As a 31 year old female with no qualifications, how unrealistic is it to get into labouring?

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MiddleAgeCool@reddit

My wife's friend retained as a gas fitted.

Her first 12 - 18 months she hated the crap she received for being a woman from her co workers. At about 18 months she realised that being a woman had nothing to do with it, all new trainers where essentially treat the same as a way to gauge their work ethic and character and that giving the crap back was all it took. She's been a gas fitter for well over a decade now and thinks it's hilarious that she could call any of the men she works with in the middles of the night and she's so accepted into the team that they wouldn't just turn up with shovels to help her bury the body, they'd bring beers and an alibi for her too.

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ResponsibilityNo3245@reddit

Who's body do you think it would be pal? 😂

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BeesInATeacup@reddit

Dude sleeps with two eyes open

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Enough-Ad-8378@reddit

gripping his pillow tight....

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Jamiejamstagram@reddit

EXIT LIGHT

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TeaAndCrumpetGhoul@reddit

"We burying your husband? Never liked that guy anyway."

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ResponsibilityNo3245@reddit

Bet she ends up with a banging patio.

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JohnCasey3306@reddit

This is a great suggestion, we had a young lady who worked emergency call outs for British Gas a while back. She joined as an apprentice and had done a few years since — including (albeit brutal sounding overtime) she claimed to have a take-home pay of around 80k

(Might seem odd that we'd discuss her wages, but my son is looking for an apprenticeship so it came up in conversation)

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Left_Weight4447@reddit

Becoming a gas fitter is a great suggestion? Won't gas installations be phased out before long?

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Other_Exercise@reddit

I like to think that folk who do a skill for a living respect others with skills. It's something they all have in common.

I used to do videography for work, and when I watched Adolescence, I was like " I respect the camera work, whoever did it"

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Kyulanna@reddit

I think a labour is pretty easy to get into

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allenysm@reddit

You’re far too smart to be a mere labourer, female tradespersons are really sought after, you can check out the YouTube channel “She Plasters” about a female plasterer that took a course during Covid when she was made redundant and that’s her job now. Last I checked she was flat out and most of her work comes from female homeowners who feel much safer about having a female trade work in their house.

You could take the apprenticeship route, and your local college will have all the trade courses available - some even have purpose-built sites for plumbing and electrics for example.

There are some training providers who will offer the course you’re interested in, but it tends to be expensive and is not an NVQ, which you need to get your blue cscs card to work on site as a trade. Shop around if you’re thinking of going down this route.

I’ve just come out of 10 years in construction (after I’d previously worked in I.T. for 10 years) and while I miss lots of things about it there’s plenty I don’t. Labouring is for people that can’t do anything else for one reason or another (usually their vices), and the work is usually heavy, dirty, and unreliable. It is categorically a step down and opportunities to skill up are very rare. Happy to offer further info if you have any questions 👍

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SuburbanBushwacker@reddit

want to do something with your hands, and be really well paid? welding- as soon as you can perfectly weld two coke cans together you can ask whatever you want for jobs. any fool can weld, very few people can weld to a high standard.

gas isn’t bad but the trade is dying out electrian will last forever but lots of cowboys Air-con is a growing sector Welding can be super niche and that’s where the money is.

good luck

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Supslick@reddit

Definitely welding!! There is also scope to eventually become an inspector in welding companies which is well sought after!

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DragonfruitItchy4222@reddit

It's possible, it sound silently have no experience of that world. Before you commit id recommend doing some work experience.

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AraiHavana@reddit

Check out Able Skills in Dartford. I went there for my City and Guilds in decorating but they actually teach all trades and it’s set up to resemble a site

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19oranges@reddit

I'm a female electrician - did my apprenticeship from 22-26 after uni as I hated the field I studied.

I'm going to be honest, I get a lot of shit from some men. They're disgusting, sexist, make vile jokes and awful sexual comments about me. They will patronise and over explain. You'd think they'd never spoken to a woman before.

But - I fucking LOVE my job. It's everything I want; physical work with the mental problem solving to go with it. And I do work with some amazing people.

You just have to be aware that construction especially is still a man's world. Lean on the fact you are female - lots of companies want to hire women as we are punctual and polite and get the job done.

You should absolutely look at getting a skilled trade - labouring isn't the best job to be honest.

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eat-real-chips@reddit

I’m a plumber and had the same experience… plus the building sites with no female toilets and the men’s are rank 🤮

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Gold-Perspective5340@reddit

Sites are legally obliged to provide female toilets.

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RYSEofCthulhu@reddit

They're also legally obliged to ensure safe working conditions. It's treated more of a guidance though really

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whyy_i_eyes_ya@reddit

Ah man that’s crap. Some blokes are right fuckjng arseholes.

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pusbjames@reddit

Male electrician here, sorry you have to deal with that shit, it’s not on really.

I’m just also here to say also, from the way the OP has written their post, they can clearly do better than labouring and should look into retraining in a trade for sure.

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Acceptable-Tea-2302@reddit

Not quite trades but have you thought about nature reserve wardening? You become a jack of all trades. Tractor driving, repairing fences, basic carpentry, chainsawing, livestock work It's outdoors and doesn't pay great but you can work In some beautiful places and it's very practical. The people in the industry are friendly because they are all nature nerds 😄 Think rspb, national trust, wildlife trusts and search countryside jobs if you're interested.

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idontlikemondays321@reddit

I don’t see why not. If anything the fact you’re a woman would be a welcome attribute to other women who don’t want to be ripped off etc (I’m not saying all tradesmen rip women off before anyone writes a lengthy reply).

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bellyfloppin@reddit

As a woman I'd 100% choose a female tradie if I had the opportunity to do so.

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Gluecagone@reddit

Same here. Especially female roofers. There are some men who may not mean it but come across as downright creepy in that profession.

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mizcello@reddit

That’s so weird, I’m a girl who’s worked full time in construction and my only weird contractor is the roofer.. nothing specific.. I still work with him.. he’s good.. just a bit off personality wise lol

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day__raccoon@reddit

Oh I always do!

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whyy_i_eyes_ya@reddit

Always thought a decent woman tradie with a bit of admin and social media skills would never be short of work.

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mizcello@reddit

Worked full time in construction as a labouror when I left school at 16 for years and never had a problem. Weirdly I never experienced sexism on site, if anything they were quite protective of me if I said someone was being weird or whatever.. the sexism 100% comes from pen pushers in offices! I actually threatened to take a council worker to court last November over sexism and said he wasn’t allowed to step foot on any of my sites again - as of last month I’ve been told he was fired for something unrelated which makes my life easier.

My advice is to get a qualification. I have none, just experience, but I wish I did a specific qualification/trade. We aren’t lacking trades, however we are lacking high quality trades that have pride in their work.

if you have any questions im happy to answer anything!

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ObviousSummer298@reddit

Worked with plenty female labourers

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PintCEm17@reddit

Get a CSCS + H&S nvq1 combined £170 Awareness course in traffic marshal

Call temps agency, I recommend becoming a traffic marshal, you’ll use your hands to operate the radio gets paid well can transition to assistant site manager surprising well.

Hope you have thick skin, your in for it daily perhaps hourly, sexist remarks

Also anytime simple but physical you’re going to be slower which makes you less employable.

Redirect your hopes to technical work or operator

Security installation, train driver. Both obviously long term plan

Keep your desire to be physical in the kitchen

Again this a sample of the abuse you’re heading for.

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No_Mood1492@reddit

I know my experience certainly isn't representative of everyone's, but just to offer a different perspective, most of the lads I worked with doing manual labour were genuinely nice people and I rarely got comments like that. When I did, it'd be from someone new, and I'd have people to back me up when I told them to fuck off.

Realistically you'll never be the fastest as a woman labouring compared to men, but it's very possible to not be the slowest and just be average.

Again just from my own experience, traffic marshal positions were usually given to someone already familiar who has experience within the company (often given as a sort of pre-retirement position for the older guys who've been with the company a while.) For the positions where you work your way up, it's either start as admin staff in the office if you want to stay in the office or start as a labourer if you want to stay on site.

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PintCEm17@reddit

You’ll never work your way out of a labourer job it’s an unskilled job.

Bricky and carpentry are semi skilled and skilled

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objectablevagina@reddit

Would recommend welding.

Depending on where you are you will be snapped up.

If you are interested there's a couple of UK places that offer courses as a start up although I'd recommend trying to land a trainee job.

I've had about 15 serious career paths at this point going from working for the revenue service to now full time fabrication and engineering.

Well worth the swap and much better quality of life.

Whatever you chose get stuck in and go for it!

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Enough-Flamingo-7050@reddit

Female tradies are definitely a niche market, use it to your advantage.

My father runs a women’s refuge , the women in there were petrified of men . If ever a job needed doing, it was nightmare trying to co ordinate the tradies being there away from the women.

Older women in general tend to trust women, there is no shortage of cowboy tradies, i would definitely not let the fact you’re a woman put you off :£

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Joebruvv@reddit

You could definitely do it as it’s entry level like 16 year olds can do it but it’s more a matter of physicality . Most builders have been in that job since they was in their prime and have well adjusted to the demand over the years . If you’re in your 30s and work in finance then it may be very very tiring . My advice would be to ask about different companies and try to find yourself a lil gig on weekend so u can see if it’s something you enjoy before quitting your job

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jimmywhereareya@reddit

I had a male plumber visit my social housing property today, he was here to change the mixer tap on the kitchen sink. He had to call another maintenance man to assist him because he couldn't loosen the nut on the old tap. Bigger guy comes in, loosens the nut, compares the day's jobs, and leaves. So.... You were saying...

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No_Mood1492@reddit

If it's actual labouring you want to do, it's an incredibly straightforward job.

Employment agencies are the best place to start looking, but you might find some aren't willing to take you on for a physical job because you're a woman (I know it's not supposed to happen, but it does.)

You'll need to be strong. If you're naturally petite it might be difficult to get strong enough. While there's health and safety rules about the amount someone ought to lift at work, often they're treated as suggestions and not rules. The H&S limit for men is 25kg and 16kg for women (I think) but if you're on site and refuse to pick something up because it's over 25kg you might not be going back the day after.

Just from my own experience, I experienced more sexism and harassment in office environments than I ever did doing manual labour. There's the occasional idiot but mostly they were really good environments to work in (in terms of the people, I'm not sick of all the dust and feeling like my nose is clogged with concrete.)

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FoxGranite@reddit

I'm a 31 year old guy also working in finance and I was considering becoming a landscaper, I've built my own garden (patio, turf, pond, laid sleepers down etc) and thought this would actually be quite enjoyable for a career.

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shashastar@reddit

I retrained as an environmental gardener / horticulturalist at 33 - best decision I made. I'm so much happier, super fulfilled but like another commenter mentioned, I rarely take on the hassle of private, domestic garden clients. I quickly learned that I do not have the constitution for it lol.

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Puzzled_Pig@reddit

Ex landscape gardener, it’s very enjoyable doing your own. Dealing with customers can be the challenging part

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T-eighty@reddit

I dream of this tbh.

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Fruitpicker15@reddit

I (M) did some labouring for a friend's building company and it is incredibly tough on the body. There's no way I could do it long term. I'm sure there are women who are stronger than me but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. You also risk getting stuck as a labourer with no time or energy to train for anything else. Get into a skilled trade where the money is.

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nosuchthingginger@reddit

Check out your local council for free or paid for courses! My local one (not a super amazing council) offers courses like these!

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EUskeptik@reddit

A plumbing apprenticeship. Plumbers are always in great demand and the work is mostly indoors.

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thatblondeyouhate@reddit

My mum is a painter and decorator. It was hard graft for her to learn the trade and she had to work for builders for a long time but she has her own customer base now and loves it. She got started at around your age as a newly single mother with 3 kids, one of whom is severely disabled. I'm not saying it will be easy but if you want to change your life, nows as good a time as any.

On the other hand I worked as a day labourer for a builder she knew from the age of 14 to 18. I like that I have the skills now but I hated it at the time. Working on site isn't for everyone and I got another job as soon as I could.

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Glanwy@reddit

Setting out engineer, short courses available, bit of common sense, no big muscles required.

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Flashbambo@reddit

I've done labouring and then spent two years training as a site carpenter in my early twenties before getting fed up with it, going back to college and going to uni. I'm a relatively strong and healthy man. People like to romanticise the trades, but It's hard work. It's physically exhausting, with long hours. It can ruin your body over a career.

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CoffeeandaTwix@reddit

I think a lot of office types like the 'idea' of being a labourer but after a few days of actually working most of the time you are at work and getting dirty, wet, tired and bored the reality isn't as fun as they think.

The money is not great either.

You then mention skilled trades... It isn't completely unrealistic to get a skilled trade later in life but it depends on your circumstances as realistically you need to either drastically reduce your lifestyle, have significant savings behind you or a partner willing to subsidise you until you have served your time and can start earning decent money. I think also that a lot of people don't have the aptitude for skilled trades but won't find out until they try.

If I am quite honest, the fact that you mention labouring and then multiple different trades (as opposed to having an interest in one of them) makes me think it's more an idle pipe dream than a genuine interest which makes it quite unrealistic. I mean, if someone sat around saying id like a professional job like a doctor, lawyer or accountant then they probably won't end up doing any of those jobs.

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PsychologicalRow8034@reddit

I would think about your age and how physically demanding the trades can be.

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Fun-Explanation-8278@reddit

Do you mean labouring or a skilled trade?

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Thestickleman@reddit

You can still quite happily do an apprenticeship

At this point in time I'd say become a sparky

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SavageRabbitX@reddit

Apprenticeship period with involve some serious piss taking and their will be gendered jokes.

Part of learning a trade is learning to chat shit attached other in the most vicious way and being able to take the same

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FruitOrchards@reddit

Plenty of women in construction now, you can do it. Just stand your ground and don't take any shit but also realise it's a construction site and there's always going to be banter.

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Holiday-Poet-406@reddit

Most trades will require some basic qualifications at least, so a couple of months in college.

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bigtownhero@reddit

It's pretty unrealistic if im being honest.

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Broad_Watercress1379@reddit

I’d train as a site manager instead, my friend does that and she has a blast! Gets to get stuck in without actually being responsible for the physical hard graft. Plus she’s payed very nicely for it

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P-l-Staker@reddit

None of that is considered "labouring". That's skilled trades.

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Kim_catiko@reddit

A woman my husband knows through his job retrained as a plumber. Not sure what her previous job was, but it wasn't anything like that. She's got her own business now and much happier. She must he busy, because I always see her van out and about in the local area.

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William_Ballsucker@reddit

can i have your finance job plz

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TalkingDonkey07@reddit

Suggest you learn an east European language and declare you're happy to work off book for £8 an hour and live in a 3 bed semi with 15 like mibded souls

Enjoy your new career

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Independent-Fun-3741@reddit

HVAC and ductless AC wall and ceiling mounted units.

That is a goldmine.

You could open your own business and run your own van then crew in no time.

Lots of subsidises and lots of very anxious landlords and consumers.

You can easily learn this field on the job and the certification process is easy.

Get in now.

If that doesn't tickle your fancy I hear the business models for tow-truck drivers for accidents and breakdowns is very good but it requires a bit of face to face with insurers and for firms to lease a plot of land to hold junk cars

Both are really good for new entrants.

If those don't work and you are reasonably fit.

Go infantry

British Army is desperate for female recruits.

I wish I was young and as good hard as you sound...

Best of luck to you

o7

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carlovski99@reddit

Do you actually mean labouring? Sounds like you actually mean a skilled trade? That's probably more doable but it isn't going to be easy. You would need to look at getting an apprenticeship.

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FantasticGas1836@reddit

A friend of mine was a leading web developer. He was at the top of his field, but decided it was not for him. He went to an adult tech college, learned woodwork and obtained a Level 3 Diploma in Site Carpentry. He loves it and from what I gather, he has more work opportunities than I. I say you should go for it 😁

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shy_machine@reddit

Yeah I went from engineering to working on a farm (like a city farm, not a working farm) and then doing gardening work all in my 30s. Made the transition by volunteering at the farm at first and they offered me a job. Easy from there on. Age isn't a factor if you can prove you're a hard worker and are confident picking up new machines and tools. Labouring fucking sucks though. Couldn't do it long term and the pay is absolutely shit.

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PatTheCatMcDonald@reddit

CSCS card is pretty important, I think you can do online tests for one.

Warehouse work / forklift driving or lady trucker are alternatives. More difficult to qualify for.

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KonaRaw@reddit

aslong as your not afraid of a bit of banter and learn to give it back youl be fine.

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TheTinman369@reddit

Labouring probably quite tricky as women are usually weaker than men.

Apprenticeship to learn a skill like brick laying, plastering etc. Then yeah go for it. You'll be on a fairly low wage for a few years but once you prove yourself you'll make a decent living. And if you're good enough you can set out on your own if that's what you want.

You're probably going to need quite thick skin or at least be able to handle crude banter to begin with. And these jobs are also a lot more physically demanding than people realise (sore back, sore knees etc.) They really do earn their money.

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Chalkedcue@reddit

have your waters broke?

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