2 Years Experience; No Qualifications - I want to be a spark, where do I start?

[Tilko Misiek]

Long story short;

I dropped sixth form 2 years ago, started working for an electrical firm with my dad
Began studying from sep2010, AAT Accounting Level 2, Halfway through 3 now....

However sitting behind a desk is not my preffered way to spend my working hours,
Ive got these 2 years of experience where I actually enjoyed working.


I want to become qualified
and I want to do it as fast and as soon as possible.
What are the courses I enroll onto?
When Where how?
Can I still work as an electrical labourer/ along them lines?

I have my JIB ECS card


I need to keep working .. I really cannot afford to be an apprentice.
The company I have been working for has gone bust,
And the people that took us over practically sacked the lot of us; I was earning very good money for my inexperienced position...
Im having problems at home, and was going to move out in the next month/2 but everythings gone down hill...


please guys help me out.
I just want a straightforward path to get qualified asap

 

[Darkwood]

Good to see you defend your corner Swsparkey but when someone says they have done a Electrical Trainee its assumed in any post its from blank to knowledge.. all you have done is quote examples of guys who have yrs amount of experience in similar fields which goes without saying time served on similar background gives good stead to be a Electrical Trainee of exceptional ability in other words they have served a long duty of time serving the industry or something tied to it to give them a massive head start, no doubt this is comparable to 2-3yrs course with tied in work experience, had you said this and explained your angle originally i would have agreed but as with all the other bullets flying at your tin hat you left out the most important relevant info to your argument ..... a guy with several years exp' in electrical engineering etc isn't by any accounts going to fall under the term 5 week 'WONDER' the very word wonder is a reference to the sheer awe of zero to electrician in weeks, all you have given is people who dont have this wonder factor as they clearly have beneficial history.
I conlude in your defense though with the dumming down and get the kids off the street attitude of the goverment that we have kid qualified from college without basic maths... but thats an issue for your interview team to sort as i can only ask how a lad/lass is given a job if they have no numerical skills; its not a hard thing to find in an interview.

 

[swparksey]

I think this is getting a bit lost, ( I know I am) the original comment was about 3 years or 5 weeks I simply trying to make the point that the Electrical Trainee does have a place. You are using an extreme with the flipping burgers analogy.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of people who pay for the Electrical Trainee with no electrical or engineering experience ever end up actually entering the industry?

I agree with you that the Electrical Trainee course should be for people working in the industry without formal qualifications, wanting to gain the correct certification, or people leaving the forces, or indeed foreign sparks looking for UK certification (not a definitive list)
But this was not what this thread was about, it all came from my comment where I said that

And who says you will learn any more in college over 2 - 3 years ?

Which is a question not a statement.

 

[trev]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there are some excellent lads that I know that are products of the Electrical Trainee route and there are time served lads who are useless. My own brother in law is time served and I wouldn't trust him to turn a light on.
It's not the route that's important it's how the individual decides to travel it

 

[swparksey]

I agree on the whole, as you rightly say the issue is the Zero to electrician.

But we should not judge everybody who has done a fast track course the same as they come from different backgrounds.

Problem is that we get them sent to us pre college and pre qualifications, we usually finish them at the end of the 3 years if they cannot cut it, even if they have passed their exams which many have !

 

[Darkwood]

Given that reply and explanation it seems it has come across as it has to me to mean otherwise, better wording may have avoided the onslaught you received but i see your angle now but just re-iterate why it came across wrong in the fact Electrical Trainee is a derogative term which wouldn't apply to pre-experienced people topping up their already well educated background, yes they can do a five week course to dot the I's and cross the T's but they by nature of the meaning of Electrical Trainee wouldn't fall into this category.

 

[swparksey]

yes indeed darkwood, I think it is the interpretation of Electrical Trainee, that upset the masses

When I say Electrical Trainee I mean fast track education, 2391 etc in a week. 17th in 2 days etc,

 

[Darkwood]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there are some excellent lads that I know that are products of the Electrical Trainee route and there are time served lads who are useless. My own brother in law is time served and I wouldn't trust him to turn a light on.
It's not the route that's important it's how the individual decides to travel it

Also a valid point but this is not the trend but the exception if a Electrical Trainee goes well beyond the grain IMHO, in my days you were taught everything and ready to take on anything once you left college, nowadays its basics at college and reliance to a greater extent on employers teaching you the majority, hence dumb asses getting through college as basic maths isn't even a requirement now, and dependent on who you work for at first can limit the rest of your career if chosen poorly.

 

[swparksey]

How was your college course organised, full time or 3 days in work and 1or 2 in college each week?

 

[Darkwood]

yes indeed darkwood, I think it is the interpretation of Electrical Trainee, that upset the masses

When I say Electrical Trainee I mean fast track education, 2391 etc in a week. 17th in 2 days etc,

Thus for future ref' it may be best to eleborate and avoid what 'IS' a derogative term Electrical Trainee in the very nature of its meaning, and use the phrase fast track qualifications for experienced within the industry...or FTQEWI ... well maybe not it dont have the same ring to it

 

[Darkwood]

How was your college course organised, full time or 3 days in work and 1or 2 in college each week?

I did block release, 3wk at work 4wk at college variable over 4 years, only way you were classed as a electrician was to be able to design a full factory install with calcs all AM2 and theory passed and 2 multi choice exams as well as written exam not to forget the testing module as well as a small 2weeks in electronics and soldering skills. Im aware now its so stripped down that design and installation are extra courses but your already tagged as an electrician without this and not having an A level maths or physics means jack now... no supprise my old boss employed someone who didn't know his 10X table ...(no joke)!

 

[swparksey]

On another note I helped a friend of mine do a tax return he's a BT engineer, he did a 2 week course, and some on the job training, loves overtime (I think he hates the misses) employed earnings were £48K I poo you not.
Not a GCSE in sight

 

[trev]

How about E5WW= experienced Electrical Trainee?
Or could that be confused with E54 and thus earn us all a mighty telling off

 

[swparksey]

I did block release, 3wk at work 4wk at college variable over 4 years, only way you were classed as a electrician was to be able to design a full factory install with calcs all AM2 and theory passed and 2 multi choice exams as well as written exam not to forget the testing module as well as a small 2weeks in electronics and soldering skills. Im aware now its so stripped down that design and installation are extra courses but your already tagged as an electrician without this and not having an A level maths or physics means jack now... no supprise my old boss employed someone who didn't know his 10X table ...(no joke)!

Thats when people actually learned a trade. Hats off, mine was 3 days in work 2 days college.

 

[Tilko Misiek]

:S

Listen guys... im getting lost in your debate between "Electrical Trainee" and the 3 year course...
I'm coming here absolutely clueless in what route to take...
Before our company went down, the guys were telling me that I had to do an apprenticeship... and from what I hear apprenticeship rates are sub minimum wage? (CMIIW)

I would love to study evenings and work full time, gladly taking on overtime as well.

As I've said before Ive got 2 years experience on the tools
Worked mainly with containment
Tray work, trunking, ladder rack, baskets, conduit (never had a chance to spend long enough on this)
I've even sometimes worked unsupervised because I advanced from clueless to comfortable.

Ive got A* in Mathss, A in History, B in Statistics amongsth other A*s-Bs for my GCSEs
I never got the grades I wanted (or more like should've acheived) for As/A2; completed As Maths, Further Maths, Politics, History, Russian(As,A2)


I just want to work and learn.
I really don't want to come off earning money.
I want to escape my family and their controlling nature... Im 20 years old an really don't like living at home...
Pops would probably kill me for taking this route... but I cannot see myself working behind a desk.. I hate the thought.



Can't anyone just provide me a list of the courses I need to pursue?
Really want to get the Electrician stuff out of the way, might pursue a serious career in Electrical Engineering...

 

[Knobhead]

might pursue a serious career in Electrical Engineering...

And what do you class as electrical engineering?