What trade/niche to retrain in

BoBoDobie

joebob said:

I caught the back end of a news item on tv the other day about a seventy odd year old man who was the oldest apprentice in the world  he was working on the railways as a face to face customer services agent or something similar, your never too old. If your in to films and tv what about signing up to an extras agency, 

Crikey there's hope for me yet!!  Yes I thought about the extras thing a few years ago when they were filming on location at a nearby stately home but its very sporadic work and nothing round here (unless they happen to be on location).

theoretica

There is someone local to me who seems to do good business reconditioning old light fittings - in normal times he is booked up.  Removes and replaces lacquer, cleans and polishes (or preserves the vintage look), replaces parts that need it and rewires to modern standards.  Needs to know about a lot of different materials, brass, glass, iron, paint and electrics.  I wonder if some sort of technical renovation like that would be worth looking at.  It would presumably be self employed, but could start in evenings and weekends and buying in/reselling things yourself and doesn't have the heavy lifting of many trades.

moneysavinghero

You seem to want to get a tradesman job but don't want anything that involves hard graft, heavy lifting or getting your hands dirty. This limits the trades jobs available to you.

SandC

How about doing a brick laying apprenticeship? You would have to somehow manage on apprentice pay for a couple of years but the rates for brickies (usually based on qty rather than an hourly rate in the construction industry) are excellent. There is no reason your age would stop a company taking you on if you're hard working, willing to learn and reliable.

joebob

look on local council job site always different  types of apprenticeships on there. Dont think age or sex  matters nowadays so long as your able and willing to do the work.

BoBoDobie

moneysavinghero said:

You seem to want to get a tradesman job but don't want anything that involves hard graft, heavy lifting or getting your hands dirty. This limits the trades jobs available to you.

I don’t mind hard work or getting hands dirty but I’m petite and not a strongwomen so i know my limits! No way would I be able to do what my partner does ie plumbing. He lifts incredible weights all the time. I’ve got to be realistic about my capabilities