

I agree,its all a\bout money . if a company were to pay you the money they pay,youngsters they know you wouldnt be able to live on it ,and would have to leave ,also its probably beneficial to take on a younger person as they tend to accept being an apprentice better and will work harder to reach there goals

saying that ,please dont give up ,work seems quite slack just now,but i think the whole construction industry is in for a rough ride , when it picks up half the guys doing it now will have left the trade ,so there should be a vacancy one day

all the best with it;)
 
I think theres a few of us in the same boat at the moment, Bin laid off last month due to no work, and after the end of tax year they'll be crying out again. I don't have a morgage like you guys do, so i'm alright for the moment, and currently waiting for a phone call to start work at a different place.
 
Hi mate , if i were you i would look to get on with any of the larger sparking companies in your area (jib) as a sparks mate to start with , once you have your foot in the door see if they will let you become an senior graded adult trainee ,
The thing with smaller companies is that they are after cheap Young lads , but if you get on with a jib firm you will get decent money as a sparks mate as be able to get your sparks ticket in no time if you are competent as you seem to have the necessary quals.

ste
 
alex , what type of work you into ,other than toilets:D? would you go the self employed route? and what about working away from home ?


im just trying the self employed route at the moment and im waiting for my utr ( unique tax referance number ). the only type of work ive really done is domestic on council houses. working away ................. i dont know if im keen or not really????

pretty limits really me dos'ent it.
 
Hey people, thanks a lot for the advice. I think maybe a mate is indeed the way to go, I found an index of agencies supplying mates in and around essex whilst I was at college today so that's an option, but I'll try to get into somewhere permanent and as you guys say, prove my worth and work my way up.

I must say, I think it a bit poor that nobody tells you about these difficulties when you enrol. The guys I spoke to when I started college gave the impression I'd fly through with no problems whatsoever, but then they were collecting my hard earned cash at the time....

Ah well.

:)
 
I'm in the same boat mate.

Turning 29 on Tuesday and completing Level 3 in June. First time round I had a job finding anything, but I spoke to the bods at college and they ended up hooking me up with my first job.

It wasn't proper sparkying, but rather doing home automaton stuff, and it was £170 a week (flexible hours = 8 - whenever I finished). Needless to say it wasn't perfect, but it was what I needed to get my foot in the door.

Took the advice of someone on here and got my CV in order, wrote a decent covering letter, spent £40 on nice paper and envelopes with the window in so they looked all professional, and sent 90 odd out to every local firm/one man band I could find on t' interweb.

Got about 20 replies, 19 of which said "Thank you for your recent letter, but unfortunately we have no vacancies at the minute".

Luckily the first response I got was a winner, start my new job a week Tuesday.

It's worth trying through college, they might be able to hook you up, failing that you could try splashing the cash and trying to make your plea for a job look as slick as possible.

I found that even though I got 99% rejection, having made the effort to make the application look good, I did at least get a lot more response - even if it was to say no.

Good luck
 
Victorcrane...I'm 46 and re-training. Ok - its not gonna be th emain part of my job - probably 12 spurs a year.....(some of them in a kitchen that's why), but its never to late and you aint too old.

I'm an employer - and sometimes I prefer older people - generally more settled - for some jobs so keep trying. Dont lose heart.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Victorcrane may well have found a job by now - this thread is 2 1/2 years old.:D

That's the problem with searching old threads.
 

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