Qualifications not worth the paper they are printed on.

[Deleted User 234324]

Wanted a career change several years back so signed up for some courses at my local technical college, 2 years and many thousands of pounds later I have 2 qualifications an EAL Level 2 and EAL level 3 Diploma in Electrical Installation.

Except it would appear from all the replies I am getting and the countless jobs I have applied for they are basically worthless and only suitable as credit towards doing an apprenticeship, which at my age is just not going to happen, financially it would be impossible.

Anyone else gone through a similar thing and managed to actually get into the field they are interested in?

 

[Lysander]

I think a lot of the time such qualifications only exist to create money for the businesses involved [this includes universities]. What matters is experience and good contacts.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Just become a self-employed tradie.

 

[Tom_ed1987]

Do you need any specific formal qualifications to set yourself up as a self employed domestic electrician? Because i'd just do that - make a nice contemporary logo, advertise on local Facebook etc as someone who can actually string a sentence together & i'm sure you'll get some work.

The basic/bread & butter stuff looks very easy, & you can do qualifications to specialise as you go - industrial / electric car charging / whatever it is that you need to self certify full house rewires etc.

 

[VincentHanna]

2 years and many thousands of pounds later I have 2 qualifications an EAL Level 2 and EAL level 3 Diploma in Electrical Installation.

Except it would appear from all the replies I am getting and the countless jobs I have applied for they are basically worthless and only suitable as credit towards doing an apprenticeship

Isn't that what you look in to before deciding what qualifications to get?

 

[checjb]

I did the same thing. Qualified via a Professional Electrical Installer course that covers EAL 2 & 3 and used that, as some basic experience gathered in the past, to get a NAPIT review & accreditation and I've been working about a year as a domestic sparky. I advertise purely through local Facebook groups and I'm doing OK.
Feel free to drop me a PM if you want to chat without bothering everyone else.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

Just LOL if you do any prep or background research before going gangbusters on some course that has little chance of employment opportunities and then you're still stuck in your crappy job and are financially worse off.

Noobs.

 

[Beerbaron]

Do you need any specific formal qualifications to set yourself up as a self employed domestic electrician? Because i'd just do that - make a nice contemporary logo, advertise on local Facebook etc as someone who can actually string a sentence together & i'm sure you'll get some work.

The basic/bread & butter stuff looks very easy, & you can do qualifications to specialise as you go - industrial / electric car charging / whatever it is that you need to self certify full house rewires etc.

Wouldn't you need to get some sort of insurance which would be expensive if you are not qualified?

 

[Bassmansam]

Just LOL if you do any prep or background research before going gangbusters on some course that has little chance of employment opportunities and then you're still stuck in your crappy job and are financially worse off.

Noobs.

whats the point of that course he did then and it ifs worthless why is it offered?

 

[Nasher]

You are going to be competing for jobs against loads of experienced electricians.

 

[Kenai]

There's a good reason courses like that only lead into very entry level positions as trainees and apprentices - electrical installation has the potential to be very dangerous and proficiency comes from experience as much as learning. Think of it as the equivalent of a driving theory test vs a driving practical test vs independent driving following that.

Just rocking up with some qualifications but no relevant experience, nobody is going to take a punt on you for anything other than a very junior role with a lot of supervision of your work.

 

[explicit4u]

whats the point of that course he did then and it ifs worthless why is it offered?

Probably not worthless and I’m sure it’s a decent stepping stone towards becoming an electrician, but it’s most likely offered because of the ‘thousands of pounds’ part.

If you want to do a course on virtually anything, there’s usually a training centre that will offer it, regardless of how useful it might be in terms of starting a career or industry recognition.

The other problem with courses that only really get you in at the very bottom, is that there’s a lot more qualified people than entry level positions/companies willing to offer apprenticeships.

 

[Lysander]

whats the point of that course he did then and it ifs worthless why is it offered?

Because it makes money for the company offering it and someone gets false hope that it will be useful for their career.

I have a GNVQ level 2 in customer service Was it worth it? No. Did the college make money out of doing it? Yes. Did the company I worked for at the time get a few boxes to tick saying I had fulfilled X criteria? Yes.

Uni is a different matter. What really advanced me more than anything was the contact base. That is much harder to accrue if you're just a single individual doing a course, whereas in uni you have all sorts of opportunities constantly thrown at you which you can follow up.

So the OP's course is not worthless as such, just a harder springboard to leap from.

 

[Efour]

You are going to be competing for jobs against loads of experienced electricians.

Move to London. Earn 3x more than anywhere else and you'll still have to turn down jobs because there's not enough hours in the day.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

Just LOL if you do any prep or background research before going gangbusters on some course that has little chance of employment opportunities and then you're still stuck in your crappy job and are financially worse off.

Noobs.

+1

whats the point of that course he did then and it ifs worthless why is it offered?

Because it puts you in good steed for an apprenticeship?

 

[Palladium]

Become a cowboy builder.

 

[Mujja]

Become a cowboy builder.

Recently a neighbour asked my advice before enrolling in a course to become a developer. I work in infrastructure, so not the best person to ask. My advice was to be wary of any paid courses, find out if the qualification at the end is worth anything. Look at what roles are advertised in the location you want to work\live, and check the skills they require. Call the employer and ask them what qualifications they are looking for.

 

[Cooler running]

Wanted a career change several years back so signed up for some courses at my local technical college, 2 years and many thousands of pounds later I have 2 qualifications an EAL Level 2 and EAL level 3 Diploma in Electrical Installation.

Except it would appear from all the replies I am getting and the countless jobs I have applied for they are basically worthless and only suitable as credit towards doing an apprenticeship, which at my age is just not going to happen, financially it would be impossible.

Anyone else gone through a similar thing and managed to actually get into the field they are interested in?

This sort of thing is always a risk, worse yet if the industry changes out from under you while on the course. For the most part though, when it comes to practical jobs, it's generally not a good idea to go on a course which doesn't offer placement. Either that or you can get the qualifications retrospectively after you join as a junior/apprentice.

For example, using my experience as a anchor (apologies given it's not on topic) in the software industry I advise people take on courses which give you a placement while on the course. That is unless they plan on going into AI or DataScience, which I advise doing a PHD in.

Hopefully in your case the apprenticeship will work out and you'll succeed faster with the knowledge from the course.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

I'm on the other side of the OP - a customer.

I need stuff doing to my house and I'm not getting any replies from any tradesmen. Even tried sites like Rated People. This implies that tradesmen are in high demand atm, probably due to people being at home more. Even last year, it took 4-5 weeks for me to get a cooker hood installed by a local electrician.

So I'm surprised the OP isn't getting any work.

 

[Lysander]

I'm on the other side of the OP - a customer.

I need stuff doing to my house and I'm not getting any replies from any tradesmen. Even tried sites like Rated People. This implies that tradesmen are in high demand atm, probably due to people being at home more. Even last year, it took 4-5 weeks for me to get a cooker hood installed by a local electrician.

So I'm surprised the OP isn't getting any work.

The issue isn't that there isn't enough work out there, but that the OP has applied to work for several electrical companies and has been told his qualifications aren't enough.