Paid Apprenticeships Abroad

toonskeez

Hello,
I'm seriously considering a change of career. I'm currently in I.T., although my I.T. career to be honest has hardly gotten off the ground and shows no signs of doing so unfortunately. Maybe a quick summary of my professional thus far would explain my situation better.

I originally studied fine art (majoring in print) and finished that way back in 1996. Although I've always liked art and been very good at it, I couldn't see any future in it, so I gradually segwayed into web design, then programming & software development, with a few short courses varying from music / drama to sound engineering along the way. I lived in Canada for 4 years working as a QA tester, then came back to Ireland and eventually got a job as a Java programmer for an Insurance company. Having not done a computer science degree and only having a 1 years programming course and Java Programmer cert behind me, this was a huge step forward in my eyes.

Unfortunately, after 6 months, i was let go, along with many other people; but to be honest, there was so much about that job that I didn't like anyway: the open plan office & feeling of nothing in common with those people being most noticeable. Perhaps it being a financial software company was part of the culture mis-match issue for me, but spending hours sitting and stagnating and using my brain intensely to fix software bugs really did get boring after a while. there's certain aspects of software development that I like, but all in all, as a package, I can't see myself going down this path for the next 20 or 30 years if I’m to be honest with myself. I think it's just not me and am kind of admitting to myself after roughly 10 years of pursuing it, that this is the case. Better late than never I guess.

As far back as I can remember, I've always like being outdoors, working with my hands, playing music, being creative, writing comic strips, stories, calligraphy; a whole gamut of things really, so it's hard for me to even think of what kind of career I could pursue now and even how to do it. I'm 38, have no mortgage and no commitments financially or family wise, so emigrating is something i'd do if it led to something good. does anyone know if paid apprenticeships exist in Ireland or anywhere else globally? For jobs / careers where you get to work with your hands and has a decent level of creativity? i.e.: boat building, masonry, jewellery design / making, furniture design / making, luthier etc... Just throwing out ideas as I really don't know what exists out there. does such a thing as a paid apprenticeship even exist? In Ireland, the only results i get in searches are for government bodies like FAS, SOLAS and i couldn't see any programs I’d be interested from them.

Anyway, any info / suggestions greatly appreciated thanks.

pow wow

Moved to Work & Jobs as you'll hopefully get more helpful information there.

dpofloinn

Paid apprenticesips do exhist in Ireland,but like everytjing they are scarce. Getting an apprenticeship is not as simple as just googleing apprenticeship. First you have to decide what exactly you want to do and be 100% certain about it, be it plumbing, carpentry, etc etc. Then you need to find an employer who is willing to take you on this is the difficult part. You will have check the local press, check the fas website, approach companies to get a start. I would strongly advise while you are searching that you to do your Safe pass and manual handling cert as soon as possible take on some courses like welding, auto cad. These should be available to you free of charge from solas/fas whatever they are called. Maybe you could do an abrasive wheel course, these will all stand to your favour when applying for apprenticeships because even though it shouldnt matter your age might go against you and your lack of experience in construction/production.You will be cometeing with lads 17/18 years of age comming out of school and will need every advantage you can get.

Also you should be aware that it is a long hard slog with long hours,little pay,and poor conditions and little rights the apprenticeship system in Ireland is still quite medieval.

As for abroad I cant say.altough I think the British system allows you to attend college first for 2 years and then find a work placement

Mrs OBumble

toonskeez wrote: »

For jobs / careers where you get to work with your hands and has a decent level of creativity? i.e.: boat building, masonry, jewellery design / making, furniture design / making, luthier etc...

I'm not sure that there are formal apprenticeships for many / any of the things you've named.

There are courses in some of them (eg furniture making in GMIT .. Castlebar I think), but obviously courses aren't paid.

But mostly you'd get employed as an assistant by someone who works in the area, and learn skills from them informally over time, and there may be some international qualifications you could do alongside that.

Do you have any contacts working in any of those areas. Can you convince them of your passion for their field, such that they'd employ you? (eg there are thousands of people who like playing guitar, but it takes that special something to make someone train a potential luthier.)

But here's a thought: if web / user-interface design isn't creative enough for you, then I really wonder what will be. Each of the jobs that you mention will have some creative moments - and a lot of very non-creative hard slog to make it happen. Perhaps you should just be looking into different jobs in IT, and fulfilling your manual-work interests thru out-of-work hobbies.