Trades that aren't trades- getting in the door

Maurice Yeltsin

Been thinking of upskilling myself there lately, was trying to think of jobs that are trades but don't require a 4 year apprenticeship (biggest regret ever not going one, alas I'm 34 and on the way to saving for a house so the first 3 years of it wouldn't be economically sound to do so). I've been a general labourer on and off since 2004 but I'm under no illusion to the physical toll it might eventually take out of me so would be possibly looking to move to something a bit less strenuous. Plus, while the money is a lot more than a lot of people earn, it's never enough, pushing myself up a few grand more per year is something I'm after.

Just wondering, but what trades (although I'm sure the 4 years served crowd don't regard them as such :pac:) are there out there that require either a few weeks of intense training or train on the job?

Off the top of my head I could think of:

Fire proofing
Plant driving
Concrete pump operator/ driver
Banksman/ slinger
Crane driver (I was absolutely scutter when it came to the ol algebra in my school days so I'm not sure if the course work is full of this)
Water proofing
Scaffolder- definitely not what I'm after
Carpet fitter
Floor resin fitter
Steel fixer
Glass installer (fitting pre cut panels as opposed to fully qualified glazier)
Electricians mate (I saw this advertised with a rate of 15.00 per hour not long ago, which I thought would be illegal, it's below a labourers rate?)
Plumbers mate
While not strictly construction, the fields of sound and audiovisual engineering are of an interest to me.

Is there any state body I can talk to in person to discuss my options, fees for courses, grants or benefits that can be claimed while training, expected wages etc (don't want to plough my time and money into something and then find out under some technicality that it isn't covered by SEO rates). I'm fairly sure you could drop into FAS back in the day for a chat but its replacement Solas seems to keep everything online. I've dealt with Intreo in the past but I don't know if this is within their remit, and I'd be wanting a good sit down and chat rather than a 3 minute conversation standing up with a full waiting room behind me.

TIA.

Metric Tensor

Air tightness installer. A lot of it is about attention to detail and not taking the easy way out. You'd be working in the dry too!

Not sure if it's a specialist "trade" any more though. See a lot of builders doing it themselves.

kippy

Tiler.
No end to the work.

Lefty Bicek

If you're worried about physical toll, carpet fitting and steel fixing might be bad moves. I've known a few guys over the years who suffer after doing years of doing both - knees and backs, respectively.

What about fabrication ? Might be possible to do a ten- or twenty-week MIG and stick welding course ? Knew lads in England who did that, though years ago now.

Painting and decorating ?

Lumen

Direct sale and installation of flooring.

Take samples to people's houses. Cut out retail costs. Use social media and word on mouth to build business.

Do subfloor improvements i.e. noise reduction, airtightness, insulation, cat5 wiring to add value and differentiate.

Maurice Yeltsin

Cheers. Fairly sure both tiling and painter/ decorator are standard 4 year apprenticeships though, no?

Any idea of what state body I can drop in to to discuss my options, fees, course duration, expected wages etc? A said I'm fairly sure you could have done this with FAS but their replacement Solas doesn't seem to do face to face from what I can gather on their website.

cute geoge

No experience of building sites and dont know how long a course is but surely there seems to be plenty of work for safety officer with no manual work

Maurice Yeltsin

cute geoge wrote: »

No experience of building sites and dont know how long a course is but surely there seems to be plenty of work for safety officer with no manual work

I don't think I'd have the heart to enforce the more nonsensical aspects :pac:

mfceiling

Fire proofing is fairly easy but it can be awkward climbing over pipes, ductwork etc.
There is a shortage of these lads on site.
It's not rocket science but needs to be neat, tidy and properly installed.

mikeymouse

Blocklaying,
all you need is a piece of string.

Gumbo

mfceiling wrote: »

Fire proofing is fairly easy but it can be awkward climbing over pipes, ductwork etc.
There is a shortage of these lads on site.
It's not rocket science but needs to be neat, tidy and properly installed.

And using appropriate products as they are designed to be used and in the correct places.

I’ve had countless fire stopping removed as the gaps were too big or deep.

Good attention to detail is spot on.

Calahonda52

Maurice Yeltsin wrote: »

I don't think I'd have the heart to enforce the more nonsensical aspects :pac:

Take a spin out to this place
https://www.smh.ie
or similar
and then come back and tell us more about the more nonsensical aspects.

Maurice Yeltsin

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Take a spin out to this place
https://www.smh.ie
or similar
and then come back and tell us more about the more nonsensical aspects.

You've lost me.

Anyway, thanks for the replies. till trying to find out:

Maurice Yeltsin wrote: »

Any idea of what state body I can drop in to to discuss my options, fees, course duration, expected wages etc? A said I'm fairly sure you could have done this with FAS but their replacement Solas doesn't seem to do face to face from what I can gather on their website.

Surely some body exists to advise on this face to face?

Maurice Yeltsin

No state body to discuss this with so?

I looked at the Springboard site, found little to nothing of interest and, most importantly and bizarrely, it gives zero indication of expected earnings after having completed a course. Who's going to invest time and money in a course with no hint of the earnings at the end of it?

beauf

mikeymouse wrote: »

Blocklaying,
all you need is a piece of string.

There's a reason good ones get paid top money. Not a job I'd start if approaching 40. A labourer would be very familiar with brick laying and the graft in all weathers that's required.

beauf

Maurice Yeltsin wrote: »

No state body to discuss this with so?

If you are working on sites already why not ask the people around you.

kippy

Maurice Yeltsin wrote: »

No state body to discuss this with so?

I looked at the Springboard site, found little to nothing of interest and, most importantly and bizarrely, it gives zero indication of expected earnings after having completed a course. Who's going to invest time and money in a course with no hint of the earnings at the end of it?

Most courses won't generally have "expected" earnings mentioned in the course brief - particularly on Springboard for a multitude of reasons.

Have you looking into Tiling? It's not rocket science and I doubt very much you'd ever be out of work.

enricoh

Putting in concrete floors? Id a pain to get someone to do a put in a couple of floors that had rotted timbers.
Always lads looking for paths, floors for steel sheds etc, not much gear needed either.

JonathonS

Have a look at www.apprentices.ie (this site closes permanently on April 5th, but details of replacements are listed).

The CIF and DIT did a survey on apprenticeships last year. It has data on which trades are in shortest supply, etc.

Check with your local ETB to see if they have any short courses.

Me, I always wanted to be a digger driver.

Wesser

Sanding and varnishing floors

Schwiiing

mfceiling wrote: »

Fire proofing is fairly easy but it can be awkward climbing over pipes, ductwork etc.
There is a shortage of these lads on site.
It's not rocket science but needs to be neat, tidy and properly installed.

I've been fire proofing for a year odd now and when you get an easy job it's the easiest job in building but when it's not it's a pain in the hole.


Inaccessible hatches, pipes and ductwork in the way, comical engineering details like timber purloins passing through compartment walls, wanker foremen and dryliners putting ceilings up around your ears, the admin, the paperwork, the responsibility, gunbarrel sleeved in waste pipe, cables not on trays and worst of all is sparks and plumbers who come back after we're gone to do extras and don't bother their arrogant holes to tell anyone they've putholes in the firestopping despite the massive stickers we put on every seal with phone numbers and email adresses on.

tradesman

Schwiiing wrote: »

I've been fire proofing for a year odd now and when you get an easy job it's the easiest job in building but when it's not it's a pain in the hole.


Inaccessible hatches, pipes and ductwork in the way, comical engineering details like timber purloins passing through compartment walls, wanker foremen and dryliners putting ceilings up around your ears, the admin, the paperwork, the responsibility, gunbarrel sleeved in waste pipe, cables not on trays and worst of all is sparks and plumbers who come back after we're gone to do extras and don't bother their arrogant holes to tell anyone they've putholes in the firestopping despite the massive stickers we put on every seal with phone numbers and email adresses on.

So on paper everything looks good but in reality it hardly ever is as it should be. Thats the building industry for you!

.Charlo

Roof tiler, no apprenticeship and you can pick it up easily in a couple of months. Hard graft though.