CSCS card

[me]

Good luck with your CSSC mate . Ive worked on sites for over 30yrs and am still on sites .
A reason an agency pays what is a good wage for a labourer is you might only get 1 days work a week , the agency is just there to supply on demand , so if a site needs an extra labourer tomorrow they will ask the agency for what they want and the agency will fill that request .
Agencies just need people to be on call for them and will do what they can to fill the sites request and to do this they will hide the truth, if its a days work that is on offer , they will tell you its a weeks work and the first you find out its only a day id when you get there , another thing is they will use any one to fill a vacancy if they dont have enough of the right type of people ie a site as asked for a painter, but the agency dont have a spare painter on their books at the time so they will send a labourer who cant do the job hes been snt to to .

On site a louber is just that , you will be expected to sweep up, clean up and fetch and carry, very few actually mange to do any trade work . Advice i will give you is get on with the site agent as it them who decide who they want as labourers . If you get on with them and prove you are an asset to them and worth keeping they will keep you and even when they have no more work for you they will keep your name and next time they need a labourer they will ask the agency for you by name .

As for cards i wouldnt bother , they arent cheap and only have a life of 3 to5 years and if the cards not going to to earn you its money back its a waste of money . A banks man card is worth while as it opens your labouring opions up to general labourer, labourer/ banksman, labourer / gate man ect . I wouldnt worry about the first aid one as all sites have the legal number of first aiders / fire marshalls ect for the number of people on their site that are the companies employees ie site manager, assistant site managers ect ect

 

[Dave]

Another tip is if you're fetching, don't go back empty handed.

There's usually some rubbish lying around, pick it up and take it out with you if you're passing it. You'd be surprised how many people don't, no one says owt, but the times you do it gets noticed

 

[danny_glover09]

I started work on Tuesday on a site in Manchester city centre. Agency work but they want me in all next week aswell. Seem to be getting on fine with everybody and got a days overtime on Saturday.

Thank you to everyone that replied. I took it all in.

 

[pies]

Good luck

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

Sorry, I missed the original post in December so a bit late in replying.

If, big if, you are serious about wanting to get a trade and are in a position and mindset to be able to do it then consider joining the army, Royal Engineers. They need and train every trade imaginable. Training is the best and the pay is good.

My son joined just before his 18th birthday. Chose to train as a diesel and hydraulics fitter. Unfortunately due to a knee injury (football) he had to be medically discharged a year and a half ago. The day he left was the day he started his first civilian job. Made redundant due to Covid last year he found a new job with much better pay within four weeks and is still getting job offers from agencies even though his current one looks solid.

In his fifteen year he worked on M3 bridging rigs* in Germany for five years then joined the water well drilling and supply section. His current job is with a company supplying and maintaining drilling rigs. In his time he got to see Sierra Leone, Kenya, Gibraltar & Cyprus and various sites around the UK.

* M3 rigs - to se what they do watch this.