I want to become an Electrician - but how do I start?

lincroft1710

As an accountant you're setting your sights far too low.

Lion taming is the job you should be looking at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOmB1q8W4Y

dezzie

Try national grid they have different levels of appreniceships. Im in the middle of doing a btec course in electronic engineering hoping to go into an apprenticeship with national grid even though im turning 30 this year they say that they welcome older applicants. Its very competitive with a lot of applicants every year. Good luck!

feeling

Get proper, certified training for it, and whilst you're training for it apply to electrician companies for work experience or even an apprenticeship at the end of your training.

PSW

lincroft1710 wrote: »

As an accountant you're setting your sights far too low.

Lion taming is the job you should be looking at

lol

dezzie wrote: »

Try national grid they have different levels of appreniceships. Im in the middle of doing a btec course in electronic engineering hoping to go into an apprenticeship with national grid even though im turning 30 this year they say that they welcome older applicants. Its very competitive with a lot of applicants every year. Good luck!

that's a good idea, i'll have a look on the website and give them a call, see what they say

feeling wrote: »

Get proper, certified training for it, and whilst you're training for it apply to electrician companies for work experience or even an apprenticeship at the end of your training.

I've found an Electrical Installations City & Guilds 2330 Level 2, Technical Certificate Stages 1 and 2 at a local Uni - which is a 2 year part time course. As it's part time I'm wondering if there is any other courses whiich I could take at the same time, which hopefully give me an edge (however small). I've already started putting together a list of companies I going to call to ask about work expereince or apprenticeship, or even if they have the odd day where I can shadow them while there on the job.

Thanks for all the advice, really helpful :T

brutus1983

PSW
im a qualified electrician these are the qualifications youl need to get a sniff off a chance to gain employment in the electrical industry
2330 lvl3 now this is changing soon next year i believe it will be merging with the nvq3 wich may mean youl need to be in employment to be accepted on the course
17th edition most employers want this and qualfied electricians will have to do the 18th when they come out
2391 testing and inspection alot employers will want this all job adverts ive seen for jobs all want 2391 sparks
nvq3 youl have to be working in the industry to gain this
am2 you may need this to complete your nvq3

youl need your nvq3 and 2330 lvl3 and 17th edition minimum to gain your electricians card of the jib if you want to work on buiding sites or in industrial

now you can go self employed and go house bashing but youl need to be registered with a scam sorry i mean scheme to be part p compliant so you can notify the labc of notifiable jobs this will mean showing them 2 jobs a major job and minor job prove you are capable of the work this will cost you in the region of 500 pounds a year

now i dont want you to put you off here but work in the industry is dire and i mean it stinks there is very littly work on at the moment people are begging to work for free for experience and still getting nowhere fast theres very few firms taking on and those who are taking on want experienced people

Speeball

Hi, I'm thinking about taking one of these 'quick' courses to become qualified as an electrician. They claim there are hundreds of new tradespeople needed, especially electricians and plumbers. I'm 45 and have been working in the entertainment industry since I was a teenager and I fancy doing something else for the last 20 or so years that I'm going to be earning a living. I was quite excited by the prospect until I read Brutus1983's sad assessment of the situation (you didn't mean to put him off eh?! lol). I was always competent at maths (though going back to algebra scares the pants off me!), am very computer literate and have run my own business for 14 years. I can afford the £6000 or so for the course but I'm worried that I'm choosing a safe company to train with (New Career Skills ltd) and now concerned that I'll be able to get any work at the end of it.

I live in London, does anyone have any insight into the job opportunities here or is that where you're from, Brutus?

Cheers,

Speeball

DCFC79

Speeball wrote: »

Hi, I'm thinking about taking one of these 'quick' courses to become qualified as an electrician. They claim there are hundreds of new tradespeople needed, especially electricians and plumbers. I'm 45 and have been working in the entertainment industry since I was a teenager and I fancy doing something else for the last 20 or so years that I'm going to be earning a living. I was quite excited by the prospect until I read Brutus1983's sad assessment of the situation (you didn't mean to put him off eh?! lol). I was always competent at maths (though going back to algebra scares the pants off me!), am very computer literate and have run my own business for 14 years. I can afford the £6000 or so for the course but I'm worried that I'm choosing a safe company to train with (New Career Skills ltd) and now concerned that I'll be able to get any work at the end of it.

I live in London, does anyone have any insight into the job opportunities here or is that where you're from, Brutus?

Cheers,

Speeball

If you had done a search for these firms you would see theres alot of threads about them not delivering what is paid for, get onto a college course is what i would do.

Speeball

Yeah I did find some info saying that some training companies were not great and also some opinons saying this sort of training was not as respected as experienced workers. I did find some positives too, along the lines that it's a tough time to find any work anyway and it's all about gaining some experience. I'm too long in the tooth to do 2 years+ at college so I was looking at these courses as a shortcut really. Hmmm, not sure either way at the moment.