A waste of time and annoyed!

[phil d]

I',ve been feeling pretty good until last week,now I'm on a growly one again! I wanted to start looking for a job,but unfortunately most of them want self employed,aint going there,haven't got 17th edition and can't afford it either so that's another fly in the ointment.I decide to look for a bit of voluntary work,offer my services at the local college,no interest,I then think about doing charity work but no,I can take old ladies shopping,I can help out in a shop and there are quite a few things that don't interest me,can I do ANYTHING technical? NO! there's always some legal reason why they won't let you do anything,yet the stuff some of their employed people do is ridiculous.I don't have the temperament at the moment to face some spotty teenager at the joke shop (job centre) who'll try and persuade me to work at Tesco stacking shelves,I can't survive on the poxy amount I get DLA and nobody wants to help or advise me.I think at this point I'll chuck all my gear in the canal and become a junkie,they seem to do alright,and my counselor tells me to practice positive thinking! bah humbug.

 

[binky]

there's alway a market in 'little old lady' jobs if you advertise in the local rags.

 

[Sharpend]

I have to agree with binky here, run a small advert in your local parish mag or the like. You'd be surprised how many odd electrical jobs can be reached from there. Also the little jobs can earn more than being stuck on a job all day job! So keep positive, have you tried a business card on the board approach at local community halls, churches etc? 

 

[Manator]

I have often heard that people who advertise as odd job men get more work than if you advertised as an electrician.

 

[steptoe]

have you ever thought about building arcade cabinets?  

btw, I got mine slotted, a mate lent me a bit, it was a bit big, 4mm as opposed to the 2.5mm recommended, still, nothing some pva wont sort,

just need some T-moulding now, everywhere seems out of stock of the colour I want,,,,,     :_|

 

[NozSpark]

I have often heard that people who advertise as odd job men get more work than if you advertised as an electrician.

My dad did odd jobbing for a few years before he retired.... he was always booked up for 3 months or more at a time and people would wait.... it was mostly decorating though IIRC

 

[Sharpend]

My dad did odd jobbing for a few years before he retired.... he was always booked up for 3 months or more at a time and people would wait.... it was mostly decorating though IIRC

That makes him a decorator, an odd job I agree!  

 

[Evans Electric]

Sorry to hear of your dilema  Phil D .

 Picking up on the good advice above  , what would I do , I'm a Sparky ,  thats what I do , thats what I am , thats what puts bread on the table .

My advice is :  

Do some cheap local advertising   (NOT  Coloured Pages  )  .

Look on a site called Streetlife  which will be local to you .  People looking for plumbers , sparks  gardeners etc .

No one cares about the 17th  as long as you're competent.

Thousands working who are NOT registered with a Part Pee'er ...just do it , you have to earn a living .

Become self employed and offer your sevices as a subby to local small contractors  , you don't need the 17th edition C&Gs  to sub. Its all Buzzcocks.  Start saving for it though as you need it to join a Part Pee Provider .

Your ultimate goal is to have your own customer base and be your own boss,   sod making fortunes for other people  .

You'll feel far better about yourself when you are back on the old Crown Jewels. 

 

[leesparkykent]

I think you've got some good advice above Phil. I would create your own website, nothing flashy and shouldn't cost you very much at all. List your details on all the free websites like free index, google, 192.com and so on. Get some leaflets knocked up and post them around new housing estates that have recently gone up these people always want lights putting up, outside lights changing, extra sockets in garages, shed supply's and so on. Once you've saved a bit of wonga up then you could get yourself registered on the likes of checkatrade. I know checkatrade gets lots of bad press from some tradesmen but I have a pall who's been on there for around 7 months and has had around 16K worth of work out of it...not bad for a £600 investment Imo.

 

[Evans Electric]

I think you've got some good advice above Phil. I would create your own website, nothing flashy and shouldn't cost you very much at all. List your details on all the free websites like free index, google, 192.com and so on. Get some leaflets knocked up and post them around new housing estates that have recently gone up these people always want lights putting up, outside lights changing, extra sockets in garages, shed supply's and so on. Once you've saved a bit of wonga up then you could get yourself registered on the likes of checkatrade. I know checkatrade gets lots of bad press from some tradesmen but I have a pall who's been on there for around 7 months and has had around 16K worth of work out of it...not bad for a £600 investment Imo.

I would normally poo-poo Checkatrade & the other thing ....with the scales logo ..same thing ..  TBH  but that is impressive  .

I'd have said save up for 17th  edition (£400) , join a scam ( Another £400)   (( Great isn't it ?) )    builders will find you useful then as you can sign off your own work for Building Control. 

 

[phil d]

I definately don't want to go down the SE route,spent this morning looking on jobsites and my how things have changed,they all seem to want SE,cscs cards,2395,17th edition etc and some of them aren't paying great money either,a lot of the cards in companies are paying lettuced money anyway,there were a lot offering 14 or 15 quid an hour!So it looks like I'm not going to go back into it,time to find something else,oh well such is life.

 

[binky]

it's easier to 'employ' subbies these days, so you might well end up SE anyway. If you decide to give it a go, you have a grace period of a couple of months before you need to register as a business

 

[Evans Electric]

Phil D   The JIB rate is £15.61  .   I don't think you'll be getting much more wherever you go  TBH .  

Just wondering why you so against going SE   .  If you prefer not to say thats fine .

 

[steptoe]

employed or agency round here £15 is more than the average I'd say,

 

[Sharpend]

Phil do you know the 17th? If so then why not go it alone, do you really need to sub? Could you not make a suitable wage from the smaller jobs? I can't imagine many customers asking you to prove you have the 17th. :C  

To be honest I think if you spoke to a firm direct they'd probably employ you as a sub without the 17th, you come across as though you know your salt. There's no harm in trying you've nothing to lose, the worst they can say is no and you'll be no worse off. 

 

[Essex1]

Companies that just employ SE guys are breaking the law and ethics. 

 

[DiddyFA]

Plenty companies employ subbies on top of a small core workforce. It has been that way for many years. Personally I would have thought if you get a chance to work cards in with a JIB member firm who pay all rates and benefits then you would gain much more being on the cards - it used to be that the subbie got a much higher rate in return for job insecurity no holiday pay ect ect. Seems some firms still taking advantage of the recession and they are basically not paying the rate. But rest assured you would be much better off if you are working a 50 hour week (Pretty standard in the subby world) then you would be much better of on full JIB terms and conditions on the cards.

 

[Sharpend]

Companies that just employ SE guys are breaking the law and ethics. 

Explain? 

 

[Essex1]

Explain? 

I worked for thee companies over 7 years. Never received a single days paid holiday from any of them. No security. 

HMRC state that if you work as a SE person but do not buy materials and are not responsible for putting any snags correct at your own cost then you must be PAYE. There is much more to it but this is the jist. 

The full set of questions are here - http://tools.hmrc.gov.uk/esi/screen/ESI/en-GB/summary?user=guest

Just need to scroll to the bottom and click accept. It is completely anonymous. 

 

[Sharpend]

Well I'm yet to see a solicitor, doctor, dentist put anything right at their own expense! Come to think of it perhaps we should start with politicians- now do you see how corrupt this way of the world is?