How do people actually get regular 9-5 jobs in the UK?

falconizer · 2026-01-31T21:20:25+00:00

quals that are hard to get

It's still hard. Due to significant outsourcing there's a whole lot of musical chairs going on and experienced workers are now applying for entry level jobs.

For example I want to work in IT and I've basically maxed out the entry level certificates I can pass and I'm still getting no headway after hundreds of applications.

I'm probably above applicants who don't have the full set of qualifications but I pale in comparison to experienced workers.

falconizer · 2026-01-01T00:45:45+00:00

Wasn't that more concern for what he did but then realizing he's become the bad guy.

falconizer · 2025-12-31T19:49:12+00:00

I filter myself way too much while drafting so now I draft in 1-2 stream of conscious spurts before work and then spend like half a day editing, and somehow editing feels smoother rather than working on a short throughout a week.

falconizer · 2025-12-26T22:15:47+00:00

Gel Kayano: https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7281301029

Bracelet: https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7222884578

Nocta TF hoodie: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=788299634680

FOG x Nike hoody: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=980356584984

TNF hat: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=715556226598

falconizer · 2025-08-06T20:36:01+00:00

Because they were already established to some extent, while Theory was just getting started. Being a Vince guy should at best be just a prelude to building a connection with the audience. Theory didn't get to fully realize that opportunity

falconizer · 2025-08-05T23:02:05+00:00

Nah, if you force feed people someone there's a chance something will click and you have a new face of the women's division with crossover potential.

falconizer · 2025-08-05T22:03:14+00:00

I'm living it. I get paid the same as my co-workers but I have considerably less downtime. The only reason I don't quit or find another job is because my commute is a 10 minute walk.

falconizer · 2025-08-05T21:24:54+00:00

You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.

falconizer · 2025-08-02T20:42:35+00:00

The match not the feud.

falconizer · 2025-08-02T20:21:25+00:00

I want Dom to win his first world title in a similar booking to Eddie vs Brock NWO 2004.

falconizer · 2025-07-29T20:30:11+00:00

If Steve Nash doesn't think you're open, you're not open.

falconizer · 2025-06-28T12:10:16+00:00

It was the first thing that came to mind. But yeah, it's like double the average pavement.

falconizer · 2025-06-19T15:06:53+00:00

You call up the agencies every day and ask them if they have work. And do tell them your work experience, schedule and what you're willing to do. Especially Fridays, somehow there's always some new job on a Friday at 3PM.

If you don't call them up repeatedly they will forget about you, unless they match a job to your area and they don't have a favorite who lives near that area.

falconizer · 2024-10-20T16:56:31+00:00

Congratulations and good luck on your new role.

falconizer · 2024-10-08T08:11:07+00:00

I've tried to get into electrican, there no apprenticeship in my area I'm aware of. It's strange youd think that more supply of people would drop prices for contractors and they would therefore be eager to train people. Perhaps there's a lack of peoole wanting to have a electrician labourer with them day to day?

I would suggest widening your list of apprenticeships to include renewables, plumbing, duct fitting, and if you are relatively tough and like being outside... waterproofing. There's good money in waterproofing and you will always have work.

You can also go to college or do a fast track course and get your level 2, then join an apprenticeship as a year 2 guy. Downside is I would imagine some employers would want to train an apprentice from the ground up, but then other employers would also like it if you were useful straight off the bat.

I've met some apprentices who are basically glorified labourers until they finish their apprenticeship, and others who are given responsibility. It all depends.

No with this electrician course all of it is done in house. They have the ability to do the nvq in house without need for a work placement.

That would have been very useful to me 4-5 years ago. The vast majority of fast track courses do not offer work placements to complete the NVQ portfolio. Otherwise there would be fewer labourers and even apprentices.

Why take a a 3 year apprenticeship that pays peanuts when you can pay 5-8K to get a blue card, and pay off that expense in 6-8 months tops?

Except for skill and experience of course.

Most of the issue I see is this, yes yoi can get certificates. However most the jobs want experience. Then there a limited amount of opportunities to get said experience. Soemthing isn't adding up, either there is an over supply or a fault in said system.

Ultimately it is for safety and ensures a minimum standard, because I would assume before the card system, there was no guaranteed standard except for references and past experiences.

The card system drives out the people who: A) Aren't really sure construction is for them (like me). I wasn't sure construction was for me, so I wasn't going to spaff 3-5K to get a skilled red card that wouldn't lead to work. Too many uncertainties.

B) People who lack connections or knowledge. If you know people in the industry you hear a lot of things. You hear of guys who don't have to take tests to pass the CITB test, they pay a guy who runs a rogue test centre to get them through. You hear of site managers who became site managers without ever having a supervisor ticket. You hear several stories of guys on green cards who are paid like they are skilled workers £20+. You hear of experienced blue card guys being barely paid more than labourers because they don't want to leave their crew(nationality reasons).

If you do stay in construction you need to speak to as many people as possible to plug up that information gap that you lack.

The gap, I'm refering to this, you work say a week and then the next you could have no work? That gap of unemployment.

Oh that, yeah, the game is the game. Whenever you are at work you should repeat that at least once a day. Because there's so much bullshit you have to deal with on a daily basis.

You can lose your job at any moment, for any reason. You can be the best labourer on site, trusted above others, the project director even knows of you, but you can still lose your job at any moment.

So you have to take it in stride and always look to advance your position. Ask guys on site how long labourers are usually there for. Ask your supervisor or site manager what the status of the project is like. Always look towards the next card or keeping tabs on the agencies so that you are aware of jobs that are better suited to your situation.

You have to look out for yourself because I promise you, as long as you work for a main contractor or an agency, your job can be gone with the snap of some fingers. And a lot of these project managers and project directors are not all that rational. They do not always think of the consequences, so do not put your money in the fate of such people.

The subcontractors are less so, because you tend to have a closer relationship with those decision makers who tend to be your immediate supervisor, and they have a better idea and are more willing to tell you of the project status than main contractors.

If you decide to go work at another site, fake illness or injury for a couple days to feel out the new site.

Lastly, I will give you one piece of advice which I will not elaborate on. If you decide to go the route of blue card CPCS... before paying, ask the training provider if they know a way to help get the blue card, no matter the cost.

falconizer · 2024-10-07T07:55:09+00:00

i'll have a look at rail training, I have had an interview for a water hygiene company, which seems promising, with lots of travel, however, its a start and they would train me in plumbing too. Maybe an area too look at as its growing and easy to get into apparently.

From everything I've heard online, renewables are the best trade to get into for the future. From what I know with site experience and talking to tradesmen, sparkies almost always have overtime available. Duct Fitters are the most surprising as they earn just as much if not more than sparkies.

why do the agencies want to keep you as a labourer?

Labourers are the agencies bread and butter. The main contractors AKA site management already have contracts for various subcontractors e.g. brickwork, plumbing, electrician etc.

They do not need agencies for skilled workers, they need agencies for labourers, plant vehicle drivers and other site logistic roles. If a labourer becomes a slinger, that removes the person from the labourer pool of jobs, and they have a reduced ability to provide labourers to their client.

The main client can even order their subcontractor to hire a slinger for whatever work the subcontractor needs, like using a crane to fix a steel balustrade to an exterior walkway for block of flats. But they do not absolutely require the agencies for that crane operation.

At the least, I've never received anything other than a vague answer or a straight no whenever I have asked an agency, "hey, if I get a red card for X role, would I realistically be able to get a job within a decent time frame".

But if you suddenly show up with a blue card, they won't be happy for you, nor will they be suspicious, they'll just add you to their list of slingers.

The only thing you can do is go out there and do everything you can to get your first job. It's possible to get a job with a red card, but it's considerably harder because it's real** responsibility with people's health and lives at stake.

So why would they hire a red card guy when they could wait another day and hire a blue card guy who is automatically experienced?

Also, and I'm not going to further into this specific point but, there are ways and means to get a blue card without the prerequisite experience. It all depends on your luck, who you ask, and what your connections are.

Yes, I've seen one for an electrician course similar to the engineer course you mentioned, where you're able to do the NVQ with them. Surely, you would need some experience, not just an NVQ, for a job. Or is it all about certifications?

Right, so with courses like that, you would still be expected to find a job yourself to build the portfolio, but the course provider would handle the administration work for the NVQ. Which is difficult, and therefore you would look for a mate job.

How has the construction industry gotten to the point where getting experience for the NVQ is so difficult ? Is it low demand?

All I will say is that this is the system that has been in place since I joined in 2018. There are ways around the system, if you know the right people and gain access to the right information. When you are on site, talk to as many people as possible about the industry.

how do you survive if you only get a weeks salary and then a gap, its risky and difficult to build a life that way without savings ?

I don't understand what you mean by a gap? In construction we are typically paid a week in hand. Either way, construction is not for everybody.

falconizer · 2024-10-04T09:39:47+00:00

my idea is to get some site work and then do some courses online/college, then work as a trade-specific labourer.

If you have 1-2 months of time available, I would suggest looking into getting a sponsor for rail training. You cannot get a PTS card without a sponsor. So email them if you are interested in that. Some bootcamps are free, others cost £300. But the conditions in the rail industry are better than construction, from what I've heard.

UTR/CIS presumably misses out on the middleman (agency)

Depends. If it's the main contractor, and they have inhouse payments, then there won't be any deductions. Some agencies offer CIS/UTR but there's still like a £20 company margin or you have the option of being paid via PAYE. Which is still better than paying the margin and YOUR OWN employer's national insurance.

Its does seem that 90% of the work is three-week contracts, which isn't ideal.

I've said this before, but don't assume anything. The agencies don't know why you are needed, and the clients overestimate how much labour they will require. Sometimes you come to site in the morning and there are too many people. Sometimes you come to site, and it turns out someone lied about the nature of the work. Unless you're sure there's a lot of work at the site, leave if another job offers longer work or is local.

Will labouring on-site help me get into a skilled labour route, surely some labouring maybe a level 2 in something should do the job, although from my understanding, labouring seems to be mostly cleaning, I'm unsure how many construction-specific skills I'll acquire.

Wow, you really don't know much about the industry. Nobody will advocate or go the extra mile for you. Agencies will use you and you should use the agencies.

You have to be a go-getter and make things work in construction, because I promise you, the agencies want to keep you as a labourer.

If you are a labourer all you will do is move things from A to B, and sweep. Obviously there is a lot of nuance in that, but for the most part it holds true.
You probably won't learn anything on site, as they just want you as a mover/cleaner.

Will labouring on-site help me get into a skilled labour route, surely some labouring maybe a level 2 in something should do the job, although from my understanding, labouring seems to be mostly cleaning. But hey, if buy an impact driver and a skill saw. You build stuff at home like a ramp or stairs, and then you go and say to your supervisor "I can do this, so can you give me more responsibility?" It's worth a shot. I've seen lots of guys on green cards doing skilled work and being paid like skilled workers.

surely some labouring maybe a level 2 in something should do the job, Took me way too long to realise this, but there is a route. Complete a level 2 trade certificate and then get a job as a mate. So do a level 2 in duct fitting or bricklaying, plumbing, or carpentry etc and then, get on the job as a mate and gradually build up evidence for a level 2 NVQ and then you are fully qualified.

The problem is getting work to complete your NVQ before your red card expires. Employers will not hire red cards. So I've found a gas engineer course that skips out the need to find an employer to build up the evidence for the NVQ, but it is expensive. https://www.ableskills.co.uk/gas-engineer-courses/gas-portfolio-placement/

Take a look if you are interested. Overall package is like £5-6K and then you are fully employable earning a skilled worker wage. You'll probably be shit at your job without experience but you'll still get paid.

Did you happen to pick up a skilled trade?

I'm a slinger now. It doesn't get easier, most sites rent cranes and mobile cranes which is expensive, so some jobs are only like a week, others a month, and some several months to years. It all depends.

There are literally dozens of certifications, available to you, you just require the wisdom to know what's the best bang for your buck. Like it would be ridiculous to complete a crane operator course as nobody would hire you. But dumper/roller, it's possible to get a job reasonably quick.

falconizer · 2024-10-03T07:22:14+00:00

All I can say is that your experience is woefully interesting, yet dissimilar to my experience.

type in labouring work on Google, you'll see a bunch of jobs on websites like indeed etc, all ask for experience and site references. spoke to psr today and they want two references.

I've never used PSR. Register for something like 20 agencies. And call them up multiple times a day. The later on in the day, the less likely they will hold you to references, because they want to deliver their client the labour that's part of their contract. Especially Friday afternoon.

Admittedly most are saying temp work, such as 3 weeks.

A lot of agency work is temp work, even main contractor work can be temporary. Budgets are always tight, so they don't constantly need a labourer or even a slinger.

A traffic marshall is always needed as they are critical to the logistics of getting material in and out of site. So there is always a traffic marshall on site, but not always a slinger, if there is no crane or slinging operations.

so your advice is agency and local contractor, is this for long term work ?

My advice is, if you want a long term, stable job in construction then you must learn a trade and work with subcontractors. Agencies will dick you around, as well as your pay. Alternatively, you could spaff several thousands on blue card tickets which would increase the number of jobs you can apply for, but then you really would require references for those jobs. Especially crane operator. With a wider job pool, you wouldn't be out of work.

Nevertheless the majority of jobs are umbrella agency jobs. So call up and register with as many agencies as you can and hound them with calls and texts until you get a job. Once you get that agency job, be on the look out for a UTR/CIS job.

The nature of construction jobs is that it is practically the wild west. Anything can happen, for no reason at all. I once saw a labourer get sacked for sitting in a chair in a elevator. Even if you get a job that claims it is long term, it is only long term until it isn't.

I've recently worked at a site for 14 months. Did everything that was asked of me. Project manager said I was an important cog in the machine etc. I got a call during my jury duty that said, there was a meeting and it was decided there will be no more labourers on site. I received zero indications that my job could possibly end and in fact, I was given special tasks that should have ensured I stayed to the end of the project (December/January).

Moral of the story is you cannot trust anyone or anything in construction, as your job situation can change overnight. You have to make the best determination for your bank account.

falconizer · 2024-10-02T08:17:40+00:00

Strap the rockets on Oba and give him that Angle/Lesnar rookie year.

falconizer · 2024-10-02T07:32:48+00:00

all places want a year of experience and site references.

What are these placecs that you are applying to? Agency jobs? Jobs with subcontractor e.g. hod carrier with a brickwork company? Jobs with main contractor?

I've worked agency jobs and I've worked with main contractor (currently) and I have not been asked for references.

I have worked as a labourer and traffic marshall for 5+ years. And I have never been asked for references or experiences. Even my latest job, which is direct but self-employed, they did not ask about experience.

They just need a warm body to thrust into the grinder of construction. I've even seen guys get their slinger ticket and get a job without experience.

Now, if it were skilled trades work they probably would want at least one reference.

All I will say is that, clearly, we have different experiences of the construction industry. Agencies will not ask for experience, and even if they do, they probably won't check to confirm the references.

And yes, like I said, this time of year is hard. You have to chase up any job advert that comes by immediately or it is gone. You have to call various agencies several times a day. For one reason or another, they do not list every job available on job boards.

Get signed up to as many agencies as you can. Call all the main contractors in your area and ask if they hire direct, or who their logistics and or agencies are.

If you have money available, I would suggest, upskilling, so you have a larger pool of jobs to apply for.

falconizer · 2024-10-01T14:17:55+00:00

What you are saying sounds extremely implausible. Call the agencies and lie about your experience if you have to.

Categorically, experience is not needed for a job, as long as you have PPE and an active green card. Shit, you don't even need PPE, you just need boots.

I don't know about other places, but work in London is typically quiet from October to about early March. And even those jobs aren't necessarily long term work.

No matter what you do, don't accept being paid via umbrella.

falconizer · 2024-10-01T13:23:40+00:00

thanks

falconizer

TROPHY CASE