Having decided that tiling is an avenue I would like to pursue, I've contacted the specialist training course in Harlow and spoken to Mark, and going on the invitation day to decide whether to follow a course.
I've now spoken to a couple of tilers, who have advised me, that I would be laughed off of site if I came from one of these courses ( any course, not necessarily Harlow), as I would not be taught correctly and be supplied with Mickey Mouse equipment !!. I was looking forward to following a course, but this has given me doubts, or is it just a case of bad mouthing so that there is less chance of you stepping on someone else's toes.

Your thought please??

thanks

Fieldsy.

Dont listen to them, as they just look at you as competition taking their money away from them, Any good course will show you how to tile correctly, what any course cant give you is speed which is what you will need on a site, best getting your training done then go out and do domestic work and build a reputation there in your own time, the sites are knackered anyway now because of the slowdown in the housing sales
Darren

Thanks for your input Darren, much appreciated. Yh, I have heard that site work is down, but domestic work is going well, as people are deciding to stay in their own homes and re-furb them rather than moving. Its a trade that I would know I would enjoy, I'm just apprehensive at the moment considering the "recession", how much work will be available, if any??.

I get feedback all the time off the people i teach that are doing well and what i here is that they are all doing very well with the domestic market, What you have to think about is how good a salesman are you as this is what i teach big time on my courses and is probably more vital than learning how to tile itself, You could be the best tiler in the world but if nobody wants to buy your fixing services off you because they dont like you or your patter isnt up to scratch then they will choose someone else leaving you with nothing, so your tiling skills are useless basically if you cant sell. As well as the obvious tiling skills you need think about the tehniques of how you are going to win the business, what makes me get so many top results is how i turn people into businessmen making money from tiling, not turning someone into a tiler
Hope this makes sence
The other thing i teach is drive and having a passion to succeed, it can only come from yourself, recession or not there is still lots of money out there and its down to yourself and your skills to make it work, if you want it bad then you will get it, Had a letter come back off a lad thats been left the course 12 months ago and gave me an update what hes been up to, said when he left he went out in the first two weeks and approached 22 kitchen shops and 10 bathroom shops, heard nothing from any of them for 1 month then the phone started to ring, he does regular fitting for 3 of them now on a weekly basis and made 42K last year, on the other hand there was probably someone on the same course as him, left with the same skills and sat on his arse waiting for the phone to ring and done nothing.
So you see, get the background knowledge of your trade so you can talk the talk, learn the skills, sell yourself have a bit get up and go and you will do well.
Hope this has helped you out a little in your decision

Regards Darren

good points darren, i did look at your courses ,but was swayed by courses that last 2 weeks as i thought yours was to much to take in within 4 days.[even tho i have read all the feedbacks]but then i read your post above and only then the bussines side is just as inportant, no other had explained it quite the way u did in this post, so now im looking towards your course.One thing tho what sort of work do guys get that like me can only tile part time ie i have full time job , thx

Hi Mate
We do a two week course, (8 days) which is ample to learn, remember the courses finish at 6.30, if you think an average course finishes at 4.30 thats 16 hours extra training you get with us
Part time work is fine, you need to concentrate on kitchens and floors that can be done in your time off where as bathrooms will take you too long to finish at first until you get your speed up, i go right through how to market yourself full time and part time so you can maximise your extra income
Regards
Darren

hi darren , obviously 8 days would be good,but icould only manage 4 days plus 1.thats all holidays i have left utill after april, but like to get started sooner if possible.thx ,pete

Hi M8

I Have Just completed my 4 week's at Harlow my self, the hand tools they give you are Rubi trowls and nippers and stabila level
any other tools you cand buy direct from them all trade brand names or cheep crap if you want it. its your choice
The course itself was well worth the money and very comprehensive Tony and Clinton are great you will have a good time and learn alot

Hi Pete
Our main course is the 4 plus the 1 day and should be all you need, everything after would be repetative really, if you fancy the extra 3 days which is more about design tiling work, you can come back later and do it if you wish.
Let me know or give Debra a ring at the office on 0191 4274529 for availability
Regards
Darren

Originally Posted by peterhouse

hi darren , obviously 8 days would be good,but icould only manage 4 days plus 1.thats all holidays i have left utill after april, but like to get started sooner if possible.thx ,pete

Hi Peter i can say no more about Darrens NETT course than has been said.I was on it 2months ago and see as long as you can listen take things in have good pratical abilities and after each days done think about what you have learnt that day you will be fine.

Their is alot of content in the course but the way it's set out makes it easy to take in

hi graham, thx for ur advice ,Did you feel enough time was spent on each subject that was taught to you? or did you feel u needed more time on each subject?and could you go back if u felt u didnt pick it up?or was it it a case of right thats done ..next subject....done and so on?be intrested in your feedback thx

Originally Posted by peterhouse

hi graham, thx for ur advice ,Did you feel enough time was spent on each subject that was taught to you? or did you feel u needed more time on each subject?and could you go back if u felt u didnt pick it up?or was it it a case of right thats done ..next subject....done and so on?be intrested in your feedback thx

Hi Darren wouldn't move on till everyone was happy and new,how to do something,why it was done that way,till everybody was happy with a certain technique.He will keep asking,everyone happy,everyone understand.

Darren won't move on till everyone's happy

If you don't understand anything you have to speak up,again it comes down to how quick you understand and how good you are at picking things up.

Your in a group situation and a lot of people don't like talking up and asking "how you do that again i didn't understand" for the fear of everybody else thinking their stupid.But you have to speak up cause if you don't understand one thing it will hinder you as the course moves on.

Darren sets the course out and explains it in simple terms all you have to do is listen and take it in and practice what he teaches