Re: should i take the job?
 

2 months???? christ, it used to be 2 weeks,if you where lucky :)

which area/Franchise are you going to be in??

Screwfix are probably cheaper than Cobra!

Re: should i take the job?
 

its for the blackburn branch and surrounding area and its working for cobra.thanks ill try screwfix.

Re: should i take the job?
 

i had the same question to answer last year a friend got on two weeks before me and told me not to do it so i would say no. The problem being no matter how long your doing the job you get paid the same.

Re: should i take the job?
 

When I started with NTL as a Install/Repair Technician back in 88,the training was 3 month's (practical & on-the-job) & in total over the years,I'd say I've done around 6 months training in total.

Re: should i take the job?
 

Maybe you could ask them if you could go out with an Engineer for a day before you start? :handshake

Re: should i take the job?
 

Dont get involved in a job such as this which involves piecework. What will you do during quiet periods? get paid nothing?. Also piece work genrally equals rush rush,crap jobs. It seems to be that the modern trend is to hire people who cart toolbags on piecework rates now. Its yet another exploitation of tradespeople. If they cant afford to resource and pay the operation properly then the job isnt worth doing. Maybe they can get some Polish engineers to do it,it the same way that the country is supposed to be awash with Polish plumbers. Funny that we never hear about Polish lawyers,doctors,dentists,estate agents though isnt it? Oh no,the exploitation and job fear factor is only to be applied to the manual classes,not the so called professionals. Dont do it mate.

Re: should i take the job?
 

that could be an idea.i will speak to the blackburn branch tomorrow see what they can do for me.the job isnt my main cocern as i will enjoy it.the problem i have is the pieace work the money im on now is quite good so i dont want to start this job if im not taking home as much or more as i am now.

if there are any installation engineers out there reading this please post or pm me with your advice.

4 days untill i have to hand in my notice:confused:

---------- Post added at 17:05 ---------- Previous post was at 16:59 ----------

that is a question i asked them at my interview.they said that thay are busy 365 days.which i find a bit hard to beleive myself.

should we not be earning a basic then pieace work on top of that just incase they do hit a quiet period?

Re: should i take the job?
 

hi
i worked for cobra installations in whitefield installing for ntl i left at christmas thank god after training the the wages are a joke i was working 10 hours a day and was lucky to earn 40 quid a day the managment are muppets you are not intrested in any problems you may have i stuck it for 8 months by far the worst job i ever had. don't do it m8

Re: should i take the job?
 

hmmm i was intrested in this sort of work, live in accrington just next to blackburn but think i'll not bother now lol. Wanted a job at ntl or bt since i did telecoms at college what a waste of time...

Re: should i take the job?
 

Speaking to some of our installers (MAP Electrical), the wages can be bad, but if you get good then you can earn a reasonable amount, most of them round our way start at 7:30 ish and generally get done by 4pm though there's usually extra jobs that can be picked up from the lazier bodies.

A shortage of work isn't very likely especially as the sales teams are being increased in size.
As long as you do the job properly and don't cause any grief, try to bend rules etc. you generally get your work first thing in the morning and are then left to get on with it.
No two days are the same, and your always meeting new people.

Downsides,

The supervisors and managers can be unpleasant at times (in fact if I was being spoken to the way that I overheard the other day I'd have twatted the bugger and told him were to stick his job) as they tend to treat all the workforce the same and some of the lads need an awful lot of jumping on :(
Hard work to make a decent wage.
Out in all weathers.
Limited scope for sick & holiday pay.
Pay for your own tools but this is not really any different to most tradesmen, and isn't normally taken in one go but over a period of months.

TBH if your already on piece work then that side of it shouldn't bother you so the only real choice is going to be can you put up with the other downsides.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time as an installer, though admittedly it was a long time ago and in-house for one of the smaller companies that were snaffled up.

Re: should i take the job?
 

Did you take this offer up?

Re: should i take the job?
 

i have thought long and hard and decided not to take the job.i have a interview with sky next week simalar job but better pay,better perks and no tools to buy everything is supplied and its not piece work,£1 6,000+bonus.

thanks to everyone who posted there advice and comments much appreciated:)

Re: should i take the job?
 

Ah, well good luck with the Sky job there :) Looks a lot better than the on you've turned down.

Re: should i take the job?
 

good luck with they sky 1. have u had ur fone interview yet. i had my assesment for them last week and know waiting and the perks u get are VERY good.

if there is anything u wanna now about the assesment then just ask and i'll see what i can remember for you

iain

Re: should i take the job?
 

i recieved my letter thursday rang the recruitment line straight away to tell them i am interested they said someone will contact me for a telephone interview sometime today or tomorrow.can you tell me what to expect for the assesment.