Hello all new to the forum - Career change

[Flash_363]

Morning All,

My name is David and I am 32 and another one who is looking for a career change. I have been doing my current job (Armed Forces not construction) for nearly 16 years and have come to the decision this is no longer the life for me. I have been working in middle management for the last 6 years. Luckily although having a family (wife and 2 kids) I am in the position to be able to re-train without pressure.

I have been looking into the trade industry for a while now and I have done a small amount of tiling which I enjoyed especially the attention to detail and instantly being able to appreciate a good job done which is why I made tiling route to take. I have been researching for a while and think i have formulated some sort of plan of action.

So after trawling the internet researching courses in tiling i have booked myself onto the 13 day course with UK Pro Tiling after seeing the reviews they had received, as well as searching on TF to find they had a respected following. I will be attending the course at the end of November whilst i am on leave with the intention of serving my lays year gaining as much experience hands on doing free work for friends and family building up a portfolio (around weekly dad duties). Obviously if i can find an experienced local tiler in Hampshire who is willing to take me on and show me "the ways" then this would help tremendously, I can imagine this is hard to do though as who wants to train the competition haha. I have a van already as my T5 conversion has been put on hold...

I am not here with a pipe dream of earning big bucks i just want to be in a job that i can work hard and hear someone be happy with a job will done. I would be interested in talking to any other ex-servicemen who can offer advice on other course or workshops worth attending during resettlement.

Going to end this now before anyone falls asleep.... if anyone made it this far!

Regards,

David

 

[Tony_C]

Hello and welcome David 🙂

Sounds like you have a reasonable plan. Look forward to you being around and see how you get on. Best of luck with it all 😁

 

[Flash_363]

Thanks Tony. Hopefully I get the opportunities to keep me around!

Hello and welcome David 🙂

Sounds like you have a reasonable plan. Look forward to you being around and see how you get on. Best of luck with it all 😁

 

[GoneGuy]

Hello and welcome to the forum, good luck.

 

[Boggs]

Hello and welcome David

Work hard and maybe one day you too will be able to have personalised levelling clips, eh @3_fall. 😎😁

 

[Flash_363]

Thank you Boggs and Adey

 

[Dumbo]

Hello and welcome . Hope it all works out for you .

 

[Spare Tool]

Hi and welcome to the forum David, I'm not ashamed to say I started with a short course with Darren at UKpro...good luck 👍

 

[Old Mod]

Work hard and maybe one day you too will be able to have personalised levelling clips, eh @3_fall. 😎😁

Well you know Neil, the thing about that is, you know who I am.
And you’ll always know when it’s my work you’re looking at, so I suppose, they’re doing what I intended them to do eh 😁🤣🤣

 

[Dan]

Well you know Neil, the thing about that is, you know who I am.
And you’ll always know when it’s my work you’re looking at, so I suppose, they’re doing what I intended them to do eh 😁🤣🤣

You're not leaving them in all the tiling you do are you?!?!
[automerge]1569009508[/automerge]

Morning All,

My name is David and I am 32 and another one who is looking for a career change. I have been doing my current job (Armed Forces not construction) for nearly 16 years and have come to the decision this is no longer the life for me. I have been working in middle management for the last 6 years. Luckily although having a family (wife and 2 kids) I am in the position to be able to re-train without pressure.

I have been looking into the trade industry for a while now and I have done a small amount of tiling which I enjoyed especially the attention to detail and instantly being able to appreciate a good job done which is why I made tiling route to take. I have been researching for a while and think i have formulated some sort of plan of action.

So after trawling the internet researching courses in tiling i have booked myself onto the 13 day course with UK Pro Tiling after seeing the reviews they had received, as well as searching on TF to find they had a respected following. I will be attending the course at the end of November whilst i am on leave with the intention of serving my lays year gaining as much experience hands on doing free work for friends and family building up a portfolio (around weekly dad duties). Obviously if i can find an experienced local tiler in Hampshire who is willing to take me on and show me "the ways" then this would help tremendously, I can imagine this is hard to do though as who wants to train the competition haha. I have a van already as my T5 conversion has been put on hold...

I am not here with a pipe dream of earning big bucks i just want to be in a job that i can work hard and hear someone be happy with a job will done. I would be interested in talking to any other ex-servicemen who can offer advice on other course or workshops worth attending during resettlement.

Going to end this now before anyone falls asleep.... if anyone made it this far!

Regards,

David

Welcome to the forum. Me and Darren used to speak on the phone quite a lot a long time ago. Share web advice and general business advice. Both had new ventures at the time. Not sure what the first connection actually was. Think it might have even been before the forum!

He's very good. He's good at explaining things in a way everybody gets. And if they don't, he wont let you leave without that part covered before moving onto the next the next day.

You're in good hands.

Some guys may knock short courses. I say to that, where the hell are you meant to go. Colleges are miles away and a million miles from practicality.

No tiler, whether learning on the job, from his dad, from a gang on site, from a college, from an independent training centre, has come out of there with all the knowledge he needs ongoing.

Your best contacts are all the ones you find on the way. So take everybody's name and number, and backup your phone always.

Go on all the trade courses. They pop up even on here such as the Wedi one in the calendar. And the many ones Nicobond and Mapei post. Loads of dates for those. There was a point there were some guys going way way down sarf to london to get up to speed on large format tiling. Not sure you'd be quite at that stage after 4 weeks. But they're about on the forum from time to time.

Keep at it. It'll pay off.

It's a finishing trade, so you get to see the work, and it's rewarding, most of the time. Unlike plumbing, or electrical work, which nearly all their stuff gets plastered over.

Lots of cool LED related stuff sparkys are installing these days mind, they look out of this world.

I'm combining the three forums and robbing them of all their knowledge when I do my bathroom soon. TV in there, LED sunken ceiling lighting, new suit (already in but not secure which keeps catching me out!) the lot.

Bloody lovely JOTM entry when I get round to it!

 

[Flash_363]

You're not leaving them in all the tiling you do are you?!?!
[automerge]1569009508[/automerge]

Welcome to the forum. Me and Darren used to speak on the phone quite a lot a long time ago. Share web advice and general business advice. Both had new ventures at the time. Not sure what the first connection actually was. Think it might have even been before the forum!

He's very good. He's good at explaining things in a way everybody gets. And if they don't, he wont let you leave without that part covered before moving onto the next the next day.

You're in good hands.

Some guys may knock short courses. I say to that, where the hell are you meant to go. Colleges are miles away and a million miles from practicality.

No tiler, whether learning on the job, from his dad, from a gang on site, from a college, from an independent training centre, has come out of there with all the knowledge he needs ongoing.

Your best contacts are all the ones you find on the way. So take everybody's name and number, and backup your phone always.

Go on all the trade courses. They pop up even on here such as the Wedi one in the calendar. And the many ones Nicobond and Mapei post. Loads of dates for those. There was a point there were some guys going way way down sarf to london to get up to speed on large format tiling. Not sure you'd be quite at that stage after 4 weeks. But they're about on the forum from time to time.

Keep at it. It'll pay off.

It's a finishing trade, so you get to see the work, and it's rewarding, most of the time. Unlike plumbing, or electrical work, which nearly all their stuff gets plastered over.

Lots of cool LED related stuff sparkys are installing these days mind, they look out of this world.

I'm combining the three forums and robbing them of all their knowledge when I do my bathroom soon. TV in there, LED sunken ceiling lighting, new suit (already in but not secure which keeps catching me out!) the lot.

Bloody lovely JOTM entry when I get round to it!

Dan,

Thank you for the advice. I will get on and find some dates out for further courses, The long haired General has me all booked up for my next leave period so I'll have to see if I can find some around the summer time.

Good luck with the bathroom and have a good weekend.

David

 

[Italy]

welcome and good luck ...

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Welcome to the forum - keep reading and keep posting!
This is the most rewarding trade available and you will enjoy it enormously.

 

[Albert]

Welcome to the forum .

 

[Flash_363]

welcome and good luck ...Antonio

Thank you

Welcome to the forum - keep reading and keep posting!
This is the most rewarding trade available and you will enjoy it enormously.

John, thank you. I have been reading through and it seems like there a good bunch of people on here, I just hope they don't mind a few daft questions as I know I may have one or two in me!!

Welcome to the forum .

Thank you Albert

 

[Boggs]

It’s better to ask a daft question than make an expensive mistake.

 

[Flash_363]

It’s better to ask a daft question than make an expensive mistake.

I can imagine so... Reading through the forum I can see from some of the questions asked that there are some very expensive mistakes to be made.

 

[Old Mod]

I just hope they don't mind a few daft questions as I know I may have one or two in me!!

No such thing as a daft question, only daft answers 😁
Whenever I’ve trained someone there’s two main things that I impres on trainees.
One is that I’d sooner you ask a question as many as it need for it to become second nature.
And two, if you say to yourself at any time
“Ahhh that’s good enough!”
Then rip it up, just by saying that, you know it’s not!

 

[Flash_363]

No such thing as a daft question, only daft answers 😁
Whenever I’ve trained someone there’s two main things that I impres on trainees.
One is that I’d sooner you ask a question as many as it need for it to become second nature.
And two, if you say to yourself at any time
“Ahhh that’s good enough!”
Then rip it up, just by saying that, you know it’s not!

Completely understand what you mean, when doing a job and saying "that's good enough" means your accepting a sub standard effort and you're most probably rushing...

I have been reading through the forum and have loads of questions already but I will wait until I have completed my training before I start bombarding you all. Do you think it would be wise for me to attend some plastering training? Also I have the opportunity to complete bathroom fitting and kitchen fitting courses (including carpentry), I am thinking attending these will increase my awareness of what size tile will complement the finished room layout?

Regards,

David.

 

[Azchase]

Completely understand what you mean, when doing a job and saying "that's good enough" means your accepting a sub standard effort and you're most probably rushing...

I have been reading through the forum and have loads of questions already but I will wait until I have completed my training before I start bombarding you all. Do you think it would be wise for me to attend some plastering training? Also I have the opportunity to complete bathroom fitting and kitchen fitting courses (including carpentry), I am thinking attending these will increase my awareness of what size tile will complement the finished room layout?

Regards,

David.

Hiya mate,

Your story sounds very similar to mine. I leave the Royal Navy after 23 years in jan 2020. Currently on leave to resettle etc. I’m looking at booking onto the same course very soon. Tiling as a career for me is a total 180 degrees in what I’ve done for the last 23 years but I’m excited. My OCD and attention to detail I feel would be wasted on a trade that is in the walls or plastered over. I live by Manchester airport and I too, am Looking for a local tiler who wouldn’t mind a 39 year old apprentice/mate. I have my own van and my tool Collection is growing which keeps the wife rolling her eyes back when more delivery’s arrive haha.

Anyway, I wish you all the best pal

Azz

 

[Dumbo]

We already got enough people on here with OCD

 

[Azchase]

We already got enough people on here with OCD

You say that like it’s a bad trait to have 😂

 

[Flash_363]

Hiya mate,

Your story sounds very similar to mine. I leave the Royal Navy after 23 years in jan 2020. Currently on leave to resettle etc. I’m looking at booking onto the same course very soon. Tiling as a career for me is a total 180 degrees in what I’ve done for the last 23 years but I’m excited. My OCD and attention to detail I feel would be wasted on a trade that is in the walls or plastered over. I live by Manchester airport and I too, am Looking for a local tiler who wouldn’t mind a 39 year old apprentice/mate. I have my own van and my tool Collection is growing which keeps the wife rolling her eyes back when more delivery’s arrive haha.

Anyway, I wish you all the best pal

Azz

Hello Azz,

Do you have a course booked as of yet? I'll be travelling up from Pompey for mine so it's a cheeky 6 hours drive for me. This is completely different from my background (Warfare MW). My Mrs is in the RN and on promotion courses from Jan-Apr so my notice will go in the day she finishes as I don't want to miss out on any of my resettlement time but on completion of my course I am lucky enough to have a project to work on over the weekends if I don't manage to get any offers from a local tiler.

I wish you all the luck for the future and hope the rest of your resettlement goes well.

regards,

Flash

 

[Azchase]

Hello Azz,

Do you have a course booked as of yet? I'll be travelling up from Pompey for mine so it's a cheeky 6 hours drive for me. This is completely different from my background (Warfare MW). My Mrs is in the RN and on promotion courses from Jan-Apr so my notice will go in the day she finishes as I don't want to miss out on any of my resettlement time but on completion of my course I am lucky enough to have a project to work on over the weekends if I don't manage to get any offers from a local tiler.

I wish you all the luck for the future and hope the rest of your resettlement goes well.

regards,

Flash

Not got a course booked yet but I want to get it done ASAP as my Tx date is 7th Jan. What dates you booked on?
You going to weekend warrior it on course? Some drive that. I’m looking at getting some plastering time in too with my mate who owns his own company. All strings to the bow. I’m 39 and if I didn’t leave the mob now then I would of left it to late to follow my self employed dream.

 

[Boggs]

Is around 40 the average age for folks to leave the services?