Career as an electrician - would appreciate some advice

madwomanintraining

I would really appreciate some advice.
Do the majority of electrician start their day around 5/6am? This may sound like a really silly question but I would like to know because my son is considering a career as an electrician but he is not a morning person. The careers advisor and course teacher has told him that the course will involve work experience that means being picked up at 5am, and that this was usual for this type of work, and as I don't personally know any electrician I would appreciate any thought - thanks

phill99

I run a property maintenance company. If he is working on building sites, a 7.30 start is quite normal, so an early start is expected. However, I'm not aware of many companies that would do a 2.5 hour drive to site! however, he may be oicked up at 6 or 6.30.

If he is doing domstic work (ie work in peoples houses) then most people don't want you in their homes before 8or 8.30.

Whether he's a morning person or not, if he wants to work as an electrician, he needs to wise up and start getting out of bed. There are very few careers where you can start work at 2.00 in the afternoon.

Nebulous2

They're building new flats beside me at the moment. They are on site by 8 if I'm walking dog. A lot of them are from the same part of the country as me, which is 90 minutes drive away. So I think a 6am pick-up is quite likely.

There was a recent thread on MSE about an apprentice who had to start before the buses began to run, so a grandparent was taking them. Their employer had promised a van when they passed their test.

ohreally

Depends on whether he is looking to work in a maintenance environment, which will likely be shifts of some sort - 06:00 or 07:00 start or installations.

Wi88le

All depends where the work is and the company,
if it's for an electrical contracting company. 07.30-08.00 are fairly standard starting times on many sites, add the travel time on and it can mean early starts and late finishes or staying away for the week. He may also find that the company may work nights and weekends depending upon the work that they do, as many businesses don't want work done within their normal opening hours.

eamon

Somewhere along the line the lad needs an apprenticeship. That will also entail college days as well. The best (and best paid electricians) apprentices have all done extensive site work (1st & 2nd fixings, domestic, commercial & industrial) and unless you live in an area that has plenty of work then travelling the country is the name of the game. He will need to turn into an early bird if he is to make the grade.

dundermifflin

I don't think many people are "morning people" and would love to lie in a bit longer if they could. But it's called work. If it's a trade he wants to learn in the hope of eventually turning it into a career, he'll need to learn to become a "morning person". Lots of people get up early to go to work, commute etc, it's just part of life.

Perhaps he should go along to a local college's open days/taster days so he can speak to tutors who run the electricians courses so he can find out a bit more and develop a better idea of whether he really wants to do it.

pebbles88

They're building houses near me & have been doing a lot of construction work ( big leisure complex & office spaces etc) near where I work - both sites I've seen them on there from 7:30 am at the latest starting work as soon as it hits 8am. The few I've said hello to as we've passed as definitely not been morning people! But they need employment so get on with it.


I myself am not a morning person, but the days I work, I have to be as I need my job so it's tough really!

Good luck to your son in his starting out into the world of employment. X

DigForVictory

Judging from the number of empty paper coffee cups around a couple of building sites, I suspect quite a lot "aren't morning people" until the relevant chemistry hits the system, but can stagger to the site & the first brew because they need the work.
The young are resilient. If son enjoys work experience, the camaraderie will help him with the getting up. If he hates it, root & branch, then he can always consider accountancy, or librarian training, or some other largely indoor occupation - but he will have to get over the not wanting to get up!

MoneyMission2015

I work for a facilities management company and our engineers regularly start work at 7am. On occasions we do have early starts, for instance at the moment we have a planned maintenance program for one of our customers and they insist on us being on site at 6am so that the work is completed before the stores opening time.


It really does depend on what type of work he wants to go in to. We don't do any work directly for domestic customers, but we do work for some property management companies in blocks of flats, so start times of our engineers are driven by the people living in the flats.


I also have a family member who is an electrician, employed by a large company to carry out all maintenance on one of their sites and he has to be in work by 7.30am.


I would say the best thing would be for him to start getting into a new routine. I'm not particularly a morning person, but on some days I have to be in work by 8am and I live an hour away, so I have now just got used to being up early on those particular days and then I sleep in a bit on the weekend.

ERICS_MUM

My 30 year old nephew is an electrician working on commercial property and he gets up at 5am most mornings, commutes an hour or more depending where he's working, for a 7am start.
Might finish by 4pm but not always.

He also does similar hours if offered weekend overtime. As he says, he's a fit young man who needs money for mortgage, holidays etc and he works whatever and as many hours as he can get. He's single so no family obligations.

It's a tough world. As a qualified electrician your son would have the potential to earn a good living. It's worth getting up early for.