Simplifying Electrician Training Courses – The Best Routes
Lots of people choose a career within the electrical industry because it both appeals and motivates them. Although often assigned to as ‘Electro-Mechanical Engineering”, we will simply refer to this as the Electrical Industry. Also, due to a wide variety of qualifications and standards throughout the world, we’ll focus on those that fit the UK domestic and commercial market. By starting on the main subjects and checking the ‘add-ons’ later on we can review the centre of the electrical industry.
We consider that there are two ways to enter the electrical market. Initially there’s the more traditional apprenticeship approach, but equally there is now an alternative, suited to those who are keen to enter later in their life. To begin with we have the ‘Junior Entrants’ and then we have the ‘Mature Entrants’.
Mature students, or entrants, often train so that they can become self-employed and work on their own projects without having to pay wages to external electricians. Whereas the ‘Junior Entrants’ train alongside regular electrical employment to pick up practical work place skills as they gain their qualifications. Often a young apprentice will be in their first job since leaving school, and will therefore have a host of ancillary skills to learn during their first few years as a working adult.
Entry has two separate approaches to teaching. It is the involvement with NVQ’s (or SVQ’s for Scotland), that differentiate the Junior Entrants. There is a particular requirement to attain the NVQ qualifications as part of the overall program. ‘Junior Entrants’ will have to be in an apprenticeship of some sort in order to achieve the testing and course work required.
By working independently and without the need for NVQ assessments, many Mature Entrants can concentrate on those areas that provide the biggest profit and offer the largest practical solutions for themselves. For example by concentrating on those qualifications aimed at giving them the best return from their training costs. This system does meet the purposes set out and therefore often provides a faster and more direct route into a trading position.
Salaries are often simply broken down to those that relate to self -employed people and those in general employment. With self-employment a person may be working on a part-time or full time basis -to that end we will assume they are working full time. Skill and knowledge levels can often determine salary levels, although this is equally via a proven ability or certification scheme.
Although starting wages for ‘Junior Entrants’ are around 13k p.a. they can rise above 30k p.a. but this does depend on their level of experience. Mature Entrants are more difficult to assess, and incomes up to and above 70k are regularly reported within the UK Press. It should be remembered however that a self employed person must often bear additional costs for items such as vehicles, tools and clothing. Earmarked within this is the need to cover additional expenses such as accountancy or insurance. Whilst there is lots of available work, a severe skills shortage means electricians are very much in demand. Certainly, working a full week is a realistic possibility for those who want to. It should be noted that figures of 70-100k p.a. advertised are not necessarily easy to come by and would require some long working hours to obtain them.
For the most part there is a strong difference between the Junior and Mature Entrants’ working week. Most ‘Junior Entrants’ do not work at the weekends. To be fair, if the Mature electrician is focused on the domestic market then they often find themselves working out of hours, especially to support their clients when they get home. And yet, a huge number of self-employed electricians operate during the main part of the working week by focusing on office and small business systems.
Any specialist knowledge the Junior Entrant gains whilst in someone’s employ is usually down to the sectors of industry that company works in. But by securing work within the fields of gas or plumbing many mature entrants can gain knowledge outside of their chosen path. Within the domestic market this allows them to work under a range of headings without having to rely upon sub contract suppliers.
A new trade example is that of the ‘Green Engineer’. This new service to the industry could fit into the overall skill-set of an electrician. This could be an area of interest to both Junior and Mature Entrants, and with the expected growth and governmental (both UK & EEC) support, it could provide some highly lucrative employment and business opportunities.
(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Go to City and Guilds 2391 2392 or City and Guilds Electrical Courses.
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