To think about quitting my WFH job to re-train as a plasterer?

[confusedlady10]

Would I be stupid or unreasonable to consider quitting my job and re-train in a new field as a plasterer? I am a 29 year old single mum WFH in a dead end call centre job. It’s quite niche as it involves investigating specialist fraud cases but is still mainly a customer service job. The pay isn’t that great (£2k pm after tax living in London) and I’m fortunate to be able to live in cheap accommodation through family, but it’s not sustainable.

I’ve had applied for hundreds of jobs to try in earn more money and elevate, even paid someone to re-write my CV and do an extra qualification in my field within finance. But I don’t have a degree and regardless, I’m struggling to stand out. Hundreds of applicants, countless ghosting's and unfortunatelys after an odd interview. Finance, admin and banking sectors seem to be too saturated whether remote, hybrid or office.

So I was thinking to quit my job, apply for universal credit of some sort (started doing research on what they can support me with) and then hopefully retrain as a plasterer in a course to try and better myself as I heard that there’s good money if you are a skilled labour and could hopefully work for myself or another company. I would hopefully be able to work it around my son and less competition for the jobs I am not getting. Am I wasting my time and dreaming? (I have no experience in this and trying anything to earn more at the moment, whilst still applying for jobs like crazy, pls be nice!) 😣

🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱

The OP asked for thoughts and people have given their thoughts. It IS a physical job and the OP has admitted they're not the fittest.

@crackofdoom

Also, the college is a local one and does loads of free courses in hospitality, prepping for nursing etc.,
North East

Really? With AI coming are all the medical secretaries safe?
Also, secretarial work is notoriously awful for growth opportunities.

The best plumber I have ever used was female.

She was TINY (maybe about 5'2"?), which she jokingly said was her USP, as she could get into very small crawl spaces and her hands were smaller than most men's, so she found it easier to get behind U bends and narrow pipework.

Personally, if I had gone into the trades, I would have liked to have been a tiler.

This has been a really useful thread OP. I'm not in a position to retrain but I really wish doing a trade or practical job was something that had been pushed when I was younger. Like you I'm not terribly academic!
I hate decorating so could never do this but being a mechanic or doing tiling really appeals to me personally.
This page on the c&g site lists all the different options, maybe look through and see what takes your fancy/is involved in different options?
City & Guilds courses

This has been a really useful thread OP. I'm not in a position to retrain but I really wish doing a trade or practical job was something that had been pushed when I was younger. Like you I'm not terribly academic!
I hate decorating so could never do this but being a mechanic or doing tiling really appeals to me personally.
This page on the c&g site lists all the different options, maybe look through and see what takes your fancy/is involved in different options?
City & Guilds courses

If you do, I've been desperate to find a plasterer, can't get one for love nor money, PM me when you're trained

Being physically strong is really an advantage if you want to be a plumber.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1490645768909345

OP: a female family member quit their job to retrain as a plumber. We live in a very religious area with lots of SAHMs who are uncomfortable with men in the house. My family member makes a killing; tbh.

agree with other pp’s about the physical aspect of plastering. I’d go for a sparky or plumber (re training) tbh

Tube or train driver?

I think I will just take the plunge (perhaps pun intended😅) Looking at courses now. Thank you.

I rent for decent money from family (fortunate I know) so not too bad. I might look into a plumbing or trade apprentice course. Thank you.

That's due to someone above them and is irrelevant to my point. It's about how easy it is to just walk into an HEO or SEO job above the heads of all the ones in the lower grades.

I am in the pipeline for JSA so I can discuss these things with my work coach.

Lol. I’ve worked in CS since my 20s, in child support, job centre and now project management and it’s always been busy with major stress periods as well throug some of those jobs. Not simple at all. I can only think that PP is just a natural born slacker, some of whom once they reach their desired grade just do the bare minimum - all employers have them I guess.

I've applied for a plumbing course but have missed the deadline for this year, naturally. Will wait for their response and applied for next Sep. I might look into an apprentice (applied for one finance one already) and the painting and decorating course in the mean time. I appreciate all of the responses so far. Thank you all.

My brother is a plasterer and has his own business so he can fit it around being a single dad with two kids. He is really strong and physically fit, although he is not especially tall! He does not just plaster though - he fits kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, does tiling and painting and brickwork. If he did not do all that he would not make money, but he does have a long waiting list now! It takes time to build up clients and a reputation. As an aside, I did a short plastering course many years ago and it is really hard and mucky, so I would advise finding something similar in your area to see if you like it xx I loved it, as plaster is fabulous stuff, but I prefer my role as an accountant!! Remember you will need to have sufficient finance to be able to buy equipment and a van if you want to work for yourself. It will not be easy but it is doable.

You don’t need a huge amount of maths for either sparks or plumbing, but you need to be able to remember a lot of numbers- this size pipe for this amount of flow, or this size fuse for this much current, this size wire for this much current over this much distance, etc etc.

plastering is heavily skill dependent. Anyone can plaster, and almost anyone can plaster well, if they have the time and know the tricks. However to make money you have to be able to plaster well, fast. There’s a reason they all start as apprentices- they’re learning those tricks and tips, and getting the practice in under the eye of an experienced hand who is correcting their mistakes and instructing them.

Im not saying don’t do it, im saying go in with your eyes wide open. If you’re technically minded, then sparks or plumbing would be a better bet. If you’re not then plastering is a good shout, but you have to be able to work hard. Your best bet would be to find an apprenticeship that will accept you, and be prepared that you’re not an ordinary apprentice. 16 year old lads who are able to take the punishment of long days of physically demanding labour are worth it because a skilled plasterer needs someone to clean up after doing 7 hours of hard work.

The builders boy who was on site during our last lot of works was pushed, hard. Any time I came home and saw a mess in a corner that needed dealing with, the builder cracked on with his work and the cry of “Brad! Sort out that mess!” Was shouted until he came running from whatever task he’d interrupted. A lot of what builders (and trades in general) get paid for is moving a lot of stuff around.

Are you physically strong enough to manipulate 20kg bags of plaster, pour it into a bucket in a controlled manner, then use the heavy beater to knock up the mix? This would be your tasks to start.

Painting and decorating sounds like a better option than plastering considering you're not really fit and strong. I hope you find something that suits you - I retrained as an aircraft mechanic a couple of years ago and it was the best decision I ever made (even though I'm not working as one now as got laid off, and I've pivoted into composite work instead, but that's interesting too, and lots of women in my workplace)

Plasterer is lowest paid from trades people so maybe consider something else I would suggest.

This 👆.

I think getting into a trade is a great idea and as a female you should be very in demand, but I don't think plastering should be it. I'm married to a third generation plasterer. He has to turn sideways to fit his shoulders through a double door. It's all very well those saying a hawk and trowel don't weight much, and that you can carry your bags of plaster one by one - how well do you think that works when you've got 50 bags to lug into a third floor apartment with no lift? How do you think a couple of tonnes of sand and cement get pushed up a wall? You may only handle a small amount at a time but you'll be doing it for a LONG time. The same amount of weight still has to be handled. You could probably learn the skill and to a certain degree you could improve your physical fitness but not enough to make the good money. Earning well at plastering means you need to be able to get it done quickly. If my husband is charging a certain amount for a set number of square metres and gets it done in two days, whereas it would take you four days to do the same, you won't be earning any decent money. You'll also find clients thoroughly unreasonable and they want it done quick. If you charge per day instead of per job they'll want it done even quicker and there's no way they'll hire someone who takes more time.

You can also expect pain. There's not a decent plasterer in the world who hasn't screwed up his back. My husband has paws for hands and you could use them to grate cheese. It's impossible to get fully clean - my husband shaves his head so I can't imagine how bad it would be if you actually wanted to have hair. I end up looking like an extra from the Thriller video just from helping him out for a day.

I'm sure there will be people who rubbish all this and say you could still do it. I agree, you could learn to plaster a wall perfectly. Could you do a good enough job within a quick enough time frame to earn good money while not fucking yourself up physically? No.

Good for you, I've never met a poor plumber. Well, one, but he was very lazy. Just don't sign up to any course that is described as fulltime, as that will make you ineligible for UC.

Agree prison officer is a good shout - they are getting increasingly desperate for trainee officers. But no wfh jobs there!

Sounds like a great idea my cousin makes a fortune from this

OP, plastering is INCREDIBLY hard work. You need to be strong and fit.

Suggest tiling or decorating could be slightly easier trades to learn!