Becoming a brickie

>>1211852
Is the pay good? If not then go to college for something else.

>>1211854

Pay seems very decent yeah, but I'm just wondering if I can realistically walk into a job with only college qualifications and experience only labouring, but no apprenticeship.

>>1211852
>walk into a job with only college qualifications

College must mean trade school where you live.

In america, college usually means higher education, leading to a degree like Gender Studies or Aerospace Engineering. We also have community colleges where you can learn trades like Installing Windows.

>>1211863

Yeah Trade School is college in the UK. I've got no problems with getting the certs, just IDK if certs would be enough, how to get a start in Bricklaying/masonry without an apprenticeship.

Pre-Apprentice carpenter here.

Just do it brah, if you get the job you will get more experience. And experience means more jobs available and higher pay.

without getting all /pol/ and all, no EU = no PolesEtc = gonna be a massive shortage of skilled manual labor in the UK shortly. Do it for 10, get gud, open your own shop, retire after 25, hire teams of unemployed drivers, accountants and Equality Rights Advisers to come and lick the sweat from between your toes. But srsly, yeah, trades in UK is a much underestimated path to riches nowadays.

>>1212608

Yeah, Bricklaying definitely seems to be good pay. Seems I could try and just get in with nothing but qualifications and the necessary CSCS card. IDK if there's better trades out there, some really obscure trade nobody knows about like the technician that screws the bolts onto the flanges of underwater oil carbonfibrerpipes in the arctic but IDK at this point. Might try some bricklaying qualifications desu.

>>1212623

Might shag my body though not too keen on that, and brickwork alone might get a bit dull but then I guess I could look into ashlar walling and all this type of stuff.

>>1211852
Just an FYI. In certain parts of the country (read cities/suburbs) it would be high impossible to walk out of trade school and start working without a decent apprenticeship. Companies want to hire people that have had experience doing the work. And luckily for you guys I don't think you have a labor union setup as corrupted as ours.

If you're confident in your talent try to find a local bricklayer that's independent, say "hey I'm fresh out of school give me two weeks to prove my worth" and I think you'll be set.

Always let your work speak for itself anon. That's what I've always done as a mechanic, whether working for an independent shop or now at my own independent shop.

In short:
>you can dooooooo iiiiittttt!!!!

>>1212631
Meant to say this is america but I think you can infer that heh...

As stated, there's a serious shortage of skilled brickies as is, let alone once all the Brexit shit kicked off. Do the course, and if you're good just find a construction firm locally and say you've been doing off the books work.

As long as you can do the job well, don't think most construction firms care about where you've come from. Not like the Polish work force applies for construction jobs with a list of references and previous employers.

>>1213274

Yeah I'm starting to think you're right, I'm torn between Brickie and trying to get into some Rope Access work, not sure what would be better but I'm erring towards Brickie ( could combine both and become a steeplejack? ). But yeah, I've worked as a labourer but that's it, can say I'm doing off the books work indeed for sure. Thanks for the input.

>>1211856
It's just about somebody giving you a start, once you have your first job then you're set, assuming you're a decent sort of person and do your job well.

Don't get disheartened, you'll visit a lot of sites at first, but you'll find somewhere, brickies come and go, it's just falling on the right site at the right time.

>>1213827
And yeah, tell them you're happy to work self employed or on the books, whatever suits them.

>>1213827
>>1213830

Yeah cheers, I'm sure I'd be fine at bricklaying once I learn the skills, I'm reasonably intelligent and I'm not an alcoholic. As for the certification side of things, do any of you actually know the courses that I need to take to get this CSCS Blue card which from what I read is the only thing that actually counts you as a builder? I can't seem to work this out actually where to go or what courses to do to actually become qualified, from where I can start phoning up builders directly as well as applying for jobs. AFAIC once I get 1 years experience under my belt I'll be laughing to the bank, it's just the old thing of getting a job without experience and getting experience without a job.

final bump

>>1211856
usually paid by the brick so they don't mind taking you on because if you are shit they don't pay you.
practice lifting and bending over for extended periods. its really hard work.

I am from the states, so I'm not sure if our situation is the same as yours. There is a serious lack of skilled trades workers here. I would recommend getting into restoration work if you're not scared of heights. The same pay is better, the work is (generally) physically easier, and there is always work even during downturns in the economy.

>>1211863
What are you on about? Community colleges have all kinds of trade programs that aren't just installing Windows.

Come and work with me in London. As long as youre not an insufferable cunt/sperg/weirdo/faggot then you should be fine. Pays better than your average company also.

>>1214593

You a brickie? What's your trade.

bernard.bread for Skype if you're for real. And maybe and hopefully I am none of them.

>>1214493

Yeah I've actually worked as a labourer in restoration stonemasonry, interesting work, and also something I could get into, but I think a base of bricklaying would be good from where I could build up skills in more complicated and unusual masonry skills.

>>1214492

Already a labourer so yeah that's my job, the bricky job looks a lot more cushty :D

bumpu

>>1212623
>>1212625

I'm a trained locksmith as of last month. Bricklaying is good because all you really need is the training, and then you can work, but as you say it'll fuck your body up. Wrecked back and knees by the time you are thirty.

My advise? Do it, nothing to lose, and put some money aside. Work until you have 5k-10k put aside. Then, if you aren't enjoying it still, or it sucks, you have the money to retrain as something else and buy your stock and tools/pay for advertising. (Never skimp on advertising. Make it a third to half you overall expenses) Plumbing and plastering are both fucking good money, and a sweet spot between risk and bodily wear and tear.

The trades seem to be where the money is for the common man this era, as no one is taught to enter them in school. It's all training for corperate and service work, or tech. But automation won't make any of us redundant in our lifetimes.

Good luck anon. As someone only about six months ahead of you, it feels good to know a trade and have skills. It's worth it for the confidence booster alone.

You'll also develop a habit of instinctually rating brickwork you pass, and seeing buildings through the lense of your know how. I walk down a street and rate the security, automatically.

File: out.webm (2MB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

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This is likely to become relevant >>1203902

>>1215678

Yeah heard about bricklaying robots, not a great concern desu, I'd be interested in moving into restoration stonemasonry or something like that, so by the time those robots swing around I'd hope to have a second skillset to fall back on. As of now they're a few years away and the money's till good.

>>1215633

Are you British btw? And yeah, the body aspect is a concern but then again I enjoy doing physical labour and it keeps me fit and it's a lot more satisfying than sitting on my arse, lift with the back, bend with the knees, I know it all ;) cheers.

>>1215717

I am mate, yorkshire lad. I took a wall to the back when I was a teen, so had to choose a trade that doesn't need quite as much bending and lifting. Lockie was my choice, and I'm happy I did.

>>1216078

Aye fair enough, I might sound naive here, but I've done a fair bit of general labouring and scaffholding also and whilst I do enjoy the physical side of it, keeping me fit, feeling accomplished, that's a bit much but I reckon being an actual brickie would be more sedate than labouring and I could cope with it more long term. Probably a bit naive, being a joiner might be better but I did a bit of joinery and idk it felt more fiddly. Anyway how it goes well.