Up skilling and areas in demand.

edwardkiley

Hi
I have been searching for work recently and I've had no luck getting anything.
I am looking into doing some sort of city and guilds or qqi course to upskill.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend in demand skills/areas to look into at the moment.

thanks

Zookey123

Any computation skills are always in demand you can find cheap online courses that can teach web development, python etc..

edwardkiley

Zookey123 wrote: »

Any computation skills are always in demand you can find cheap online courses that can teach web development, python etc..

thanks for the suggestion and I do understand this but computers are not my area really.
I was hoping for something more hands on

bladespin

Renewables - basically plumbing and electrical work, lots of opportunities.

edwardkiley

bladespin wrote: »

Renewables - basically plumbing and electrical work, lots of opportunities.

thanks for your suggestion.
Whats the most basic electrical course do you know that would enable someone to work in this?

OMM 0000

What about truck (HGV) driver? Tons of jobs in this area.

I know you've heard about "self driving trucks" but we are years away (at least a decade) before they'll exist on Irish roads in any real capacity.

So that would give you a well paid job for 10 years while you figure out what you want to do. An obvious option would be HGV mechanic.

SCOOP 64

OMM 0000 wrote: »

What about truck (HGV) driver? Tons of jobs in this area.

I know you've heard about "self driving trucks" but we are years away (at least a decade) before they'll exist on Irish roads in any real capacity.

So that would give you a well paid job for 10 years while you figure out what you want to do. An obvious option would be HGV mechanic.

Big lay out for licence , CPC course every year, stressful, pay €600/800 per week,when you divide that with the hours you have done for the week its not that great,its race to the bottom with wages now with multi nationals who will do it for less,id say avoid.

bladespin

edwardkiley wrote: »

thanks for your suggestion.
Whats the most basic electrical course do you know that would enable someone to work in this?

It depends how you want to work in it, for service etc you would need a qualification, for a sales role it would be a broader knowledge of the products, how they work and where they are suitable; this is by far the most lacking area at the moment, lots of quality installs performing poorly etc.

I worked in it about 10 years back for a very honest supplier, we were turning down buyers because their sites were simply not suitable for our products, sounds wrong but in the long run it's the best thing as your reputation is all.

Jim2007

edwardkiley wrote: »

thanks for your suggestion.
Whats the most basic electrical course do you know that would enable someone to work in this?

What do you actually enjoy doing? You are going to spend 40+ hours a week doing it for the rest of your working life, so it needs to be something you actually enjoy doing.

And the other think is, that all well paying and in demand jobs require time and effort to get the qualifications needed to do them. Nobody is going to let you do electrical work for them if you are not properly qualified - the risks are too high if you get it wrong and in any case the insurance won't cover it.

My advice - find something you are interested in and then be prepared to put the time in to getting the necessary qualifications required.

OMM 0000

Jim2007 wrote: »

My advice - find something you are interested in and then be prepared to put the time in to getting the necessary qualifications required.

This is the best advice.

Make an effort to get the job you really want. Most people don't do this...

edwardkiley

Jim2007 wrote: »

What do you actually enjoy doing? You are going to spend 40+ hours a week doing it for the rest of your working life, so it needs to be something you actually enjoy doing.

And the other think is, that all well paying and in demand jobs require time and effort to get the qualifications needed to do them. Nobody is going to let you do electrical work for them if you are not properly qualified - the risks are too high if you get it wrong and in any case the insurance won't cover it.

My advice - find something you are interested in and then be prepared to put the time in to getting the necessary qualifications required.

few people enjoy what they do, cause what society needs and pays does not allways correlate to what people enjoy.
novelty is great but things ware away, emotions , enjoyment etc the brain adapts anything done for 40 hours a week for a lifetime will take it's tole.

I'm in college doing a course a dont enjoy but I'm stuck in it for now. I was hoping to learn a skill on the side to make money at the same time. electrical would be a good one but as you said it requires a lot of investment and it's not really a side thing. It's an all or nothing profession so I'm not sure it would be suitable unless it was something specific with electrical work.

how does one go about finding something they enjoy enough to do for the rest of their life? I'm asking this in seriously, like what questions do you have to ask yourself?

OMM 0000

edwardkiley wrote: »

how does one go about finding something they enjoy enough to do for the rest of their life? I'm asking this in seriously, like what questions do you have to ask yourself?

What did you enjoy as a child?

What would you do for free?

What would you do if you were a millionaire?

What sort of person are you - a follower, a leader, shady, boring, a sheep, a maverick? Figure out who you really are, not who you're pretending to be.

For example, imagine you're the type of person who has an evil streak, loves breaking things, loves power... then becoming a penetration tester (professional hacker) is probably the thing for you.

Nevermind the "do what you enjoy" talk.

Very, very few people enjoy the work they are doing and see work as a means to an end.

There are exceptions, people who code for a hobby and take it up as job for example. But these are the exception, not the rule.

Instead, find what is the most tolerable for you. Even narrow it down if you could work in an office or is that completely out of the question.

Don't feel trapped by your choice either ... look 10-15 years ahead what could you do for that length, then change then if you wish. It is common to change career today.

But you will need to get used to putting in effort and indeed studying. See it as part of your day - just like having to mow the lawn or do household chores. The more you do, the less daunting it will be.

Jim2007

salonfire wrote: »

Very, very few people enjoy the work they are doing and see work as a means to an end.

edwardkiley wrote: »

few people enjoy what they do, cause what society needs and pays does not allways correlate to what people enjoy.

In my experience over the last 35 years, very few people don't enjoy a major part of what they do....

I know one guy who's job consists of travelling around in a van maintaining and filling vending machines at translations and bus stops. He takes great pride in his work, as he sees it, if he does not do a good job, then people will not be able to enjoy their snacks when they travel. And he gets very upset if machines are vandalised etc...

I know another guy who's job consists of removing the packed mail of the convoy belt at an insurance company and hand it over to the post. He has regularly saved the company millions by catching error in the documents being produced and on several occasions has be personally thanked by the CEO, as he sees it he is the last line of defence for the company.

And then I knew the former managing partner (RIP) of one big four accounting firms in Dublin, who's comment to me at his retirement do - I wish I'd done what you did! I passed up a promotion he offered me to spend a summer climbing in the Alps and never went back. And he was the only person I know who was actually miserable in his work, but did not have the courage to change it.

At the end of the day, you can spend your live doing something you hate 40+ hours a week and try to convince yourself that everyone is the same situation, which they most certainly are not or you can make a change. You have one life to live and spending a major portion of it being miserable is not much of choice in my book.

Jim2007

edwardkiley wrote: »

f
how does one go about finding something they enjoy enough to do for the rest of their life? I'm asking this in seriously, like what questions do you have to ask yourself?

What do you find interesting, what are you good at? Check out your career guidance office at college, see if there are careers that might interest you and then see if you can get to talk to some people that work there or even spend some time on a trial day or two...

That is what my daughter did, because she had not clear direction... she even spent a week working as a trainee stonemason, another week working for a professional photographer and video maker. She eventually decide on a career in multimedia design and so far three years in, she is very happy.

It is not easy to decide, but if you don't at least try, you may regret it.

s1ippy

I did work I enjoyed for a long time, I really felt like I made a difference. After years at it, I came to realise that the working environment was completely unacceptable and the position commanded no respect and had no hope of a desirable promotion. So I kept training and upskilling in a more specialised area and got alerts about jobs coming up in those fields.

The work I do now is a lot different (including longer hours and fewer holidays) but it pays better, is more flexible and still presents challenges and fulfilment. I also have to say that I'd guess that I have added years onto my life by changing career. I actually look physically healthier because I'm not in knots of anxiety every day about work. I work 8 to 4 Monday to Friday now and they're the only hours I think about work during.

This may not be the end of the line in my career. I usually have my eye on recruitment sites and get email alerts about other positions. Whatever your job you can really go places if you're ambitious and play to your strengths.

A good industry for the OP to look into might be retrofitting. There's going to be loads of upgrades needed in homes and businesses to obtain grants for energy efficiency. Not sure what courses are available, but I'd also be interested in them if anyone else knew of any.

CBear1993

What’s people’s views on a career as a counselor/therapist/psycotherapist/psychologist?

I am in my mid 20s and have pondered it a lot as a career change on the side. I know a few colleges in Dublin let you do diplomas in Counselling & psychotherapy etc but it is long, a lot of them take 3-4 years.
Then after that you apparently Have to do a certain number of voluntary or trainee hours for free under the supervision of a clinically qualified supervisor, before you “can go out on your own” .

I’ve often thought I would be great at it and have a genuine interest in it. It looks attractive seeing all those therapists have an hourly rate of anything from €50-100 per hour, but I’m sure there are a lot of deductions to this, and a cap on the amount of people you can see or hours you can do per week.

It’s a long road and seems to be highly regulated

edwardkiley

CBear1993 wrote: »

What’s people’s views on a career as a counselor/therapist/psycotherapist/psychologist?

I am in my mid 20s and have pondered it a lot as a career change on the side. I know a few colleges in Dublin let you do diplomas in Counselling & psychotherapy etc but it is long, a lot of them take 3-4 years.
Then after that you apparently Have to do a certain number of voluntary or trainee hours for free under the supervision of a clinically qualified supervisor, before you “can go out on your own” .

I’ve often thought I would be great at it and have a genuine interest in it. It looks attractive seeing all those therapists have an hourly rate of anything from €50-100 per hour, but I’m sure there are a lot of deductions to this, and a cap on the amount of people you can see or hours you can do per week.

It’s a long road and seems to be highly regulated

yes it's a long road but if it's something you really care about: anaysis of peoples psychological issues and wanting to help people solve there issues than I would definately say look into it.