Becoming an Electrician - Starting Over Again - Advice?

[sparkynovice]

Hi,

I've recently been thinking about my current career within the world of IT and have decided to change direction. I've been working with computers for nearly 10 years and don't have the job satisfaction I thought I would have. I'm only 30 and think its the right time to change. Office work is driving me crazy, being active and moving around is the way to go.

I previously studied at college within electrical engineering, obtaining my C&G 2330 Level 2 and 3, along with my 17th Edition Wiring Regs course. The trouble is I never managed to get any hands on experience on the job due to college work and I suppose 'lack of experience' due to being around 17 years old at the time.

I've always been a hands on type of person, rewiring data cabinets and computer cables is as far as it goes in my current job. The pay isn't too bad but I'd one day like to work for myself doing some form of electrical work.

Can anyone lend any advice on the best route to brush up on my skills, any qualifications I'd need to gain in order to work on building site environments or domestic properties and to generally get my foot in the door of the electrical world once again? I've even thought of working for free around the East Mid's area either at night or on weekends to build up some form of working experience in the field.

Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

[sparkynovice]

Thanks once again CBUK2UK for the headsup on where to purchase the right equipment.

The one thing I'm aware of is the fact that job out there in the 'real-world' demand experience with real-world equipment. In your opinion, if you were looking for second hand PLC units/software, are there any brands or models I should be looking out for? I've not come across many PLC based systems, although some sites I work at do use them, its just I've never had the need to interact with them or the software they're based upon.

Thanks.
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Also, I forgot to ask, is it with learning any other computer languages such as SQL for querying purposes of such PLC equipment? I'm sure if its relevant across the board or just for specific purposes.

Thanks!

 

[Cbuk2k2]

@sparkynovice I've been working in the field for quite a lot of years, for me getting into PLCs being easier than becoming a domestic electrician very much depends on your personal qualifications and experience.

95% of the people I've worked with in this field fall into two categories:
1) Graduates - people with degrees in science, maths, engineering, computing etc, they tend to design/write the software for new projects.
2) Electricians and instrument technician (even a few mechanics) who tend to install and maintain these systems.

You get some crossover in the above like experienced technicians who end up in software engineering etc. Design/engineering relies on quite a detailed understanding of control systems as well as design specific legislation/standards.

The money is good when you get there and the work can be varied and interesting but there is quite a lot to learn to become competent. Especially given a lot of systems are 20 or even 30 years old and have had numerous modifications over the years and little/no documentation.

PLCs are one part of a larger group of technologies refereed to as SCADA, SCADA systems use things like web apps, phone apps, win forms applications to provide access to data and control plant. Again these tend to be written by either people from an engineering/science graduate background or people with specialist knowledge such as accountants or logistics people.

Where you fit in that lot dictates what it makes sense for you to focus your efforts on learning.