Apprenticeship Help Northern Ireland

davidlavery · Nov 15, 2012

Hi all,

Im new to the forum and new to the electrical world. I'm Looking advice on how to go about getting onto and Electrical Apprenticeship. I have been trying now for the past 2 months to no avail. I have tried Colleges, training trusts and also applying to any vacancy on the jobcenter website. I am 23 with a good bit of experience in construction, Pipe laying for the Water Service and im getting a bit older now and want to pursue a career in the electrical field before I get too old. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Cheers

David

kenny james · Nov 15, 2012

unfortunately you will not get onto a college electrical apprenticeship unless you find employment with an electrical company,if you can approach local electrical companies and secure an apprenticeship then you will find it fairly easy to get onto a college course the only problem you have now is that you will have to wait til next year before you can join a college as the electrical apprenticeship started in september and you will not get onto a college course now. your still young i joined my college when i was 37 years old i am now 44 years old, i qualified 3.5 years ago.

davidlavery · Nov 15, 2012

Thanks Kenny, Yeah I was told over the phone that all the apprenticeships started in september so i will have to apply after christmas again to companys that take on apprentices. Im back at college in January to complete my maths Gcse aswell as my science part time so hopefully but coming september i will be on a course!

kenny james · Nov 15, 2012

hopefully with my own experiences of getting on a college course i have fast tracked you by 2 years!!!, when i tried to join my local college i was knocked back twice which was 2 years of my life wasted straight away!!!, the reason i was knocked back was information the college would not tell me until i started talking to local sparkies and one of them gave me the guidance i needed to successfully get onto the college course, he told me that the colleges will not put me on the course if i say i am not working in the industry so i managed to twist the arm of a local sparky to give me a few hours employment a week and when it was time to go to the college for my 3rd interview they wanted to know if i was working in the industry and i was successfully put onto the september course in 2006.

Arnold Layne · Nov 15, 2012

David, I can't give you any advice specific to Northern Ireland but I may be able to offer some general pointers ( for what they're worth). Owing to your age you are likely to be classified as an Adult Trainee, rather than an Apprentice. It may be a small point but it is important because the normal industry Apprenticeship schemes are limited by the Government funding rules to candidates who complete at 22/23yrs. The standard Apprenticeship is 4 years and involves 50% college and 50% on site work. Most Employers will not consider you qualified without both components so simply going to college is not the best plan. What would be available to you is the Adult Trainee route, if you want the standard recognised qualifications and experience. Both routes require you to have an Employer, so that is the place you need to start. The difficulty you face( I might as well be honest) is that the Employer will get no funds to put you through college under the general scheme , unless there are specific Regional Grants or Special schemes in Northern Ireland ( which there may well be)

So with that in mind there are a number of things you could try. Here we have organisations who organise the Apprenticeship schemes, JTL LTD and BEST are two. Google them. Phone and explain your situation and see if they can give you any advice. The other organisations to try are the ECA or B&ES. These are the Employers organisations. Check out their websites, look up the companies that might interest you and make direct contact. The larger they are the more likely they are to have structured schemes for trainees, but small companies may be able to secure funding from Government more easily. The other approach is to make personal contacts. Do you know any electricians who could advise/help?

I need to be honest (again) and say that things are really very difficult at present for electricians, companies are cutting back rather than hiring. But if you are really determined then give it a go and I wish you all the luck in the world!

davidlavery · Nov 15, 2012

Excellent Advice gents, much appreciated. Arnold, We have a scheme over here which is called apprenticship NI. You can enter it at any age aslong as you can find an employer that is willing to take you on. if you are under 25 they pay full costs of training and if your over then they pay half, you pay half. The only thing that worrys me is I'm a qualification short, something which most employers ask for right away. I as said above am going back to college in January to do my maths GCSE, I already have my english pass. Its a year long fast track course but most employers usually open their applications for apprentices shortly after christmas over here which makes me think if i have no chance at all being accepted on to one. I have hear of a lot of people being took on without a certain qualification and when they are on their apprenticeship they resit the exam during college aswell. I'm just going to keep on trying and trying until i get something! Thanks again for all your advice guys!

timbobelfast · Nov 16, 2012

Hi David, Have you tried with the ETT? You can register you details on their website.

Unfortunately with the economic downturn things are difficult for firms big and small.

You could try phoning round the firms to see if they could take you on as a electrician's mate.
All employers would expect you to be enrolled on some sort of formal training course.

davidlavery · Nov 16, 2012

Hi Tim, Yeah i was on the phone with ETT but they just said the apprenticeships wont start again until september. I think im going to just go down the route of phoning around big and small companies to see if anyone will even take me on for a bit of work experience so i can say i have some knowledge in the industry and hopefully help me onto gaining an apprenticeship. Just need to find that employer lol and then i can go through apprenticeNI. I've also my maths gcse starting in January which is one night a week for a year. I may start praying lol.

timbobelfast · Nov 16, 2012

Get your maths done and keep an eye out for companys seeking apprentices.

The company that runs two of the power stations in NI were looking for apprentices in April/May just passed.