Thanks for your replies so far.
Hmmmm. So it seems a very difficult industry to get into. Do most people come from apprenticeship schemes and from the military then? Whats the norm?
Obviously I imagine the job market is probably worse than terrible at the moment, so trying to get one of these 'few and far between' jobs as Alber says is probably near impossible ( let alone getting paid enough to live on, if anything).
So, with that in mind it seems the 2 year full time course is the only way to stand a chance of getting a job even at a very basic level? It seems a shame as I would rather do the self improver route - surely more 'hands on experience' is a better training platform than a theory based classroom course?
Any other thoughts?
Thanks
SS