Plumbing training article - How much can qualified Plumbers earn?

The fact is that even if you have the right plumbing qualifications and there are a great many of them, that does not necessarily mean that you will get a job. Why not? Isn't there still a shortage of plumbers? Haven't we all seen articles such as 'Tried to get hold of a plumber lately?

To answer these questions let's take a quick look at the University system in the UK. Every year we see lots of young happy and smiling faces at results time. 'I've got 8 A's' shrieks one youngster, 'I've got nine' shrieks another. The older generation look on and shake their heads in bewilderment while reflecting on how difficult it was to get even a couple of grade A's in the old days.

Has it got easier? Well, with great respect to the hard working students of today, I would have to say probably! Just because you work hard that does not mean that you should end up with a fist full of grade A's. In my day we all worked hard too but the national results were nowhere near as good as they are these days. I remember struggling with differential calculus and quadratic equations but most maths students these days don't even know what calculus is and neither calculus nor quadratic equations are even on the maths 'A' level curriculum!

The facts are that schools have targets to meet, teachers have targets to meet and it all revolves around money. If a school does not meet its target, the school does not get its funding, if pupils do not make the grade, it's likely that their teacher will not get a salary increase. The government wants more people in university so they don't have to include them in unemployment statistics and they don't have to pay them unemployment benefits. Does that sound cynical? Perhaps it does, but I think it's also realistic.

Nobody would argue against having a well educated population but I cannot help being more than a little cynical about such consistently outstanding performance from our youngsters. The problem is they are all so good that we cannot tell them apart. Who do you choose for Oxbridge if 10,000 people all have 8 grade A's?

Anyway, I digress – but only a little! The upshot of having all these well qualified students is that more and more of them are going to the universities who are rubbing their hands with glee; more students equals more money – simple as that! That also means that every year there are thousands upon thousands of students who graduate from universities with degrees.

Sadly however, this does not mean that they will all get jobs. It is simply not enough to have qualifications – even if they are the right qualifications! As with every job vacancy, you need to have the right qualifications simply as a starting point. Having gained the qualifications, you then need to begin the often arduous task of applying for jobs, having interviews and hopefully, finally being offered the job.

It is unfortunate that many people with the right qualifications often struggle to find employment because for a variety of reasons which are often no fault of their own, they may not perform well in interview; that is just a sad fact of life.

Assuming you have been fortunate enough to have been offered a job how much can you expect to earn? Well forget about £100,000 a year and think more about the statistical average for an employed plumber which is around £28,000 per year. Even this can vary enormously depending upon the geographical area in which you work. Unsurprisingly, the south east of England offers the best rates, however this can be easily offset by the higher cost of living. If you're working and living inside the M25 or perish the thought, in central London £28,000 is just not going to be enough to make ends meet!

You can also expect many companies to start you on a lower wage while they assess your contribution to their business so around £22,000 initially would not be uncommon.

Most people will find the life of a plumber stimulating, enjoyable and financially rewarding as well as satisfying the need to be able to actually see what they have done so that they can give themselves a pat on the back.

What about self-employment, isn't that where the money really is?

Well that depends. It is absolutely certain that as a self-employed plumber you can earn far more than your employed counterpart and well in excess of £40,000 is achievable but there is a but!

You need to be a particular type of person to be self-employed. You need to be self-motivated with the drive to build your business. With no one telling you what to do, you need to have the strength of character to get up and get to work at a reasonable hour every working day and you will need to take personal responsibility for how you look, how you behave and the work that you do.

There are few things more rewarding than running your own business; being your own boss is just one of them. The prospect of building a business can be exciting and taking on your first employee more exciting still. The first one is the hardest but after that it becomes easier!

Every single plumbing business was started by somebody and no matter how big they are or how famous they are, there was a time when they never even existed.

Get out there and give it a go yourself; the worst thing that can happen is that you end up working for someone else. The best thing that can happen is that your £40,000 per year becomes £40,000 per month – see you in Hawaii!

Article by a Student of Life and Plumbing - 2010