How far can I Progress? HELP please

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joro1984

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Hi, Im about to start as a labourer for a north east company next week, Iv been a chef for 10 years and its been a waste of my time I spent my weekends doing 35 plus hours as well as the other 20-25 through the week and i have never earned more than 1300 a month (stupid for sticking at it i know) cant wait to do half the hours and double my pay as well as getting a social life back on the weekend :bigsmile: but my question is how far and how fast can i progress?? I know i can do my part 1 in two weeks as well as the part two in two weeks, but is there a massive difference in pay between the two?? is it worth doing more and more advanced courses? for example what is the difference in pay between a part two scaffolder and a site supervisor? and my other question is how much further can you go than site supervisor?? is it owning your own company?? i cant seem to find a clear path or ladder to climb? after supervisor it gets a bit haysy can anyone help? and is there any other couses apart from the obvious that would be to my advantage and any courses that may be a waste of my time?

Cheers guys
 
Just focus on your part 1 mate your a long way off supervisor.no tickets can make you ready for that role,ten years plus mate no fast route in this game,too dangerous for that.
 
Part 1,2 and advanced courses are 2 weeks long each but you can't just do them straight off the bat !
You will need 6 months as a labourer before you can do your part 1 then another 6 months as a trainee before you can do your part 2. Then it's a min of 1 year before you will actually become a qualified scaff after you've done the part 2 course. Also a min of 1 year between doing the part 2 course and the advanced course. It's not a quick process mate.

Good luck
 
like and industry you can go as far and as fast as you can learn and the economy will let you- howver there is no quick fix and pay is dependant on experiance as well as qualifications,goes the same for pay,ask most scaffs and they'll blag they're earning more than they do (its a pride thing lol) but you'll never get rich working for someone else. i always say stick with what you know -
if you want some constructive advise,people will always need feeding - get a loan and buy yourself a burger van work your same hrs but all the profits are yours
 
Welcome to the forum jorro, you are coming into the scaffolding game when its on its knees, i dont know if somebody has been telling you that their frogs are filled with gold well im sorry to inform you that the good money is few and far between and only the top class lads can command it, when you start off on the road to becoming a scaffolder you will not be earning a great difference to your chefs money and in the kitchen it was a lot warmer, if i were you i would seriously think about taking another direction away from scaffolding but i know you wont so best of luck your going to need it
 
Thanks for the info guys,

I know i sound like I want to be the king of scaffolding within the year but im prepared to do the time was just wondering what the fastest route was, and that is a minimum of one year to do part 1 and 2 (6 months between both) and another year before i can take my advanced, noted Zotsey that seems fair enough. Is that the law? if i tried to do it faster would i be stopped by anyone? (just asking out of curiosity i do believe you) and can anyone advise on the pay ranges as you progress? is it worth my while doing ten years in the trade like digsie says to become a supervisor to be paid a couple of quid more an hour than the part 2 lads? or would it be alot more than that? Mitchells you say you can go as far as you want? say for arguments sake i wanted to be on 100k a year in 20 years is there a paid position in the trade for that much? say consultancy or something along those lines? becouse i look for jobs in scaffolding and only see jobs for scaffolders and supervisors? maybe there are jobs higher up the ladder than that but under a title i dont regonise? i dont expect a fortune i told the guy im goin to work for a would take £7 an hour rather than £8.50 so he would give me the labourer job over 5 other trialists im really not that fussed about the money at this stage just want to get my foot in the door. im just planning my future this time as i wasted alot of years plodding along in the last trade and it got me nowhere so want to work out my goals and put a realistic timeframe to them. ha ha general manager your right i wont, i have jackets and gloves to keep me warm and believe me the kitchen is a horrible place sometimes chefs are one of the worst trade for alcohol and drug abuse due to stress, the hours a ridiculous and long and unsociable going in to do a 13 hour shift at 9am after finishing at 1am the same morning and getting to sleep at 3am then doing it agian on sun really takes its toll alot of guys i know have to take stuff to keep them going and they never see there familys etc and all this for barly over min wage it really is the pits!! unless you work for a top chef in london where you can build a rep in the hope someone invests in that rep to get you a shre of your own restaurant, so even if i am on £9 an hour as a qualified scaffy i will be happy to be, and doing 7 till 3 / 8 till 4 mon to fri is like a dream to me so i cant be put off, thanks for the friendly warning but if you had done ten years in my job you would feel the same

thanks agian for the info guys
 
already thought about it southernpoofter but my pay has always been so awfull my credit rating is shot to sh** :)

---------- Post added at 04:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 PM ----------

Thanks for the info guys,

I know i sound like I want to be the king of scaffolding within the year but im prepared to do the time was just wondering what the fastest route was, and that is a minimum of one year to do part 1 and 2 (6 months between both) and another year before i can take my advanced, noted Zotsey that seems fair enough. Is that the law? if i tried to do it faster would i be stopped by anyone? (just asking out of curiosity i do believe you) and can anyone advise on the pay ranges as you progress? is it worth my while doing ten years in the trade like digsie says to become a supervisor to be paid a couple of quid more an hour than the part 2 lads? or would it be alot more than that? Mitchells you say you can go as far as you want? say for arguments sake i wanted to be on 100k a year in 20 years is there a paid position in the trade for that much? say consultancy or something along those lines? becouse i look for jobs in scaffolding and only see jobs for scaffolders and supervisors? maybe there are jobs higher up the ladder than that but under a title i dont regonise? i dont expect a fortune i told the guy im goin to work for a would take £7 an hour rather than £8.50 so he would give me the labourer job over 5 other trialists im really not that fussed about the money at this stage just want to get my foot in the door. im just planning my future this time as i wasted alot of years plodding along in the last trade and it got me nowhere so want to work out my goals and put a realistic timeframe to them

thanks agian for the info guys

---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:58 PM ----------

and no general manager your right you cant put me of ha ha, if you had done ten years in my trade you would understand, doing a 13 hour shift fri finishing at 1am then coming in at 9 and doing a 14 hour shif on the sat then a cheeky 9 or 10 hours on the sunday is horrible and doing it when all your friends are enjoying themslfs, never seeing your family because they are always in bed when you get in, looking like your a self harmer because of all the burns, getting beasted off a psycho head chef for 7 hours of the night, having a dead line every 2 1/2mins to get food out and getting shouted and balled at when its over 2 mins late because you are cooking 15 things at once is not nice, especially when your totally drained off the night before, and what compounds it is getting £7 an hour to do it if it was well paid i would accept the pressure your put under, i know scaffolding is no walk in the park but trust me its easier than that!
 
Not me I wont quit anything and i hated being a chef after three years but stuck it out for another 7, think i will love working outside and at heights
 
Ha ha
Nice try mate, no you can't do it any quicker, that is the fastest. You have to prove you have had the required experience between the courses and there are assessments/port folios to complete.
See how you get on labouring mate, you might hate it.
There are deadlines and pressure and you get shouted at in this game too !!! lol
After supervisor, you could go manager, area manager, you could go into H&S, run your own firm, lots of options different things.
However like I say you might hate it

Re wages : depends on if your on an hourly rate or price.
If you graft and are lucky enough to work for someone who pays you right, very good money can be earned.
Or offshore work us well paid and you only have to work half the year !!

Good luck
 
joro1984 said:
Hi, Im about to start as a labourer for a north east company next week, Iv been a chef for 10 years and its been a waste of my time I spent my weekends doing 35 plus hours as well as the other 20-25 through the week and i have never earned more than 1300 a month (stupid for sticking at it i know) cant wait to do half the hours and double my pay as well as getting a social life back on the weekend :bigsmile: but my question is how far and how fast can i progress?? I know i can do my part 1 in two weeks as well as the part two in two weeks, but is there a massive difference in pay between the two?? is it worth doing more and more advanced courses? for example what is the difference in pay between a part two scaffolder and a site supervisor? and my other question is how much further can you go than site supervisor?? is it owning your own company?? i cant seem to find a clear path or ladder to climb? after supervisor it gets a bit haysy can anyone help? and is there any other couses apart from the obvious that would be to my advantage and any courses that may be a waste of my time?

Cheers guys
Click to expand...

Hello mate.

To be honest you've had some really good replies aleady, but ill give it my best shot.


Id not worry about climbing any career ladders yet, to be fair you might not be suited to Scaffolding, as its one of those jobs that nearly everyone 'trys' but few actually stick at it.

Your Part 1 should be your initial goal, after ofcourse you have learned to Labour - there is a skill to it and a good Scaffolding Labourer is worth his weight in gold, much like a good Hod-Carrier can be.
You'll need to learn how to Labour properly, which will come with time and with hopefully the help of the Scaffolders your working with.



Id say, after maybe 1 year of hard graft you'll be ready for your Part 1, which isn't a green light for you to try to become a 'super-scaff'... its exactly what it says it is: A Trainee Scaffolder.
You'll still be expected to Labour and do the 'donkey' work, but you'll be legally covered by Law to do minor alterations and small Scaffolds, with the supervision of another fully qualified Scaffolder.



Then, after about another 5 years you should be, with any luck ready to do your Part 2/Basic Scaffolding course. Which will them make you fully qualified and you'll be able to work unsupervised legally on certtain types of Scaffolds and 'unlegally' ;) on all kinds.
But yet again, this is a process that you dont wanna rush getting to, as if your not able to Labour correctly, you'll be made to look silly when your trying to set a job out and work out your gear for when putting Scaffolds up and you'll be not only slagged right off by everyone, you'll be more then likely made to Labour anyway, as you wont be allowed by your Chargehands/Foreman to even attempt erecting a job, lol.



Id recommend that you go for your Advanced after about 10 years, unless ofcourse your exceptionally gifted at Scaffolding - Honestly gifted and not delusional - like MANY MANY others are. :D
With that, you more then likely wont be any better at Scaffolding, then when you have your Part 2, but you will be LEGALLY covered to erect/adapt and strike ALL types of Scaffolding as well as run teams of Scaffolders as a Chargehand.
Also, along with your newly gotten Advanced card the chances of you getting work will greatly increase but so will what others expect of your and your responsibilities.



Then, id say after maybe 15 years, you could/should be ready for Foreman work.
But again beware... if your NOT CAPABLE as a Scaffolder yourself and try to tell others what to do, you'll end up looking like a total c.unt and lose the respect of the men working under you.
Make sure you dont just try to climb the ladder too fast, as Scaffolding is a very small world and if your a w@nker others will almost certainly hear of it and things will become hard for you.



Personally id say 25 years+ is the right time to be looking to Supervisory work.
In that time, you should have been/seen and done pretty much everything, as well as know every trick in the book with regards to slacking and trying to 'pull the wool' over your Supervisors eyes, lol.

Say you start Scaffolding at 25?
When your 50, you dont really wanna be busting your balls in the pissing cold allday do you?
25 years is a nice amount of experience to move into Supervision work.




It'll be hard and it'll be difficult, but with time, effort, hardwork and most importantly LEARNING from your mistakes and learning from more experienced Scaffolders, you'll rise fast and have the potential of earning some right nice money.

Like any trade - training and experience takes time and hard work.
I myself will be 14 years in the game in the summer and i still f.uck things up and learn new stuff daily - as do Scaffolders who have been fixing 2 or even 3 times longer then i have.


Dont rush it, with time it'll come naturally. :)



As others have said and given advice - this Forum is action-packed with VERY good and experienced Scaffolders as well as being a friendly place.
Top blokes here who will help you as much as they can.

This ofcourse is only my opinion.
I hope this helps mate and wish you good luck in what you decide to do.

Thanks mate.
Jay.
 
All that's true and as well as being bollocked every five minutes from the scaffs you will also get ripped to shreds just because it's Tuesday. You don't say how old you are but for me there is a cut off period when it can take longer to soak up the right info, Good luck.
 
Sounds to me like someone's taking the piiss. Have you had any plant pots damaged in your garden as well???:laugh:
 
buddy ur,ve got to crawl b4 u can walk so when u start jst make sure u cook the scaffs a good breakie and they will help u in return jst take it easy andwatch and learn from scaffs u work with bud:toung:
 
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