Fresh Start

[xux42]

What's a well paid job? I mean. What does it pay?

£45-50k for a 37.5hr week with paid overtime and a line of business that will support wage inflation if general inflation picks up?

Adjust +/- 20% depending on location.

This is from a general viewpoint - entrepreneurs, city traders will see this as poorly paid.

On the other hand many genuinely poorly paid people see much lower pay than this as 'good' simply because its still a lot more than they earn.

They also vastly overestimate how much difference an extra £10k a year will make to their standard of living, overlooking the massive impact of real marginal taxation (reduced benefits + increased income tax).

The annoying thing in a recession is that often times its possible to see how you could add value in an organisation that easily justifies this income, but you can only realise it via business to business - employers pay employees the least they can, regardless of the value added. This fact combined with the surplus of intelligent, experienced people on the market (for now) accounts for a lot of the 'surprise' good results being declared by many companies.

Of course the flip side is that when times are easier employees frequently draw good salaries for neglible value added which is just as irritating.

Aren't people rubbish!

[okaycuckoo]

i am looking to retrain from scratch into something new. i am thinking about perhaps carpentry or building related.

if you were starting over, what would you train to be in preparation for tomorrow's UK?

serious replies only !

I deal with alot of bankrupt carpenters, brickies, builders etc, and I can't see them making a big comeback on earnings. Could be wrong, but there seems to be huge oversupply of workers in that area.

Something to do with managing government bailouts. Debt advice and so on. Pointless, unproductive, and unsatisfying, but that is the future .... ugggggh!

[JimDiGritz]

i am looking to retrain from scratch into something new. i am thinking about perhaps carpentry or building related.

if you were starting over, what would you train to be in preparation for tomorrow's UK?

serious replies only !

1) Bailiff

2) Pawnbroker

I'm deadly serious.

[xux42]

i am looking to retrain from scratch into something new. i am thinking about perhaps carpentry or building related.

if you were starting over, what would you train to be in preparation for tomorrow's UK?

serious replies only !

Pawnbroking.

Seriously - I've considered it myself. Mostly older people involved in actually running it (so will need replacing as they retire) and the NPA seem pretty keen to recruit new blood.

When I sounded out friends they were not keen though - I think a lot of (middle class/middle income) people see it as a bit 'tacky'.

[juvenal]

hmm. don't really fancy changing old ladies' underpants.

i know we've just had a housing bubble, but do you reckon the trades are a safe bet, say carpentry / joinery type thing?

Almost every home in Britain has jobs that need doing. Whether it's putting additional power points in older houses; new cupboards fitting; dripping taps fixed; sticking doors sorting; rotting window frames repairing/replacing; brickwork pointing; guttering renewing; fencing repaired - a million smaller jobs.

I cannot believe that a reliable skilled man or woman who would do such jobs at a sane price (£15-£20 per hour) would not be in constant demand.

[Guest Noodle]

Almost every home in Britain has jobs that need doing. Whether it's putting additional power points in older houses; new cupboards fitting; dripping taps fixed; sticking doors sorting; rotting window frames repairing/replacing; brickwork pointing; guttering renewing; fencing repaired - a million smaller jobs.

I cannot believe that a reliable skilled man or woman who would do such jobs at a sane price (£15-£20 per hour) would not be in constant demand.

Cowboy builder?

[mightytharg]

What about the military? They're overpaid, over-equipped and mostly fight people who have already surrendered.

You can even get a medal for valour for retreating from small-arms fire in your state-of-the-art tank.

Easy money.

[david m]

Would never had thought of pawnbroking but it might be a top idea.

I overheard a PA at a firm i visited telling one of her colleague how she had received £500 for pawning a watch an ex-boyfriend had given her ... and the interest was only £20/month and she had up to 12 months to repay! She seemed to think she was genuinely getting a great deal. I thought she's paying £240 per annum for a £500 collateralized loan ... 48% interest! She's actually be better off racking up debt on a credit card.

[Where is my pen?]

1) Bailiff

2) Pawnbroker

I'm deadly serious.

i am 5'5" and 10 stone and a bit - i would make an unconvincing bailiff i think.

pawnbroking is a very interesting idea. i have run a business before and so i am ready to take on something like that. i have some cash in the kitty to make a start with something like this. everyone thinks it is tacky, which is a good sign !

thank you, all of you, for all these suggestions.

i am sorry there are two identical threads, i must have pressed the new topic button twice or something.

[Where is my pen?]

Would never had thought of pawnbroking but it might be a top idea.

I overheard a PA at a firm i visited telling one of her colleague how she had received £500 for pawning a watch an ex-boyfriend had given her ... and the interest was only £20/month and she had up to 12 months to repay! She seemed to think she was genuinely getting a great deal. I thought she's paying £240 per annum for a £500 collateralized loan ... 48% interest! She's actually be better off racking up debt on a credit card.

what are the legal issues behind all of this? are we allowed to write credit agreements without some kind of licensing?

it is an interesting idea because it is something you can do on any scale. start small and see how you feel about it.

[Patfig]

What about the military? They're overpaid, over-equipped and mostly fight people who have already surrendered.

You can even get a medal for valour for retreating from small-arms fire in your state-of-the-art tank.

Easy money.

T1T

[winkie]

Caring.

Counseling.

...any therapy to do with help ridding us from the stresses of life.

[aa3]

Massage therapist. Seriously who doesn't like getting a massage.. and willing to pay for it? Can do it out of your own home, so no rents.

[LeeT]

From the attitudes of many on this site I'm surprised nobody has suggested a career as a benefits scrounger.

They say the basic pay is OK, but the perks are great. No taxes, free accomodation, easy hours, work from home etc.

I'd also thought of pawnbroking and bailiffing as areas to investigate for recession proof investments (along with riot shield manufacturers).

I think the solar panel installation/home efficiency/domestic flood protection areas sound good if you're a handy man with a van.

[Ben from Dover]

i am looking to retrain from scratch into something new. i am thinking about perhaps carpentry or building related.

if you were starting over, what would you train to be in preparation for tomorrow's UK?

serious replies only !

Credit Control and Debt recovery.

[aa3]

From the attitudes of many on this site I'm surprised nobody has suggested a career as a benefits scrounger.

They say the basic pay is OK, but the perks are great. No taxes, free accomodation, easy hours, work from home etc.

I'd also thought of pawnbroking and bailiffing as areas to investigate for recession proof investments (along with riot shield manufacturers).

I think the solar panel installation/home efficiency/domestic flood protection areas sound good if you're a handy man with a van.

Good thinking. For a massage therapist you can also be a benefits scrounger.

[clemo]

i am looking to retrain from scratch into something new. i am thinking about perhaps carpentry or building related.

if you were starting over, what would you train to be in preparation for tomorrow's UK?

serious replies only !

I would get a ladder and go round peoples houses asking if they wanted there windows washing or car valeting. I you live in a fairly big town you maybe have 20 to 30000 potential customers. All cash in hand nice weather coming up be your own boss. That would be for the short term. You could also have several spin offs on this idea as well ie 1 or2 things you could sell to people as you get to know them. Longer term I would try to think of something a bit better but this would do for short term get some cash coming in flexi hours. Its perfect really. Would take some ******** to start with to get out and meet people.

[lets get it right]

hmm. don't really fancy changing old ladies' underpants.

i know we've just had a housing bubble, but do you reckon the trades are a safe bet, say carpentry / joinery type thing?

Carpentry/joinery on building sites nowadays is very much dumbed down from how it used to be. For example, cut roofs are relatively rare. And, even when you have to do a cut roof there are so many tools available now to make it almost a paint by numbers skill.

Putting on, for example, a trussed rafter roof is more of a labouring job - humping the trusses up, cutting some 4" X 1" timber and bashing nails through it as wind bracing, cutting up some lenghts of 4x2 and making a gable ladder etc. It's not skilled at all. If you can use a tape and a saw and bash nails in with a hammer you can be a chippy these days.

Second fix stuff on housing is almost mechanised. 2 lads jump out of a van these days with 10 grands worth of routers, bench saws, nail guns etc - one of them shouts out the measurements the other one cuts, the other one applies with a nail or glue gun.

In that line of business whether you get work or not is a question of who you know (contacts you build up over years) and how little you are prepared to work for. Competition is fierce in a recession. In a boom you find yourself turning work down (and rates go up). It's always been that way. Do bear that in mine - daily rates can halve in 6 months when a recession starts.

If you want to go higher end - real joinery - furniture making - etc - you need a lot of skills. Having said that, the sort of furniture sold in many specialist pine shops is really easy to make and could be done in any small workship without a huge investment in tools. The trick there is finding customers and turning enquiries into orders - so you have to be a lot more than soneone who makes furniture - you need to be a businessman.

Whatever you do, tools do most of the work these days.

Someone suggested plumbing. Again it is becoming de-skilled. And, how much longer will we be heating our homes using hot water running through copper pipes? Even the house I am living in now uses microbore copper which is rolled around the house in continuous lengths.

And making joints? A bit of hemp and boss white is still used on lots of joints - it's not rocket science. Lead burning pipes is another matter but is only used on conservation work these days.

If I were you I'd decide what I was interested in - what I fancied doing - and give it a go. As long as it's not writing software. Too easy to outsource.

[awaytogo]

i am looking to retrain from scratch into something new. i am thinking about perhaps carpentry or building related.

if you were starting over, what would you train to be in preparation for tomorrow's UK?

serious replies only !

At one time of the day learning a skill used to be a prestiges direction for a career, But honestly speaking that seems to me to have been eroded due to a certain extent due to the cut in differental in pay rates between skilled and non skilled rates have put a lot of people off putting themselfs through skill training. I hope this will change in the near future as thousands of skilled people are seeing the failing in this country and are seeking a future abroad.

Whichever skill you decide to take i wish you all the best.

[Damik]

i am looking to retrain from scratch into something new. i am thinking about perhaps carpentry or building related.

if you were starting over, what would you train to be in preparation for tomorrow's UK?

serious replies only !

IBM Portal Server, IBM Process Server J2EE development

IBM WebSpehre and Lotus solution architecture

IBM RUP project management

[noodle doodle]

For the OP, I would pick something you enjoy doing, you won't mind overtime and the days will go quicker. Don't listen to people and their generalities, all you can read into "don't go into IT" is that the poster had a bad experience, it's not a up-to-date synopsis of the job market

Edited March 15, 2010 by noodle doodle

[ccc]

Massage therapist. Seriously who doesn't like getting a massage.. and willing to pay for it? Can do it out of your own home, so no rents.

I get quite a lot of deep tissue sports massage. There is a HUGE difference between those that do it. And qualifications are only a small part of it IMO. Some people are just good at it and some are not.

If you were a good sports masseur who had a lot of contacts ? Yes it could be a very good thing to get into. Although it does look very hard work - for those that can do it properly.

[douggggy]

If you can use a tape and a saw and bash nails in with a hammer you can be a chippy these days.

.. thats a very big if !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - 107cm = 1007mm NOT etc, etc, etc, for 30 years etc!!!!

not that I`m bitter ..

[CarbonBasedLifeform]

i think personal protection/security consultant will become increasingly in demand both private and corporate, as the bankstas et al will feel increasingly insecure as things continue to worsen economically for the masses.The govt will issue firearms permits to trained personell to protect them and their mates from angry marginalised plebs, could be a good well paid secure career for the future imo.

[douggggy]

.. how many out of work Stonemasons do you know??