Ian

Ian worked as a chef but desperately wanted to get away from hot steaming kitchens with the constant repetition of doing the same old things that this involved. He had just completed his plumbing course with New Career Skills and was keen to get a job working at his new chosen career. After all, this was why he had chosen to do the New Career Skills Plumbing course in the first place, to get away from cooking!

Ian, who lives in Brighton with his wife and family, had been a chef for the last 20 years. Now he wanted a new life, with constant new challenges, and the chance to prove that he could be a really good plumber. He had completed the course and done his portfolio, now all he needed was to find the right job.

Ian dreamed of eventually having his own plumbing business in New Zealand, but his first step now was to get a job. He needed help and New Career Search could supply that help.

New Career Search are a company dedicated to helping the students of New Career Skills to achieve their ambitions at the end of the course, whether it is to get a job or set up a business themselves. As a New Career Skills student these services were now freely available to Ian.

He had been told about New Career Search when he had come in to the training centre for his Practical Training, so he made an appointment to see one of the advisors at New Career Search for a chat.

New Career Search offers a whole range of services and advice. They can help students to write a good CV, suggest worthwhile Internet sites to look at, give them the names of any companies who might be looking for staff, advise on the best ways to look for a job, help them negotiate the minefield of setting up their own business, and generally support them as much as possible to get them where they want to be.

Ian had his CV checked and revised by New Career Search and was given all the advice he might need to help with his job search. At New Career Search the importance of networking is heavily stressed, in other words, they advise you that you should be talking to anyone and everyone and telling them what you do for a living. This has proved time and again to be one of the best ways to get work. New Career Search also explain that looking for a job means you must market yourself as a ‘product’ or ‘service’ – Ian took this advice to heart and created his own flyer, which included pictures of plumbing work he had done.

Armed with all this good advice, his CV, and his flyer, Ian set out on his job quest.

It so happened that around this time he had some problems with the external water supply to his property. The local Water Authority came to repair it, but this repair then resulted in additional problems with the internal water supply. Southern Water then sent one of their contracted plumbers to fix the resulting internal problem.

And this is where Ian put the advice he had been given by New Career Search to good use. He got chatting to the working plumber, whose name was Peter and who owned a plumbing company called ‘In The Pipeline’. He told Peter all about his plans to be a plumber, and gave him a copy of his flyer.

Sometimes the seeds we plant take a little time to surface. This was the case with Ian’s networking exercise. It was some weeks later that he got a call from Peter. “Would you like a job?” was the question, and of course Ian said “Yes”!

A few months later and Ian is now an established member of Peter’s plumbing team. He loves the work he is doing.

“I am getting so much experience – yesterday I was up on the roof terrace working on a large block of flats. From there I had a magnificent view of the Marine Parade. It certainly beats cooking in a kitchen!”

He has had jobs as varied as working on replacing a cast iron stack pipe in an old Victorian house, doing contract work for Southern Water through his job with In The Pipeline, and replacing an old shower pump that had a horrendous pipe system.

“I love the variety” says Ian – “Every day is different. I feel like I am learning something new all the time!”

Ian is now very glad he did the Domestic Plumbing course. It has stood him in good stead and allowed him to leave steaming hot kitchens far behind him. He has opportunities to work in some really interesting houses where he gets some good ideas about interior decorating.

For the future Ian plans to do his Part P and get Corgi registration as well. He wants to learn all he can, maybe do courses in tiling and plastering, and later to have his own property development company. His dream of setting up that plumbing business in New Zealand is looking more possible by the day!

 

 

 

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