Planning a career change at 30 can be a daunting but exciting task. Perhaps you’ve always been interested in a different industry or maybe you’re feeling unfulfilled in your current job. Whatever the reason is, this blog will unpack why it’s never too late to change careers at 30, 40 or even 50 and why a fresh start could be the perfect choice for you!

Is 30 Too Old to Change Career?

No! There is no such thing as being too old for a career change. At 30 years old, you have better financial security, years of work experience under your belt, plus you’re young and adaptable enough to learn new skills – you could argue this makes 30 the perfect time for a career change!

How Do I Know if a Career Change at 30 Is Right for Me?

Knowing when it’s the right time to change careers can be challenging. If you’ve noticed that your work leaves you feeling burnt out, stressed and unmotivated—or if it’s affecting your confidence and mental health—then it may be a good idea to think about swapping to a more fulfilling career.

In your younger years, you may not have had the confidence or opportunity to pursue the career you really wanted, but you can’t let that stop you now! Most Access Training students are in their 30s and couldn’t be more pleased they have made the jump to learning a trade.

Why You Should Learn a Trade at 30

1. Job Security

One of the biggest advantages of learning a trade is that there is always a high demand for skilled tradespeople. In fact, many trades are experiencing skills shortages, making it easier than ever to step into a job where your skills are highly valued and needed.

Trades are also often recession-proof, so where other industries may see job cuts, the trades will remain in demand. If you’re looking for a secure career choice, look no further!

2. Earning Potential

Many trades offer competitive salaries that are above the average wage. With the experience and certifications you will earn at Access Training, you will be able to jump straight into the working world and quickly earn a good wage.

3. Rewarding Work

Unlike many traditional office jobs, working in the trades allows you to see the impact of your work directly. Whether you’re fixing a family boiler or installing a lighting system, you will be able to see the tangible outcome of your work and the positive difference it makes for your community.

4. Career Flexibility

Once you have mastered your trade, you can choose whether you want to work for an employer or become self-employed. As a self-employed tradesperson, you are free to choose your own hours, set your own rates and work where you want! This can open up opportunities for relocation and travel that you wouldn’t have in other roles.

5. Fewer Barriers to Entry

Trade programmes are typically shorter, less expensive and have fewer entry requirements than traditional college degrees. This can make the career change to the trades far quicker and easier than other career changes, particularly if you’re financially limited or already have student debt.

So, if you’re 30 and thinking about a career change, remember that it is never too late to learn a trade. With the right mindset, training and willingness to start afresh, you can achieve success and fulfilment in your job at any age! 

Browse Trade Courses   Contact Access Training

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

Becoming self-employed and being your own boss is a dream that many of us share – and for good reason! Although being your own boss can be challenging, the freedom and benefits of becoming self-employed can be life changing.

Considering making the jump yourself? Here are 6 reasons why becoming your own boss could be the perfect career choice for you…

 1. Independence & Creative Freedom

Working for yourself means that you can set your own direction without having to follow strict guidelines set out by a company. This means you can explore new ideas and creative approaches without fear of rejection from management and other team members. Your business will therefore become something that is uniquely yours, reflecting your values and vision.

2. Work-Life Balance

Being your own boss means you can set your own schedule, enabling you to plan your workday around your own existing commitments instead of being chained to the usual 9-5. This flexible schedule allows for you to spend more time doing the things you love with the people you love – without needing permission first!

3. Pursue Your Passions

Working for yourself also means that you can select clients and projects that align with your specific interests and expertise. For example, if you prefer doing domestic trade jobs in your local area in comparison to large construction projects further afield, you can choose to do domestic jobs every day and only carry out work that you enjoy doing and feel confident in.

4. Potential Higher Earnings

If you are employed by someone else and receiving a fixed income, then no matter how hard you work, it will always be a struggle to raise your salary. One of the greatest benefits of being your own boss is that there is no salary cap and you are in control of what you earn. Your earnings will depend entirely on how hard you work and the opportunities you are able to find.

5. Personal Growth

Being your own boss requires you to take on a wide variety of roles—including manager, accountant, marketer, customer service assistant and more. Having such a diverse set of responsibilities pushes you to learn new skills and overcome obstacles independently. This can lead to a huge increase in confidence, skill development and overall personal growth.

6. Greater Job Satisfaction

There is a different level of satisfaction that comes from seeing your ideas come to fruition and directly impact your business’s success. If you are working a job where you feel easily replaceable and like the work you do goes unnoticed, you are likely to lose interest.

Tradespeople are a vital and respected part of society whose services will be needed for as long as the population continues to grow. This means that there is always a place for new tradespeople in society and there is little chance of you feeling undervalued or unneeded if you start your own trade business!

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So, if you’ve had enough of working for other people, join the hundreds of other Access Training students who have used the skills and qualifications learnt in our training centres to start their own businesses.

Enquire today about a course at Access Training and with the help of our course advisors, you’re bound to find the right trade course for you!

Browse Trade Courses >

It was only two weeks ago that we wrote about how tradespeople need to be vigilant as their vans can often be a target for thieves, however further data from Freedom of Information requests has revealed construction sites themselves are also at risk.

The requests, sent to 27 police forces across the UK, shocking revealed that at least 100 construction sites are being raided every week by thieves - with a total of 6,000 separate incidents taking place between September 2012 and September 2013. Items targeted include tools, materials, plant and equipment, with lead/copper piping and power tools among the most commonly stolen. However that didn't stop thieves making off with mobile phones or laptops either.

What was most alarming about the incidents is that only 35% of them involved forced entry, with a further 5% due to "legitimate access" (i.e. entering with a key or stealing from an occupied site unnoticed). 21% of the incident sites were ones that had simply been left unsecured or protected by easily scalable fences.

It seems construction sites are being specially targeted, and safety measures (whether they are your own or the site as a whole) shouldn't be overlooked. It isn't just your employers items at risk - it's your own belongings as well. With an Access Training construction course, not only do we teach students the required skills and knowledge for a successful career, we also show them how to take proper care of their equipment to help ensure that they may never have to deal with an incident like these. Our experienced teaching staff are there to draw on their many years' experience in the business as well as offer the practical guidance, so you can be certain that you aren't just learning from a tutor - you're learning from a fully-fledged tradesperson. Phone 0800 345 7492 to find out more about our courses.

Via Construction Enquirer

Following a recent appliance safety campaign report that illustrated the low success rate for product recalls in the UK, the Electrical Safety Council has taken new measures to promote public awareness of the dangers these products can cause.

The report, titled Safer Reports, Better Business - A 360° Approach to Improving Electrical Appliance Safety, found that the average success rate for electrical recalls is a mere 10-20%. In the last six years, there have been over 250 product recalls, so with this figures in mind there are still hundreds of thousands of potentially dangerous products still in circulation. Or worse, still being used in households!

Most products recalled are usually done so because the present a risk of fire or electrocution, with many of them items such as chargers or adaptors. Though the media may pay more attention to larger appliances (fridge freezers, dish washers etc.), these smaller things present exactly the same risks. 

The report also researched public attitude toward product recalls, and revealed two main obstacles - indifference and underestimation. It found that nearly two million adults have knowingly ignored a product recall in the past, with a further million admitting to currently owning an electrical item that has been recalled. It seems many people would rather jeopardise their safety instead of sending back that new HD television they bought to be replaced!

In order to make information about product recalls clearer and more readily available, the ESC has launched their own online product checker, where products can be searched by brand name, model number or product type. On top of this and an extensive media campaign, the ESC will also be working closely with manufacturers and retailers to develop new ways in improving recall rates.

(Part 1 of this article can be viewed HERE)

Now that we know what causes brickwork to need re-pointing and how to prepare for it, it's time to look at the procedure itself for getting your brickwork back up to scratch!

POINTING PROCEDURE

You will require a hawk to carry the mortar, a pointing trowel and a soft brush

• Always start at the top of the walling to be pointed and work downwards to prevent dropped mortar marking the cleaned brickwork below.
• Make sure the joints are clear of any loose old mortar.
• Load the hawk with mortar flattened to about a 10mm thickness.
• Using your pointing trowel, pick up small amounts of mortar from the hawk and press firmly into the “perp” joints, (these are the vertical joints). Carefully fill each perp joint using a second filling if necessary.
• After filling the perp joints start on the bed joints (these are the horizontal joints)
• Carefully fill each bed joint with a second application if required.
• After completing an area of approximately one square meter, finish the mortar off with a pointing trowel. **
• Apply the mortar filling to the rest of the wall.
• When sufficiently dry, brush off with a fine brush to remove any excess mortar.

Full story: Trust in tradesmen still a consumer concern

A recent study from Bradstone Assured has shown that concerns about rogue tradesmen still rank as one of the highest consumer concerns when it comes to the construction industry. The poll, taken by 2000 homeowners, found that nearly three quarters of the sample "felt anxious" when dealing with tradesmen they hadn't met before and a total of 60% thought it was difficult to find an honest tradesman.

Among the main consumer concerns were whether the job would be finished in time, being charged more than the original quote and fearing that the builder would go out of business before the work was completed. HOWEVER it also emerged that many customers were not taking the available steps to ensure that they were hiring a genuine tradesman and not one of the "cowboy builders" you so often hear about in the news. Less than a third of people check for professional credentials, only one in four take up references and 70% don’t even know the surname of the person they have employed.

Bradstone Assured spokesman Mike Leeming said: “Our research suggests that falling foul of rogue traders is still a real concern for homeowners. One in 10 even admitted to attempting work they weren’t capable of rather than risk bringing someone in."

So what measures can be taken to ensure a trustworthy tradesman? Professional branding, a good website and offering references up-front were among the things found in the poll to most likely reassure customers. It is important to know some of the professional branding to look for, as it can come from many different places and is all different depending on the tradesman you need. Electricians who have their Part P qualification will be able to join a Competent Person Scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA - they will usually have these stickers on their van/website and it shouldn't be too hard to look up with these bodies if you were really unsure. Plumbers also have their own Competent Person Schemes, and gas engineers are required to become Gas Safe registered in order to work on gas appliances legally. If you're unsure your engineer is registered - be sure to find out. Only last week a plumber narrowly escaped a jail sentence after carrying out illegal gas work - resulting in an explosion at a home and the owners suffering serious burns.

There is also TrustMark, a sign of quality working across the RMI (repair, maintenance and improvement) sector which recruits reputable and worthy tradesmen. The TrustMark scheme offers a number of checks to give you full peace of mind, and is fully supported by the Government, building industry and various consumer protection groups.

Of course, tradesmen are also required to do their part - from getting the right, reputable qualifications to doing the work to a professional standard. For tradesmen-in-training, all of the courses Access Training offer the qualifications you need to reach the "industry standard" employers look for. You will gain the skills and knowledge you need to be a part of the schemes mentioned earlier, securing you a long and prosperous career in the industry. If you would like to find out more give us a call today.

The most common part of a building that usually requires new pointing after it’s been built is the chimney stack. Due to the adverse conditions put upon it, it’s not surprising that it requires re- pointing. Usually you will find that the old cement/mortar will come out fairly easy. A cavity wall tie is often used for this process when the bricks are hard, as no damage will occur to the arris (edge) of the brick. If the bricks are of a soft nature you could use a piece of wood cut down to the width of the joint. Failing this you could use a “plugging chisel” which is a tapered chisel and can be purchased from most building supplies.

PROCEDURE

Take out all the mortar/cement to a depth of no more than 15mm, ensuring you are wearing the appropriate P.P.E. (safety glasses. dust mask etc.) After all the mortar/cement has been taken out brush all the joints to make sure any loose material is removed. This also make sure the arrises are clean. Do not use a wire brush as this will damage the brick. Wash down the wall with clean water - stubborn patches or stains can be removed using a scrubbing brush. Allow the wall to dry out, if you don’t it will become difficult to point the wall and the bricks may get soiled with the mortar. Also the more water there is in the wall, the more shrinkage movement there may be when the wall dries out. If this happens (moisture trapped in the joints), the first sign of frost the moisture will freeze and will expand and the wall gets damaged.

MORTARS FOR POINTING

If the area to be pointed is built with hard bricks in exposed places, a mix of 2:1 is preferred. This is two parts sand to one part cement, not mixed to wet. For general brickwork a mix of 3:1 is preferred.

In Part 2 I will explain the procedure to carry out the pointing sequence.

- Richard James

If you would like to learn more about bricklaying or any of aspect of the construction trade, Access Training offer a wide variety of construction courses to both beginners and existing tradesmen in need of new/updated qualifications. If you would like to find out more upon what's on offer, give us a call on 0800 345 7492 and arrange a visit of our accredited training centre.

Combining trades, such as taking both a plumbing and gas engineering course, has always been an ideal way of making sure you are never short work as a qualified professional. It's something we've always encouraged at Access Training, but it's also something that seems to be becoming more and more essential in today's working environment.

The AA training their patrol officers in plumbing emergencies, for example, is a sign of the recession and the need for employers to diversify their workers. With British Gas also now venturing into other areas such as blocked drains, electrics and white goods repairs, it is obvious that in today's climate you cannot rely on a single trade only for a living. I feel grateful that the time I had spent on the tools, only doing plumbing and heating installations for 25 years (single trade only) is now a thing of the past.

It is said there is a major shortage of qualified tradespeople to cover the demand of work that is out there. I suppose I was one of the few tradesman that was never out of work, mainly doing new build but also refurbishments, commercial and industrial installations. I thought I was diversifying at the time, but it would seem even that wouldn't be enough these days. In doing these lines of work I had gained the required qualifications and felt I had gained a vast knowledge of these areas. But I admit that I feel I could not know all there is to known in these fields, with products and techniques regularly changing along with different regulations you need to comply with.

So to think of these mechanics who have to do plumbing course, I don't think it's detrimental to those qualified tradespersons who are of high quality, conscientious and only charge a fair fee for their work. They should not be worried about losing work to companies like British Gas and the AA, but what would be a point of concern is to what level they will be taught to.

Are you a plumber or gas engineer looking to expand your resume in order to take on more work? At Access Training we train both people with no prior experience to become fully qualified in their chosen field and experienced tradesmen looking to train in a new area of work. Each course will give you a professionally recognised qualification, providing you with the skills and knowledge you'll need for any task. For more information, contact us at 0800 345 7492.

- Mark Lewis