Self Employed after Tiling Course - TilersForums.com

[sean3062]

The younger you are the more options you have.
Due to redundancy I did a four week course, I was in my 40s with a mortgage to pay etc. so didnt have the luxury of being able to do an apprenticeship or finding someone to work along side etc.
Although my first job I helped out another tiler and he ripped me off and didnt pay me.

If you want to do a course do at least 4 weeks.

sharon

Thanks for replies ive found a 6 week course with ableskills and i have money set aside to last me 6 months without any work, im 54 years ol and am looking to change careers

 

[Time's Ran Out]

54.
Too late now!
Save your money and get a job without any stress. This is the best job in the world but by the time you get established you'll be too old to enjoy it.
It's definitely a young mans game or lady if you hit a niche market and I'am the prime example. Old , grumpy, miserable and downbeat! But I have a young son of 33 who keeps me going.
And I love it!
Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Italy]

if you have no experience whatsoever in tiling, basic DIY or another area of construction, then 13 days isn't enough experience to go out and work on peoples properties or be classed as 'self employed'
I'd say you should wait 3-6 months before you enter self employment if you fall into the above category ie no prior experience whatsoever and that depends on the ability of the individual as well??

in fact, i think the whole forum and the tiling world in general needs to stop saying 'they were' taught to tile by a course because they were not.

if you did 1 week, then you got a weeks worth of experience
if you did 13 days, then you got 13 days experience
if you did 4 weeks, then? you got 4 weeks experience.

what happened was, you did a period of time in a simulated setting, learned the basics THEN, came on here, worked with other tilers, read books, watched youtube vids, went on further trade related courses, maybe attended college, spent a few months/years practicing and improving and possibly done your NVQ's AND THEN you became a tiler...Surely, you have to be proficient before you go self employed and 13 days is not enough.

Nobody should ever give a tiling course the credit or the acknowledgment that they taught you to tile UNLESS you did a course and went straight out there and only ever used the methods they gave you and I doubt very much that's the case...A course is a starting point or addition of knowledge and course owners should not be telling people they are tilers or ready for self employment after 13 days with no other prior development.

this is not an attack on tiling courses, this is plain common sense that anybody can surely understand. if you are desperate/vulnerable or naive, people will always tell you what you want to hear won't they

this is the truth..........
I would add,
Then, you have to pray to God and find a true master, which leaves you steal the tricks of the trade. (Because you, must steal).
otherwise, will be too, one of many "tilers".
and nowadays, you have to know how to make a difference.
I'll be honest, I have spent more than five years before they launch me alone.
and even now, are an apprentice.

 

[Wishiwasatoptiler]

54.
Too late now!
Save your money and get a job without any stress. This is the best job in the world but by the time you get established you'll be too old to enjoy it.
It's definitely a young mans game or lady if you hit a niche market and I'am the prime example. Old , grumpy, miserable and downbeat! But I have a young son of 33 who keeps me going.
And I love it!
Good luck with whatever you choose.

Its not the job that's made you miserable and downbeat. It's the mags.

 

[Italy]

54.
Too late now!
Save your money and get a job without any stress. This is the best job in the world but by the time you get established you'll be too old to enjoy it.
It's definitely a young mans game or lady if you hit a niche market and I'am the prime example. Old , grumpy, miserable and downbeat! But I have a young son of 33 who keeps me going.
And I love it!
Good luck with whatever you choose.

all true, at 54, a tiler, is already in a slowing phase.
(Already for many years)

 

[Italy]

you @timeless john , you are already a stopped, half a century.
you just come in and look at the construction site, for take money, your presence is required.

 

[MTiler]

we're similar ages Sean and I wouldnt want to start in this game now, its knackering hence why I dont do large formats and I just stick to small stuff and mosaics.

 

[LM]

Sean even if your really good at learning and adapting to new challenges and your like a sponge, tiling has changed so much in the last ten years or so, it's completely different to when even I started 20 odd years ago. The format sizes + tools required, the development of different substrates like anhydrite screeds etc and the abundance of different materials to fit everything etc means that realistically to be a competitive very good tiler that will have a good order book in front of them will probably take at least 3-5 years and that would be going very well and that's allowing for your maturity.
It's not to say that after 2-3 years you couldn't earn a living fitting your average B&Q type tiles if you could get enough of that type of work. I suppose it all depends on what you realistically expect to earn.
The tiles available today to the average customer mean that more often than not you'll come across jobs that need experience of more than 3-5 years to be able to competently complete to a standard that is going to build your reputation.
I'm not trying to put you off by any means, but it's the reason I asked you your age. If you feel you have the time to develop into a top notch tiler then go for it, only you can answer that question.
It wasn't that long ago that tiling wasn't even considered by some to be a trade in it's own right, but wow how things have changed!
Please don't take anything I've said to be a negative, I'm simply trying to point out the realities of tiling nowadays.
It's a very rewarding and satisfying trade that pays really well, but its not getting any easier by any means. Good luck Sean with what ever you decide to do.
Ps we're always here to help

 

[bcd-87]

if you have no experience whatsoever in tiling, basic DIY or another area of construction, then 13 days isn't enough experience to go out and work on peoples properties or be classed as 'self employed'
I'd say you should wait 3-6 months before you enter self employment if you fall into the above category ie no prior experience whatsoever and that depends on the ability of the individual as well??

in fact, i think the whole forum and the tiling world in general needs to stop saying 'they were' taught to tile by a course because they were not.

if you did 1 week, then you got a weeks worth of experience
if you did 13 days, then you got 13 days experience
if you did 4 weeks, then? you got 4 weeks experience.

what happened was, you did a period of time in a simulated setting, learned the basics THEN, came on here, worked with other tilers, read books, watched youtube vids, went on further trade related courses, maybe attended college, spent a few months/years practicing and improving and possibly done your NVQ's AND THEN you became a tiler...Surely, you have to be proficient before you go self employed and 13 days is not enough.

Nobody should ever give a tiling course the credit or the acknowledgment that they taught you to tile UNLESS you did a course and went straight out there and only ever used the methods they gave you and I doubt very much that's the case...A course is a starting point or addition of knowledge and course owners should not be telling people they are tilers or ready for self employment after 13 days with no other prior development.

this is not an attack on tiling courses, this is plain common sense that anybody can surely understand. if you are desperate/vulnerable or naive, people will always tell you what you want to hear won't they

Very well said

 

[MTiler]

if you have no experience whatsoever in tiling, basic DIY or another area of construction, then 13 days isn't enough experience to go out and work on peoples properties or be classed as 'self employed'
I'd say you should wait 3-6 months before you enter self employment if you fall into the above category ie no prior experience whatsoever and that depends on the ability of the individual as well??

in fact, i think the whole forum and the tiling world in general needs to stop saying 'they were' taught to tile by a course because they were not.

if you did 1 week, then you got a weeks worth of experience
if you did 13 days, then you got 13 days experience
if you did 4 weeks, then? you got 4 weeks experience.

what happened was, you did a period of time in a simulated setting, learned the basics THEN, came on here, worked with other tilers, read books, watched youtube vids, went on further trade related courses, maybe attended college, spent a few months/years practicing and improving and possibly done your NVQ's AND THEN you became a tiler...Surely, you have to be proficient before you go self employed and 13 days is not enough.

Nobody should ever give a tiling course the credit or the acknowledgment that they taught you to tile UNLESS you did a course and went straight out there and only ever used the methods they gave you and I doubt very much that's the case...A course is a starting point or addition of knowledge and course owners should not be telling people they are tilers or ready for self employment after 13 days with no other prior development.

this is not an attack on tiling courses, this is plain common sense that anybody can surely understand. if you are desperate/vulnerable or naive, people will always tell you what you want to hear won't they

But youre not bitter lol.
I did a 4 weeks course with no prior experience and went straight out tiling self employed, it was a case of having to.