Is an nvq a pointless qualification?

Legacy_user

Just wondering if anyone else with NVQ's have had similar experiences?

I started with an employer at 16 on an NVQ level 3, It worked pretty much the same way it would at a technical college, rather than 2 days in and 3 days out on job I was out permanently with an employer and a tutor came around every other week and gave me homework etc, My employer got a big grant for taking me on and I got paid £50 per week

I achieved my NVQ 3 and progressed up to supervisory role with my employer, however my employer went bust, I found another job in the same industry however found my NVQ and previous training to be useless, I was stuck right at the bottom of the ladder, I have had several jobs since and it has always been the same, the NVQ is useless, infact when training for my NVQ none of the people teaching me had an NVQ and any jobs I have had since no one has had this NVQ,

If I take my current job as an example, when I started 4 years ago, the most experienced member of staff was the supervisor, he had worked there for 5 years, At this stage I had 10 years experience and this glorious NVQ 3, I was plunked right at the bottom of the ladder below the apprentices as they has started before me, and since no one else has started in the company since I am still there.

So it seems to me the only thing an NVQ is good for is cheap labor for the employer, they sell you a lie, you get this qualification etc, what they don't tell you is it isn't worth a flying fart.

Oldernotwiser

Because they're a vocational qualification , NVQs only have relevance if you carry on working in the appropriate field. You also need to keep your qualifications up to date as well; an NVQ taken over 10 years ago won't have a great deal of validity in a technical field. Have you done no qualifications since your NVQ?

Even graduates have to start at the bottom these days.

System

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Because they're a vocational qualification , NVQs only have relevance if you carry on working in the appropriate field.

Even graduates have to start at the bottom these days.

I have been working in the same field. I know an NVQ is sort of a Mickey Mouse qualification but it carries no weight at all as far as I can see, I do pity school leavers so to speak, they are being sold a lie or at least I was, Possibly if you are an electrician or builder or whatever you will be able to go out solo but not in my field.

System

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Because they're a vocational qualification , NVQs only have relevance if you carry on working in the appropriate field. You also need to keep your qualifications up to date as well; an NVQ taken over 10 years ago won't have a great deal of validity in a technical field. Have you done no qualifications since your NVQ?

Even graduates have to start at the bottom these days.

No i haven't thankfully or it would be a propper waste of time, as I say no work mates have NVQ's or whatever, infact most dont have GCSE's:D, in my field qualifications don't appear to be needed, my first employer saw it as a way of cheap labour, smart guy

Oldernotwiser

nirelandguy wrote: »

I have been working in the same field. I know an NVQ is sort of a Mickey Mouse qualification but it carries no weight at all as far as I can see, I do pity school leavers so to speak, they are being sold a lie or at least I was, Possibly if you are an electrician or builder or whatever you will be able to go out solo but not in my field.

NVQs aren't necessarily Mickey Mouse qualifications; in many jobs you can't work legitimately without them.

However, as I said, you're supposed to progress on from this point and develop yourself and your skills; you're not supposed to act as if your education/training stops at 16.

ben500

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

NVQs aren't necessarily Mickey Mouse qualifications; in many jobs you can't work legitimately without them.

However, as I said, you're supposed to progress on from this point and develop yourself and your skills; you're not supposed to act as if your education/training stops at 16.

What jobs would they be?

System

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

NVQs aren't necessarily Mickey Mouse qualifications; in many jobs you can't work legitimately without them.

However, as I said, you're supposed to progress on from this point and develop yourself and your skills; you're not supposed to act as if your education/training stops at 16.

Yes I know that but this is a trade, thats as far as you can go with it.

elfen

My OH has an NVQ in plumbing, and he works as a heating engineer. He's constantly having to go on courses and has done a ton in the past year that I can't remember them all. I'd say they're not useless, as he is still using formulae he learnt in his NVQ to calculate the diameter of pipes for heating systems today.

unluckyone

nirelandguy wrote: »

Yes I know that but this is a trade, thats as far as you can go with it.

What tade are you in and what is the title of the NVQ?

Prehaps the issue is more your now employer.
Surely they should be recognising you as a tradesman with over ten years experience.

Oldernotwiser

ben500 wrote: »

What jobs would they be?

Most trades in the construction industry, hairdressing, care worker. Pretty well everything these days that doesn't require an academic qualification.

Oldernotwiser

nirelandguy wrote: »

Yes I know that but this is a trade, thats as far as you can go with it.

After 10 years plus in the industry and a level 3 qualification, most people would be looking to progress into being a chargehand/supervisor or branch out into something more specialised like training or quality control if they work for a decent sized company.