I want to become an Electrician

[davidansell]

Hi,
I have recently been thinking of training as an electrician,
I am 23 years old and would love to do this full time
I was wondering what the best path for this would be and your thoughts on this course provided by olci, I am very skeptical regarding companies such as this but they do seem to be partnered with Department for working pensions.

According to www.OlCI.info on there website you require this qualification to become a fully certified electrician.

City & Guilds Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Installing Electrotechnical Systems and Equipment (Buildings, Structures and the Environment) (2357)

Any Idea's or Thoughts would be great.

 

[Beachcomber]

Best bet is to contact your local colleges.
They will have both full time and part time courses to get you on your way.

Whatever you do - DO NOT even contemplate these learning centre 'get fully qualified in 10 weeks' places - 99% of them are scams offering non-industry recognised qualifications (despite clever wording and implications to the contrary) At best you will pay 5 times more for any training you receive than if you went the college route.

Might also be worth visiting your local job centre careers advisor. They will have all the latest info regarding courses in your area.

 

[Deleted member 130603]

Good advice above. I'm an electrician and personally think you would be better off training to be a plumber/gas engineer.

The C&G 2330 in electrical installation is the standard qualification for an electrician. You'll then need to be able to inspect, test, and certify your own work if you want to be self employed which requires the 2391 (now the 2391 and 2392, I think, I know it has been fragmented into two courses). I think the 2330 is a waste of time, most of the students who have passed and then go on to take the 2391 know very little considering they've spent 3 years in college.

Would you mind telling us what qualifications you have and what work you've done before? I was unemployed with 4 GCSE's when I was your age and went back to college to study to be an electrician.

What would you like to end up doing? Work for yourself?

My advice would be to buy Brian Scaddans book 'the 17th edition' which you'll get for about £10 on Amazon, have a read through this as it is basically what the 2330 course is centered around.
Contact as many companies as possible asking for work experience. If you're keen enough to do a couple of weeks' unpaid work experience here and there and are a good worker then you'll be an asset as many firms are quiet at the moment. You may need to get yourself a CSCS card for H&S purposes.

 

[Cov2000]

What he said ^^^^^^

We do a lot of electrics as a part of our work. It has the biggest outlay of all the work we do and generates the smallest return with the most hassle. The market is flooded with electricians and you won't make a decent living from it.

I would either specialise in a specific area or choose another trade. If you think doing it will line you up for something in a few years and you have a longer plan then fair enough, but if it's a route you choose to take be prepared for a competitive marketplace so you'd better really enjoy it!

And like he said don't pay out a fortune for a crap course promising you the earth

Good luck

 

[Deleted member 130603]

^^^

What he said, go for plumbing.

 

[Deleted member 130603]

Any electrician who's making money is making it more from his entrepreneurial skills than from his technical ability as a spark.

A few years back I was making a half decent living from sparking but the industry is flooded with red tape, none of which is enforced. The overheads are ridiculous, the net profit from plastering on site is probably comparable to the net profit of the average self employed spark.

Just be aware of what you're getting into and have realistic expectations. There's more money and less hassle in plumbing, trust me. In my opinion electricians are the most over regulated, undervalued and underpaid trade. Most electric work is a 'grudge' purchase, most of what is not is 'middle maned' by builders, estate agents and a host of other ass holes who will significantly dilute the profit.

if you get into sparking go with a view to get into kitchen fitting and doing your own electrics; and most importantly start developing your business skills, selling and marketing are crucial.

 

[Deleted member 130603]

What he said ^^^^^^

We do a lot of electrics as a part of our work. It has the biggest outlay of all the work we do and generates the smallest return with the most hassle. The market is flooded with electricians and you won't make a decent living from it.

I would either specialise in a specific area or choose another trade. If you think doing it will line you up for something in a few years and you have a longer plan then fair enough, but if it's a route you choose to take be prepared for a competitive marketplace so you'd better really enjoy it!

And like he said don't pay out a fortune for a crap course promising you the earth

Good luck

I agree, electrics is a HUGE pain in the backside, the profit to headache ratio is well out of balance IMO.

 

[MG Plastering Leeds]

too many swings and roundabouts now a days with electricians.
the lad we use has to pay quite a bit of money out to keep up to current regs and other stuff bits rubbish really

 

[paulears]

Backup to the warning about short courses. A business near me - a big one, just had to fire their head electrician when he instructed the apprentice to do something contrary to what the apprentice just learned on his two year apprenticeship course - The Head electrician was interviewed by the boss with the notes from the apprentices coursework and hadn't a clue what a certain type of installation was - yet had been signing it off on his inspections for a number of years. They asked him to bring in his qualification certificate and it was one of the short course top-ups - not at all what was required. They'd determined from the apprentices college that the apprentice was actually more qualified already than the boss!

Going to college full time to do it often needs you able to carry out real work - so sometimes they need you to get a sponsor. Talk to them and ask.

 

[markymark981]

Hi David I joined OLCI and since April 2012, I have completed my EAL domestic installers with part P qualification, 17th regs and PAT testing and I cannot fault the training they provide...yes finding work could be a challenge but what is easy in this world nowadays!

If you can afford it go for it!

 

[CAEDAN]

If you like Electrics, why not try auto electrics?? In far more demand as there are very few specialists - and with cars becoming more and more reliant on electrics and electronics, you can catch the wave by the time you qualify.

That said, I havn't seen a struggling plumber or gas/oil engineer either!! Depends on where you live - look what is around you - some rural areas may have a demand for oil engineers, or LPG engineers.

 

[Robs]

Any electrician who's making money is making it more from his entrepreneurial skills than from his technical ability as a spark.

A few years back I was making a half decent living from sparking but the industry is flooded with red tape, none of which is enforced. The overheads are ridiculous, the net profit from plastering on site is probably comparable to the net profit of the average self employed spark.

Just be aware of what you're getting into and have realistic expectations. There's more money and less hassle in plumbing, trust me. In my opinion electricians are the most over regulated, undervalued and underpaid trade. Most electric work is a 'grudge' purchase, most of what is not is 'middle maned' by builders, estate agents and a host of other ass holes who will significantly dilute the profit.

if you get into sparking go with a view to get into kitchen fitting and doing your own electrics; and most importantly start developing your business skills, selling and marketing are crucial.

I don't know any sparks out of work but i do know plenty of plumbers who are out of work. It also depends within your local area, see how many jobs are going.
Electricians don't have to be Licensed unlike gas engineers, you got to fork out a grand every five just to stay in the domestic gas industry and if your going self employed £450 for the first year, then £175 after that. On top of that if i go commercial then i got pay extra training and exam fees every five years. lot £££££££££ wonga for 20k-35k. Also wages are dropping.

If your 23 then you can still do an apprenticeship with local councils, SSE etc or as said go to your local college that does sparky courses. Do a taster course to see if its for you. Brush up on your maths. homes law for either sparky or Heating engineers posts.

If your going down the plumbing route then get an apprenticeship stay away from training centres, local college is better. their also may be funding available for you. Contact the local sparks in their area to see if their willing to take on trainee or start as a mate.


Only use a training centre if and i mean if their exam are cheaper than the local college.

 

[blinkingspirit]

It seems like a job that's not going anywhere at least - people are going to have electrics in 40 years, they're going to have running water, and one's going to pour in and mess up the other

 

[Orrell Electrics]

Go for it I make a pretty decent living out of it, as people have said the red tape is a pain and many of your customers do not understand this and expect you to install a socket for a tenner seriously!!

There are so many jokes out there who call themselves sparks if you are good at your job you will be in demand.

Do not do any short courses - we have a saying for those guys 5ww's

5 week wonders, 10 years roughly you will be training for and I estimate it will cost you 10 - 15k to get qualified.

Good luck!

 

[RobertOrtegra]

There are quite a few Electrical Apprenticeships available on the 'Not Going To Uni' website... Helped me with my apprenticeship...

 

[Frimley111R]

Is the challenge not so much about the skills/red tape but more about the 'entrepreneurship', i.e. selling yourself? I seem to see lots of 'Learn to be a ......' courses but very few of them seem to cover 'Day 1', i.e. where/how do I find work?

 

[S-Marketing]

Is the challenge not so much about the skills/red tape but more about the 'entrepreneurship', i.e. selling yourself? I seem to see lots of 'Learn to be a ......' courses but very few of them seem to cover 'Day 1', i.e. where/how do I find work?

That's what i'm for.

 

[Just_a_bloke]

I'm in my 50's. I did a 4 year apprenticeship, plus 2 years 'improovership' (low pay for top rate work, hey ho).

A few years ago I used to teach 1st year full time apprentices at a local technical college (full time = 3 days!). But now they're considered qualified after a couple of years, very annoying for people like me, but they don't have the in-depth training like I got. I too have encountered the 5ww's, and they're dangerous to be honest. Okay for an extra socket in a new kitchen, but... that's where it ends. There may be good 5ww courses, but I've not yet encountered them (I don't have time to do my own electrical work, hence employing others, usually by recommendation to keep a friend happy)

With my grounding I was able to be a factory maintenance manager for 15 years till the company went bust. What would I do if I started again, well it would be electronics with specialising in robotics. Second choice automotive electronics which would cover things like ordinary cars to massive 500 ton dumpers! Now if you've not got the maths, plumbing or gas/combustion equipment.

 

[LED Lightworld]

I don't know any sparks out of work but i do know plenty of plumbers who are out of work. It also depends within your local area, see how many jobs are going.
Electricians don't have to be Licensed unlike gas engineers, you got to fork out a grand every five just to stay in the domestic gas industry and if your going self employed £450 for the first year, then £175 after that. On top of that if i go commercial then i got pay extra training and exam fees every five years. lot £££££££££ wonga for 20k-35k. Also wages are dropping.

If your 23 then you can still do an apprenticeship with local councils, SSE etc or as said go to your local college that does sparky courses. Do a taster course to see if its for you. Brush up on your maths. homes law for either sparky or Heating engineers posts.

If your going down the plumbing route then get an apprenticeship stay away from training centres, local college is better. their also may be funding available for you. Contact the local sparks in their area to see if their willing to take on trainee or start as a mate.


Only use a training centre if and i mean if their exam are cheaper than the local college.

At 23, you are going to lose out to the younger lads. Companies get more incentives from the government to take on under 20's.
A qualification without the site experience is not worth the paper its written on, we had a 24 year old lad, who had been at college for 3 years who didn't know what a pozzi screwdriver was!!

 

[sueprice]

My sons are in college doing bricklaying, my youngest eventually wants to build his own house, He is being advised to do painting and decorating, as he has a knack for it. Would you guys have a view on whether I should encourage him to carry on with his bricklaying or should I support him in changing courses after his first year? He is also looking for work to gain experience whilst in college, would he be allowed on a construction site at 16?
Your comments/suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers

 

[Just_a_bloke]

My sons are in college doing bricklaying, my youngest eventually wants to build his own house, He is being advised to do painting and decorating, as he has a knack for it. Would you guys have a view on whether I should encourage him to carry on with his bricklaying or should I support him in changing courses after his first year? He is also looking for work to gain experience whilst in college, would he be allowed on a construction site at 16?
Your comments/suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers

Collages and their courses are run based on finance. Find out if the P&D course is under subscribed, if it is, I suggest sticking with the bricklaying as the tutors are not really being truthful. He can always do the P&D course after the bricklaying. Plus there's no point changing halfway through a course (assuming he started in September and it runs till June).

Hereford tech collage actually closed their P&D department as they found their was more money in plumbing! They're not really interested in providing education (I'll now run for shelter) as its more about pass rates and finance. In other words they don't want to run a course that has a high failure rate as it look bad on them and they lose out on government cash.

 

[paulears]

If the construction company have an agreement with for example a local college, then they probably have the additional insurance and a nominated person to deal with trainees - so won't have any issues with under 18's on proper work experience or a trainee basis. Smaller building companies simply won't be geared up for the supervision and legal issues and will probably cite H&S as a reason they'd love to, but can't.
Colleges offering construction courses often have agreements in place to allow exactly this.

For what it's worth - painting and decorating will probably make him in more demand as a self-employed person than a bricky - who are subject to the housebuying and renovation trends - while people who can't afford to move spend money on interior work - and lots of people would rather pay for painting and decorating (sadly, me included!)

 

[BelindaChong]

I did a course through New Career Skills. I found it difficult because I am not working in the construction industry. Whilst I was taught to pass the exams teaching of the practical skills side is minimal, as it must be on a four week course. The college delivered what it promised: the qualifications in exchange for £5k of my money, but how much use it would be in getting a job I don't know. There are certainly companies around here that take on electricians' mates, and that would be a good way of getting the practical experience.

By the way 5 week wonder is a bit of a misnomer, because whilst you spend that amount of time at the college you are expected to put in the hours learning at home.

I have heard a lot of electricians complaining about plasterers etc getting paid more, but do you want to be a plasterer, or a gas man, plumber etc? I wanted to do the electrical course because I am interested in it.
better to do something you enjoy for an average reward than something you don't like for more money.

Good luck whatever you decide.
(Belinda's husband)

 

[oph]

Dont rush to become a Plumber.

We dont earn 100K a year

Id be wetting myself with joy if I earnt half that

 

[scania_2]

Hi, I've got a question - Can I simply challenge (attempt) to Electrician exam or am I required to take the preperation course? Let say I've got a knowledge, but I dont want to pay for expensive courses. Thanks for replies.

 

[K K]

I have been through this path at probably at the same time the original post was made. After going through the mill I wanted to find the right place to share with others how the electrical industry works.

The short courses by private firms - such as qualify in 2 weeks are ONLY for people who want to be self-employed.

Being self-employed is a challenge. Each and every customer will not want to part with a penny.

Firstly, most people know someone, or know someone through someone else, who is an electrician, so they won’t use a complete stranger like me or you.

Secondly, to carry out electrical work you do NOT need to be registered or qualified. Very often I found I was competing prices against unregistered sparks – it’s not illegal. Only businesses and very conscientious residential customers tend to demand registered sparks. For everyone else ‘Jim who used to work in pit can wire my kitchen’.

So if you don’t mind being self-employed then carry on reading. And at the very least you should start advertising right NOW. Do not wait until you have passed the exams and been registered. The phone wont ring on the first day.

Why have I said short courses are only for self-employed? Well to work for any employer in the trade you MUST have a JIB ECS card. Visit their website and check the criteria. The short courses do NOT meet any requirement! You will be classed as a ‘labourer’ grade only – same as someone who has zero qualifications. Which is a bit annoying when you spent £3k on courses.

The industry standard is the NVQ level 3. That’s it. And there is no short course that offers this. Only one work around is to apply to do the NVQ assessment – its a lengthy test and I won’t go into the details. This is the last you thing you need to hear after you thought you would be fully qualified but you’re not.

Say for example you pass all the City and Guilds exams such as 2391 on a short course etc. You can NOT register with the NICEIC. Surprised? Without three years’ experience they won’t touch accrediting you, and even then, you will need to be registered for min. 3 YEARS before getting approved by JIB ECS. Just a little note, NICEIC charge about £800 every year.

So you just qualified on a short course, so your only option is to register with a mickey mouse scheme such as Elecsa or Napit or Stroma. These schemes have zero value to JIB ECS and JTL Compex.

I passed all the City and Guilds 2391 etc. and the 2400 then registered with Part P schemes. Found work was slow so looked for contracting work. That’s when I found out the value of what qualifications I had.

After being registered with Elecsa for 6 YEARS I applied to just do the Compex course and they turned me down because I was not an Electrician! Waving the 2391 at them don’t matter at all,

Again, I applied for the JIB ECS card after being registered with Elecsa for 6 YEARS. JIB ECS turned me down as… you guessed, not qualified as an electrician. I EVEN APPLIED FOR THE JIB ECS CARD THROUGH ELECSA AND THEY SAID I WAS NOT QUALIFIED! THEY HAD TAKEN 6 YEARS SUBS. Biggest con artists going.

Elecsa charges about £400 quid a year. Plus you need £200 a year insurance. Plus the tools and meters £2000. Plus a van £thousands... it adds up significantly.

To be honest, if you don’t mind working in a trade then go for gas. Its far better regulated. Once you are qualified that’s it. No more questions – you are licensed to work on gas. No ifs or buts. The electrical trade is one massive rip off.

All that said, I’m still a spark and making a living. In that time I worked minimum wage to get experience and build CV up. Not an easy route at all.

I would not recommend the short courses. There is another post on here about going to a local college and doing the long run on the NVQ route - that is the ONLY true option.

 

[Matthew G]

If your wanting a great income, electrical or engineering type of thing but don't mind being away from home, I recommend looking at the Merchant Navy as an Engineering Officer or Electrical Technical Officer. You only need 5 GCSEs A-C as minimum. Although if you have A levels you can get better qualifications as you go along for if you want to change job later.

I am now an Senior Engineering Officer, they paid for all my training and a small wage for the 3 years of college and in job training, then I worked for 32k annual after tax for 5 years before returning to college for 12 weeks to get a senior qualification, now on 50k annual after tax. In couple more years I will do exams for Chief Engineer and get paid even more.

Even if I switch back to land based job now I will earn 35-40k after tax.

careersatsea.org

I suggest looking in to it, mostly people start training from any age 16-40 years of age, a few even older.

Why am I on here, because I want to make a family business dual to my career/hobby, as I love my job. Why take the risk and pressure, I guess that's the kind of work-aholic I am.

Oh and as said above, I wire my mates kitchens, just not the Mothers, she remembers me when I was a crazy teen!

 

[krasimir tenchev]

Hi everybody!
I have an question!
I am electrical engineer in one of european union countries.If i want to come in UK and to work as an engineer, what courses i should to graduate/ what license I should have/ ? Is it neccessary to be a member of engineering chamber?

 

[krasimir tenchev]

If is necessary to wait some permissions, is it possible to work as electricians meanwhile?

 

[The Byre]

It seems like a job that's not going anywhere at least - people are going to have electrics in 40 years,

A bit off topic, but don't count on it! 40 years is a long time!

There is almost nothing in your household, with the exception of conventional electric hobs and ovens, that actually has to use 230V AC. Nearly everything uses low voltage DC after the PSU, so the introduction of some new type of power supply, such as hydrogen and fuel cells within the appliance, would be fairly easy, once fuel cell technology matures into mass-produced commercial viability.

 

[The Byre]

Hi everybody!
I have an question!
I am electrical engineer in one of european union countries.If i want to come in UK and to work as an engineer, what courses i should to graduate/ what license I should have/ ? Is it neccessary to be a member of engineering chamber?

If you mean, similar to the German 'Innungen' such as VDE, no, you do not need to be a member of anything.

But you do need the necessary qualifications and have good English language skills. If you have a degree-level qualification, you can get this recognised in the UK fairly easily.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/education/university/recognition/index_en.htm

Engineering degrees are recognised in the UK from Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey under the Eur-Ace Accord of 2014.

http://accreditation.org/accords/eur-ace-accord

 

[krasimir tenchev]

Thanks "The Byre".
I will explane my case:I have Master degree diploma of Electrical engineering. UK NARIC had confirmed my education a few months ago . I have found a lot of organisations (Engineering Council,Energy institute and others) which give some work licence for some regulated jobs. Should I have take NVQ 3 , NVQ 4 ,17th Edition Electrical Regulations, Electrical Installation Codes exam or have to be IEng or CEng to do my profession in UK?

 

[The Byre]

The UK is so desperately short of senior engineers and electrical engineers in particular, that I would imagine that any employer will move Heaven and Earth to get their hands on you and would smooth your way to having any of the needed certificates.

Do you have a specific field or speciality and do you have a particular area in the UK you want to go to?

 

[krasimir tenchev]

Yes, I have a huge experience with engineering ,procurement and construction in energy sector (especially Photovoltaics,Termal power plants, and Water power plants ) .I think it is better to try in area which I have experience firstly.

 

[The Byre]

PV and thermal can be everywhere. Hydroelectric - Scotland. Hoch-Tief and Siemens have just built a giant HE project feeding into Loch Ness.

https://www.scottishrenewables.com/get-involved/careers-in-renewables/current-jobs-in-renewables/

http://www.british-hydro.org/Career/derwent_hydro_are_recruiting.html

http://www.greenhighland.co.uk/hydro-news/

Things are somewhat quiet at the moment, but a good CV and letter of application should get you an interview.