How do you go about choosing a career as a plumber? With a wide choice of careers available to the young, middle aged and even older generations how do you go about tailoring your path? At primary school dreams are of astronauts, vets, clowns and, in my grandson’s case, Ninjas!
For a very (some may say lucky) few, secondary school begins to narrow down the choices and hone the required skills. For the rest of the adolescent population though, heads are stuffed full of pop star, footballer and supermodel dreams.
So how do you transfer from gigs to gaskets, free kicks to faucets and catwalks to compression valves. Easy – apprenticeships!
Apprenticeships are ALL about being involved. Whether it’s the 16 – 18 year old, 19 – 24 year old or 24+ years course, a pass from both the Theory and Practical assessments will earn you a recognised qualification and the ‘hands on’ experience to help you gain employment or start up your own business. A sample of study subjects in Domestic and Commercial Plumbing:
- reading design plans
- removing old and installing new bathroom fitments in an occupied building
- diagnosing faults in hot and cold water pipes, central heating systems, waste disposal and sanitation systems
- mending leaks, unblocking drains, repairing toilets
- choosing the right kind of pipe or joint
- working with plastics and metals such as copper, aluminium, zinc and lead
- cutting, bending, welding and soldering piping
- weatherproofing and maintaining ronepipes and guttering and other metal parts of roofs
Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
Life as a plumber isn’t as mundane as you may think. With a vast range of skills needed to safely and professionally tackle the wide range of jobs that come under the ‘plumber’ role umbrella, the learning never ends. Alongside the general plumbing, like fixing blocked drains and leaky pipes, plumbers are called upon to install boilers, underfloor heating and the more trickier aspects of Commercial Pipework. As well as acquiring knowledge and training for these skill sets, Gas Safety Registration is a necessity and one that all heating firms will require.
Apprenticeships.org.uk tweeted that:
“Hiring apprentices helps businesses to grow their own talent by developing a motivated, skilled & qualified workforce.”
It seems that being a plumber can give you a well paid, flexible career and one that’s becoming more and more popular for both men and women.
Check out our Portfolio to see an example of the types of work we undertake here at Dorchester Heating.
