Comments on: Training as a property professional – energy assessors express outrage http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/energy-assessors-training-as-a-property-professional-123/ Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:32:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 By: mark rackstraw http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/energy-assessors-training-as-a-property-professional-123/comment-page-1/#comment-24148 mark rackstraw Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:44:10 +0000 http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/?p=1354#comment-24148 hi, as a trainee that has passed all the course exams and the ABBE exam and completeing 7 off the required 10 properties towards the Dip HI level 4 portfolio,i was shocked to find that the training centre had gone into administration.so 10 grand down(as i have bought all the tools)i thought that other companys may have been able to help BRE training wanted 41/2 grand to assess my portfolio,stroma can't help as now i have now gone over my time, most other companys want about 3 grand to assess my portfolio work. yes cheers.and then when you are recovering from the kick in the left testile the government rips of your scrotum.anybody care? anybody want to help,no. its a big sod off why cant we claim some recompence from the government or the C L G. ex trainee with property professionals. hi, as a trainee that has passed all the course exams and the ABBE exam and completeing 7 off the required 10 properties towards the Dip HI level 4 portfolio,i was shocked to find that the training centre had gone into administration.so 10 grand down(as i have bought all the tools)i thought that other companys may have been able to help BRE training wanted 41/2 grand to assess my portfolio,stroma can’t help as now i have now gone over my time, most other companys want about 3 grand to assess my portfolio work. yes cheers.and then when you are recovering from the kick in the left testile the government rips of your scrotum.anybody care? anybody want to help,no. its a big sod off why cant we claim some recompence from the government or the C L G.
ex trainee with property professionals.

]]> By: good job http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/energy-assessors-training-as-a-property-professional-123/comment-page-1/#comment-21485 good job Thu, 27 May 2010 07:07:44 +0000 http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/?p=1354#comment-21485 Hi, I am new to blogging but have been involved in electrical engineering for over 30years now. Your article is good reading! Do I have to click a button or something to subscribe on this blog as I would like to check back now and then. All the best Hi, I am new to blogging but have been involved in electrical engineering for over 30years now. Your article is good reading! Do I have to click a button or something to subscribe on this blog as I would like to check back now and then. All the best

]]> By: Robin Martin http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/energy-assessors-training-as-a-property-professional-123/comment-page-1/#comment-11723 Robin Martin Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:55:57 +0000 http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/?p=1354#comment-11723 I trained a few years ago with Property Professionals (then HIT) - it cost me over £9,000 and half way through the government axed the HCR! However I do take issue with those who have trained and then been unable to secure work themselves blaming it all on the 'training companies'as if all are conmen and liars. There are and will continue to be serious people in the energy assessment industry who go out of their way to offer a good grounding in these disciplines and I am pleased and privileged to have helped over 100 people to gain NDEA qualifications over the past 18 months or so. I feel desperately sorry for the people taken for a ride by unscrupulous operators such as the ones that have recently demised, but I cannot help feeling that some basic research and the application of the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is...might have helped. The organisation I work for does not offer DEA training to the general public and has not done so for over 18 months. We even suggest on our website that people speak to us before they sign up for DEA - and our advice is always the same: if you don't have a guaranteed source of instructions then don't do it! The basic problem is that because it is a government requirement, people were told that clients would beat a path to their door. This is no more true of energy assessment than any other profession or calling. I have many previous candidates who are earning well as commercial assessors despite the woeful lack of enforcement action. Is there a limit on the numbers of plumbers, or surveyors, or fishmongers? If the demand for electricians drops are colleges told to stop training new ones? Of course not! The idea is preposterous. However we are starting to see the conmen and liars drop by the wayside. The industry is starting to mature. If we could just get rid of some of the 'Hip Me Quick' sector who don't care one iota about quality of their product and some of the dodgier panels then perhaps we could start to mature as individual operators as well. If you want a vibrant successful sector, you must have competition, and you might consider refusing to work for low paying panels and cheapy operators. I have in the past taken other unrelated jobs to bridge the gaps rather than feed these parasites by accepting their low paid rubbish jobs. Assessors who are determined to offer a quality service, with value added features will ultimately win out. People may not care about quality now, but they will once the product we provide gains acceptance and other issues such as taxation etc become related to it. Approach with caution - by all means. Do your research diligently - absolutely. But please don't tar all of us with the same brush. Some companies just want to sell courses. Others want to sell courses because that is what they do, but also want to turn out well grounded and properly educated assessors as well. And that is a perfectly proper part of a maturing and functioning market. Market forces will limit numbers - we all accept that! A maturing market will sort out the early day cowboys from the more serious operators. That is what we are seeing now. A few questions to ask a training company... Why are you so cheap? Or of course inversely.. Why are you so expensive? Either extreme can spell trouble! Do I have to go out and buy expensive additional books? Do you set unrealistic time deadlines and if so why? I am an individual and demand to be treated as one. Are there additional charges involved that you haven't told me about? Don't get conned - make them tell you everything up front and put it in writing. Can I have my trainer's direct dial mobile phone number for post course support? ( This one will sort out the wheat from the chaff) Can I speak to previous candidates? And to ask yourself? Am I doing this because I want to offer a quality product at a fair price and I have a genuine interest in the energy efficiency market- or am I solely in it for the money? ( we all want to earn a good living but the former motive helps produce the latter one) Do I possess the necessary skills and detemination to go out and get my own business? If not - don't contemplate going self employed. Can I really apply myself to the hard work involved in learning these disciplines properly? Don't be misled - it is eminently possible but not easy and some training companies pricing sturctures bank on you dropping out - even encouraging it by their lack of support. Finally consider when and how you will be able to devote time to the studies and the portfolio work. A good training company will provide all the help and support you ask for, but none can do it for you! I trained a few years ago with Property Professionals
(then HIT) – it cost me over £9,000 and half way through the government axed the HCR! However I do take issue with those who have trained and then been unable to secure work themselves blaming it all on the ‘training companies’as if all are conmen and liars. There are and will continue to be serious people in the energy assessment industry who go out of their way to offer a good grounding in these disciplines and I am pleased and privileged to have helped over 100 people to gain NDEA qualifications over the past 18 months or so. I feel desperately sorry for the people taken for a ride by unscrupulous operators such as the ones that have recently demised, but I cannot help feeling that some basic research and the application of the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is…might have helped. The organisation I work for does not offer DEA training to the general public and has not done so for over 18 months. We even suggest on our website that people speak to us before they sign up for DEA – and our advice is always the same: if you don’t have a guaranteed source of instructions then don’t do it!
The basic problem is that because it is a government requirement, people were told that clients would beat a path to their door. This is no more true of energy assessment than any other profession or calling.
I have many previous candidates who are earning well as commercial assessors despite the woeful lack of enforcement action. Is there a limit on the numbers of plumbers, or surveyors, or fishmongers? If the demand for electricians drops are colleges told to stop training new ones? Of course not! The idea is preposterous. However we are starting to see the conmen and liars drop by the wayside. The industry is starting to mature. If we could just get rid of some of the ‘Hip Me Quick’ sector who don’t care one iota about quality of their product and some of the dodgier panels then perhaps we could start to mature as individual operators as well. If you want a vibrant successful sector, you must have competition, and you might consider refusing to work for low paying panels and cheapy operators. I have in the past taken other unrelated jobs to bridge the gaps rather than feed these parasites by accepting their low paid rubbish jobs. Assessors who are determined to offer a quality service, with value added features will ultimately win out. People may not care about quality now, but they will once the product we provide gains acceptance and other issues such as taxation etc become related to it. Approach with caution – by all means. Do your research diligently – absolutely. But please don’t tar all of us with the same brush. Some companies just want to sell courses. Others want to sell courses because that is what they do, but also want to turn out well grounded and properly educated assessors as well. And that is a perfectly proper part of a maturing and functioning market. Market forces will limit numbers – we all accept that! A maturing market will sort out the early day cowboys from the more serious operators. That is what we are seeing now.

A few questions to ask a training company…
Why are you so cheap? Or of course inversely.. Why are you so expensive? Either extreme can spell trouble!
Do I have to go out and buy expensive additional books?
Do you set unrealistic time deadlines and if so why? I am an individual and demand to be treated as one.
Are there additional charges involved that you haven’t told me about? Don’t get conned – make them tell you everything up front and put it in writing.
Can I have my trainer’s direct dial mobile phone number for post course support? ( This one will sort out the wheat from the chaff)
Can I speak to previous candidates?

And to ask yourself?

Am I doing this because I want to offer a quality product at a fair price and I have a genuine interest in the energy efficiency market- or am I solely in it for the money? ( we all want to earn a good living but the former motive helps produce the latter one)
Do I possess the necessary skills and detemination to go out and get my own business? If not – don’t contemplate going self employed.
Can I really apply myself to the hard work involved in learning these disciplines properly? Don’t be misled – it is eminently possible but not easy and some training companies pricing sturctures bank on you dropping out – even encouraging it by their lack of support.

Finally consider when and how you will be able to devote time to the studies and the portfolio work. A good training company will provide all the help and support you ask for, but none can do it for you!

]]> By: HIP-Consultant.co.uk http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/energy-assessors-training-as-a-property-professional-123/comment-page-1/#comment-8240 HIP-Consultant.co.uk Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:42:57 +0000 http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/?p=1354#comment-8240 Hi Mike Yes, we choose to run advertising on our site. Google adsense displays ads relevant to the visitor and page, the ad you mention we cannot see. Because the site is written in php the template pulls ads for all pages with that template and Google chooses the ads relevant to that page. You can not control individual pages as you can with a static site. Mike, I fail to see how you correlate advertising with levels of honesty. Hi Mike

Yes, we choose to run advertising on our site. Google adsense displays ads relevant to the visitor and page, the ad you mention we cannot see.

Because the site is written in php the template pulls ads for all pages with that template and Google chooses the ads relevant to that page. You can not control individual pages as you can with a static site.

Mike, I fail to see how you correlate advertising with levels of honesty.

]]> By: Mike Duxbury http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/energy-assessors-training-as-a-property-professional-123/comment-page-1/#comment-8234 Mike Duxbury Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:03:27 +0000 http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/?p=1354#comment-8234 Yet, STILL this page carries an 'ad' for Energylink.co to train Energy Assessors for £899!!! Is the income from such trainers more important to hipconsultant.co.uk than honesty!! Whose side are you on! Yet, STILL this page carries an ‘ad’ for Energylink.co to train Energy Assessors for £899!!!

Is the income from such trainers more important to hipconsultant.co.uk than honesty!! Whose side are you on!

]]> By: Daily Express acknowledge oversupply of energy assessors http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/energy-assessors-training-as-a-property-professional-123/comment-page-1/#comment-8128 Daily Express acknowledge oversupply of energy assessors Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:17:07 +0000 http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/?p=1354#comment-8128 [...] Training as a property professional - energy assessors express outrage [...] [...] Training as a property professional – energy assessors express outrage [...]

]]>