It\’s notable that a career within the electrical industry, with its attractive options, remains a choice for lots of people. Whilst the original term is \’Electro-Mechanical Engineering\’ we will simply refer to the subject as the Electrical Industry. Furthermore, we will focus on the UK market and the domestic and commercial elements rather than those from elsewhere around the world. 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.
Basically there are two clear ways to gain admission into 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. There are two sets of people for consideration firstly the \’Junior Entrants\’ and secondly the \’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. During their first years in the working environment, a young apprentice, or junior entrant, will have a host of additional skills to learn.
Clearly these two options have both differing training styles and methods of entry. NVQ\’s are the key factor for all junior entrants. The core syllabus is similar to non NVQ commercial training, but the certification is compulsory. New employees gain the necessary course work and testing elements through an apprenticeship or some form of suitable work program.
Mature Entrants do not appear to seek the NVQ element but instead they go after the most commercially suitable qualifications. Instead most of them aim for the techniques that will get them up and running as quickly as possible and give them the best return against the cost to train in the first place. This method allows for a quicker route to the market and does meet the necessary trading elements for the areas concerned despite reducing the overall qualification set.
We should differentiate the prospective earnings into the two categories of employed and self-employed. Obviously, with self-employment, there is the added issue of whether the Entrant is part-time (working around another job) or full-time; we will concentrate on full-time. Income levels are also dictated by experience and knowledge gained – usually proven via an accredited proficiency or certification level.
\’Junior Entrants\’ can expect a basic salary of 12K at the beginning of their training. With application and experience this figure often more than doubles in time. However, with incomes of 70,000 or more a year, a \’Mature Entrants\’ salary can often be more difficult to judge. Irrespective of this salary level many self-employed people also need to manage extra business costs such as tools, clothes and vans. Earmarked within this is the need to cover additional expenses such as accountancy or insurance. However, the driving force remains the UK skills shortage and this means that there\’s a load of work available. Certainly, working a full week is a realistic possibility for those who want to. Whilst figures of seventy to a hundred thousand are often bandied around in the press, they do not often inform you of the long hours you would need to work to achieve this.
For the most part there is a strong difference between the Junior and Mature Entrants\’ working week. Electricians who are \’Junior Entrants\’ would work a simple 40 hour working week. But due to the needs of the domestic market the Mature Entrant is often more reliant upon when their client base gets back from work. 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. Alternatively, the mature entrant can gain other training outside of their chosen field, such as gas and plumbing work. Within the domestic market this allows them to work under a range of headings without having to rely upon sub contract suppliers.
A new trade example is that of the \’Green Engineer\’. This new service to the industry could fit into the overall skill-set of an electrician. With expected growth through new employment contracts and business options, this new entity is extremely attractive to many Junior and Mature Electricians, especially when considering the UK and EEC support overall.
Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Navigate to An Electrical Course or CLICK HERE.
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