Advice on training and entering industry at 43yrs old.

[jodyK76]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie here so please be gentle... Advice on entering the industry please!

I'm 43yrs old, transferring from being a self-employed photographer of 17yrs, (the photography business is drying up... have some really good clients but just commissioning less and writing is on the wall. Need to change career now). Have dabbled a lot in property for a while, looked after a few places and have become a little bit handy (various DIY). Originally studied science at uni and have also done courses on coding / website building. So I can knuckle down with technical information, be good with my hands and deal with clients well.

Really interested in becoming a sparky as it ticks lots of boxes for me but have a few questions, answers to any of them would be really helpful. I'm interested in both commercial and domestic work and to potentially get into the field of renewables and EV point installation. Imagine I would be doing a mixture of domestic installer / electrician's mate stuff to begin with, build portfolio for NVQ L3 and expand into other areas. Questions are:

1. What fast track courses are considered the best? I'm aware that it's working on the job where the real learning comes but I need to get up to speed to become an electrician's mate etc. Looking at "Options Skills"... any feedback on them?

2. How is my age viewed? What kind of person is wanted as an electrician's mate? Does my age help or hinder? Does my previous work play a role?

3. What kind of income can I expect as an electrician's mate in London? What kind of income as a fully qualified electrician in London?

4. How would I go about finding another electrician to work for as a mate?

5. How much mileage is there as a domestic installer if you can't self-cert work? i.e. I presume in reality you have to be an electrician's mate?

6. What are the growth areas in the industry? There is more house building but also presume EV point installation is around the corner and probably renewables will kick off again?

7. Is there a noticeable drop of skilled workers as a result of Brexit? If so what kind of percentage?

8. What are the downsides of being a sparky? All jobs have sides which are drag, just be good to know what the hidden cons are.

9. Any advice of other online sources to find info?

Many thanks and sorry for lengthy ramble!

 

[Granty]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie here so please be gentle... Advice on entering the industry please!

I'm 43yrs old, transferring from being a self-employed photographer of 17yrs, (the photography business is drying up... have some really good clients but just commissioning less and writing is on the wall. Need to change career now). Have dabbled a lot in property for a while, looked after a few places and have become a little bit handy (various DIY). Originally studied science at uni and have also done courses on coding / website building. So I can knuckle down with technical information, be good with my hands and deal with clients well.

Really interested in becoming a sparky as it ticks lots of boxes for me but have a few questions, answers to any of them would be really helpful. I'm interested in both commercial and domestic work and to potentially get into the field of renewables and EV point installation. Imagine I would be doing a mixture of domestic installer / electrician's mate stuff to begin with, build portfolio for NVQ L3 and expand into other areas. Questions are:

1. What fast track courses are considered the best? I'm aware that it's working on the job where the real learning comes but I need to get up to speed to become an electrician's mate etc. Looking at "Options Skills"... any feedback on them?

2. How is my age viewed? What kind of person is wanted as an electrician's mate? Does my age help or hinder? Does my previous work play a role?

3. What kind of income can I expect as an electrician's mate in London? What kind of income as a fully qualified electrician in London?

4. How would I go about finding another electrician to work for as a mate?

5. How much mileage is there as a domestic installer if you can't self-cert work? i.e. I presume in reality you have to be an electrician's mate?

6. What are the growth areas in the industry? There is more house building but also presume EV point installation is around the corner and probably renewables will kick off again?

7. Is there a noticeable drop of skilled workers as a result of Brexit? If so what kind of percentage?

8. What are the downsides of being a sparky? All jobs have sides which are drag, just be good to know what the hidden cons are.

9. Any advice of other online sources to find info?

Many thanks and sorry for lengthy ramble!

Hi All,

I'm a newbie here so please be gentle... Advice on entering the industry please!

I'm 43yrs old, transferring from being a self-employed photographer of 17yrs, (the photography business is drying up... have some really good clients but just commissioning less and writing is on the wall. Need to change career now). Have dabbled a lot in property for a while, looked after a few places and have become a little bit handy (various DIY). Originally studied science at uni and have also done courses on coding / website building. So I can knuckle down with technical information, be good with my hands and deal with clients well.

Really interested in becoming a sparky as it ticks lots of boxes for me but have a few questions, answers to any of them would be really helpful. I'm interested in both commercial and domestic work and to potentially get into the field of renewables and EV point installation. Imagine I would be doing a mixture of domestic installer / electrician's mate stuff to begin with, build portfolio for NVQ L3 and expand into other areas. Questions are:

1. What fast track courses are considered the best? I'm aware that it's working on the job where the real learning comes but I need to get up to speed to become an electrician's mate etc. Looking at "Options Skills"... any feedback on them?

2. How is my age viewed? What kind of person is wanted as an electrician's mate? Does my age help or hinder? Does my previous work play a role?

3. What kind of income can I expect as an electrician's mate in London? What kind of income as a fully qualified electrician in London?

4. How would I go about finding another electrician to work for as a mate?

5. How much mileage is there as a domestic installer if you can't self-cert work? i.e. I presume in reality you have to be an electrician's mate?

6. What are the growth areas in the industry? There is more house building but also presume EV point installation is around the corner and probably renewables will kick off again?

7. Is there a noticeable drop of skilled workers as a result of Brexit? If so what kind of percentage?

8. What are the downsides of being a sparky? All jobs have sides which are drag, just be good to know what the hidden cons are.

9. Any advice of other online sources to find info?

Many thanks and sorry for lengthy ramble!

Sorry mate I can’t answer any of these questions, but I’m 44 and have just finished two and a half years doing the C&G 2365 lvl 2&3 course so we share a bit of common ground. This is my first post, hoping somebody can shine a light on some of your questions as I’m a bit lost where to turn myself now. Need to find work, but not too sure how or where at the moment!

 

[JAWS]

@Granty
As you have the level 2 and 3 you can apply for an ECS card ( Labourers card) but...Once employed you'll become a stage 3 trainee electrican.
You've certainly took the correct route in getting your level 2 and 3 now do your AM2 if you're confident enough, then that will then leave you your work portfolio NVQ.

Obviously to achieve your NVQ portfolio you will need to be on the tools so I suggest applying for your ECS card, once you've got that ring up companies, email, join agencies etc.

 

[Granty]

@Granty
As you have the level 2 and 3 you can apply for an ECS card ( Labourers card) but...Once employed you'll become a stage 3 trainee electrican.
You've certainly took the correct route in getting your level 2 and 3 now do your AM2 if you're confident enough, then that will then leave you your work portfolio NVQ.

Obviously to achieve your NVQ portfolio you will need to be on the tools so I suggest applying for your ECS card, once you've got that ring up companies, email, join agencies etc.

That’s a useful response, thanks Mate. I need to find out a bit more on the Am1/2 and might look to do them sooner. I’ll also apply for an ECS card this week. Thanks for your reply, and apologies to the original poster for hijacking your thread!

 

[brlfc1969]

Sorry mate I can’t answer any of these questions, but I’m 44 and have just finished two and a half years doing the C&G 2365 lvl 2&3 course so we share a bit of common ground. This is my first post, hoping somebody can shine a light on some of your questions as I’m a bit lost where to turn myself now. Need to find work, but not too sure how or where at the moment!

Hello Granty & Jody,

first time poster, so apologies if I go about it the wrong way.

I am 50 and am thinking of a career change and have been monitoring these forums for a while. I have found some great comments, one of which took me to the Level 2 & 3 C&G 2365 with Trade Skills 4U (and then onto NVQ/ AM2).

Can you tell me a bit about the Levels 2 & 3 that you've done - how challenging, who did you training with, what was the training and provider like, has it been worth it so far etc.

Best wishes and thanks in advance.

brlfc

 

[telectrix]

That’s a useful response, thanks Mate. I need to find out a bit more on the Am1/2 and might look to do them sooner. I’ll also apply for an ECS card this week. Thanks for your reply, and apologies to the original poster for hijacking your thread!

before you apply for the ECS card, you need to do the H&S exam. it's about £40 to take it, basically it's a multi choice test on H&S biased towards electrical work, as oposed to the CSCS test which is more general. .

404 - Page Not Found | Electrotechnical Certification Scheme

The Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS) accredits the qualifications and experience of workers in the electrotechnical industry

www.ecscard.org.uk

 

[sloughrookie]

Sorry mate I can’t answer any of these questions, but I’m 44 and have just finished two and a half years doing the C&G 2365 lvl 2&3 course so we share a bit of common ground.

Hi,

I am also training at the moment, during the 2 & half years of training, did you try or were you able to get any sort of work experience within the industry?

cheers, SR
[automerge]1589796269[/automerge]

before you apply for the ECS card, you need to do the H&S exam. it's about £40 to take it, basically it's a multi choice test on H&S biased towards electrical work, as oposed to the CSCS test which is more general. .

404 - Page Not Found | Electrotechnical Certification Scheme

The Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS) accredits the qualifications and experience of workers in the electrotechnical industry

www.ecscard.org.uk

Thank you for posting that telectrix, it's a very helpful link.

On the ECS website one of the first criteria they require to enable you to provide an "employers sponsorship", do you know what someone can do if they're trying to get work but still want a card?

Cheers, SR

 

[telectrix]

2 ways.
1. setyourself up as a sole trader with a business name, or form a limited company; make up some cards and letterheads. then use your trade name business as an employer.

2. find a friendlylocal spark who will "employ you" on paper. maybe even as a subbie.

 

[Granty]

Hi. Just to try and answer a couple of the questions.

I live in Essex and done the c&g courses with Havering College one day a week. Level two I thought was very good, level 3 they had a few tutor issues and I think it could have been better run, anyway I passed it in February. I’m a London cabby but need to get away from it for many reasons so chose this. I had no experience and done no actual electrical work whilst working through the course, it would no doubt have benefited though.

I have a friend who is project manager for an electrical company working on commercial sites. I met with him at the end of February to get some ideas of where to go next, and thankfully he’s managed to get me on site with him, starting last week. It’s a bit of a culture shock compared to the cab but I’m not hating it (starting at 7am is a bit brutal though!). To get on site I needed to sort an ECS card, all I could get was an electrical labourers card but that’s good enough for now, as said before you’ll need to pass an online h&s test for the card but it’s pretty simple, they give you a bank of questions to revise and the test is a selection of them. I needed an online asbestos awareness course certificate (half an hour online course £10) and I’m booked to do a one day health and safety course in June which is a must for most sites I believe, I’ve got on site without it as my course was cancelled in April due to the COVID madness and a lot of sites have relaxed the rules temporarily to allow people to work.
Next on the agenda is to do the 18th edition test (a few days), kick off the nvq3 to start a portfolio and at some point when I’m ready the AM2. It’s not a cheap or quick process, but I guess thats a good thing. To be honest, I’m not sure if domestic or even just maintenance my be the way to go for me in years to come, but this is a good base for me to learn.
Any other questions I’ll try and help where I can?

 

[DannyJS]

Hi Jody, good on you for making that difficult decision to change direction. It will naturally feel like a huge uphill climb but keep at it.

I was in a similar situation a few years ago and I am by no means out of the woods yet. I changed career path (from marketing) did my level 2/3 2365 at college in 2017. (34 now)

Recently jumped back on training to getting qualified and Option Skills was my first contact (possibly top of search engines) - a nice chap 'Dylan' was helpful in offering ECS/18th Edition/Part P/NVQ3/AM2 but price seemed ALOT.

After more research I found that I could book the ECS (H&S test) and 18th Edition separate and it saved me hundreds. This put me off using them.

So my advice is price compare and research if any of the items offered can be done by yourself direct with cheaper providers.

In terms of getting work as a mate, luckily I made 2 contacts through family/friends and worked for free for a few days to begin with, now I get paid a little, but work is never guaranteed and can be non-existent some weeks. Applying to agencies and sending out CVs but not getting anything back. Not sure where id be if I didn't know anyone in the trade... and right now I am wishing I knew more!
Advice - speak to as many people as you can... friends, family, strangers, tell them about your career change and looking to jump on with a spark to learn... hopefully you will catch a break.

Good luck

 

[Callan]

Sorry mate I can’t answer any of these questions, but I’m 44 and have just finished two and a half years doing the C&G 2365 lvl 2&3 course so we share a bit of common ground. This is my first post, hoping somebody can shine a light on some of your questions as I’m a bit lost where to turn myself now. Need to find work, but not too sure how or where at the moment!

How did you get your level 1&2 was it through apprenticeship or evening courses?

 

[Granty]

Paid myself, one day a week. I done days as I work evenings, evening courses obviously available though.