It\’s notable that a career within the electrical industry, with its attractive options, remains a choice for lots of people. From here on we will use the phrase of Electrical Industry to explain the more accurate term of \”Electro-Mechanical Engineering\”. Equally we\’ll focus on those credentials that fit the UK domestic and commercial sector rather than those from around the world. Due to the huge list of opportunities available for a career in the electrical industry, we have to begin by focusing on the main areas and look at the \’add-ons\’ later on.
Essentially, we see two distinct forms of entry into the electrical market. The primary route is the apprenticeship which is considered the more traditional and then we have the second phase for those who are joining at a later stage. For the sake of clarity throughout, the first will be known as \’Junior Entrants\’ and the second simply known as \’Mature Entrants.\’
Mature students, or entrants, often train so that they can become self-employed and work on their own projects without having to pay wages to external electricians. 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. This could be a young apprentice\’s first position since leaving school, so it will be necessary to pick up supplementary working skills.
The distinct types of entry have differing styles of training – Junior entrants go through NVQ training in England and Wales, and SVQ training in Scotland. 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 requires being in a directly-related work program or apprenticeship of some type, so as to meet the testing and course-work requirements.
Mature Entrants, with the possible aim of entering the market from a self-employed perspective, seem to focus on attaining the most commercially viable qualifications (without the need for the NVQ element.) In the main the person will aim to gain the best from their investment costs against the return for that training. Although this may offer quicker and more commercial options, it does reduce the official requirements set for certain areas of the industry.
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. \’Mature Entrants\’ salaries though are often more difficult to work out, but can rise to 70.000 and above as reported in UK newspapers. Often costs such as tools, clothes and even transport need to be assessed and included in the business mix overall. Self employed people also have to allow for added expenses. Aside from that, the current skills shortage within the UK still means that there\’s lots of high value work out there. In light of the above, a full seven day week is available to most people should they want it. To be fair, high salaries bounded about by the press do require long working hours or help to achieve them.
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\’. That aside the Mature market is equally affected by when their clients are available – this is especially so within the domestic sector, where evening and weekend work predominates. There are however lots of opportunities for self-employed electricians to do work on small business systems during normal office hours.
To be fair it\’s often the boss of a company who states the type of specialist knowledge that Junior Entrants gain whilst in their employ. Whereas the mature entrant can gain knowledge from any trade source – even one outside of the core of electrical work. Without a doubt the extra skills help them in their overall employ whether this is commercial or domestic work.
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.
(C) 2009 – S. Edwards. Go to Retraining4Adults.co.uk/oretadu.html or Electrical Courses.
