Adrift and looking to train in a niche skill

[bigmowley]

Stone mason. Big money, outside work, need to be fit, very satisfying.

[rog007]

Paramedic?

Join the Reserves?

Security operative?

Stewarding?

Uber driver?

And I'd get a job in the meantime (even volunteering using your skills) as a gap on a CV for no good reason can be looked upon dimly by prospective employers.

Good luck!

[merlin75]

ndt, loads of need, travel and if contract can pick and choose where/when/etc, any q's ask away

[DuraAce]

merlin75 said:

ndt, loads of need, travel and if contract can pick and choose where/when/etc, any q's ask away

Tell us more.... Don't fancy contracting, think I'd prefer security of a full time job. Are you hiring?!

[elanfan]

Forestry? Take a good chainsaw and climbing course. Hard work but sideways move later on?

[Willeh85]

merlin75 said:

ndt, loads of need, travel and if contract can pick and choose where/when/etc, any q's ask away

as in non-drestructive testing? If so I would be interested

[merlin75]

yes non destructive testing, world is your oyster really, lots of training schools, cheap ish to get your certs, plenty of places are after fulltime staff, lots of high end engineering, motorsport, americas cup stuff, middle east.
contact a training school (lavenders are good), get a few certs in basic ndt (dpi, mpi and ut) then build from there

[Legend83]

merlin75 said:

yes non destructive testing, world is your oyster really, lots of training schools, cheap ish to get your certs, plenty of places are after fulltime staff, lots of high end engineering, motorsport, americas cup stuff, middle east.
contact a training school (lavenders are good), get a few certs in basic ndt (dpi, mpi and ut) then build from there

What's "cheapish" to get your certificates?

And what is an average salary / rate? What could you realistically achieve at the higher end? Just thinking about the wage-trap of a career change.

[CX53]

I've thought about doing some NDT training. I work in composites and the NDT guys especially in Aerospace earn a really decent packet. Is it as simple as just doing a course though?

[merlin75]

if you are prepared to head to middle east £100k is easy, motorsport in uk is around 40 - 60k, normal hours in uk 25 - 40k, each cert should average out about £1500 inc staying over (they are normally a couple of weeks each), composites is good but tricky to get into, i done some stuff on the americas cup boats which was pretty cool

[DuraAce]

100k? I'll take it!
Most of the UK jobs I seem to come across are in the sub 30/35k range. Not enough for me.
Quite possibly I'm looking in the wrong places! Any pointers? (I've got a few L2 certs)

Edited by DuraAce on Tuesday 5th September 12:26

[merlin75]

what level 2? pcn or asnt ?? in what
look at all the motorsport teams, aviation or try one of the big employers

[merlin75]

just been sent an alert, mclaren want a composite inspector, if you have a ut cert or phased array its a easy conversion

[DuraAce]

Pcn. I have UT but not phased array.
Mc would be an awesome place to work I imagine, just wrong end of country.
Something in the ME on a decent rotation would be my ideal.
Seen a few jobs in the north for 25-35k but thats not enough for me change jobs.
Cheers for the ideas though, all food for thought...

[FocusRS3]

merlin75 said:

just been sent an alert, mclaren want a composite inspector, if you have a ut cert or phased array its a easy conversion

Hi Merlin,
I've no experience in engineering only city finance jobs but I'm keen to learn a new skill and do something entirely different . How long would it take to get the take any qualifications to be a NDT engineer and likey costs of exams?

I'll send you a PM too if it's easier to chat that way .

Many Tks

[merlin75]

each exam and training will take 2/3 weeks then you will need to log x amount of on the job hours to fulfill the qualification.
if you contact a training school they will be able to send you course info (lavenders if northish, swsndt if southish).
depending on what you fancy doing longterm will dictate what methods you hold.
go for pcn as you can take that anywhere, where as asnt is company based, so technically if you leave your qual wont go with you.
it all sounds complex but its really not.
try a test house to see if they will take you on, they will pay for your training and after x hours training will send you on your courses.
any questions you might have? ask away.

[Yipper]

The general rule of thumb is that it takes 10 years to retrain to a good standard in a good role with good pay. At 44, time is not on your side.

Yer best bet is to go work in the public sector. Requirements and workload are easier and they will give you time to reskill while getting reasonable pay and training. Try the NHS, because people always need healthcare workers and it is a guaranteed job for life (until the robots take over).

[Hoofy]

Children's party entertainer - might be the easiest money you've ever earned or the hardest, depending on your personality and whether you like children or not.

I see some companies in the South East charging between £150 and £300 an hour depending on the service and size of the party. Do a party in the morning and afternoon on the weekend and you could earn over £1k for 4 hours' work.

[clockworks]

Watch repairs is pretty niche these days. There don't seem to be many left in the trade.

I've dabbled in watches, but stick to clocks - mainly because I struggle to see what I'm doing with watches, and I'm busy enough doing clocks.