Training as an electrician

FloppyPoppy

FloppyPoppy

FloppyPoppy

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Hey everyone,

to cut a long story as short as possible, i have been working in the plastics industry now for about 10 years and am currently looking at a career change. I am considering training to be an electrician whilst still working.

There seems to be a whole lot of different paths to take courses to do and certifications to gain. I have seen the likes of City and Guilds offering 25 day courses for around £2500 that seem to offer a good foundation.

Is a course like this something people would suggest investing into? or would people say it's a waste of time/money and that there are other better paths to take.

I am currently just looking at getting a foot in the door so that i can step out of plastics.

Thanks everyone for any advice. :)
 
Don't want to discourage you from a career change or becoming an electrician but...Most electricians / firms would probably not value this sort of short course training and you may struggle to find a job just based on this course alone

If they did take you on it would probably be as an apprentice / mate level with the certs (this may save them £££ not having to pay for your certs) but no experience so still need to be taught on the job for quite a while etc

You could set up as self employed after this course but you would be jumping in at the deep end and having to think on you feet, teach yourself and gain experience with no support

I would suggest you look into what your prospects would be after doing this course as it wouldn't be good to be £3k down and no further along with career change etc
 
Ps also the course linked is for domestic installer so domestic work only, so no commercial and industrial so being domestic only maybe a disadvantage

The course to be full approved spark costs a lot more and takes longer

Ps Firms would probably value college course / night school if available near you over commercial training companies - might be worth looking into

Hopefully someone who runs a firm and does the hiring may see thread and give more info
 
Pps Maybe see if any Big firms are taking on an electrical apprentices and offering paid training, EDF, SSE, BG, You local DNO, Local Power stations, Might be able to get reasonable training pay circa 18k rising when qualified and signed off etc
 
I've been thinking of doing the same, though I found a company that would let me qualify around my job, whilst doing practical tests at the weekend at their centres. One year to become qualified for domestic work and another year for commercial. I'll try and find a link to their site but IIRC it cost £3-4k.
 
@HardwareGeek thanks for all your responses :)

A good friend of mine also suggested the college route. I’ve been looking at the local tech college to see what options are available. An apprenticeship is also something I would happily consider and look into.

I wasn’t discouraged by what you said about those courses, it’s why I posted in here to make sure i wasn’t looking at the wrong paths.
 
Hi,

As others have said try your local DNO (Distribution Network Operator ) - They'll have apprenticeships for Fitters / Cable jointers, not exactly a electrician but close enough( especially the fitter role) but are more of the "industrial electrician" type roles. As far as I am aware a larger company such as DNO will be likely to accept a older apprentice, and don't pay awfully. If it's domestics you are looking to do this is still an option, as it will bring experience and a foot in the door, although you'll still need additional qualification etc.

Another option would be do to a HNC/HND at college part time and go for a trainee engineer type role, higher pay, but you won't be "on the tools" - depends what you want. the trainee scheme would allow you a option of discipline from design engineering to construction / project engineering. If you opted for the project engineering side of things, you could train to be a SAP (reasonable for switching on HV/EHV) - with a few years experience you can command a healthy salary as DNO experience is highly regarded within the distribution sector. As the SAP you'd be involved in the practical side, delivering new connections, substation replacements etc. This is something that interests me personally, although currently I've managed to stick myself to a design engineer / largely office based job, given what I know now I'd prefer to go for the project engineering / SAP route.

Thanks,
Kieran
 
Just to chip in my 2p. I've just completed a "short course" (started in April online and completed 2 weeks ago) and now I'm fully qualified in domestic, commercial and industrial. As others have said, there is still a HUGE amount to learn but I've found that approaching a local Sparky got my foot in the door and now I'm so busy doing EICRs and general install work (with him signing off my certs) that I could work 7 days a week ... if I was crazy enough to do so. Ok so the money's not ideal but I'm getting there.
Plus, I love this. I've always enjoyed troubleshooting and problem-solving so this is ideal. And no meetings. Our pre-meetings about meetings.
 
Currently £200 per day but going up to £250 (or £35 an hour for smaller jobs) when I can self-certify.
I should say that I've got someone signing off my certs (multiple signature forms) for me now...until I get NAPIT approved.
 
Not quite electrical but made a similar move into an engineering apprenticeship last year. Original company where happy to take me as an older apprentice because of my work experience (not at all engineering related) I had some knowledge and lots of interest from hobbys so they even paid my a fair wage considering the training/qualification costs and that i'd only be productive 4 days a week (5th day at college)

With the way apprenticeships are now (new standards with criteria set by groups of industry companies ) they can be done quicker than the set 4 years then here's your certificate that they used too .

It's pretty much a case of ticking off the criteria as soon as you can and then pass an end point assessment . I always aimed to be done in 2 years and should be on track despite this covid carry on.

I always think that I could have done a few courses and blagged my way into a job but after I've finished this I will have 3 related qualifications , some good experience and be 'time served' which is till what a lot of employers look for

Definetly recommend speaking to some training providers (but be wary of them 'selling' ) and try to speak to someone who recruits for the sort of places you'd like to work
 
Was just about to post a thread asking about re training as electrician.

I've been a Registered Nurse in the NHS for 8 years now, not sure I can handle it any longer I'm at tipping point.

So if I did one of those 'short courses' I could make a decent wage doing inspections and such but only domestic?
 
From what I understood you need:

18th Edition 2382
NVQ L3 (2357?)
Electrotechnical Training L2 + L3 (Academic training)
Inspection and Testing (go 2391-52 all others are a waste of time)

Then most importantly, practical experience.

You can branch off into various different areas when it comes to electrical. a lot of people see electricians as just somebody that pops round your grans to change a light. That I suppose is one type of electrician, but definitely you see a lot of cowboy types that do that work.

Heavy industry, commercial, HV, AGL, maintenance, Haz Areas etc etc there can be a lot of big money for big work in the electrical industry.
 
Talking more widely about professions worth taking up, welding is actually the most lucrative handyman job. Demand for welders is high and the national average salary is £28,604 (as per this article). The qualifications needed are similar to gardening or carpentry, so shouldn't be too far out of reach.
 
Damn, reminds me my 17th has run out lol. Before I dip out, my route was not conventional but the first job I got offered while waiting for my comp science degree was working for a contractor installing at service intakes. In a short period of time I was getting poached up along meter operative companies and working on metering installations. I then got myself the basics for domestic installs too and before I knew it was on better money and working all over the UK mostly on commercial equipment.

Rare work considering some spent a partitioned career locking regular people out of it (old time served jobs for the boys) like installing CT meters and LV/HV equipment. At one stage I held all the licenses for the DNO's to work under a MOP etc but it was great fun among the long shifts and hotel nights away. Got to know all the roads to get about just as the sat nav era gripped and everyone got lazy following robots!

If your dead set on being a spark lean on some local helpful souls - get an insight if its for you. My general impression was house bashing is a bit rough and only worth it when building work is in good times paying decent money - not so good in a recession.
 
I'd say there will be a decent market for small domestic work in the next few years as people rethink their house and how they use it.

I have a friend who did the quick course for domestic work, got out there and started getting himself a name locally doing small jobs and then got further qualifications.

Also, he makes decent money off EV point installs, which can only be a growth area.
 
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