# Too old to learn a trade?



## The Boy (Feb 29, 2008)

So basically, I've been having trouble finding a job that I actually enjoy (at the moment I'm actually having trouble just finding a job but that's anotehr story ) so was on the careersscotland website doing one of those questionaires that recomends jobs you might like - you know? like the ones they made you take at school.

Only problem is it was throwing up jobs like locksmith, horologist, computer programmer etc all of which would require me to actually train in something iyswim.  Locksmiths for example seem to have to do an 'apprenticeship' (for lack of a better word) and learn the trade like that.  

SO i guess I'm just wonderiing how easy it would be for somone my age (26) to learn a trade.  Or if indeed that ship has now sailed and I have to return to work next week as a telephone interviewer


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## heinous seamus (Feb 29, 2008)

West Lothian council have a lot of modern apprenticeship vacancies at the minute for things like gardeners, joiners, heavy vehicle mechanics etc. They're mostly based out at Livingston I think. It doesn't state an age preference(As far as I could see.) Could be worth a shout?

http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/sitecontent/1783820/jobvacancies


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## 8ball (Feb 29, 2008)

The Boy said:


> SO i guess I'm just wonderiing how easy it would be for somone my age (26) to learn a trade.  Or if indeed that ship has now sailed and I have to return to work next week as a telephone interviewer



26!!! 

Fuck's sake - you're still a wee bairn.  

Unless you want to be a Russian female gymnast your options are pretty open.


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## GoneCoastal (Mar 1, 2008)

Couple of years ago one of my colleagues packed in computer contracting and became a plumber - in his 40's iirc


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## CharlieAddict (Mar 1, 2008)

The Boy said:


> SO i guess I'm just wonderiing how easy it would be for somone my age (26) to learn a trade.  Or if indeed that ship has now sailed and I have to return to work next week as a telephone interviewer



get a grip man! 

learning a new trade at 26 is very possible.
how easy? that depends on you don't it? 
and forget about things being 'easy.' 
that's the wrong attitude. 
if it's something you want to do, expect hard work for little money!
and in return you'll get the skills.

most of me mates were in their early 30s/late 20s when they decided to learn a trade. and now, some years later, they have their own businesses.

it's possible but never easy.
easy is when you talk alot and never do nothing.


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## Stanley Edwards (Mar 1, 2008)

I 'accidently' went back to university at 26. Turned out to be the best move I ever made career wise. Four year sandwich course (I only did Two years and stayed in employment after the sandwich year). Took me to jobs and a lifestyle I had never dared dream about previously. New York, Berlin, Madrid, very well paid work in London. 

It's never to late to learn anything.


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## Firky (Mar 1, 2008)

Stanley Edwards said:


> I 'accidently' went back to university at 26. Turned out to be the best move I ever made career wise. Four year sandwich course (I only did Two years and stayed in employment after the sandwich year). Took me to jobs and a lifestyle I had never dared dream about previously. New York, Berlin, Madrid, very well paid work in London.
> 
> It's never to late to learn anything.



Yuppy.


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## Stanley Edwards (Mar 1, 2008)

firky said:


> Yuppy.



Not quite 

Although I did drive an Audi 200 Quattro once upon a time


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## The Boy (Mar 1, 2008)

CharlieAddict said:


> get a grip man!
> 
> learning a new trade at 26 is very possible.
> how easy? that depends on you don't it?
> ...



When I say 'easy' I wasn't meaning it in that sense.  For some odd reason I thought opportunities might be few and far between given my age  - hence more difficult iyswim.

anyway, cheers for the replies.  Guess I'll have a think about what it is I really want to do and not worry about whether or not I can or can't do it.


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## Artie Fufkin (Mar 1, 2008)

my brother's friend went from being a civil engineer to a BBC producer when he was just shy of 40, so anything is possible if you want it enough


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## xes (Mar 1, 2008)

The Boy,I'm kind of in thesame boat,just 4 years later than you. I'm 30.If I had have done soemthing about this at your age,then fuck knows where I would have been by now. I still keep thinking about various things I'd rather be doing than being a warehouse manager. But I never do anything about it,due to the convinience of my job. Don't get stuck in a rut like me. Break free,fly my pretty!!


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## Dowie (Mar 1, 2008)

The Boy said:


> SO i guess I'm just wonderiing how easy it would be for somone my age (26) to learn a trade.  Or if indeed that ship has now sailed and I have to return to work next week as a telephone interviewer



What do you want to do? I shouldn't have thought training at 26 would be a problem - I'm the same age as you and am currently doing an OU degree in my spare time.

Why not try some sort of evening vocational course or an OU degree?  If you want to be a 'computer programmer' then the OU may be an option. For 'trades' then I'd check local colleges for evening/adult education classes.

If you've got useful skills to offer & worked hard in your spare time to gain them then I don't see why you wouldn't be employable.


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## danski (Mar 1, 2008)

there are always people picking up trades later in life
pretty much every job i go on (big housing projects and the like) has people training/changing career
its quite common


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## innit (Mar 1, 2008)

My sister's bf is a bit younger than you (but not a whole lot) and has been doing his apprenticeship as an electrician, you don't have to be a teenager to learn a trade.


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## Citizen66 (Mar 1, 2008)

The Boy said:


> SO i guess I'm just wondering how easy it would be for someone my age (26) to learn a trade.  Or if indeed that ship has now sailed and I have to return to work next week as a telephone interviewer



Well, seeing that apprenticeships are few and far between nowadays there's a wee trick that the kids in London play to get work other than shovelling crap.

They enrol on a college course as a sparky/plumber and then once they have started the evening classes they get in touch with all the relevant recruitment agencies to ask for work as a sparky/plumber's mate to get work.

This gives them an income aswell as experience and also they can continue with the evening studies should they wish to qualify.

If you're currently unemployed then the state should divvy up for the course to begin with and then get on the phone and get your foot into the door.


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## scifisam (Mar 1, 2008)

Um, I think the OP does have a point regarding his age. Lots of the apprenticeship schemes cut off at 25 (I've been looking into this for my students), as does New Deal unless you're a parent. That's in London, though. 

As far as actually getting a foothold in the industry and so on, though, it's no problem at all, as others have said - there are lots and lots of people changing careers now much later in life than you are. If you don't already have a degree, then you will be able to get a free course through the OU (for computing) and regular uni is definitely a possibility.


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## citydreams (Mar 2, 2008)

scifisam said:


> Um, I think the OP does have a point regarding his age. Lots of the apprenticeship schemes cut off at 25



Thought this was quite showing..


> "We also have a lack of apprenticeship places, which the Government have been attempting to redress, albeit certainly not on the scale that the Education and Skills Committee saw some years ago in Denmark, where there is an incredibly wide network of apprenticeship places. Denmark also has an employer’s levy, which all employers pay. All the employers there chip into the apprenticeship system, and since they have already paid the money they might as well get a free apprentice out of it, instead of regarding taking on an apprentice as a problem, which is how many employers in Britain unfortunately regard it."


http://www.parliament.the-stationer...0708/cmhansrd/cm080114/debtext/80114-0014.htm


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