FAS employment opportunity in Letterkenny

kevinmcc

I see advance pitstop in letterkenny is looking for a trainee fitter to work for free for 40 hours a week for 9 months on the great FAS work placement programme, another place to add to my do not go near list.

https://jobbank.fas.ie/servlet/Watis?SESS=5250_17&SERVICE=CRITERIUMBROWSE&TEMPLATE=WWW_JS_VAC_CRITERIUM_BROWSE.HTM&ROW=24&BACK=TEMPLATE%3DWWW_JS_VAC_CRITERIUM_OVERVIEW.HTM

danniemcq

You get paid by FAS still though don't you? I did when i was on month work exp. so thats still 200 a week + rent allowance if you can get it? thats 250+ (Please correct me if i'm wrong with these figures it's been couple years since i was in there)

Pique

That's a ridiculous post OP.

I've never had anything but good service from them, and I've no connection to the place.
Far better than the general rep of Advance Pitstop places around the country, judging by posts in the Motors forum, anyhow.

Does employing Fas trainees and mentoring them, risking the business reputation by letting a trainee near a customers car, and giving them practical experience, mean you boycott a business ?
Thank your lucky stars you're not a Fas trainee, I s'pose !!

Or is this a political comment re: Fas ?

Beanstalk

Strange comment alright. The lads down at advance are sound and very experienced. I have no connection to the place either but I'd imagine that you would gain a wealth of experience working in a place that not only deals with tyres but also with wheel parts, engine management, and nct checks among other things...

And don't all fas courses offer the exact same deal more or less?

muffler

kevinmcc that's a shocking title for a thread. If you have a beef with FAS then take it up with them or your local TD but please dont try to portray any business in a bad light on a public discussion forum when they have did nothing other than offer work experience to someone who is unemployed.

The thread title is being changed to something more appropriate.

homer simpson

It is a bit of a silly comment to make now to be fair OP

But.... advance pitstops in general are a tyre fitting firm, and 90% of the people working in there are qualified as such, but they still get these people to service vehiches ect, that IMO is not on, you should be a fully qualified mechanic to be able to do anything well mechanical to a car and that includes changing brakes (one of the most vital peices in a car) just my thoughts on this, that coupled with the fact that they are expensive is why i dont use them but again just my 2 cents...

hootietootie

Is the whole point not that they will be a "Trainee"???? Lots of people train on a job, am sure they wont be given a car on their own to sort out their first day.

BlackEdelweiss

I agree with the OP about these work for free jobs, if you look on the fas jobs section almost half the jobs are only for people on the dole who are registered with fas and do not pay a wage. This completely cuts out people like me who are not on the dole but would still like to apply for a better job, I am only working part time, sometimes I have no hours at all but I am still not eligible for the dole or fas registration. If employers can get away with getting someone to work for free then why would they pay for it. Last year after finishing college I did a bit of work experience in the new hospital for free, in the end they were getting rid of paid engineers and replacing them with graduates willing to work for free. I was always in favour or working for free to get experience but now the employers are taking advantage and making a balls of it. There is nothing to learn from other graduates so it takes all the point of working to get experience away.
Scrap these WPPT schemes or whatever they are called and bring back paid work!

lamai

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I agree with the OP about these work for free jobs, if you look on the fas jobs section almost half the jobs are only for people on the dole who are registered with fas and do not pay a wage. This completely cuts out people like me who are not on the dole but would still like to apply for a better job, I am only working part time, sometimes I have no hours at all but I am still not eligible for the dole or fas registration. If employers can get away with getting someone to work for free then why would they pay for it. Last year after finishing college I did a bit of work experience in the new hospital for free, in the end they were getting rid of paid engineers and replacing them with graduates willing to work for free. I was always in favour or working for free to get experience but now the employers are taking advantage and making a balls of it. There is nothing to learn from other graduates so it takes all the point of working to get experience away.
Scrap these WPPT schemes or whatever they are called and bring back paid work!

Agreed, not sure about Advance, but I am sure in 9 months they could learn a fair bit about mechanics in there, but if you look on the fas website, people are taking the piss.

Trainee shop assistant "40hrs no pay"
Trainee Forecourt manager "40hrs no pay"
etc.etc.etc.

fas again are a joke

danniemcq

Again do fas not cover pay in these cases? not full pay obviously but dole + extra or are these seperate/not covered becuase they aren't courses?

lamai

danniemcq wrote: »

Again do fas not cover pay in these cases? not full pay obviously but dole + extra or are these seperate/not covered becuase they aren't courses?

210 a week under the scheme I think, or roughly 20 euro more than the dole.

Not sure who pays it, but it's all the state anyway

Firblog

I suppose how you view Advance in this regard depends on what you think their motivation is...

Are they taking advantage of the economic climate to get someone to work for 'free' thus lessening their costs / increasing their profits..

Or

Are they giving some one the chance to gain on the job training that will hopefully aid them in getting meaningful paid work in the future?

Personally I think 4 weeks of unpaid work should be the limit that can be 'offered'; then when the 'trainee' starts to actually be useful, the company should have to make a larger contribution to the trainee's wages each month as they become more knowledgeable and contribute more to the company.

BlackEdelweiss

Firblog wrote: »

Personally I think 4 weeks of unpaid work should be the limit that can be 'offered'; then when the 'trainee' starts to actually be useful, the company should have to make a larger contribution to the trainee's wages each month as they become more knowledgeable and contribute more to the company.

That is a good point, this would prove if their heart was in the right place and they want to help people get off the dole or are they just taking advantage of peoples desperation.

sligono1

i belive these schemes are been totally taken advantage off employers are getting work done for nothing wheres from fas point of veiw the person is taken off the live register.i bet yoy employers would not be as quick to take on people on these schemes.
why not let the employer pay an extra 100 on top of a persons dole and then after a certain time frame either the person is taken on either part time of full time.at the moment all there been taken advantage off.

Firblog

I don't beleive that all employers are taking advantage of these schemes. Very few new employees can be put to productive work straight away, they need instruction as to how things are done in the company, need to be shown where things are, who should be contacted in which situation etc.. and I'm talking about people who have work experience here.
FAS trainees need alot more supervision and direction, this takes up someones time, and as we know... time is money... I know from experience that It takes a min of 4 weeks before they become in any way productive - I did six months work stint years ago, and was/am grateful for the chance I got to get some realworld training.

BlackEdelweiss

It is fine saying that but if these jobs were open to the public then people like me could apply and also gain from the experience, but with Fas paying the wages loads of employers are only offering jobs to people on these schemes instead of offering a paid position. The jobs should be open to anybody who wants to apply, I have done unpaid work experience in the past but I always went and looked for it myself, it was never advertised as such. It is discrimination only to offer a job to someone from a certain demographic.

danniemcq

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

It is fine saying that but if these jobs were open to the public then people like me could apply and also gain from the experience, but with Fas paying the wages loads of employers are only offering jobs to people on these schemes instead of offering a paid position. The jobs should be open to anybody who wants to apply, I have done unpaid work experience in the past but I always went and looked for it myself, it was never advertised as such. It is discrimination only to offer a job to someone from a certain demographic.

That is a very good point that i never thought of, you can look at it the other way though and that if the company looking isn't making much profit/just about keeping itself open by training someone in and not having to pay them thanks to FAS. However i do believe if they need a proper qualified/experienced worker i'm sure they would advertise it properly