British gas good or bad ??

[tuckermot]

Hi all
just got back from a british gas job promotion looking for pv installers.I had a informal chat with there vacancy department and was told my cv will be forwarded to chap in charge but i still have to fill in the aplication on line on there web site!!! Has any one done this and if so did they they find the application very long and also what are they like to work for??

Rich

 

[DurhamSparky]

i heard BG are not basd to work for but apparently you get pressure to sell while on the job!!

 

[gooner59]

good lad;s i re-wired a house that i renovated and then got them in to check it out!! and sighn it off for me

 

[tuckermot]

Hi all
thanxs for replys i will fill form and see how i get on if successfull you spend 3 weeks in wales at there training centre ,happy days lol

 

[DurhamSparky]

were abouts will you be working!! i did a bit of Insurance work with home serve and i loved it..! just the company who had the franchise was a pain in teh arse and the bloke who ran it was a fool..!

 

[tuckermot]

I beleive its direct employment with british gas

 

[DurhamSparky]

thats even better!! no jumped up idiot trying to pay huge franchise fees off then!! plus normally have set working times and better pay and call out package as there are lots more engineers!

 

[tuckermot]

HI durham
Its working away installing solar on to domestic and industrial i have not done this type of install before so hoping i can pick it up lol

 

[DurhamSparky]

i fancy doing PV like, i nearly enrolled on course in feb at blackburn college for a week as it seemed the easier place to get to and was not in london..!! unfortunately it seems like its a niche market out there with work going to the Bigger firms who know how to play the grant system etc..!! the individual company i think will struggle to break into the market of big housing developments etc..!

 

[Sparky83]

Hi,

I used to work directly for BG a few years back, i worked for ESD (Electrical Service Division) going out to customers houses fixing faults etc. When i first started with them they send you to rotherham for 4 weeks for training, on electrics, how to use the laptop, fairly basic stuff that they could easily do in a week really. The company they used for this was necta, but ive been told they are part of connought so it may not be them now.

It's not a bad job, but like someone else siad you are expected to try and up sell other services etc that they offer, you would go into a house that had a cracked socket and replace it and then give the customer a quote for £££'s to replace ther fuse board, half the time the customer looks at you like your trying to rip them off.

They gave me a brand new van, and a nice laptop (for work use only obviously) you can order everything you could want from it, new t shirts, trousers ,boots, tools and materials etc. Normally with a next day delivery at the local depot.

The only real things that let it down was the fact they rush you constantly to get jobs done so they can give you more jobs (what company doesnt i guess??), and the wages are (were?) poor, i was on £21000 a year. Plus you had to be on call.

Not a bad job but for the amount of work you do for them you could make more money working for yourself, which is what i did when i left them.

Cheers
Shawn

 

[cjp1]

A mate of mine is on B G and has been there for about 30 years as a gas engineer he says there a good company to work for.
Cheers Chris.