100,000 new sparkies

[ricardo123]

I was reading somewhere a month or so ago that currently this year alone 100,000 new sparkies will be trained up. 95% of those will be trained on the short courses , i.e. the 4-8 week courses, the other 5% being apprentices or those completing NVQ's etc. Does this spell the end for Domestic Installers, same thing has been happening with Driving Instructing, .i.e. its become very hard to make a living from it(I mean purely Domestic Installers here). Any comments anyone?

 

[davelerave]

what'll they know after 4 weeks

 

[ricardo123]

I am assuming after these courses they will become members of a domestic installer scheme!? which is why they have paid £thousands to do it. I am wondering what kind of effect this will have on the Domestic one man band/small company doing domestic work.

 

[oldtimer]

Could be a bunch of kitchen installers getting a electrical qualification to run cables

 

[malcolmsanford]

Nigh on 40 yrs in the trade and am I'm glad it's coming to an end for me.

 

[GrannySmiff]

Doom and gloom for us all.

 

[Spudnik]

Yes and no.

What you must try and do now, is adapt, and either specialise in the fast growing PV business, or become a little more sales orientated.

I have done the latter and found it quite successful, but obviously not become a DG sales rep

 

[Guest123]

I'll stick to my industrial realm, dont get no 5 week wonders in there!!!

 

[Spudnik]

I'll stick to my industrial realm, dont get no 5 week wonders in there!!!

Not yet

 

[oldtimer]

I'll stick to my industrial realm, dont get no 5 week wonders in there!!!

Lenny the only stick here will be employers using this info to beat people to work for less. Me does not want to look at the black side but this could be the seeds for a big sea change in this country and as for we better get use to it and learn more skills I am an industrial / commercial time served spark intruder alarms/ HVAC controls/ BMS service /commission/ Building maintenance tech 14/15/16&17 qualified I&T certified (no jokes now) and H&S and a JIB gold card to boot and I will quite happily go up against the 5 week spark anyday not because I am arogant but I am quite happy for the compitition

 

[Adam W]

I too plan to stick to commercial and industrial, but it would be interesting to know what percentage of those trained are still domestic installers after the first year, and how many cut their losses and go back to IT.

 

[GrannySmiff]

I think alot of people will waste money training and not get anywhere, scary as all they are trying to do is earn a living, shame there is only so much pie to go around.

 

[shocksmith222]

Whilst I totally understand the resentment against anyone who can come later into any profession and gain the basic qualifications by going through a much shorter training program (e.g. 4-5 weeks). I would add that plenty of those who go and pay their money to the training centres may not be passing all the qualifications and therefore dont go on further to actually start trade. Also, they then have to invest in all the tools, the meter, the competant persons scheme etc etc. Anyone who really pushes themself to go through all of that and then start out on their own, is not to be dismissed - do so at your own cost!

All of this despite the shorter timeframe requires a person who is not only determind, capable and has some cash behind them of which there are fewer people out there than you may think.
I have meet so many people who say they would love to have a trade, or have attended some training and not completed it or haven't the cash to take it further etc etc.

Bottom line is everyone has the opportunity to earn money in their given field, make sure you are an honest reliable and good value sparky and you will NEVER be out of work as the power of "word of mouth" does work. Take the easy path and spend your days moaning about the competition whether it be the 5 week newbies or long in the tooth sparks with years of experience and take your eye off your customers, your quality and value of your work and you will lose.

 

[ricardo123]

What's happening is that people are being seduced by trades such as plumbing, electrical, driving instructing when they are made redundant. And I can understand it you get a £10-£30k redundancy cheque and you decide after seeing some convincing adverts that say earn up to 30k, and be your own boss to take the plunge. I doubt very few are coming from an IT background, many will come from industrial works, the public sector etc. It will inevitably drive prices down, but how can the general public recognise any difference between someone who has done a 4 week course to one who's a JIB Approved Electrician. The one's who will come out tops will be the best sellers/marketeers.

In my opinion one of the main problems is that trade organisations keep banging on about a skills shortage. Its great for the government to have lots of self employed people doing a trade or driving instructing as it keeps us all of benefit but we can't all be tradesmen or driving instructors.

 

[flyingsausage]

I'm glad in Scotland we don't have a Part P or domestic installer recognition or five week wonders as you call them.But as being in the trade for nearly twenty years and being upto date with my qualifications I can't get a job and don't think I will work again this year.I am in the same boat as many other Sparks up and down the country who wonder what are these skills shortage's we hear about and all these new folk training to be sparks and plumbers.The jobs are simply not there,I know sparks who are only working six months of the year(myself included) and many young ones who have binned the trade as fed up of constantly getting paid off.Another topic is the use of agency labour these days which makes my blod boil