…………and have been out of work for a while, i've been doing a course that can get me gsce graded qualifications.

It's a computer based course with learn direct.

I left school with neither english or maths grades above a D.
Although i'm a qualified and experienced builder, i'm fed up with the industry.

All this week i've been studying a course that has many elements that are a litle alien to me, i'm studying english lit and through luck the tutor has forced me through level 1 which i passed easily, today i did the level 2 pre-test and got one question wrong, tomorrow is the proper test and i'm confident i'll be fine
This is all just to get a CSCS card so i can get work on sites, till i find something i WANT to do.

Now to alot of you educated people, this may not seem a big deal. I'am sure most of you did well at school and allowed you to progress to highly dull office jobs which you enjoy.

Would just like to say to anyone who's not had a job for a while, ask at your jobcentre about going on one of these courses, it's free and will boost your confidence, improve your knowledge and qualifications.
Whether or not it's get me a job i don't know, but at least when my kids come to me with a query, i'll be in a better position to help them.

Nice one fella!! Stick at it 😀

Cheers Davey.

As long as i'm out of work i'll be screwing the system for as many free courses i can…Maths next, EEK!

Nice one, good to see people making use of these things and seeing the benefits.

Hey fella your not screwing the system, you are taking whats rightfully yours. At least you aren't sitting on your arse watchin jeremy kyle!! well you might be but doing other stuff as well 😆

When I did my digger ticket there was on bloke who's course who's fees were being paid for by the government as he was unemployed.

BTW good luck for tomorrow.

I'll say get stuck into whatever courses your jobcentre is offering. From a few months working at at local jobcentre I found out that what is offered varies greatly between locations, and many of the courses have limited places (of which usually a third will be wasted by people not attending). Also, to any one in the same situation, bear in mind the staff in very busy jobcentres sometimes are not even made aware of what is available (as crazy as that sounds). I only found out about what we had on offer a after few weeks on the job when I saw a photocopy on another staff member's desks. She had been there for a while, and nobody had bothered telling the five new guys and girls anything about it…the second thing to remember is that in many jobcentres they are massively understaffed at the moment, so bear with them if they try and rush through everything and neglect the reason they are there. The staff know (well most of them) that what the are supposed to be doing is frequently not done, but believe me they have no choice.

Good work mate, in time you too could be a desk jockey 😉

Don't stress about the maths, as long as you've got a positive attitude you'll be fine. A good teacher will show you that it's a lot easier than it can appear.

Kuco, that's what the company i'm doing the course do.

It works like this:

The company get people qualified at a higher level to help them get jobs, for every person that does this the government pays them, this money goes towards paying for the course.

We still need to pay for the card, whether it's digger, telehandler, cscs, forklift, etc..

All good points there Drdoaslittleaspossible 😉 all information is available through the job centre website.

Rich not really stressing about the maths, i'd mainly do it to benefit my kids education.

I had a meeting in the JC last week and discussed going on a course to do with being a collier, they told me they will sometimes fund courses outside their normal ones.

So once i've discussed things with various people i may well be trying for that.

However only one of these courses to get site tickets can be taken this way.

Shane do NOT put yerself down please

Just start looking outside the construction industry

Any joy with the dairy??

You're not thick! You have many talents…..with photography being one of them 🙂

If i could put myself down i'd be a vet…

No news yet re the dairy. Once i get the cscs i should be fine for a bit.

Dibbs will be getting a mail re work at the point and getting a nuclear pass.

As i said, they seem to think there will be no workers for the small employers outside the point, once the development of the new reactor starts properly.

imo the H&S touch screen test is a farce.

All good points there Drdoaslittleaspossible all information is available through the job centre website.

No it's not, that's why I posted. If you go by the Jobcentreplus website or what the staff may or not may offer, you're doing yourself a disservice. You have to hassle and find out what's available, as in many cases the staff don't know or are trying to get through a fortnightly "interview" in three and a half minutes while a line of grumpy sods sit in a line in front of them pissed off after having to wait 40 mins, snarki 🙄

edited while sharki, not snarki was posting 😕

My mistake, it was the gov.net site i saw it linked from.

Kuco, the touch screen test is a farce when good pratice is ignored due to lack of common sense and laziness from site personal.

As long as some people are idiots there will be accidents in work.

The course and test at least say that people have been loosely educated in site safety and law, whether they apply any off it is beyond the HSE untill something happens

I haven't heard much about the new build, apart from the fact that they're going to be drilling test bores on the site and out to sea in the next month or so.

Nice one sharki.

Yo fellow builder dood!
done the english miself a bit back,still got the form for cscs card need to send it orf asap!! new sites and the like.
same as you mate did'nt do owt at school and left early 😉 wish i had done well at school now ahh well,never too late.
cant do maths!! 👿

Dibbs, the geologists have been sampling around the site for a few weeks now, next phase i believe is to send the Archeologists in the survey the land for stuff they like to find.
Given the areas history with the Vikings coming in round there, i'm sure some good finds will be seen, perhaps a few more plesiosaurs and the like.

I've also heard talk of them burrowing 7 miles into the Quantock hillside for the dumping of nuclear waste product…. of course, 7 miles from Hinkley would only really be on the lower eastern flanks and not on the main hill.

Level 2 completed today, score equivalent of a Grade A, so not a bad result.

Blower, good on you, well worth doing whilst out of work aren't they?

Hope you're well mate.

well done sharki! yeah they're worth it,may as well do it i reackon..
yeah im sound mate cheers.could do with some work though.

This is kind of my specialist subject (teaching builders), so if you've got any worries or questions i might be able to help.

In the meantime, get one of those other boys from down your way to bring you to the Purbecks on Sunday.

Cheers Rusty, i've no worries or questions about the building industry other than the lack of work available for alot of tradesmen…

I've got my kids all this weekend so will not be riding anyhere, soz.

The firms of the lads we have in tend to have loads of work on, or not a lot at all, a bit all or nothing. Is it grim down your way?

Likewise down here. I've not worked on development sites for 9yrs, as I've been doing small works and renovation work, etc.

Most the companies and contractors are taking back those they laid off at the beginning of the crunch.

Getting the CSCS card just makes more positions available to me, but ultimately i want out.

If you haven't done the H&S test yet, it's not too bad, just keep the practice book in the bog or something and read it a few times, or get the cd rom and waste a few hours on the practice questions. It's only stuff like fire extinguishers, electricity and plant type questions that most don't know, the rest is pretty much common sense.

What are you looking to get into instead?

Hey sharki – well done 🙂 Glad you're sounding upbeat and positive, hang in there!

Dr Dolittle – my local Job Centre were unable to guide me on training courses, in fact they seemed rather surprised I asked! The staff are doing a very difficult job but they do try and remain upbeat.

Thanks guys and young lady 😉

I'm looking into producing a non locally available product on a small scale at first. Hopefully if i get the backing and necessary support needed, it will progress and benefit the enviroment, local area and become an educational tool for local schools and colleges.

A little bit of English Heritage brought back to the area, it's not going to make loads of money, but will provide job satisfaction and keep me away from society for most my days.

Rusty Trowel and Sharki,you know of any site work for 2 brickies,preferbly pricework,willing to work away etc..?

I'll ask around here, however it's barely ticking over here, very stop start. They're only really building housing association properties and private sales aren't too quick. So not even enough for the need of locals gangs.

I may need an apprentice soon if you want a change in career. 😉

hehe could be intresetd!!
stop start here too,no industrial sites going up then?

There's a few new and big estates, they're only building them as and when they have a buyer.

No new industrial work going on, though hopefully if EDF get the go ahead for a third Nuclear reactor, there will be work for the next 10years for plenty.

I think there's a bit of work going on down here, but the rates could be a bit low. Most of the lads i know got dropped a couple of quid an hour to keep things ticking over. Most of the blokes i teach are improvers or apprentices, so i'm not really sure what it's like for experienced trowels.

Sounds like you have a plan Shane, very interesting. Job satisfaction is the most important thing really, so easy to put the work in if it's something you're passionate about. Good luck 🙂 I struggle to see how Salisbury is viable from an employment point of view, and imagine that the further west you go, the more difficult it becomes.