A little work experience please

[thevinnyofoz]

Hello,

I´ve found myself stuck in a situation and would like to ask for your opinions on what to do next ?

Ok, about me ...

I live in Wakefield near to Leeds and i´m a fit and healthy 31. I work full time in a totally unrelated job ( pharmaceuticals, legal ones ) and can only dedicate my evening´s and weekend to fixing. My long term goal is to gain enough skill and know how that I can start up on my own or preferably be employed by a contrator. I have taken an 80 hour coarse last July and have done only three jobs since. Nobody I know is wanting any work done as they are skint or uninterested, I feel stuck and have even gone as far as to pay for the material myself just so I can get in and gain some experience ( family members only ).

How am I suposed to continue like this ? Maybe I should offer a few Saturday´s to a local tiler or maybe go self employed and jump in the deep end ? ( I don´t want to go self employed as I still have loads to learn )

I would really like to hear your advice....

[marke]

well if its experience your after im sure there would be a few tilers who would have you tag along at weekends for nowt other than that dont rush too much it sounds like an ideal opportunity to learn a bit about marketing your business because when you take the plunge and you cant get work it gets serious
Lean how to minimize your quiet time by keeping business coming in and that means building relationships IMO with bathroom/kitchen/conservatory fitters etc and you can start doing that now , you would be amazed what can happen of these contacts ,

good luck mate

[pjc]

Hello,

I´ve found myself stuck in a situation and would like to ask for your opinions on what to do next ?

Ok, about me ...

I live in Wakefield near to Leeds and i´m a fit and healthy 31. I work full time in a totally unrelated job ( pharmaceuticals, legal ones ) and can only dedicate my evening´s and weekend to fixing. My long term goal is to gain enough skill and know how that I can start up on my own or preferably be employed by a contrator. I have taken an 80 hour coarse last July and have done only three jobs since. Nobody I know is wanting any work done as they are skint or uninterested, I feel stuck and have even gone as far as to pay for the material myself just so I can get in and gain some experience ( family members only ).

How am I suposed to continue like this ? Maybe I should offer a few Saturday´s to a local tiler or maybe go self employed and jump in the deep end ? ( I don´t want to go self employed as I still have loads to learn )

I would really like to hear your advice....

Hi Vinny thats how i started 28 years ago weekends afternoons off been doing it now 27 years full time when i got to busy gave up my day job :Pete

[thevinnyofoz]

Thanks marke, will if any of you do need a tag-a-long please pm me, i´m itching to get stuck in. So long as your not a million miles away i´d welcome the experience. I have a car and free weekends

[enduro]

Its been a quite difficult few years for new tilers, due to recession etc so i would think long and hard at the moment about jacking your job in. Just wait until the new year things general start to pick up a bit then. Its tough out there at the moment unless you have good contacts, I'm not trying to put you off but it wont be easy. Also it depends on your overheads? how much money a month do you need to earn to pay your bills etc. Good luck and i hope you make it as a tiler, its a very rewarding job, and also frustrating sometimes...

[Phil Hobson]

Good luck m8, I am only over the hill from you, I would gladly have you tag along weekends.Unfortuatley, I don't work weekends anymore. But I wish you the best of luck we need keen people in this industry. It really is a great job, I've been doing it for 43yrs, I moan a bit now and then, but I would'nt change jobs with anyone.

[thevinnyofoz]

thanks for the encouragment. I will stay in my current job for long while yet, no chance of my giving that up. I only want to tile on the evenings and weekends for now, i´m just anoyed that i´m not getting much work so i´m feeling stalled.

Been talking with my lady this evening about going self employed, mainly so I can advertise but what a leap of faith. I would prefer to more experienced before doing that. But I guess that if I don´t tag a long with a tiler on the weekends I will have to go self employed and get a van signed up for maximum free advertising.

Does anyone know if City and Guilds do any training ? I´m thinking about studying for a qualification to help stop me from going stir crazy as i´m not getting enough tiling done.

[doug boardley]

keep plugging away at it Vinny, experience comes with time. I'm sure with your outlook, things will go well for you

[wayne]

im in kippax mate. only about 5 miles from you. if any weekends crop up for me i will be in touch.

[brian c]

good luck m8.

[thevinnyofoz]

Nice one Wayne, i´d really apprieciate it when the time comes, happy to work me socks off mate . That´s right cheered me up, i´ve had a more than chaotic day at work today with two hours of overtime chaos thrown in, so i´m well happy to get some good news today

[faithhealer]

keep plugging away Vinny, you sound like you have the right attitude.

[timeless john]

Vinny - There will be no jobs for employed positions for a long time.
The best time to look for a new job is when you have one.
Ride out the next few months and do your business plans to see what you need and how you will achieve it.
Start small - cards in shop windows/2 lines in evening newspaper ads etc and tell them your busy but you can fit them in at the weekend if its convenient.
Stay within your capabilities and get as much advice as you can from that 'Tilers Forum' - they're meant to be quite good!

[thevinnyofoz]

thanks for your advice timeless john, when the time comes I will put your advice into practice