Here is Lee Moys who is currently half way to achieving his NVQ Dry Lining;

“I left school with no qualifications and have had a number of jobs that didn’t go anywhere, including working as a Plumber. Being given an apprenticeship by Astins was a wonderful opportunity and so far is working out to be really good, its hard work but lots of fun working on some really big projects. I get up really early 05.40am to travel to site in time to start at 8.00am but have time for pop tarts for breakfast. The first thing I do is getting changed into my working clothes including PPE. I don’t like wearing PPE as it makes you hot and sweaty when you’re working but it is there to protect me so I wear it. Kenny Miller is the experienced man that I work with, he has been dry lining for a long time and is a good mentor making sure I work hard and building up my experience. We work in a gang and I am also helping the new boy in our gang, I suppose I am his mentor teaching him some of what I have learned. Next year I will get my NVQ level 2 qualifications and will be able to work on my own more and show the new apprentices what to do”

Sound interesting? Got more questions?

You can find out more about life as an Astins apprentice direct from the man himself. Email your questions to info@astinsinstitute.com and Lee will do his best to answer them for you. But give him a bit of time to get back to you. He is on site most days.

A day in the life of Tatyana Zahova, one of the first young women working for Astins.

“My name is Tatyana Zahova; I have been working for Astins as a Firestopper for almost a year. At first I felt like the first women in space must have felt, but I really like my job and enjoy all aspects of the job. On my first day I was a bit nervous as I was the only girl working on the site at Newcastle. But after a very short time I got to know everybody and everybody got to know me. All the men on site get on with me and we all work well together as a team. I am very happy to put time and effort into the job as I feel it is a personal goal and want to achieve it to the best of my ability being the only girl on site for Astins. I hope this will carry on to the next site I am going to work on with Astins and hope there will be many more”.

What’s Dry Lining?

Dry lining is all about turning empty buildings into finished spaces.

It is a construction term used by industry professionals to refer to a system of lightweight sheets (plasterboard) fixed to a metal framework to form walls and ceilings within buildings. In fact, dry lining applies generally to the use of plasterboard to replace traditional internal construction methods such as bricks or blocks that then require a smooth finish. Its use has now become more broadly associated with “internal fit out” throughout the construction industry and has led to a reduction in overall build times.

The sort of skills that Astins Apprentices will develop in dry lining includes:

• Reading construction drawings and plans.
• Setting out the position of internal walls.
• Constructing and finishing internal walls and ceilings.
• Working within a professional construction team.

Application Process
If you like what you have seen and think you have what it takes to become an Astins Institute apprentice, you can apply online. No need for you to type out huge long application forms or CVs. Just answer a few questions online. It won’t take long. Just click and go