Excellent idea if my college did the night course but they don’t 😥

read this thread a few days ago with interest….

i’m a chippy… i started out with the idea of going to college and was already signed up before i got in with a firm. i went along for a few weeks before jacking it in and going full time.

my reasons were that i needed/wanted more money and that so many of the old hands had told me that you learn (earn?) more and more quickly on the job than by spending two days a week at college learning the theory.

the company (new builds and restorations) i started with gave me a good leg up, as it were, and through them i met lots of other guys, mostly self-employed and spent a few years working with various guys doing different jobs. everything from shuttering, framing, roofing, joisting, flooring, fitting stair cases, studding out, hanging doors, fixing skirting, fitting kitchens, banisters, decking, putting up fences… pretty much all aspects of carpentry as far as building a house is concerned.

now i’m seen to have fallen into event type stuff, the occasional bit of film work, still fitting the odd kitchen or floor and lots of high end trade fair/exhibition stuff.

don’t really know what i’m trying to say other than i don’t have a single piece of paper to my name that says i’m qualified to do any of those things….

hasn’t been a problem yet and i’ve been plodding along for the last 12 years like it. my only worry is that the GF is looking at a job in the States and if i want to go with her i might come unstuck…

I’ve got old boys at college doing the nvq as they are been rejected on certain jobs for not having the paper.

The wife and I are considering Canada/NZ in the future, the NVQ will add a significant amount of points in any application.

i think that was my point… you can get away without having the paper work, but if you need it and you don’t have it you’Re buggered.

suppose i may have to marry her if i want to tag along.

suppose i may have to marry her if i want to tag along.

Marriage and Tagging along, that sounds like a risk!

“The door is certainly not closed for you here”
– A unattainable opportunity that has helped clarify for me that I’ve got the skills to do what needs to be done.

Here’s to moving forward.