Case Study: Master Plumber (Level 2 & 3)
Name: Lee O’Connor
Where from? Rotherham
Previous occupation: After coming out of the Armed Forces, Lee originally used his resettlement allowance to train as an HGV driver. This didn’t work out in the way that he expected and so he privately funded his own Plumbing course and short course options.
What course?
- City & Guilds 6129 Plumbing Technical Certificate
- NVQ Level 2 (C&G 6089)
- BPEC (Level 3) Water Regulations
- BPEC (Level 3) Energy Efficiency – Part L (short course)
- CORGI Site Safety Card (short course)
- Aqualisa Showers (Free manufacturer course)
To do: BPEC (Level 3) Solar Domestic Hot Water Heating Systems.
Did you find it easy to find work after qualifying? I completed my course in May 2006 and was initially going to set up my own business, but I decided to gain some experience first and so I started to look for an employer to work with. During my job search I sent 30-50 letters and CV’s company’s in the area and registered with industry and job websites.
At first it looked as though I was going to be successful straight away, but the company eventually turned me down due to my lack of experience.
MET-UK helped me with my CV writing and helped with my approach to companies, but after my initial search, I went back through my list and used general pestering and phoning the companies that I’d written to.
Eventually Glynne Ensol of E & F Plumbing Contractors Ltd based in Rawmarsh, Rotherham made the decision to take Lee on.
Glynne says “I initially decided to take Lee on as I had a large workload and was looking for good plumbers. Lee didn’t have as much experience as I would usually look for, but he presented himself well and had a lot of qualifications.”
“Lee is very far advanced for the length of time that he’s been qualified for, which obviously reflects upon the standard of training that he’d received. I would never have expected him to be so good, he’s looking after lads that have been plumbing for longer than he has because of his ability.
Trainees must understand that this it can be difficult to get into the industry, and that it’s not realistic to expect to be able to walk into a £30 - £40k job straight away. The good money comes with experience. You must remember that the Employers that you approach will probably be very busy, and may initially miss your CV on their desk, the best way to convince them to give you an opportunity is to persevere and pester them into seeing you! The only reason that I wouldn’t see someone one would be if I had no work on.”
Are you happy with your decision to retrain? Definitely. I’m glad that Glynne’s given me the opportunity to work with him. I’m getting a real kick from the work. I get to design plumbing systems from a set of drawing, most recently I’ve been working on an 18th century grade 2 listed building and have designed a system getting 2 combi boilers working together to run 36 radiators. So far I’ve had no leaks and I had to make lots of considerations for the conservation of the building, it’s given me a real sense of achievement.
What advice would you give to someone undertaking a job search? To write to as many companies as possible and register with all the job and industry websites to make people aware that you’re out there. Once you’ve done this, pester! Don’t get down hearted, companies will come back to you eventually!
Glynne adds “I agree, I wouldn’t have been aware of Lee if he hadn’t have pestered me to see him!”
Is there anything that you would like to say to anyone thinking of training as a Plumber or Gas Engineer? I would say go for it! It’s not an easy ride, in fact it’s taken a lot of hard work and perseverance, but the rewards have been great. I’m now working as a Charge Hand and have been leading a team of lads. I get a real buzz from designing systems from set of drawings and ensuring that it all works properly; so far I’ve had no complaints!
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