what salary should i ask for as an improver

[bryanbeech]

Hi i will be taking my c&g 2079(fgas) test on friday.

I already have a c&g tech cert level 2 and currently doing my level 3s part time.

Im 30 and have a lot of site experiance but not much hands on in the acr trade.

Anyway when i pass??? my fgas i will contacting companys in the Birmingham area looking for work and expected salary always crops up.

I dont class myself as an engineer but nor do i class myself as a 19 year old trainee.

Any advice? Thank you.

[marc5180]

How long is a piece of string?

How much would you accept?

Explain to the interviewer what you can and can't do and take it from there.

[bryanbeech]

well i passed my fgas test today,

i just wanted a average as i dont want to ask for to much and not get the job......

[marc5180]

Congratulations on passing your fgas.

without knowing your level of competance i would expect you to start anywhere between £7-£10 p/ph.

[tony--1]

you hav left it late to get into this trade . wat hav you been doing upto now ? fridge trade ? uther trade ? .

[olddog]

you hav left it late to get into this trade . wat hav you been doing upto now ? fridge trade ? uther trade ? .

??? where did that come from ???

Despite the EU ( and their refusal to understand thermodynamics) this industry isnt going to do anything but grow

[bryanbeech]

I dont feel i have feet it to late to get into this trade, i still have 35 years of my working life left.
Thank you for the advide marc, today im going to ring aroud all the acr companys in the midlands and see what feed back i get....

[bryanbeech]

well i have rang a lot of companys and to no joy, no one is taking on new staff at the mo.

any advice to bolster my chances????

[r0ss]

well i have rang a lot of companys and to no joy, no one is taking on new staff at the mo.

any advice to bolster my chances????

Have you tried popping into a Climate Centre / Dean and Woods / HRP store and see if theres any adverts on a noticeboard of something?

I know Potters Bar Climate Centre have a notice board with companies looking for new employees. At least you can narrow your search down a bit

[bryanbeech]

thanks for your advice ross, i will have a look around today.

[Teknicool]

May be worth trying Integral in Birmingham, they were looking for AC guys, dont know what level of skill they are looking for though.

Integral 0121 553 5511 ask to speak to one of the contract managers.

TC

[bryanbeech]

Thanks for that, I will give them all call first thing.

If no joy im thinking of starting out on my own, just offering service, deep clean and leak test to start with.

just got to save for tools and van first so it will not be untill after the christmas.

I have to do some reserch and find out what to charge and how to get my name out their.

Any advice on that aswell would be great

Thank you all.

Ps what a great site.

[Teknicool]

Getting your name out there is a case of cold calling and knocking a lot of doors.

It would be worth taking a look at Vista Print to get yourself some cheap but professional printing done. You can get free bisiness cards there and free flyers etc to get you going and to get your profile out.

It is also worth getting your self a web site very early on. Try both of these sites to get you going;
www.vistaprint.co.uk and www.bargainhost.co.uk they are both very good and not that expensive.

It is a painstaking process but if you are good at what you do and you can get out to see potential custromers regularly you can soon build a portfolio of customers.

A little advice, if you cannot do somthing, say that you can't from the offset, customers hate finding out later and it will cost you in the end. It is always better to say the you can't do somthing but will get a sub-contractor to do it, and keep your client happy than letting the client find someone who can, and risk him moving to that company later down the line.

Good luck with what ever you decide.

Regards

TC

[Magoo]

Have you thought about approaching a potential employer and offering to work as a trade assistant for no payment, so as potential employer can assess your potential and skills. Here you can get a Gov't subsidy to do just that. So you work your butt off and impress.
magoo

[bryanbeech]

I did try that, just offering myself out when i booked hols from my current job but i get no takers. mayby its an insurance thing. well any way im still now very keen to go down thhe self employed road if i can not find employment befor christmas. It took me 2 years of hard work and money i could not really afford get my qualifications, so i aint going to throw in the towle now.... I keep you all posted on my progress........