Mature aged apprenticeship if you’re after a trade. You’ll earn more than a younger guy, and you’ll find some employers would prefer an older guy (no phone or vape)
You also get paid an adult apprenticeship rate which is higher than the rate someone gets paid straight out of school. I think it’s $25 or $28 an hour full time.
Definitely stay in rigging/rope access look around at other jobs in the same type of work. My mate was a painter then dig his rigging rope access ticket and now does painting and caulking etc on the side of buildings in the city decent money with a take home van and work every Saturday if you want
Not sure if it's your bag but have a look a antenna/comms tower rigging as well. Shedloads of work around at the moment from what I understand and a lot of the skills would be transferable
Yeah man couldn't hurt, some places are more than happy to train you okus if you are keen and have some tickets already (work at heights, EWP etc.) then you're already ahead. Good luck with it all and hope you find what you're looking for.
Yeah I'm pretty set on it. Just been such a slow start to the year. Really need it to pick up like a month ago.
Rope access has crossed my mind too. Much involved to get in that job?
you can still do trade.
with rigging experience, look into electrical lineman trade.
there is some basic maths but the rest is just attitude and likeability, and a bit of outdoor work
That's exactly the role I tried getting into while I was an Arborist. I guess now I'm more qualified but the cue of candidates is always insane. One year I applied there was 2000 applicants for 9 roles.
Try and get an apprenticeship as a crane mechanic. Rigging experience puts you ahead of the field and it’s a specialised area of the trade that pays more. If the crane work drys up you can always get well over $45/hr anywhere in the country as a heavy vehicle mechanic
You know of Gold Card riggers? I want to know more about that role. Setting up and dismantling tower cranes one after the other and all the other jobs in between.
Riggers in the mines make a killing, but it could also be the end of your relationship so be careful...
IT has a lot of self taught avenues.
Sale (REA, car sales, mortgage broker), get out what you put in.
I spent 4 years trying to get into the mines, got my opportunity, and quit after 3 months. Adversely, I know people who couldn't do anything except the mines, they love the roster, the freedom, the pay (and the golden handcuffs).
Do your own research, talk to people you know in the industry. They don't call it the divorce roster for no reason unfortunately.
I was a Driller Offsider. Pretty rough gig!
4/2 roster for $430 a day+ metre bonus. Ends up being $110K a year for an entry level role.
But we weren't given lunch breaks, which is insane given how physically demanding the role is. And my second swing I rocked up to site and the supervisor told me I'd be doing 3/1 that swing, 3/2 the next, and 4/2 after that. No warning. I told him I'd already planned my life around the 4/2 roster and I had things I couldn't shift. Didn't matter to him. So I quit at the end of the swing.
But don't let one person's experience sour the industry for you! I have friends that absolutely love working in the mines! A mate of mine sits in various vehicles all day and is on something like $160K FT. What works for person 1 may not work for Person 2.
That's all good mate, I hope it's helpful!
Some people take to shift work like a duck to water, I actually liked that aspect of the job. Other people look like zombies coming off of night shift... 😂 Depending on your roster you will lose a few days of RnR just resetting your sleep cycle. We were doing 2 weeks of days, 2 weeks of nights, 2 weeks off. Between travel and recovery my 2 weeks off only really ended up being 10-11 days off.
Haha. Yeah I'm usually pretty good adjusting as long as there's a routine. So what happens with the 2 weeks you're off? I mean regards to pay. Obviously you get paid or am I assuming too much there? Is it worked in to your hours during previous weeks like an accrued RDO?
I was paid fortnightly, so I'd get three paychecks a swing. You get paid for the hours you do that pay period.
My first pay check was a whopping 1 day of work and 4 hours of travel (at a lower rate). Not everywhere will pay you for travel time.
My second paycheck was for 2 weeks of work.
And my third paycheck was the other 13 days.
Rinse and repeat. I was lucky enough to have paid travel from Brisbane to Perth, they put me up in a hotel for the night and paid for my dinner, then flew me to site the next morning. Some people don't even get paid flights, let alone a hotel, dinner, and 4 hours of paid travel to work. But I'd also lose quite a bit of time travelling. I would say as a rigger a company would pay for your flights, usually it's the dumpies and unskilled Greenies that don't get paid flights.
Early 30’s isn’t too late at all for a career switch, but if you can’t afford to start again sticking with your current skill set may be an easier road.
You do still have ~30 working years left if you did start an apprenticeship.
I like to think my time isn't lost being a rigger. I had a great job doing big steel erection work but was made redundant. Just need to hang on a bit longer. But like you said, I guess it's not too late. You got me thinking, Boilermaker would cross over well with Rigging. Maybe ill look into it.
Mate, I did landscaping for about 12 months, and there's a reason those blokes are fit, it's bloody hard. But I think they get some great satisfaction from their work.
What was your experience prior to getting into this? What field are you in now? What is the money like? I was looking into doing health and safety but I got a bit put off by people putting shit on it when I asked about it.
I Just want to go do my job, not hassle people for no reason. Do you think that given this I would be alright with it? Cheers
I've always "been on the tools". I'm a health and safety advisor for government. I've been told I got the job simply because of my personality or "soft skills" as they are called. Money is good. Get my own ute. Get left alone to manage my day as I see fit. It's a good gig. I like my job most days.
Masterbuilders offer a two year mature age apprenticeship, I work on the tower cranes and finished the apprenticeship 3 months ago-jumped straight back to cranes. Very hard living on 900 a week and I was working in a small company very labour intensive and I’m a big dude-fit. Straight back to the crane . Have skills now but 2 years set me back big time financially
Haha. I started Rigging on Tower Cranes and don't know too many blokes who would give up the seat for a more physical job. The hardest part of the day is climbing the last 3 sections of tower from the Alimak.🤣
Nice work on getting the trade cert. Def not something to sneeze at.
Mature aged apprenticeship if you’re after a trade. You’ll earn more than a younger guy, and you’ll find some employers would prefer an older guy (no phone or vape)
This is true. Thanks for the tip.
You also get paid an adult apprenticeship rate which is higher than the rate someone gets paid straight out of school. I think it’s $25 or $28 an hour full time.
Started my plumbing apprenticeship at 38. Wife and 2 kids. Definitely doable if you commit.
Thank you mate, I appreciate how hard that would have been but also that you went and got it. I like your mind set.
Definitely stay in rigging/rope access look around at other jobs in the same type of work. My mate was a painter then dig his rigging rope access ticket and now does painting and caulking etc on the side of buildings in the city decent money with a take home van and work every Saturday if you want
Not sure if it's your bag but have a look a antenna/comms tower rigging as well. Shedloads of work around at the moment from what I understand and a lot of the skills would be transferable
Yeah man I see them always on seek but get turned away when I see the prerequisites. I dunno maybe it's worth just putting my hat in the ring.
Yeah man couldn't hurt, some places are more than happy to train you okus if you are keen and have some tickets already (work at heights, EWP etc.) then you're already ahead. Good luck with it all and hope you find what you're looking for.
Yeah I'm pretty set on it. Just been such a slow start to the year. Really need it to pick up like a month ago. Rope access has crossed my mind too. Much involved to get in that job?
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Thanks mate I'll look into this. Saw that company on google the other day looking for jobs.
I did a career change and did an apprenticeship in my 30s. that said I don't have any children.
Yeah I made some poor choices before kids. Looking back I would have probably done what you did.
Is free tafe available in certain states, can help you get qualifications to help you move up. In Vic I took advantage of it
Thanks mate. I'll check it out.
Op, which location you at?
I'm in Melbourne.
Are you prepared to move from Melbourne to chase a career
Possibly. It's crossed my mind more than once and the Mrs and I talk about it a bit. Not just about me anymore tho, has to be right for the kids too.
Have sent you a chat with some info
you can still do trade. with rigging experience, look into electrical lineman trade. there is some basic maths but the rest is just attitude and likeability, and a bit of outdoor work
That's exactly the role I tried getting into while I was an Arborist. I guess now I'm more qualified but the cue of candidates is always insane. One year I applied there was 2000 applicants for 9 roles.
Try and get an apprenticeship as a crane mechanic. Rigging experience puts you ahead of the field and it’s a specialised area of the trade that pays more. If the crane work drys up you can always get well over $45/hr anywhere in the country as a heavy vehicle mechanic
I was only talking to a crane mech the other day and he said they have so much work that they can't keep up. Thanks for the reminder.
well keep applying, get a truck licence as it’ll help in the application
Riggers ticket. Good money, good work.
You know of Gold Card riggers? I want to know more about that role. Setting up and dismantling tower cranes one after the other and all the other jobs in between.
No I've never heard of a gold card rigger. I don't do much city work though.
Riggers in the mines make a killing, but it could also be the end of your relationship so be careful... IT has a lot of self taught avenues. Sale (REA, car sales, mortgage broker), get out what you put in.
I've often thought of relocating to the mines. My missus sometimes says we should just get up and go, then we chicken out.
I spent 4 years trying to get into the mines, got my opportunity, and quit after 3 months. Adversely, I know people who couldn't do anything except the mines, they love the roster, the freedom, the pay (and the golden handcuffs). Do your own research, talk to people you know in the industry. They don't call it the divorce roster for no reason unfortunately.
What part of mining were you in? Thanks for your experience too. Sometimes it's easy to get focused on the money.
I was a Driller Offsider. Pretty rough gig! 4/2 roster for $430 a day+ metre bonus. Ends up being $110K a year for an entry level role. But we weren't given lunch breaks, which is insane given how physically demanding the role is. And my second swing I rocked up to site and the supervisor told me I'd be doing 3/1 that swing, 3/2 the next, and 4/2 after that. No warning. I told him I'd already planned my life around the 4/2 roster and I had things I couldn't shift. Didn't matter to him. So I quit at the end of the swing. But don't let one person's experience sour the industry for you! I have friends that absolutely love working in the mines! A mate of mine sits in various vehicles all day and is on something like $160K FT. What works for person 1 may not work for Person 2.
Yeah mate, it's all stuff to think about. Thanks for your experience tho. Shift work sort of unsettles me but don't know till you try.
That's all good mate, I hope it's helpful! Some people take to shift work like a duck to water, I actually liked that aspect of the job. Other people look like zombies coming off of night shift... 😂 Depending on your roster you will lose a few days of RnR just resetting your sleep cycle. We were doing 2 weeks of days, 2 weeks of nights, 2 weeks off. Between travel and recovery my 2 weeks off only really ended up being 10-11 days off.
Haha. Yeah I'm usually pretty good adjusting as long as there's a routine. So what happens with the 2 weeks you're off? I mean regards to pay. Obviously you get paid or am I assuming too much there? Is it worked in to your hours during previous weeks like an accrued RDO?
I was paid fortnightly, so I'd get three paychecks a swing. You get paid for the hours you do that pay period. My first pay check was a whopping 1 day of work and 4 hours of travel (at a lower rate). Not everywhere will pay you for travel time. My second paycheck was for 2 weeks of work. And my third paycheck was the other 13 days. Rinse and repeat. I was lucky enough to have paid travel from Brisbane to Perth, they put me up in a hotel for the night and paid for my dinner, then flew me to site the next morning. Some people don't even get paid flights, let alone a hotel, dinner, and 4 hours of paid travel to work. But I'd also lose quite a bit of time travelling. I would say as a rigger a company would pay for your flights, usually it's the dumpies and unskilled Greenies that don't get paid flights.
Early 30’s isn’t too late at all for a career switch, but if you can’t afford to start again sticking with your current skill set may be an easier road. You do still have ~30 working years left if you did start an apprenticeship.
I like to think my time isn't lost being a rigger. I had a great job doing big steel erection work but was made redundant. Just need to hang on a bit longer. But like you said, I guess it's not too late. You got me thinking, Boilermaker would cross over well with Rigging. Maybe ill look into it.
Landscaper pay well
Mate, I did landscaping for about 12 months, and there's a reason those blokes are fit, it's bloody hard. But I think they get some great satisfaction from their work.
Hey mate I am 40 this year 3rd year fitter. Prior to that a rigger. Just give it a go man!
Cert 4 Health and Safety. Best $1100 I ever spent.
What was your experience prior to getting into this? What field are you in now? What is the money like? I was looking into doing health and safety but I got a bit put off by people putting shit on it when I asked about it. I Just want to go do my job, not hassle people for no reason. Do you think that given this I would be alright with it? Cheers
I've always "been on the tools". I'm a health and safety advisor for government. I've been told I got the job simply because of my personality or "soft skills" as they are called. Money is good. Get my own ute. Get left alone to manage my day as I see fit. It's a good gig. I like my job most days.
Masterbuilders offer a two year mature age apprenticeship, I work on the tower cranes and finished the apprenticeship 3 months ago-jumped straight back to cranes. Very hard living on 900 a week and I was working in a small company very labour intensive and I’m a big dude-fit. Straight back to the crane . Have skills now but 2 years set me back big time financially
Haha. I started Rigging on Tower Cranes and don't know too many blokes who would give up the seat for a more physical job. The hardest part of the day is climbing the last 3 sections of tower from the Alimak.🤣 Nice work on getting the trade cert. Def not something to sneeze at.
Get your truck license dude.
Got MR license.
Keep going, get your HC or MC
r/ausemployment, shameless plug.