Am i too old for an apprenticeship?

Zairs

Zairs

Zairs

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Im 31 years old male, basically throughout most of my life ive gone for crap jobs just to get money on the table and keep the household running, now ive reached the age where i need to get my future set because otherwise im going to end up on the scrap heap & in a dead end job that I hate. I have recently gone through a lot of life changes and a big relocation. its hit me recently that i cant wait any longer, and im in a good position to get into something long term.
I am a hard worker and reliable, but realistically, what are my chances or options?
 
Yep i looked into this for a bit a while back as a way into IT and even spoke directly to an employer advertising.

Its basically subsidized cheap labour for most of the people offering them.

Dread to think where id be now if they said yes. :P lol
 
anticonscience said:
Sadly for the government apprenticeships, yes.

The age for government backed ones is 16-24.
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You are wrong, age restrictions have been removed from government apprenticeships for a good few years now.

Where I worked we have had an apprenticeship scheme for some time now. 2 years ago we had someone join aged 38. So in answer to the OP no you are not too old.
 
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Youre only as old as the man you feel, OP.

If there is a chance you can learn a new skill, better yourself and the lives of you and your family then i wish you the best of luck
 
Adsta said:
You are wrong, age restrictions have been removed from government apprenticeships for a good few years now.

Where I worked we have had an apprenticeship scheme for some time now. 2 years ago we had someone join aged 38. So in answer to the OP no you are not too old.
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They may have been - but if you are 16 then the employer gets many more rewards for taking you on, they also do not need to pay for the education (if you also have to go to college, training courses etc) If you are over 18 then all that changes.
So the employers looking to take on cheap labour will pick an under 18 year old.
That doesn't mean it's impossible to get an apprenticeship.
 
Adsta said:
You are wrong, age restrictions have been removed from government apprenticeships for a good few years now.

Where I worked we have had an apprenticeship scheme for some time now. 2 years ago we had someone join aged 38. So in answer to the OP no you are not too old.
Click to expand...

it might be the case but the employer gets less subsidy so in reality very few take anyone older.

beaten like an unemployed ginger school leaver

Funding for training apprentices
Employers can also apply for funding to cover training costs for apprentices. This is paid directly to the organisation that provides and supports the apprenticeship - in most cases the learning provider.

The amount depends on their sector and the age of the candidate:

aged 16 to 18 - 100% of cost paid
aged 19 to 24 - 50% of cost paid
25 years and older - employers may only get a contribution < good luck
 
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tom_e said:
The question is can you survive on under £3ph for your first year?
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I was on £2.70 an hour. I also had to pay for my travel to work (which wasn't a problem) and my travel to my college, which was in London. I had to spend about 12 weeks of the year (a week a month) in London. The week train fare was £5 less than my week pay.

I had to leave a month before the end because of problems with the academy board and my employer. Luckily I got most of the qualifications. At least I'm now in a job I love.
 
dan958 said:
They may have been - but if you are 16 then the employer gets many more rewards for taking you on, they also do not need to pay for the education (if you also have to go to college, training courses etc) If you are over 18 then all that changes.
So the employers looking to take on cheap labour will pick an under 18 year old.
That doesn't mean it's impossible to get an apprenticeship.
Click to expand...

oh yea don't get me wrong, they prob still would prefer younger people :p I was merely pointing out that there is no age restrictions to government apprenticeship schemes.
 
You don't necessarily have to do Government backed/funded ones either. When I was looking at changing my career path (something I may have to look into again) I was looking at the energy companies, telecommunications, automotive and airspace industries. Some of them needed more requirements than others and not every company had something to offer but there were options available.

My brother currently works for British Gas as a Smart Meter Engineer (Engineer used very loosely here :p). His training was paid for by them (£14k whilst training) and went up to £21k once he'd finished his training which if I remember correctly took him around 18 months in all.

When I was looking I was mainly interested in what EDF and Eon had to offer which was based on Nuclear Power plants offering a few different roles and locations. Similar wage to begin with to what my brother received and if I remember correctly a bit more when training was done but one option did take around 3-4 years I think.

You could also look into National Rail too, they do apprenticeships and have no upper age limit and many options such as track maintenance and signalling to name a couple.
 
OP, depending on what it is your want to do in life, maybe an apprenticeship is not the best course of action, learn from home courses or night school could be a better option.
 
How good are you at college work?
Because with a bit of studying you can call yourself whatever you like, an apprenticeship isn't the only gateway to a trade.

You can also buy a franchise or a list of customers from someone retiring and set yourself up that way. If you like working hard then being self employed would be ideal.
Like glazing, takes a while to learn and be fast but you are not going to learn a great deal more by watching some other guy do it for six months.
 
I was working as a landscape gardener, and have a job offer to do ground maintenance, but I really dont want to do it long term (or at all to be honest)
I did get an interview to be an electrical tech, fixing all electrical goods for an insurance company which Id of loved and thought out of the 4 in the group interview was was the second most likely to get a job offer and there was more than 1 job. The only other reason i could think of was my age.

Maybe i should be looking at different options?
 
Company I work for have took on apprentices aged 16 to 30+ one guy was 50 who had an apprenticeship.

Started on 11k and after a year I'm on 13k once the apprenticeship is done I go onto a development role on 19k for 9 months and then up to full pay of about 23k.

Your never too old, if anything your age will give you an advantage of being more mature than others.
If you want details of my apprenticeship then Just let me know, the job is in electrical distribution.
 
Something Else said:
Company I work for have took on apprentices aged 16 to 30+ one guy was 50 who had an apprenticeship.

Started on 11k and after a year I'm on 13k once the apprenticeship is done I go onto a development role on 19k for 9 months and then up to full pay of about 23k.

Your never too old, if anything your age will give you an advantage of being more mature than others.
If you want details of my apprenticeship then Just let me know, the job is in electrical distribution.
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yes please :D
 
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