The Mick and Dave Show Its Silly Season again for the colleges

🎙️ THE PLASTERERS PODCAST – THE MICK & DAVE SHOW

🚨 IT’S SILLY SEASON AGAIN FOR THE COLLEGES! 🚨

That time of year is nearly here…

Colleges are enrolling thousands of students for September — and suddenly realise they need lecturers to teach them!

That’s when the emails start flying and the agencies start looking for experienced tradesmen and women who might fancy swapping the tools for the classroom.

👷‍♂️ Thinking about getting off the tools?
🎓 Ever considered becoming a lecturer or trainer?

Now can be one of the best times of the year to make that move.

Depending on your trade, experience and qualifications, there may be opportunities available — and some vocational teaching roles can also attract government-funded incentives.

Mick and Dave have both made that journey from trowel to teacher, so in this episode we talk about what really happens during the college recruitment “silly season” and what you should know before taking the plunge.

🎧 Have a listen to “It’s Silly Season Again for the Colleges”

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2532392/episodes/19627830-the-plasterers-podcast-the-mick-and-dave-show-its-silly-season-again-for-the-colleges.mp3?download=true

Know a tradesman or tradeswoman who'd make a great teacher? TAG THEM! 👇

🎙️ The Plasterers Podcast – The Mick & Dave Show
From the tools to the classroom — we've been there.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Hey, Mick.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Hello, yeah. I'm not free bad yourself.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yeah, good. You know. Today's podcast. I think we need to talk about silly season and what are we season? What are silly seasons all about? You are up for that one.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

That sounds like a plan. I know we did touch, we have touched on it before, but I think if we go a little bit deeper, it might be a a bit of an insight for a few people.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Okay. Right. Okay, so silly season. Yeah, this time of year, colleges student teachers starting coming back after summer holiday, and what they're focusing on is getting students on board. You know, realistically, they don't give a fucking fuck how many they get on board. They just want bums on seats. And what they'll do is they gather a big enrolment day, and on enrolment day, if you're breathing, you're basically on a course, it's top and bottom of that. But you agree with that, whatever. You're laughing, aren't you? You know, you know a lot unfortunately go on.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Unfortunately, yeah, is some of that is actually quite true.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

It's all bloody quite true. It's all quite true. And unfortunately, plastering, we you know, lads who aren't academic end up on plastering courses, they keep throwing, you know, throwing us on, and they don't all want to be plasters. Some might want to be joining us or something, but they tend to throw them in our way. So, what then happens, you get a load of students signed on your courses, and all of a sudden your program leaders start dishing out like lessons and classrooms and one thing, and all of a sudden they realize, hey hope, we've got enough teachers.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

And this timetable comes out, and um, there's classes that can't be covered.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

There's classes that can't be covered, and that's why it's called silly shit. Because if you've ever uploaded a CV, the CV library showed any type of interest whatsoever on getting to teaching, guess what? You're going to be inundated with oh god knows how many bloody agencies offering you all kinds of money and all kinds of jobs. You don't give us well.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

You even get them when you've got a job.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Yeah, yeah, no, I even get them retired. I've been retired techniques, you still fucking get them. And you know, I'd be the nickname. I live in in northwest England, and I've been offered jobs in north east England 200 miles away, and we'll supply you with accommodation. I don't want to fucking go up there. Come with it. Why would I do that at my age? So, what do you reckon to silly season, mate? What's your opinion on it?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Well, silly season basically, it's it's a catch 22, isn't it? Because sometimes you get how can I put this politely? Well don't you get people coming that no, I've got to do it semi-politely. Yeah, you get people that come in that say that they can plaster and actually can't.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

You mean by that? People coming for gym jobs, right? Okay, fair gone.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah. You'll get people that all say they can do XYZ. They probably can out in out in the what we call the real world, but coming into an education environment, they can't. Because everything you you do has got to be by the book. And most of the people that come in don't do things by the book. No, you're right, so it becomes a bit of a nightmare, and it's even worse when you've actually got to sit on the panel of somebody that's being interviewed, yeah. Because it's a nervous thing at the best of times going for an interview, but then going for an interview in front of a class of students is even worse.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah, it's even worse when you've ever done any teaching whatsoever, and all of a sudden you've applied for this job, yeah, and they're going to interview you, and like Mick says, there'll be a panel of people, probably three or four managers on one thing or another, and what they'll do, they'll bring uh you know about 10 students in or something like that, they'll give you a learning outcome, you'll get that before you know, before your interview, hopefully. And guess what? You've got to teach that, you'll give like a 15-minute micro teach where you've got to deliver that subject. And again, you're pudding, because you've got one, you've been working on a building site probably all your life.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Yep. Exactly. One it's a hard, I can't decide what's the worst situation to be in. Actually, actually go in for the interview yourself, or actually sitting on the panel for the interview.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Um I'm not on the book.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

The both are sort of very similar. Yeah, I've never sat on that panel.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Yeah, he was like you're stood there, and you're basically picking the guy's brain as to if he knows what he's actually doing.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Because you've got to block the nervous bit out of it. Yeah. And that's the that's the scary bit because it's like you're stood there and you feel really sorry for this guy who's doing it, or female, let's not be sexist.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

It's and you've got to be very careful not to let like their nerves affect you as you're making a lot of like a decision, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

So yeah, I've had to do it a few times now, and it's uh I'd I'd class it as bad as going for the interview. Really?

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Oh yeah. Yeah, I've got well.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

If you look, you see you think about it, it's like when you're somebody comes in from scratch, they're a nervous wreck. Yeah, so anything that they do, you can physically see the nerves, yeah, the hands are shaking and everything. The voices are uh are quivering all over the place. Oh, terrible, and it's yeah, and you you actually get to the stage where you start you're actually feeling sorry for them, yeah. Which is what you shouldn't do. You're gonna be looking at that person on their merits, yeah, the knowledge, and what they can physic physically do, if you will. So that's a bit of a nightmare.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Can you answer me this question, Mick? So so you've had a plaster there, and he said, Yeah, yeah, I've been in two, I've been on plastering, I've been to last 20, 30 years, I know everything. Bring it on. And what are you gonna say to that?

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Time to start again, kid. You are time to start again. It's time to start again, because over that 20, 30 years, you've developed habits that you can't use in a college. Such as you can't cut, you can't cut a plasterboard with a tape and a knife in a college. Because yeah, yeah, it accident waiting to happen, and as soon as that kid slices his finger open, you're writing accident reports. Why has he done that? It's usually your fault because you've let him do it. It's always your fault, and yeah, and you've got to be aware of every possible hazard that's there. Whereas we all know, yeah, that we need to plaster a stairwell wall. Well, let's be honest, the ladder goes against a bulkhead, plank goes across onto an op-up, yeah, and off you trot.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Yeah, you can't do that in a college, and all we don't fall off, yeah. Exactly. Yeah, and pray that the plank's nice and flat and no wobble on it. Yeah, but then things can't be done. So it is, it's it's crazy because it's like the big one at the minute that all the agencies are screaming out for is multi-skills.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Can I just tell you that anyone who can stop you? Can you just explain what multi-skills is? What that will involve.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Well, basically, multi-skills, you do a you do a bit of brickwork, you do a bit of joinery, you do a bit of plumbing, you can do a bit of electrical, you can do a bit of plastering. It's basically all the trades rolled into one course.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Most of the lads that go in, well, most lads that go into teaching have got one trade behind them.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Yeah. So nine times out of ten, people think, oh, well, if I do the multi-skills course, yeah, then I can move into the area I want to go into. Doesn't always work. Because if you suddenly become very good at teaching a multi-skills course, they're not going to move you into a plastering course, you're going to stay with multi-skills. And as crazy as it sounds, for the last I'd say two, three years, a lot of a lot of the teaching jobs that are coming up are for multi-skills.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

And it's basically because nobody wants to do it.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

So you're getting more you're getting more job opportunities to teach multi-skills than trade specific, like trade specifically. Yeah, basically. So would the college, you know, all right, plasters are multiple, they are multi-skilled to a degree. You walk into a room, and oh, I need a bit of joinery there, and a few blocks put in all there, whatever. So you get a general idea, a bit of joinery and a bit of brickwork. Would you say that would be enough to teach that qualification? Them little bits and not really.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Not really. Not really. No. You could go you could go in and probably get by. But who wants to go in and get by?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

You're putting yourself under pressure by doing that.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Yeah. You're basically leaving yourself wide open to be shot at. So, and you don't want to be doing that.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Okay, I'm gonna stop you getting it. Who's gonna shoot at you? Is it the other teachers or is it the students?

SPEAKER_00 12:05

It's gonna be a bit of both.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Really? To be fair. Right, okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Most definitely, if you come across an area that you know you're not very strong in, the kids are gonna pick up on that straight away.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

The other tutors are then gonna start looking and thinking, shit, why have they employed him if you can't do that?

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Yeah, why have they put him on that course? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Yeah. Yeah. So it's it's one of them, it's one of them courses and jobs that if we're brutally honest, it's usually the last course to fill up in any college, construction-wise.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

What's how the multi-skill?

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Basically, yeah, the multi-skill. But it does have its benefits. I can't come completely condone it. It's handy for the lads that don't know what they want to do, but they want to do construction, they know that themselves. They just don't know which trade they want to go into. So that's handy for them lads because it gives them a taste of like every trade.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Sounds pretty good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

So that could be quite helpful.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Yeah, it sounds pretty good. So if you were like an employee as a multi-skill teacher, so you okay, you mean Plassing, jobs coming your way. Stop teaching Plasson, so the agency's probably gonna say to you, yeah, you have a job here coming up, it's multi-skills, but you'll be alright, you should be alright. John Smith is saying for interview, you know what I mean, and obviously, agency is gonna sell it because guess what? They need they want they want you on your book, they want their commission off it. They want the commission. But it's not the agency who's gonna stand in front of the students.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

No, it's not, it's you, it's the person that's gone there to apply for it.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Yeah, apply for it.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

See what they tend to do, what I've seen recently is they'll put in an advert for a multi-schools tutor, but they'll put at the side of it sort of joinery specific or plaster specific. Right, and that's where the area gets a little bit grey because people look at it and think, oh, I'm just teaching multi-schools plastering. Yeah, no, you're not, no, you're teaching the whole course, yeah. Yeah, it's it's one of them where you couldn't split the multi-skill group up to do all the separate trades in them trade areas because you won't have enough teachers.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Right, I didn't quite understand that. Can you say that can you say that again? I didn't quite get it get all that. So you you well you've like different jump.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

You couldn't take the group of multi-skilled students and then filter them in to joinery for a couple of weeks, then to plaster for a couple of weeks, or to brick for a few weeks, because the lads that are already teaching them subjects are fully timetabled up. Fully timetabled up. So they'd have to bring in another tutor for each trade specific area. So they won't do that. What they'll do is they'll keep it as a multi-skills group and have a tutor to teach all the trades.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

So basically, it's you you you're not careful, you don't feel really really competent at doing multi-skills, keep away. Do you multi-skills is it purely practical, or do they have classroom sessions as well?

SPEAKER_00 15:47

They do have classroom sessions, but they're not as intense as if you were picking a specific trade. No, it can't be it's like yeah, they'll they'll have a set of job knowledge questions for each unit, right? Okay, which aren't to be brutally honest, you could probably answer most of them yourself.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yeah, it's not that in-depth.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Ver cool, per call.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

So I think the the main point of the multi-skills being set up was for what we call the entry kids, you know, the kids with really low qualifications and the likes of.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Yeah, yeah. So it does sound good from a student point of view, really good, where you know, you're 16 or whatever you weren't really good in school. Not many people have been, and you've gone to a college where you'll put you on multi-skill, so you you've got like is it like a 12-month course, uh a nine-month course?

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Yeah, they couldn't run, yeah, they can run them over 12 months, run over 12 months, and they've started doing a level, a level one multi-school and a level two now.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

All right, at least they could go around checking each one, find out whether they're like that. Would it be from a student's point of view? You've done your multi-school, will it be automatic enrolment onto like a first-year plastering course afterwards? Would they be able to jump onto that? It can be, it can be a good preparation.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yeah, it can be. Yeah, yeah, good. So it's it's a good it's a good way for breaking into it, yeah. If you if that that certain certain learner hasn't got the required entry level requirements, but yeah, for the for our trade course, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Yeah, right. So bit so from a student point of view, it's a good course. If I was now, it is, I didn't know what to do, I'll go on multi-skills, definitely. Then I can go around 12 months, bit of joinery, bit of brick, bit of plastic, whatever, and then I like that, I don't like that. From a teaching point of view, it's a total different ball game. From a teaching point of view, it's a it's an unless you you're really 100% competent to teach people, you know, at that, you know, them multi-skills, each of those trades, you're opening a bag of worms, aren't you? Really, you know, yeah, massively.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Yeah, massively. The ideal ideal candidate for a job for a job in multi-skills is somebody who's like a handyman that does a bit of everything.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Oh, that's a good point.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Because yeah, then they they've then got the skills for doing that. Yeah, do you know what I mean? And then it's just a case of teaching teaching them to teach, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Yeah, no, that that that's very, very good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Yeah, like maybe I thought that'd be the ideal.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

And also a progression route for if you had that, would be like into a caretaking job from a you know, a student point of view, you know what I mean? And if we did that type of qualification, it'd be well, yeah, ideal, you know, ideal for like a caretaking position later on in maintenance at the factories or wherever, where you can, you know, where you need a multi-filled, you know, you need a variety of skills, don't you? You know, put a window in here and change a tap washer and various jobs like that, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Well, I'm just trying to think, it was 15-20 years ago. If there was a building firm taking taking on in the south of England, they wanted people that were multi-skilled. They didn't just want somebody that had one trade.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

Because their argument was you were more employable if you could do more.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Well, yeah, yeah, fair call.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yeah, which kind of made sense, but but then if we go back to old school and I always remember my dad always used to say to me, Oh, him over there is a jack of all trades. Yeah, yeah, that's yeah, and which basically meant he could do a bit of everything, but it wasn't good at all, any of them.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

No, no. Well, and then it does not apply, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Yeah, it's it's just one of one of it's one of them things, but it's a lot a lot of the adverts at the minute are coming out for multi-school jobs.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

So it's in not so many trade specifics yet.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Or will you think not at the moment, but I dare say it'll start to cr come in over the next week or two. Yeah, normally are back, I think, next week.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

When the tutors are back in. So it's that's when they've usually started to get the numbers together and they know what's going where. Because they've usually got a pot of numbers before they send out the letters to come in for enrolment. That's correct. So it'll be an in an interesting time. Yeah. So it's always come on. Yeah, that's why we tell it to me when it comes. That's why I would call it. It's always quite fun when it comes around. Yeah, that's why it's quite quite fun when it comes around to enrolment day as well.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Because on paper, you've probably got 25. What you'll tend to find is 30 odd will turn up.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Yeah. Well, you'll find he comes with his mate, me and me and my mate are one of the pastors, and me and my mate want to be brickies and something like that. And you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

They've just and that's and that's when silly season really starts.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

That's when silly season really starts. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

You you'll find the the colleges, most of the colleges these days tend to go through recruitment agencies for for staff. So that would be the first port of call because the recruitment agencies can do it quicker than what the colleges can. They can get somebody to them within a week or so.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Whereas the college you've got to put the advert out, and the advert's got to be out for I think it's a minimum of two weeks now, innit, if not more.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

Well, yeah, and then they have to set up the interview process and they have to do all this and all all that where if you be an agency, I presume most of that place will be in place and they'll just probably send you for a a job interview type of thing and be a a year and a won't it? And quite honest, I think the colleagues would be happy if you actually got someone to buy. You know, someone for the position.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Well, the crazy thing at the minute is it's if you go in via the agency, you generally get what they call an informal phone call first.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Where they'll basically ring you, try to pick your brain a little bit, see what you know, see what you don't know. And then if you pass that stage, then it goes to the formal interview stage.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Right, brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Which is which is always quite fun.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Well, we can we can touch on that interview stage, and we've touched on that before. Yeah, this is like last year we brought out Charles to Teacher, which turned out to be very successful. Thousands and thousands of downloads, people listening, and you know, well, thanks for you know, we get a lot of feedback. Thanks for that, I found it very informative. This is more like an update on the travel to teacher series. We'll you know, we'll touch on each one again, just to you know, keep you up and refresh you type of thing, and you know, we can add a bit more knowledge to it than what we could last year. Yeah, and so I think it's done quite well, you know, the first one, you know, the silly season. Last year we called it the overview, but this year's you know, it's a slightly different. We're giving a bit of different things. Last year we didn't talk on multi-skills, we just give you a you know, an overview of what teaching is all about.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

This year it was more a generalization, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Yeah, this year, you know, we're you know, we're focusing on what, you know, uh focusing on multi-skills and trap you might fall into. You know, you you get a lot of people who, yeah, you really want to get into teaching, really, really do. You know, they've had enough on side, they might have an injury, you know, a recurring injury of one thing or another. And not all options, you know, work's drying up, you can't do it. And you know, the other option is I need to get into teaching. So it's just like pointing out what you know, pitfalls that don't be suckered in by agencies. That's more than we kind of say, in it really today.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Basically, yeah, it's it's it's a hard one to call because you I used to deal with two or three of them at most. But there's literally that many out there now, it's an absolute nightmare. But the drawback is as soon as your CV goes into one of them, the agency yeah, well, the agency staff tend to move round a bit as well. So when they move round, they remember who they've placed and who was good, and then contact you again to see where you're going. It's I do I do know some colleges are actually looking for tradesmen that have had injuries that can't physically go out and do it full time on site all the time these days.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

So it's it's it's quite a strange it's a strange way of looking at it, but I kind of guess it works because realistically, most of us that are hitting 50 plus don't really want to be swinging trolls all day long unless we have to. Because it's not an easy game. It's not an easy game to be in.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yeah, fair enough. I think we've done alright then. We've covered a you know a good performing session, haven't we? Silly season explained it. So before we end this podcast, anything else you you want to add, Mick.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Not that I can think of, to be fair. Just be very wary of who you go with agency-wise.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Especially in the UK. Because there is that many, it's unbelievable. You can try stick to try to stick to the further education specialists because they're usually the best.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Yeah. Don't let them sell you a lot of porcupies basically. You know, you're promising this, you get this bonus, you do this, and you do that. You know, we're not telling you how to suck eggs but ring the small print before you before you go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

That it so we're gonna play some music for you right now. Here we go.

SPEAKER_06 27:09

I think I'm up and happy if I was the bee, happy but the bumps not me, and it's not with the block.

SPEAKER_05 27:24

Wait a minute, I'm gonna do that with my blood. Well they go busted, oh my god, I'll be able to go to the big, none of you get that.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

With that said, I'm gonna say it's a goodbye from me, Dave.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

And a goodbye from me, Mick. And we'll speak to you again soon.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

See you again soon.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Hey Always look on the bright side of life. Always look on the light side of life.

SPEAKER_03 29:45

Light is a piece of chick when you look at it. Light is the life. You see it's a shot.