Students
Welcome to our developing student hub where we are beginning to put together useful information to help our growing community of student members, now numbering more than 1,200, who have been processed from IOC and non-IOC colleges around the UK.
We will be adding to this section of the website over time but the links below will take you to information about careers, business, awards, and much more.
Know anyone else who’d like to take up free student membership of the IOC? Send them a link to this page and help them to join.
Career Advice
There are a huge number of employment opportunities within the trade skills arena of building trades including carpentry and joinery, shopfitting and furniture making. If you are good with your hands, these trades may well be for you!
With many different roles to consider, you have a number of routes from which to choose. It could be working in the ever-growing construction industry, helping to build thousands of new housing estates and fitting out the rooms inside; or working in the commercial sector, shopfitting and constructing display material. Perhaps self-employment within the commercial or domestic sectors, where variety and flexibility are key and you will have to provide solutions for diverse requirements, or taking your time to create fine works of art in the form of furniture and decorative pieces.
There are many training courses to start you on your way, but one of the main elements you will need to progress within the industry, or any service industry for that matter, are people skills: the ability to get on with people. It goes without saying that these include being polite, friendly, understandable and easy to communicate with.
Obviously, training and qualifications are the main factors involved in actually getting you a job and allowing you to get your foot in an employer’s door, or providing you with the confidence and ability needed to start your own business. So why wait? Click the links below to start finding out how you too can become a craftsman working in wood trades.
- Still at school or thinking about starting college?
- Looking for an apprenticeship? Visit the government apprenticeship website or Talentview Construction, a website for individuals coming into the construction industry and employers looking for new talent.
- Need an overview of qualifications and apprenticeships?
Please email Paul Preston FIOC if you have any queries separate to the above and he will be happy to help.
Finding Work after college
Advice from our College Liaison Officers Nationwide
Employers around the country look for different types of skills and knowledge from potential employees. This is largely based on the types of jobs they undertake or the industries or consumer sectors they service locally.
Find out from our College Liaison Officers (CLOs) around the country what employers near you may be looking for and be prepared with the right skills. Our CLOs also offer you their Top Tips on making yourself as employable as possible and what to do, say and show at interviews.
You can also find out how other student members have approached getting a job, in the ‘My Story’ section.
Joining IOC as a full member also has many benefits including discounts and the ability to gain a PQP CSCS card. Find out more here.
For further information contact:
info@instituteofcarpenters.com
