Stuck not knowing what to do

kayabram

Hi , this is my first time posting in this section. Im 25 , a qualified electrician , started my apprenticeship in 2002 , have been with the same employer since then and over the last year have been gettin fed up of the job and employer , all the work is now on my shoulders , any decisions are down to me which makes me stresssful and worry about the jobs even when at home in evenings,( boss seems to pretend to be busy in office alot organising rugby stuff ) , and whatever i do of course boss says its rong i should have done it his way, change it etc , i am the only qualified person working with him at the momonet , there is an apprentice also . I have been dwelling on handing in my notice but dont know what id do then , any advice or similar stories would be great to hear

finisklin

Take it on the chin and be grateful for the opportunity of work. Not a lot of jobs out there at the moment. What are your alternatives? If you don't have a job to go to why leave? Can you set up your own business as a electrician? Will you get business? What about emigrating....popular choice for many young people?

Take your time, weigh up your options, discuss your situation with friends, family and on here. A problem shared is a problem halved. For many people the hassle of having to deal with a boss like that would be a welcome one, these people are the long term unemployed. Look at ways of handling with stress and managin your time better, as a suggestion. It may ease the stress.....

Best of luck regardless.

knotknowbody

OP don't want to criticize but you have been doing the job for eight years, I think it is about time you started to take responsibility for your own work, and at this stage you are probably qualified four years you should have the experience and knowledge of you work to be able to make a decision and then justify it to your boss.

I know guys who were given a van and an first day apprentice the day after they qualified and given responsibility for all their own work, signing off their own jobs etc, and they got on with it, many electricians would be glad to be your position, so in short I think you should man the fu*k up and get on with it, life is tough for everyone but most people take responsibility for their actions, themselves and the work they do without complaining over their boss trusting them enough to leave them work with little supervision.

Mr. Loverman

If you leave you probably won't be able to find another job.

doolox

Your boss may be on the phone trying to chase up money owed or begging the banks for a loan to cover your wages.

The stuff you heard about "organising rugby" might be a way to drum up more business, a lot of bosses talk and play golf and other seemingly irrelevant games simply as a way to befriend more customers and get more business....more money in his pocket and hopefully more work and money for you.

In the print and like trades I know of two people who tried the self employed route and had to go back into employment because they could not get paid.

I'd give a guess that the same thing applies to a lot of construction related trades at the moment.....little money for work done and long delays in getting paid.

I believe there is a convergence in the state of things for employees as opposed to being self employed however and if you feel that the people using your services would feel comfortable dealing with you directly it may be a way to go but there would be hell to pay if your boss found out you were trying to make a break for independence.......

Considerations are:- Money. Are you good at chasing and collecting debts owed without pissing people off so much that you get no further business from them? Can you survive late payments on money owed? Can you manage to get a bank manager to tide you over if delays happen?
Abilities outside the core trade:- Are you good at sales? Are you good at explaining technical details of the trade to non-technical people? Are you good at dealing with other trades and professions within the building industry to avoid problems with installations. Can you handle complaints from clients?
Time:- Even with the best will in the world and ideal conditions being self employed means you no longer have control of your time. However for many employees this is also becoming the normal way of things. Self employed people have to be available all hours and at weekends etc to get money for the business to survive.Also all the legal and tax paperwork and other stuff has to be done sometime, usually at weekends.
Risk:- Tied in with money. Can you afford to put in a installation and find that the company goes bankrupt and you are not a preferred creditor and lose out on the stuff you installed? What happens to your mortgage or car loan if you are not paid for your job and haven't enough money to cover them?

My suggestion would be to stay cool for a while and, if possible, save up enough money to live on for a few months so at least you have something to fall back on. You also need to get the knowledge to start up on your own and this takes time. An alternative would be to get employment elsewhere but at the moment that is not likely.