Hello everybody, I too am new to this site.
I left The Royal Artillery in Feb 2000 after 15 years service and moved to London.
I didnt have much in the way of civvi skills apart from driver so i became a motorcycle courier. The pay wasn't great but it kept me alive and paid the bills.
The company i worked for went bust so I had to find employment elsewhere. since then i ahve worked for many companies as a driver or motorcycle courier but it seems every company i go into either goes bust or wants to make cuts.
By the time of 2008 , I decided I wanted to learn a trade that I could use anywhere so I went to college for three and a half years consecutively to do plumbing level 1,2 & 3, The half a year was to do my N.V.Q. Level 2.
During this time at college , I have had only around three months work experience as a plumber's mate. Its near impossible trying to get into the plumbing trade, even with the qualifications I have now got, I am still finding it very difficult to get a job. Its a catch 22 situation; You need to have experience to get a job but you cant get experience until you get a job.
I am doing small jobs here and there for friends and family but that's about it. I have joined so many agencies too, it seems that here on civvi street, agencies are your best friend until you register with them. I know its a job for them and they get bonuses for the amount of people they recruit but it annoys me that you go to all that trouble of registering with them and then they just forget about you.
Anyway to continue with my plumbing career, I need to start as a plumbers mate , where I can build my confidence onsite and then to work on my own at some point.
Does anybody out there know how I can get into the trade or of any companies in London that are recruiting?
All the best everyone.
Tony-T-