am i to old to have the oppertunity to become a carpenter

spooky25

hi all,

im a 25 year old male seeking help to find someone to give me the on site experince as a trainee/improver carpenter.
I have been searching now for well over 2 years to get myself into the trade but have had no luck in finding an employer or somebody who will take me on as self employed so i can learn the trade that im studying at night college to give me the onsite experince i really need.
I currently work on building sites as a self employed as a labourer and am paying for myself to do the night college course, is there anybody out there that knows a way of which i can get into the trade as ive explored every avenue to my knowledge and so far come up with nothing

Conor_3

TBH, I think you're going the right way about it as you are, making sure you're working in the right place where they are, but appear to have been unlucky in not getting an opportunity.

Get the course passed and then ask again. Maybe knock some things up such as a cabinet or window frame etc so you've got something to show them the level of work you're capable of. Try the smaller places rather than the big nationals.

Andy_L

have you looked into apprenticeships ?

spooky25

Andy_L wrote: »

have you looked into apprenticeships ?

Hi andy thanks for replying mate , i did apply for numerous apprenteships but they where all interested in the younger applicants as they could get away with paying them the minimum possible, i even tried the c.i.t.b for and was told that because they dint have any company's or individuals to train you on site they said that i wouldnt be able to do it , so instead i set about trying to get someone to take us on as a self employed labourer/with a view of doing a bit of carpentry, i managed to work doing this for a little while but was bumped off by the bloke i was working for as he had a 16yr old who he got funding for !
so neverless im still going strong on me course and ill hope to finish by easter next year so fingers crossed a couple of tickets might be me chance to get through the door.

all the best spooky25

Osborn_2

Hmm.. have u tried the bigger construction companies? There's af ew of them out there and i think they'd be happy to take you on..

Failing that my friend i advise you to do a professional course in construction (https://www.tradeskills4u.co.uk and http://www.constructionlearningworld.com/). There on you could just become private doing jobs for small money, just to gain experience ya know.

Do you have any mates or family friends or other acquaintances within the carpentery world? You could ask them...

Also i'd go on site if i was you seeing if they want a carpenter..

Zazen999

Hey up.

If only it was that easy...

The government now fund adult apprenticeships, the above providers concentrate on experienced workers, rather than new entrants - which is essentially what you are [even though you are an adult].

Not sure where you live, but the CITB are running an adult apprenticeship pilot project at the moment, with a friend of mine at the helm; if you PM me with your contact details I will pass it on. They should not have given you that advice and I would be interested in exactly who did...don't post that on here though. I am not surprised that they told you that - nothing surprises me any more about them...but that's another story. I hear this every day [the CITB said...] and it is usually wrong.

What you will need to do is have a good quality CV; and get your health and safety test passed; also if you are registered onto the NVQ then you can get your CSCS card which will be the real meal ticket to getting on site.

I used to work for citb, until they drove me bonkers; now I work project managing training provision in construction for a large provider; and it is notorously hard to get on site as an adult in your situation; if a provider who has funding from the government doesn't help you to get a job on site, the LSC [who fund these programmes], will not be happy.
PM me and I'll see what I can do; no promises but I can pass your details on to those that have funding for this [depending on the area that you work in].

Rich_123

Hi there,

I am currently fighting the same battle. I am 26 years old and my previous education and work has been in a different field. I am trying to find someone who can take me on as an apprentice, without any luck.

I am about to start a part time diploma level 2 at college. I have higher education qualifications in other fields and friends have told me I may become frustrated with the Level 2 diploma as it takes 2 years to complete.

I don't know if this is true?

However, I have been trying to find out if there are places I can take this course where I can fast track it or work at my own pace?

I hear lots of people, who take NVQ's while they are working and finish them within a few months!

Any advice anyone can give me regarding my situation would be greatly received.

saintjammyswine

Local Councils also take on apprentices, usually through local FE Colleges or the likes of CITB (sorry!) within these trades (Wood, Brick etc) and will often take on adults as part of their public duty remit. Contact your local FE College who will have an Employer Engagement (or called something else) Department as they will speak to employers daily and so will know who is employing in your area. Usual other advice, Apprenticeships dot org, register yourself & search locally, local papers for firms looking for juniors, trainees & apprentices. Also look at local building sites for the main contractors and contact them, see if there are any vacancies or find out who the subbies are and contact them. Local Councils also have section 106 agreements with main contractors which forces the contractor to either pay a levy or take on local labour and provide training opportunities, might be worth contacting your local council's Development Team and find out.

Sambucus_Nigra

Rich - start a new thread so people will read it

Mistral001

The building industy is a very very conservative one (with a small "c"). The existing carpenters on the site will have started at 14/15/16 years off age and will not really know what is going on if their new apprentice is 26.

However, I would keep trying to get someone to take you on. The joiner and carpenter trades seem to produce more foremen than any other.

There are perhaps people of your age who do apprentices in the more off-beat type trades such wood carving and carpentry for historic building or bespoke green oak buildings, but be prepared to travel. Not very well paid either as far as I can tell.

suslone66

If you have had Joinery experience and can build woodern framework, hang a door ,put in architrave n skirting and cut and measure woodern panels whilst explaining what you can do, then try superskills.com. It costs £900 to do level 2 in wood occupations but thats in 2 days! With this you can get your blue experienced CSCS card as you do your health and safety too. I spoke to lovely woman called Julia the other day. Just got to safe up the 900 quid now.

hope this helps
Marty