Revealing 2391 Courses – What’s Required
Due to the exciting choices available, the electrical industry offers jobs that many people choose. Whilst the original term is ‘Electro-Mechanical Engineering’ we will simply refer to the subject as the Electrical Industry. Also, for ease we will concentrate on those principles that sit within the domestic and commercial markets for the UK. We will begin by reviewing the main issues first and come back to the ‘add-ons’ later, because of the huge number of options available as a career within this subject.
Really there are two main ways to enter the electrical market. The first is for those wishing to train via a more traditional apprenticeship route, and the second is for people who are entering the field at a later stage in life. Throughout this document we will simply refer to two types of people the ‘Junior’ and the ‘Mature’ entrants.
People who do not want to pay any extra salaries, but want to enter the industry with the focus of being self employed are who we refer to as Mature Entrants. Alternatively, ‘Junior Entrants’ will pick up lots of their work place skills by working with an already reputable electrical company. This could be a young apprentice’s first position since leaving school, so it will be necessary to pick up supplementary working skills.
Clearly these two options have both differing training styles and methods of entry. Junior Entrants are heavily linked with NVQ’s (or the Scottish equivalent – SVQ’s.) Whilst the core syllabus is relatively similar to non-NVQ commercial training, there is a particular requirement to attain the actual NVQ qualifications as part of the overall training program. This means that work programs or apprenticeships have to be sought in order to arrange the necessary course work and testing phases of work.
Mature Entrants do not appear to seek the NVQ element but instead they go after the most commercially suitable qualifications. In the main the person will aim to gain the best from their investment costs against the return for that training. This system, although appearing to reduce the attributes laid out, does allow for a faster and more solid entry into the domestic market.
Between self-employment and general employment we have two routes to consider in terms of typical income. Whilst self-employed people can choose the hours that they work, we assume that they are working full time for the purpose of this review. Income levels are also dictated by experience and knowledge gained – usually proven via an accredited proficiency or certification level.
With the right level of experience, ‘Junior Entrants’ salaries can rise considerably from twelve to thirty thousand pounds per annum. However, with incomes of 70,000 or more a year, a ‘Mature Entrants’ salary can often be more difficult to judge. Often costs such as tools, clothes and even transport need to be assessed and included in the business mix overall. Earmarked within this is the need to cover additional expenses such as accountancy or insurance. In the UK there is a lot of work for electrical professions due to a short fall of current skilled people. Certainly, working a full week is a realistic possibility for those who want to. Although by working very long hours and having assistants to help, the figures of 70-100 thousand advertised in newspapers might be achieved, it wouldn’t be easy.
To be fair, most Junior and Mature electricians experience very different working hours to each other. Monday to Friday 9-5 would be the working week of most ‘Junior Entrants’. 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. With many self-employed electricians the core of their income comes from items such as business testing and installation and as such operates during the main part of the week.
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. This gives them the chance to complete work for domestic clients without having to sub contract jobs out every time.
One new, fast growing area – one that invokes a wide array of skills sets and is new to the industry overall – is that of the ‘Green Engineer’. The curiosity of both Junior and Mature Electricians to this new industry is well founded especially when considering the power of the UK and the EEC markets in areas of growth and governmental projects.
(C) Scott Edwards 2009. Navigate to www.Alternative-Careers.co.uk/AltCarG.html or Part P Electrical.