Late apprenticeship

carrollsno1

Bit of a background to me im 24 (25 when i get back to ireland) currently farming in Australia to get an extra year on my visa and was thinking of heading home in march/april to do a trade in either plumbing or pipefitting. I worked on a few projects in Sydney and did 2 months of laying gas mains (direct lay and insertion) in Adelaide last year too. My background was always farming and i was hoping to stay farming long term gere but visa rules wont allow so im looking at other options at the minute.
Could anyone point me in the right directions of where to look? Ive rang Bord Gais and theyve no openings ive tried Solas and i cant get through to anyone there either. The aim would be to eventually get into pipeline/gas work which would be better for that, plumbing or pipefitting? Thanks in advance.

K.Flyer

No harm starting at your age if you can get a start as an apprentice as long as you can survive on the income for the duration.
I know of a lad who did the same, started in his twenties and got through it.

carrollsno1

K.Flyer wrote: »

No harm starting at your age if you can get a start as an apprentice as long as you can survive on the income for the duration.
I know of a lad who did the same, started in his twenties and got through it.

Worked out the financials of it, id be spending most of it on running a car for the year but ill just gave to get by on it, i just dont know where to start looking yet really i have family in the building game in my home county but ideally id rather be away from home after being gone nearly 3 years as it is

K.Flyer

A quick look at Jobs .ie...

Apprentice Plumber.

https://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=1848211

rightjob!

Where in Ireland are you going to be living?

carrollsno1

rightjob! wrote: »

Where in Ireland are you going to be living?

Kilkenny it would be handy if twas close by but ive no major ties there either

Outkast_IRE

Try and get in with one of the big players in the market, that way you dont get messed around with pay, if you are due lodge money etc. Some of the smaller outfits are a shambles and the quality of work they produce is very poor.

Some of the bigger companies are Jones Group, Dornans, Mercury, Leo Lynch, Kirby, Winthrop - They should be your goal and you would have opportunities to work in Ireland or on global projects with them.

carrollsno1

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Try and get in with one of the big players in the market, that way you dont get messed around with pay, if you are due lodge money etc. Some of the smaller outfits are a shambles and the quality of work they produce is very poor.

Some of the bigger companies are Jones Group, Dornans, Mercury, Leo Lynch, Kirby, Winthrop - They should be your goal and you would have opportunities to work in Ireland or on global projects with them.

Could you do work outside ireland with them for an apprenticeship? And which of those would be dealing with gas or civil plumbing? There the two bits that interest me the most. Thanks

Outkast_IRE

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Could you do work outside ireland with them for an apprenticeship? And which of those would be dealing with gas or civil plumbing? There the two bits that interest me the most. Thanks

There is no apprenticeship in gas in ireland , you may get in with a company that is doing work for Gas Networks Ireland such as Balfour Beatty or similar but your apprenticeship and trade is plumbing , once qualified you can do additional certificates for gas to get RGI registered etc.

There is no trade in "Civil Plumbing" - plumbing is the apprenticeship, what type of work you end up doing comes down to the company you end up with . The companies i named above would be good examples of industrial/commercial plumbing. Domestic plumbing is a little different and has advantages also but its all smaller companies doing the work and they can be mixed to work for.

Stick with the big companies if you want pension contributions, paid holidays etc.

Once the company is based in Ireland and has qualified irish tradesmen overseeing the training of the apprentices it should not be a problem working overseas.

carrollsno1

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

There is no apprenticeship in gas in ireland , you may get in with a company that is doing work for Gas Networks Ireland such as Balfour Beatty or similar but your apprenticeship and trade is plumbing , once qualified you can do additional certificates for gas to get RGI registered etc.

There is no trade in "Civil Plumbing" - plumbing is the apprenticeship, what type of work you end up doing comes down to the company you end up with . The companies i named above would be good examples of industrial/commercial plumbing. Domestic plumbing is a little different and has advantages also but its all smaller companies doing the work and they can be mixed to work for.

Stick with the big companies if you want pension contributions, paid holidays etc.

Once the company is based in Ireland and has qualified irish tradesmen overseeing the training of the apprentices it should not be a problem working overseas.

I dropped Balfour Beatty an email there last night just waiting on a reply now. Is there any companies that woukd be similar to Diona out here in Australia back in Ireland?

https://www.diona.com.au

Still waters

Go for it, ive a friend went apprentice electrician when he came back from NZ at the age of 30, qualified now and no regrets, you wont feel the time going

SEPT 23 1989

How old is too old if you could take the financial hit for a few years?

carrollsno1

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

How old is too old if you could take the financial hit for a few years?

Im hoping to pick up a evening/weekend work on farms as theres a serious lack of labour there to help keep me ticking over.

Has to be done, im not farming the rest of my life and i need some sort of a trade/qualification to get going and college just isnt for me.

Outkast_IRE

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Im hoping to pick up a evening/weekend work on farms as theres a serious lack of labour there to help keep me ticking over.

Has to be done, im not farming the rest of my life and i need some sort of a trade/qualification to get going and college just isnt for me.

Never say never with regards to college , I qualified in plumbing and then went on to do a degree in building services engineering as it was very relatable after the plumbing. Planning to start a master's in it next year. Worked weekends and summers plumbing to fund the college side .

carrollsno1

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Never say never with regards to college , I qualified in plumbing and then went on to do a degree in building services engineering as it was very relatable after the plumbing. Planning to start a master's in it next year. Worked weekends and summers plumbing to fund the college side .

Ah id never rule it out, but just from my experience any schooling ive had in the past wasnt for me even the equivalent of safe passes and other tickets out here used to nearly put me to sleep.

padd b1975

Go for it.

It's no different to going back to college as a mature student.

Outkast_IRE

1st year is the toughest , unless you are living at home with the parents or similar it's near impossible to get by . The problem with saying you will do weekend work is sometimes you will be asked to work weekends or nights when in a trade and they will not take it kindly if you are turning them down.

carrollsno1

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

1st year is the toughest , unless you are living at home with the parents or similar it's near impossible to get by . The problem with saying you will do weekend work is sometimes you will be asked to work weekends or nights when in a trade and they will not take it kindly if you are turning them down.

Surely they would have to pay a better rate or give some incentive for night shift and weekends or has Australia just given me notions

Outkast_IRE

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Surely they would have to pay a better rate or give some incentive for night shift and weekends or has Australia just given me notions

Yeah you would get extra alright and it's usually only for short periods. The killer in 1st year though is let's say you get paid 1.5x at the weekend. Well your daily rate is say €40-50 , coming out with say 70 extra for giving up your sat doesn't feel worth it , especially when you could be working a 2nd job and getting more for the day

carrollsno1

Got a reply back from one if those companies mentioned above they seemed interested and said to give them a shout closer to my return, not sure if thats out of politeness or that they would have a position though.

earlytobed

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Try and get in with one of the big players in the market, that way you dont get messed around with pay, if you are due lodge money etc. Some of the smaller outfits are a shambles and the quality of work they produce is very poor.

Some of the bigger companies are Jones Group, Dornans, Mercury, Leo Lynch, Kirby, Winthrop - They should be your goal and you would have opportunities to work in Ireland or on global projects with them.

My son did his apprenticship with one of these. With overtime, country money etc he was on decent money for a 1st/2nd year

carrollsno1

earlytobed wrote: »

My son did his apprenticship with one of these. With overtime, country money etc he was on decent money for a 1st/2nd year

Whats country money? What is a decent wage for1st/2nd year?

Would the big companies look at the fact that a lad might be commuting 3 hours a day to dublin? Or is that tough sh#t country boy?

Also are apprentices still treated like ****? Like are they still there to sweep the floors etc? Dont mind doing it if im learning but dont wanna be doing a days basic labouring for an apprentices wage at the same time.

BDI

I’m a qualified plumber. I wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s dirty, hard work and stressful. It’s so easy to go to college these days you would be mad as far as I’m concerned.
I know everybody thinks of plumbers as these lads going around charging 80 euro an hour to flick a switch but that is the very few and when you do the accounts they arnt the millionaires you think they are. There are costs, tools, courses insurance etc etc.

Most plumbers work a building site doing new build houses when there is a boom and are happy to have any work when there is no boom. The very good ones will always have work but very good not only means doing good work it’s turning up on time everyday and being agreeable to your boss.
If you are lucky you get to be the fella out of all the other apprenticeships that gets the gas courses and boiler experience etc but you could end up running pipes across factories for four years and come out of your time with nothing.

My kids will go to the public sector if I can help it.

carrollsno1

BDI wrote: »

I’m a qualified plumber. I wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s dirty, hard work and stressful. It’s so easy to go to college these days you would be mad as far as I’m concerned.
I know everybody thinks of plumbers as these lads going around charging 80 euro an hour to flick a switch but that is the very few and when you do the accounts they arnt the millionaires you think they are. There are costs, tools, courses insurance etc etc.

Most plumbers work a building site doing new build houses when there is a boom and are happy to have any work when there is no boom. The very good ones will always have work but very good not only means doing good work it’s turning up on time everyday and being agreeable to your boss.
If you are lucky you get to be the fella out of all the other apprenticeships that gets the gas courses and boiler experience etc but you could end up running pipes across factories for four years and come out of your time with nothing.

My kids will go to the public sector if I can help it.

Been up to my knees in cow**** since i could walk, and spent my first few months in sydney to my knees in sewage in sydney as an offsider doing the jobs the plumbers couldnt do ( no permission to work on the asset) so dirt and muck isnt a major problem for me. I have a gas officers card for Australia that covers me in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide and a good family friend/former employer with his own set up in one of those cities and contacts in the others.
Australia is the end goal really just for the scale of works being carried out out here as opppsed to Ireland.

Dtp1979

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Been up to my knees in cow**** since i could walk, and spent my first few months in sydney to my knees in sewage in sydney as an offsider doing the jobs the plumbers couldnt do ( no permission to work on the asset) so dirt and muck isnt a major problem for me. I have a gas officers card for Australia that covers me in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide and a good family friend/former employer with his own set up in one of those cities and contacts in the others.
Australia is the end goal really just for the scale of works being carried out out here as opppsed to Ireland.

I’m pretty sure the Irish plumbing qualification isn’t even recognised in Australia, so don’t be expecting To work as a plumber when you go over there

BDI

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Been up to my knees in cow**** since i could walk, and spent my first few months in sydney to my knees in sewage in sydney as an offsider doing the jobs the plumbers couldnt do ( no permission to work on the asset) so dirt and muck isnt a major problem for me. I have a gas officers card for Australia that covers me in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide and a good family friend/former employer with his own set up in one of those cities and contacts in the others.
Australia is the end goal really just for the scale of works being carried out out here as opppsed to Ireland.

Yeah I used to think it was cool too. Kind of like how young army kids think running around being shot at for minimum wage is glamorous.

Would you not consider electrics?

carrollsno1

Dtp1979 wrote: »

I’m pretty sure the Irish plumbing qualification isn’t even recognised in Australia, so don’t be expecting To work as a plumber when you go over there

Im aware of the need to transfer over and get skills assesed

carrollsno1

BDI wrote: »

Yeah I used to think it was cool too. Kind of like how young army kids think running around being shot at for minimum wage is glamorous.

Would you not consider electrics?

Oh believe me the sewer part isnt what im aiming for its mainly the pipelaying part i want to get at. Wouldnt be mad on the electrics side being honest, seems harder to get that recognised in oz aswell wouldnt have a great tolerance for electric shocks either.

carrollsno1

Anyone know what the go is doing an apprenticeship in the UK? I know brexit might f#ck it up but does anyone know what the go was? Was talking to a friend here yesterday and he reckoned it would be the way to go as its only a 2 year time period and its automatically recognised by Australia.