Not Having Much Luck

I am 37yrs old & i'm a truck driver. Not been happy in my current job for ages now & have been looking to change careers for something I would enjoy. I have done a lot of d.i.y jobs such as stripping out bathrooms & refitting. Floor & wall tiling. Garden deck building, patios & lawn laying. Lots of painting & decorating, put in a breakfast bar & I have fitted a few laminate & engineered floors. I have had no training of any sort but learnt everything online.
Out of all the jobs I have done I really enjoyed laying the floors & teaching myself all the little tricks like removing skirting boards & undercutting door frames etc.
I have contacted about 37 companies with letter & pictures of the flooring jobs I have done asking for training but with no luck. I'm too old for an apprenticeship & people keep telling me I'm too old & it's a young mans game. I know its hard work but I am not frightened by hard graft. I have walked into a few places also with no luck. Now I have told people I am willing to take a huge pay cut in order to learn this trade but still noone seems interested. I have even offered to work for free just to get some training but still no real luck. Yes I need money to live but I am willing to do what it takes to get my foot in the door so to speak. I am dead set on doing flooring & I'm not going to give up. I may be older but I'm passionate about flooring & have the drive to succeed.
If anybody here has any advice to offer I would be glad of it. I have some courses booked with floorskills which I'm funding myself but not sure what else to do. Any companies looking for an older trainee in the Bristol area lol

 

If I could be rude, how old are you ?

 

Lol you need to read the first line of the passage.

 

Oh yeah !!!!! Silly me

 

problem you have is why should someone train you up only for you to set up on your own and take work from them,if you are serious about it then you need to get proper training and qualifications(floorskills etc) then splash out hundreds no thousands on tools, insurance , vans etc.
then you need to get the work which aint easy, or go subbing to shops which is not easy.
if you have financial commitments ,young family, expensive wife etc think long and hard as it can take years to establish.

 

Yep it's took me 13 years of hard slog and hard times to get to where I am today after being made redundant at 30 but I love fitting flooring especially Lvt's. I was a wood machinist by trade originally then worked with my dad in engineering for a while. I've never looked back. If your keen to do the flooring go with it but you must realise it's hard work to get established and known. I've had the drive to get there and I don't subby to anyone it's all purely my own work now.

 

Why don't you pop into Natural born flooring on Gloucester Rd and have a chat with Ross and explain your situation. He's a nice chap and always looking for labour.

 

I have been into natural born flooring with no luck. I'm not expecting a company to train me up so I can just leave I would stay with them to get some good experiance. I have booked 2 flooring courses with floorskills for aug & sept doing the beginner laminate & the advanced wood & I intend to book more as & when I can afford it. I know its going to take a lot of hard work but the way I see it I have 2 choices.
1, stay driving trucks working very long hours for no reward or job satisfaction.
2, Try & do something to try & better myself & I know which one I'd rather do. It's not all about the money.

 

Good luck then i hope it works out for you. Stay on the forum and you will get loads of help and advice.

 

Thanks. I will keep trying & hoping something turns up

 

Thanks I appreciate that

 

anywhere you like but if you send it to me you may have to wait for payment as I've just given floorskills a chunk of my money towards training lol

 

My advice would be keep trying to get in with a company first. Maybe do a course on sheet vinyl as firms are always looking for safety floor fitters just to get your foot in the door with someone. Then when you're in you'll be doing all sorts, LVT, carpet tiles etc... And you'll be getting quick at it day in day out. Do courses to tone up what you've already learnt (and rectify the bad habits). You may even find the company will pay the course fees for you. Have you tried Collards Floors & Walls in Bristol?

I was in the same situation as you a few years back and I did it all the wrong way round, I did courses and just dived in on me own and believe me, it's a BIIIG learning curve.

Good luck!

Oh, and don't listen to people who say its a young mans game, Daz is a top floor fitter and he's nearly 60.

 

Haha!

 

You will need to get those courses done mate to show you are accredited , first off as you know your age seems to be a sticking point , it shouldn't be if you are as willing as you say .
Do you have your own van ? also get a cs card to allow you to go onto site work .
Telling company,s you have done lots of DIY work s most prob what they want to hear as you say you picked up loads of tricks online and self taught yourself, how do you know you have not pick up BAD habits without knowing so ,bit like learning to drive yourself then going for a test and failing <if you get where im coming from>
Once you have trianed through the flooring courses and have the certificates then maybe put your self on a rateatrade web page and start building a small profile , once you have this then go back to these company's as a semi/ experienced installer with good references.

Good luck keep at it if you really want it im sure you will get a break

 

Cheeky **** I'm 59