Updates On Electrician Qualifications For 2010

For many people, an interesting and varied choice often means a career within the electrical industry. Within this document we will not use the full term of Electro-Mechanical Engineering but use the term Electrical Industry instead. Also, for ease we will concentrate on those principles that sit within the domestic and commercial markets for the UK. Because of the vast number of options available for a career within the electrical industry, we\’ll start by concentrating on the main topics, and come back to the \’add-ons\’ later.

On consideration, we observe two forms of access into the electrical market. Along with apprenticeships for school leavers, students entering the field at a later phase in their life now have an alternative to more traditional amateur routes. For the sake of clarity throughout, the first will be known as \’Junior Entrants\’ and the second simply known as \’Mature Entrants.\’

Principally, Mature Entrants join the electrical workplace later on, and focus on becoming self employed. This means working on their own and not having to pay salaries to anyone else. Those who join as Junior Entrants, on the other hand, appear to do so with the aim of joining an established electrical firm – in order to gain further qualifications and experience whilst picking up practical and other work-place skills. Often a young apprentice will be in their first job since leaving school, and will therefore have a host of ancillary skills to learn during their first few years as a working adult.

The two different ways into the industry have two separate methods of preparation. In essence, the Junior Entrants follow an NVQ syllabus, or SVQ syllabus in Scotland. As part of the training program an NVQ would be a requirement to attain. This means that work programs or apprenticeships have to be sought in order to arrange the necessary course work and testing phases of work.

Instead of seeking a work-based training environment, the Mature Entrant often seems to focus on working as a self employed person where different qualifications to NVQ\’s are preferred. In the main the person will aim to gain the best from their investment costs against the return for that training. This method may appear to reduce the levels of knowledge overall, but it does allow for an increase in the speed by which people enter and become more prevalent within the market.

So we have two defined routes laid out – one being for general employment and the other centred on self-employment. For the sake of this document we will assume that everyone involved in electrical employment is working full-time. Certainly, whilst salary levels can be affected by knowledge and qualifications, they can also be affected by competence and aptitude.

Although starting wages for \’Junior Entrants\’ are around 13k p.a. they can rise above 30k p.a. but this does depend on their level of experience. However, with incomes of 70,000 or more a year, a \’Mature Entrants\’ salary can often be more difficult to judge. It should be remembered however that a self employed person must often bear additional costs for items such as vehicles, tools and clothing. Furthermore, professional items such as accountancy, tax and insurance need to be considered to make the business work properly. However, the driving force remains the UK skills shortage and this means that there\’s a load of work available. Therefore, working seven days a week (if a student wanted) is a possibility for most. It should be noted that figures of 70-100k p.a. advertised are not necessarily easy to come by and would require some long working hours to obtain them.

In light of the above, it is often understood that there is wild variance between the working expectations of Junior and Mature Entrants. Electricians who are \’Junior Entrants\’ would work a simple 40 hour working week. 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.

Once a career in electrical work has been chosen, a Junior Electrician is often at the mercy of their employer when it comes to learning new skills and expertise. The mature entrant, on the other hand, may seek training outside of their core electrical field, possibly including plumbing and gas work. This gives them the chance to complete work for domestic clients without having to sub contract jobs out every time.

An up to the minute angle – involving a new level of skills – is that of the so called \’Green Engineer\’. The chance to win some big employment and business advantages within the governmental as well as the traditional growth sector means that this area could be attractive to both Junior and Mature Entrants alike.

Copyright 2009 S. Edwards. Check out 2392 Courses or www.NewCareerCourses.co.uk/incc.html.

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