Career Change, 38 years old, IT to Electrician

Shikkaka · 28 Mar 2023 at 11:49

I feel a mid-life crisis bubbling away now I'm approaching the big 40. Truth be told I've been feeling like a change for almost 10 years and so far I've done nothing about it!

I wanted to be an electrician since school but somehow never pursued it, I ended up falling into IT and I don't think I've ever truly felt job satisfaction. My current job is nice because I'm the only IT person at our Nottingham office and I'm left to get on with it by my manager. We have a couple of other locations in the UK but they're slowly dwindling down since COVID and my confidence in keeping this job is at an all time low. I've been here for 10 years but prior to that I've always left other jobs after 1-2 years due to becoming bored or just hating the work.

My biggest fear right now is losing this job and ending up back in another IT job I hate, I need to take action before it's too late! I've always enjoyed hands-on work so would like to pursue a career along those lines.

Has anyone made the switch from IT to an electrician?
How long did it take and did you work for yourself or work for a company?
How did you go about getting trained?

I found this company who provide city & guild courses (https://www.tradeskills4u.co.uk/). Has anyone used them before?

I have loads of free time with my current job so I'd like to get qualified asap and either start looking for works or set up on my own whilst maintaining my current job until I'm either made redundant or I have enough work to quit.

Any advice, feedback or guidance would be much appreciated.

peterwalkley · 28 Mar 2023 at 12:08

Have a read of this older thread: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...electrician-career-change-nhs-nurse.18956043/

flibbage0 · 28 Mar 2023 at 19:03

Shikkaka said:
I feel a mid-life crisis bubbling away now I'm approaching the big 40. Truth be told I've been feeling like a change for almost 10 years and so far I've done nothing about it!

I wanted to be an electrician since school but somehow never pursued it, I ended up falling into IT and I don't think I've ever truly felt job satisfaction. My current job is nice because I'm the only IT person at our Nottingham office and I'm left to get on with it by my manager. We have a couple of other locations in the UK but they're slowly dwindling down since COVID and my confidence in keeping this job is at an all time low. I've been here for 10 years but prior to that I've always left other jobs after 1-2 years due to becoming bored or just hating the work.

My biggest fear right now is losing this job and ending up back in another IT job I hate, I need to take action before it's too late! I've always enjoyed hands-on work so would like to pursue a career along those lines.

Has anyone made the switch from IT to an electrician?
How long did it take and did you work for yourself or work for a company?
How did you go about getting trained?

I found this company who provide city & guild courses (https://www.tradeskills4u.co.uk/). Has anyone used them before?

I have loads of free time with my current job so I'd like to get qualified asap and either start looking for works or set up on my own whilst maintaining my current job until I'm either made redundant or I have enough work to quit.

Any advice, feedback or guidance would be much appreciated.

We need to weigh up the options here:

1. Do you have any dependents? Children etc?
2. What is your current salary (personal I know but it will help with the decision)
3. You mention that you've been at your current job for 10 years, maybe you just need a new environment?

peterwalkley said:
Have a read of this older thread: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...electrician-career-change-nhs-nurse.18956043/

Whilst this thread is a good read it is important to note that they were going from being a nurse in the NHS (a high stress and underpaid profession).

Also you mention currently your biggest fear is losing your job and then ending up in another IT job, would the other jobs not pay as well as your current job or is it not possible to progress into a different area within IT?

On the other hand we will always need electricians, if you can do the following: Work to a decent standard, turn up on time and tidy after your mess then you will always find work and you will probably be turning down a lot of work. I have a family friend that is an electrician he's told me the amount of work he's turned down in the past 3 years due to being so busy.

The most important part is finding an electrician you can work alongside with, the courses can only teach you so much and you will need to find someone that will take you on, for this you may need to go through a bigger company as quite a few electricians like to work on their own.

Whichever way you go I wish you the best of luck

sigma · 2 Apr 2023 at 13:46

The usual route is an apprenticeship isn't it?

Probably a good trade to go into though, it's hard to get any traders over for less than £100,000 a day these days.

As above, maybe it's easier to find a job in IT that you will actually like?

dowie · 2 Apr 2023 at 17:09

I'd perhaps try to look at combining your previous experience with the new career, not just thinking one man band electrician delaing with residential and small business customers.

I mean for example if you had a load of networking experience and then decided to switch to becoming an electrician then presumably working for data centres etc.. might make sense.

I guess if you're doing basic office IT stuff - desktop support, phones, fixing printers etc.. then maybe switching to being an electrician working in some sort of facilities role for a building owner with various commercial tenants or a company who supplies electricians for those sorts of clients may be relevant (presumably some building owners need electricians on staff and they'd deal with IT people from various tenants; plenty of companies will have small server rooms on site, I guess @Diddums might be the person to comment on facilities stuff).

Likewise perhaps on the domestic side of things maybe home automation stuff fits in nicely with electrician + prior IT experience... wealthier customers for a start. Maybe you could offer a range of stuff that way, not just the regular electrician-type jobs but Hi-Fi/AV installation, CCTV and, of course, rigging up all the smart home-related stuff. Obvs for normal people home automation can just involve some smart speakers and light bulbs + some Alexa device etc.. but for a wealthy person in a large home it can basically involve a whole cupboard/small room with all sorts of gear.

radderfire · 4 Apr 2023 at 01:10

If you think you have a calling for it and will enjoy it, go for it!

I had an electrician come round telling me he had retrained as an electrician, but I can't remember what he did before!!

IT jobs can be extremely boring, but with something like an electrician, you have more craftsmanship and more job satisfaction, as you can do neat installs, see your work, and get gratitude from customers if you're good.

All in all, I say go for it, it can only be better than boring IT (sorry IT guys, I know there are a lot here).

You might find your local technical college has a career path that is cheaper than paying for training with a private training company.

Note that there is a lot of studying involved! I also think you have to have a bit of a knack/flair for electrical stuff, as it does get a bit technical!

Hades · 10 Apr 2023 at 11:46

What is it about IT you used to like?
What is it about IT you now dislike?
What is is about being an electrician you think you will like?

malachi · 11 Apr 2023 at 10:32

I had a friend who went the opposite way from electrician to IT. He told me it was good and paid well but work started to dry up (this was before the pandemic) and the cost of keeping his equipment upto date inline with regulations which I think was a yearly thing. Started to eat into this profits.

He would have stayed in the profession if it wasnt for that. Also need to keep in mind, the wear and tear on your body such as being on your knees doing work. Not a problem when you are younger but getting towards 40, you start to notice. Cant be doing that into your 60's.

jaybee · 11 Apr 2023 at 11:18

I've had similar thoughts over the last few years about dropping IT and doing something else. I could do electrical or carpentry as I'm quite handy but at my age, it would be taxing on my body I know that. It's hard to break into it so late. I wonder how many people start out by doing it as a "side hustle" to their main IT job, then eventually fully switch over. I knew someone that quit IT and became a driving instructor. Earns quite well from it. I feel all these trades seem to pull in a lot in the UK as people just seem to keep accepting high rates and paying them. I think we are up to £40 odd a lesson for driving lessons now. Last time I got a quote for plumbing work it was obscene. I'm amazed how many people can afford to pay these trader's rates.