Plastering courses: Learning the trade

Plastering courses are a dime a dozen on the internet and you can pick and choose what you want. But most of the time, you aren’t really sure what these courses entail. Unless you have researched the field completely, you get cheated on the course and that can make you lose your money. A few tips on how to choose plastering courses are-

Length of the plastering courses- Plastering courses can be anywhere from one month to six months to one year. No matter what the length of the course, you should be able to get sufficient practical experience which will teach you the intricacies of dealing with the material. Try part time plastering courses or courses which are attached to a construction company, as you are more likely to get practical training during the plastering courses.

Curriculum of plastering courses- The curriculum of plastering courses should include the following-
1. Learning about the physical properties of plaster and its derivatives like gypsum.
2. Learning the history of plastering
3. Learning how the percentage of water in the plaster water ratio affects the strength of the mix. You should also learn how to manipulate the plaster water mix to get optimum strength.
4. Getting practical training in how to handle the material.
5. Learning how to design and cast moldings for specific locations. That requires basic math knowledge and carpentry design drawing familiarity. This will also help you to judge accurately how much material will be required to fabricate specific moldings and the amount of plaster required to cover specific surface areas.
6. Learning specific techniques like screeding, beading, layering, skim layers etc which are essential to prepare a great treated surfaces.
7. Learning the newer and most modern techniques in plastering which are used to create internal and external special effects on walls and ceilings
8. Learning to attach chipboard after making the metallic framework for false ceilings.
Once you finish your basic course, you will be awarded your NVQ grade 1 certification. But with more technical qualifications you can apply for NVQ 2 and 3 grades which are better to get higher paying jobs in the construction industry. These grades also make you eligible for teaching positions in plastering courses. The NVQ's or National Vocational Qualifications are not easy to get. The only way that you can get assessed is when you join work with a company and after a set period of time; an independent assessor will come to the place you are working to check out your work. The assessment is done on the job by a certified City and Guilds Examiner and they check for the following-
 The quality of internal and external finishes
 The application and fixing of chip boards
 The quality of produced casting
 The process of fixing and repairing fibrous castings

After finishing plastering courses- once you’ve finished your plastering courses, you are free to work with construction companies as apprentices. You can check online for companies who are hiring plastering apprentices and put in your resume there. Most institutes offering plastering courses have their own apprentice-department where you can get an apprentice position as soon as you pass out.

Copy writing for beginners!

Want to be a copywriter do you? Do you think it’s easy? Just put down the thousands of weird voices in your head on a piece of paper and you’re done? Will someone actually pay you for the stuff you’ve written down? It’s really not as easy as it sounds.

Online copy writing!

I thought I was a good copywriter, or just a good writer, anyway people told me I was good and they kept hiring me. But the real world came knocking with the advent of the Internet, when I had to submit a VIRAL article. Ignorant fool that I was at that time, I proudly submitted an article on Viruses and the diseases they cause on the human body. You can laugh all you want but the Internet woke me up to the low down of interesting writing. The main point being KISS (KEEP it SHORT and SWEET.)

So here are a few tips for beginners learnt the hard way,

1. Write for the people who will be reading the site. Most people have a short attention span and just skim copy, picking up important points and letting the remaining just swim past. Catch their attention with a good idea or tip.
2. One or two people who surf the net will be really methodical. They’ll ask questions and know the site probably better than you. For such people write a detailed copy but with lists, numberings and easy references for the information.
3. Some people love testimonials so keep a few ready for credibility. Don’t over hype products to the extent of brainwashing.
4. Focus on the consumer. You are trying to give him something either knowledge or information about a new product or anything but try to keep it interesting and don’t bore him to death.
5. Identify keywords and key phrases and include them in your copy. Ok key word optimizations is a little difficult to the beginner but suffice to say if you want to promote a special product then make sure the word is repeated sufficiently in the copy so as to catch the search engines attention.
6. And remember the more original the copy the better the hits on you content, at your site. Cut, paste, copy is useless, uninformative and liable to prosecution as plagiarism. Write your own ideas or don’t write at all!