I'm currently working as a Dental Technician but the wages take the piss.

I'm wanting to learn a trade like welding/plubing/electrician, etc (would prefer welding I think). I'm wondering are there any fast track ways to get qualified?

I can't spend a couple of years in college and then work as an apprentice for a few more years as I need to support myself financially.

I heard a mate of a mate did a 2 week electrician course in London that cost him about 2k and he was then qualified and now earns good money. I'm after this sort of thing, does anyone have any advice for me or know where to look for the training/course?

 

I would say sparky is a good trade to have, you'll never be without work

 

in two weeks,, you would know fuck all about electrical work

sorry mate,, i cant really think of any real fasttrack way of earning good money for a trade

 

thats a load of bolloxs learning to be a spark in 2 weeks
any trade takes it time to learn, and then you never stop learning aswell
all these short courses are a load of bollox, you aint nothing after learning something after 2 weeks

 

I thought it was bollocks. That said, if I could get a sparky qualification I could always work with my house mate and then actually learn the trade through him.

 

apart from 2k lighter

 

Ive just started a plumbing coarse at a local college to me just on day release and they reckon depending on how you take to it you can have it done in a year and half i know it sounds like a long time but you,ve only got to do it the once and youve got it

 

i did a welding/sheet metal worker apprenticeship which took 4 years, and even after that you know next to nothing untill you get into the workshop and doing real jobs, i wouldnt have thought there could be any fast track traing for this either

 

an apprenticeship with day release is the best way to learn a trade, it may take 4 years but at the end of it you will have 4 years of experience on the job watching and learning from more experienced guys,

when i did my apprenticeship in engineering i did 5 months in a training center learning the basics, electrical, machining, welding and fitting. i then came from there back to the factory i focused on machining. i did my on the job training there and went day release to college.

after that i can now go anywhere and work, where as a mate of mine who has similar college qualifications, cant get a start anywhere because he has no experience

 

you could learn to be a plasterer or tiler in 2 weeks

but absolutly no danger be a spark ive been doing it nearly 10 years and still learn something new all the time

 

I've just started a city&guilds ito be a sparkie and thats gonna take me about 3 years all in, but as everyone else has said even then I wont be fully qualified.
See if you can get a gig as an electricians mate and fund yourself through p/t college and then you'll have the experience to go with the quals and you'll be sorted

 

its hard to become a sparky
my dad and my uncle are both sparkys both work for themselves
i was looking into it last year maybe working with them and learning the trade but the problem is i aint going to earn no where near what i earn now whilest im training.my uncle regurely gets people offering to work for free just to get the hands on experience while theyre doing their course
and its pointless doing the course whilest im in my current job because noone would employ me having no hands on experience anyway
and theres no fucking chance you can learn it in 2 weeks lol

a couple lads i know did a week tiling course 6 month ago ,they got all the tools now and a van and are doing quite a few jobs now piece of piss aparently

 

Yeah, tell me about it, all my mates that did a trade are sorted. I did a 3D Design BTEC when I left school. Waste of time that was...

I'm currently earning a trade at the moment, Apprentice Dental Technician. It's a good job and i'm good at it. The money is crap though, not enough for me to get by on. 2 more years left untill i'm qualified, I won't be able to stick it out. The boss tells me i'm the best technician he's seen for a while, i'm doing the job of a fully qualified technician, but i'm in peanuts. It was ok when I was living at home but my parents fucked off to Cornwall and i'm in the shit now.

Loads of debts.

I want to find a half decent job. A plaster or tiler would be ok but i've been looking all over the place for jobs and not found anything advertised for either of them.

 

My brother is doing a gas/plumbing course at the mo. Think its cost about 4k in total and lasts about 6 months mon-fri. Gets corgi registered at the end if you pass the exams etc.

 

Mate, if you go into plastering/tiling/floor laying then get some cards printed up and flyers and go it alone.

My mate did it, took a while to take of so did a bit of agency driving a few days a week, but after a few months it took of an he is busy now with a waiting time of around 1 month for a job.

He gets alot of work on the floor laying, tiles, ceramics, and karndean flooring (bit like high quality vynil tiles).

I suggest he tackles the pubs and has done a few now. With the no smoking law, pubs are cleaner, and landlords can put nicer floors down without the worry of ciggys ruining them.

Perhpas combine it with painting and decorating so you can do more work in pne place.

The plastering takes practice, and you'll need to be good at it.

 

i thought dentists had a licence to print money?
best way is to buy a set of tools and pretend to be a joiner. its all basic stuff anyone thats semi handy can do and considering some of the clowns that get away with it on sites these days it shouldnt be to difficult to pick it up. id say joinery gives you more work in the way of cash in hand homers as well.

 

Dentists do, so do dental lab owners, the technicians working in them seem to be on crap money though.

I don't like the idea of being self employed in a trade, (not straight away anyway).

Also thinking of maybe getting a HGV license, seem to be jobs knocking about for driving them. My old man does it and he wants me to do it also, he'd stump up the cash for me to take the test. Not sure if I fancy it though...

 

i work on traffic lights, thats a great trade

 

in 2 weeks you could just about learn to re-wire a house !