Any construction plant operators out there?
Discussion
With a partner and her two kids to support, money has been getting tighter and tighter recently, and it's come to the stage I'm considering a change in career to bring a bit more in.
A bit of background, I'm 26 years old, fit, hard working and intelligent, if I can say that without sounding a bit of a prat. I had to leave school at 16 due to family financial constraints, so only have a few GCSEs to my name. Attempted to turn my love of cars into a career by doing a mechanical apprenticeship but after two years in the trade and gaining an NVQ 2 I decided it wasn't for me, and have bounced around various jobs ever since.
Have ended up as a fairly senior member of a small maintenance team for a family run business with a large outdoor premises, undertaking pretty much all aspects of maintenance work including mechanical maintenance on vehicles and machinery, building work, groundworks, landscaping, fencing, plumbing, forestry and gardening and simple electrics. The work is pretty varied and is a big part of why I've been here getting on for five years now, however in terms of career progression being a small company I've definitely hit the ceiling in terms of any further development here. The pay isn't terrible for what is essentially a semi skilled position, at £8.20 an hour in North Wales, but it still doesn't seem to go very far these days.
We've had lots of groundwork being carried out recently and I've been talking to some of the plant operators about their jobs. Lads that are younger than me who don't seem to be under anywhere near as much pressure as I am claim that £100 a day is not uncommon once you're experienced, and there's far more options once you've got a few tickets under your belt to earn more, either as a contractor, owner operator or just opting for unsociable hours.
Operating plant has always held an attraction for me, who wouldn't want to drive diggers and dumpers for a living? I'm just not sure if it's the best choice, how much work is involved or how much initial capital I'd need to get the ball rolling.
I'd had a vague plan of doing my forward tipping dumper course, getting the CPCS card and then approaching local companies with the aim of getting the odd day's work here and there. Any other insights or comments from guys in the industry?
A bit of background, I'm 26 years old, fit, hard working and intelligent, if I can say that without sounding a bit of a prat. I had to leave school at 16 due to family financial constraints, so only have a few GCSEs to my name. Attempted to turn my love of cars into a career by doing a mechanical apprenticeship but after two years in the trade and gaining an NVQ 2 I decided it wasn't for me, and have bounced around various jobs ever since.
Have ended up as a fairly senior member of a small maintenance team for a family run business with a large outdoor premises, undertaking pretty much all aspects of maintenance work including mechanical maintenance on vehicles and machinery, building work, groundworks, landscaping, fencing, plumbing, forestry and gardening and simple electrics. The work is pretty varied and is a big part of why I've been here getting on for five years now, however in terms of career progression being a small company I've definitely hit the ceiling in terms of any further development here. The pay isn't terrible for what is essentially a semi skilled position, at £8.20 an hour in North Wales, but it still doesn't seem to go very far these days.
We've had lots of groundwork being carried out recently and I've been talking to some of the plant operators about their jobs. Lads that are younger than me who don't seem to be under anywhere near as much pressure as I am claim that £100 a day is not uncommon once you're experienced, and there's far more options once you've got a few tickets under your belt to earn more, either as a contractor, owner operator or just opting for unsociable hours.
Operating plant has always held an attraction for me, who wouldn't want to drive diggers and dumpers for a living? I'm just not sure if it's the best choice, how much work is involved or how much initial capital I'd need to get the ball rolling.
I'd had a vague plan of doing my forward tipping dumper course, getting the CPCS card and then approaching local companies with the aim of getting the odd day's work here and there. Any other insights or comments from guys in the industry?
North Wales is a bit of an economic low spot I think, unemployment is high here and jobs are thin on the ground, so I think my pay is probably about right in fairness. I'm by no means a skilled tradesman in all the aspects I've listed (with perhaps the exception of the mechanical side of things) I'm more of a jack of all trades and over the years have had to turn my hand to all sorts to keep the place going, single handedly it seems sometimes!
Have a look at something like this http://www.tarmaccareers.com/vacancies/view/2252 or have a general mooch for the right thing/area http://www.tarmaccareers.com/vacancies?bylocations...
Once in they train you up and depending what you want to do there are progression opportunities, There are a few quarries and plants in NW and other similar 'construction supplies companies' ie, Cemex, Lafarge etc
Oops just noticed Torcoed down south but run through vacancies in your neck of woods or put in a speculative application they are usually looking now economy sort of picking up
Once in they train you up and depending what you want to do there are progression opportunities, There are a few quarries and plants in NW and other similar 'construction supplies companies' ie, Cemex, Lafarge etc
Oops just noticed Torcoed down south but run through vacancies in your neck of woods or put in a speculative application they are usually looking now economy sort of picking up
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 19th September 20:30
Just ring some local groundworkers or try and speak to some lads to find out who are good companies to work for. If u get in with a good company they should put you through some tickets if they see potential. Or you could ask them how much extra pay you'd get if you went and got your ticket yourself. Defo get a CPCS ticket as these are the most widely recognised. You'll earn a lot more and have a good laugh. If I were to train as a tradesman I'd be a groundworker
Experience is key.
Nobody wants someone who has a ticket with no experience.However,no ticket means no experience because nobody wants to let someone on a machine with no ticket.
Health and safety for you.
I learnt by standing watching a master at work for months before being let loose on his machine with him standing watching me,if I did something wrong I got a severe b
king and had to do it properly before moving on,he was a proper old school operator but because of him i'm being well paid and doing a job I love now.
Companies that i've worked for have paid for all my tickets over the years but the tests are getting harder every week and I don't think i'll be looking for any more than I have at the moment.4 categories on my card,360 digger,telehandler,dumper and roller.I'm a digger driver although the other 3 are very handy to have on different sites at times.
Dumper and roller are the ones that most start of with,a shot here and there in a digger and you'll get experience and eventually someone might pay to get your ticket for it.
A small company is probably the best route in these days as the bigger guys are really safety daft now.
The practical part of the tests are easy,the theory,not so much for someone that's not done the job although all you need to do is read the study booklet for the basic answers.Still doesn't mean that you would know what to do or how to go about doing the tasks asked of you on certain machines.
Start at the bottom,work up.
Experience is key.
Nobody wants someone who has a ticket with no experience.However,no ticket means no experience because nobody wants to let someone on a machine with no ticket.
Health and safety for you.
I learnt by standing watching a master at work for months before being let loose on his machine with him standing watching me,if I did something wrong I got a severe b
king and had to do it properly before moving on,he was a proper old school operator but because of him i'm being well paid and doing a job I love now.Companies that i've worked for have paid for all my tickets over the years but the tests are getting harder every week and I don't think i'll be looking for any more than I have at the moment.4 categories on my card,360 digger,telehandler,dumper and roller.I'm a digger driver although the other 3 are very handy to have on different sites at times.
Dumper and roller are the ones that most start of with,a shot here and there in a digger and you'll get experience and eventually someone might pay to get your ticket for it.
A small company is probably the best route in these days as the bigger guys are really safety daft now.
The practical part of the tests are easy,the theory,not so much for someone that's not done the job although all you need to do is read the study booklet for the basic answers.Still doesn't mean that you would know what to do or how to go about doing the tasks asked of you on certain machines.
Start at the bottom,work up.
Experience is key.
Once you get some experience, look at getting on dozers and mastering the fine art of grading. Very good money to be earnt as good operators are rare as rocking horse st and most of them leave the land looking like the surface of the moon when they've finished.
t and most of them leave the land looking like the surface of the moon when they've finished. Edited by All that jazz on Monday 21st September 10:22
Rates in Gwynedd are quite low. A small family firm will have benefits and disadvantages but if you move to a larger outfit, you may well see greater opportunity.
I could hazard a guess who you are working for as I have used several firms in the area.
You sound like a handy feller and you should not struggle to get more training and a much better rate but you may have to travel.
Good luck
I could hazard a guess who you are working for as I have used several firms in the area.
You sound like a handy feller and you should not struggle to get more training and a much better rate but you may have to travel.
Good luck
Pistom said:
Rates in Gwynedd are quite low. A small family firm will have benefits and disadvantages but if you move to a larger outfit, you may well see greater opportunity.
I could hazard a guess who you are working for as I have used several firms in the area.
You sound like a handy feller and you should not struggle to get more training and a much better rate but you may have to travel.
Good luck
Thought I was being extremely vague about my place of work as I've become a pretty indispensable member of the team there and I think they'd struggle if I were to leave, that's part of the reason I thought I'd ask as I really want to be sure this is what I want to do before I jack my current job in! I could hazard a guess who you are working for as I have used several firms in the area.
You sound like a handy feller and you should not struggle to get more training and a much better rate but you may have to travel.
Good luck
I'm getting on pretty well with the contractors we've got in anyway so I'll keep hanging round and asking questions to see if it's right for me.
Plenty of opportunity in construction at the moment, but predominantly with the small/medium contractors.
Most of the big boys are sub-contracting out their works to control costs, so the smaller contractors are having a field day. Outside of London, £23 p/h is becoming the norm for a body on site, expect to take home circa £14-18 p/h depending on your role.
You'd need to travel though and probably start in a junior position given your experience. Find a small contractor and bang on the door; you'll probably end up on st money initially but the experience will be vital and allow you to chase the money in a few years.
Good luck
Most of the big boys are sub-contracting out their works to control costs, so the smaller contractors are having a field day. Outside of London, £23 p/h is becoming the norm for a body on site, expect to take home circa £14-18 p/h depending on your role.
You'd need to travel though and probably start in a junior position given your experience. Find a small contractor and bang on the door; you'll probably end up on s
t money initially but the experience will be vital and allow you to chase the money in a few years.Good luck
That's promising, a quick job search shows vacancies for experienced operators with multiple tickets at £14-£16 p/h fairly locally, so the knowledge that perhaps with a bit of personal investment I could potentially be doubling my wage within a few years is encouraging. That certainly wouldn't happen in my current position so if I get the chance I've got to go for it.
As an aside, what sort of career progression opportunities might arise from a few years of working on machines? Is there likely to be the chance to move into site management, surveying or consulting for example? Not jumping the gun but just trying to get an idea of the potential opportunities for development once I've got a few years experience under my belt.
As an aside, what sort of career progression opportunities might arise from a few years of working on machines? Is there likely to be the chance to move into site management, surveying or consulting for example? Not jumping the gun but just trying to get an idea of the potential opportunities for development once I've got a few years experience under my belt.
You'd need to speak to someone who has walked the path to be honest. I'm office based, so my understanding of site labour progression is limited.
That said, there should be a chance to move into a supervisory position and, potentially, management over the years. From my experience, most site guys are happy just doing the bare minimum and getting paid. So I guess that those with a bit of drive and intelligence can progress well. The company you work for is a big decider in that as well though.
Surveying tends to be a specialist field, but I suppose it is possible if you end up shadowing someone in the company and show an aptitude for it. Consulting requires a lot of experience and lots of networking, hence why it is something done towards the end of your career.
That said, there should be a chance to move into a supervisory position and, potentially, management over the years. From my experience, most site guys are happy just doing the bare minimum and getting paid. So I guess that those with a bit of drive and intelligence can progress well. The company you work for is a big decider in that as well though.
Surveying tends to be a specialist field, but I suppose it is possible if you end up shadowing someone in the company and show an aptitude for it. Consulting requires a lot of experience and lots of networking, hence why it is something done towards the end of your career.
If your smart/strong etc and chasing the money, then try to get into maintenance and servicing of Cranes, "Crane" is a bit like the word "wedding", it commands silly money.
We had a self erecting tower crane for a a few years and the money these guys look for is unbelievable, as it's a bit of a captive market.
We had a self erecting tower crane for a a few years and the money these guys look for is unbelievable, as it's a bit of a captive market.
It'll take more than a few years to get enough experience to be the boss in my opinion.
Like I said,start at the bottom and work up.No point even thinking about it however far ahead in the future you may be looking.You need to know a great deal about how to do the job before you tell someone else how to do it.
I've been working in the industry for 15 years now,I'm sure I could do the job of Foreman if I had any desire to but I don't because it's a thankless task at the best of times,anyway site managers are usually ex Civil Engineers in our line of work,Foremen are ex workers like myself or groundwork gangers etc.
In the building side things are a bit different,by building side I mean new house sites etc.Not really proper work so you don't want to do that anyway but site managers I've come across are usually joiners or brickies.
If you want to do surveying and the like then you should look into becoming a Civil Engineer,you'd take a drop in pay for a start though.
Like I said,start at the bottom and work up.No point even thinking about it however far ahead in the future you may be looking.You need to know a great deal about how to do the job before you tell someone else how to do it.
I've been working in the industry for 15 years now,I'm sure I could do the job of Foreman if I had any desire to but I don't because it's a thankless task at the best of times,anyway site managers are usually ex Civil Engineers in our line of work,Foremen are ex workers like myself or groundwork gangers etc.
In the building side things are a bit different,by building side I mean new house sites etc.Not really proper work so you don't want to do that anyway but site managers I've come across are usually joiners or brickies.
If you want to do surveying and the like then you should look into becoming a Civil Engineer,you'd take a drop in pay for a start though.
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