Beginner's Help/Advise NEEDED PLEASE!

[fandango82]

Hi guys,
I currently work for a printers and they are going to be handing out redundancy's pretty soon so im thinking about taking the couple k i get and putting it towards an electrical course or courses to become an electrician at the age of 29. Ive looked on the web and this site keeps coming up. Can any body please tell me if basically the silver/gold course is worth actually doing or the time i complete it will i still be pretty much no further to becoming an electrician than i was before? Im looking for a shorter intensive course like these so any other suggestions would be great.

Thks

 

[telectrix]

several threads have been on this very subject. these short courses will give you a couple of paper qualifications, but no experience. the only way to become a proper electrician takes about 3 years of theory at college.whatever and practical experience on the tools. even then, the market is over saturated with sparks that can't get a job. have a look at the vacancies advertised " fully qualified sparks wanted with 2382, 2391, own tools blah, blah, £9/hour. you'd be better off flipping burgers.

 

[oldtimer]

Also the current economic climate is forcing the issue where people are saying time for a change so these companies who give you a 5 week course for £x.000.00p are trying to cash in but i will be blunt with you and anybody else who are thinking of taking this path as telectrix said you need at least 3 years experience where guys like me had to do 6 years. Jumping into something like this because you are forced out of your job is a BIG gamble and there is a lot of work to do to get to the right grade. My advice would be if you are going to commit is walk before you can run there is a lot of guys on this forum who in my view are winging it yes they have the grades but are trying to fix jobs on a G**gle search mentality

 

[ipf]

Agree totally with tel. Take a look at the thread lower down titled 'What the electrical workplace has come to'. Don't be conned out of your cash by those offering short intensive courses. You'll probably end up searching for work and forgetting most of what you've learned by the time you get anything decent.

 

[VoltzElectrical]

I did a quick job search today and care workers going round to people's houses round here are on £10 an hour for helping them do some shopping.

The trade is dead as a dodo and not worth spending a penny on. Care workers jobs advertised = 10 Sparks jobs advertised = 3

All for the same money. one has 3 times the opportunities with no training.

 

[fandango82]

thks for replies... i forgot the website too

Electrical Courses, Electrician Training, UK's No.1 C&G Trainer

i will have a look into what you have all said and im quite surprised too by some comments, i though an electrician is in high demand and good money!

 

[trev]

, i though an electrician is in high demand and good money!

Not any more sadly mate. The trade has been cheapened by the adven of these "We can make you an electrician in a few weeks then you can earn megabucks" courses. It's not just our trade it's all of them, it's almost as if the government are doing to the building industry what they did to heavy industry because they do not seem to give a damn

 

[ipf]

Pigs with tail rotors spring to mind

 

[SirKit Breaker]

several threads have been on this very subject. these short courses will give you a couple of paper qualifications, but no experience. the only way to become a proper electrician takes about 3 years of theory at college.whatever and practical experience on the tools. even then, the market is over saturated with sparks that can't get a job. have a look at the vacancies advertised " fully qualified sparks wanted with 2382, 2391, own tools blah, blah, £9/hour. you'd be better off flipping burgers.

Never a more truer word spoken, plus the fact that you will be entering a market with some very strong competition.

 

[Guitarist]

Firstly, being an electrician isn't as glamorous as people on the outside believe. Lots of it is crawling around in lofts getting covered in fibreglass and spiders' webs, channelling walls, not to mention the testing. What I'm getting at, is do you KNOW that you want to be an electrician or does it just sound like a nice change?
As the others have said, it's not just about doing a few intensive courses and learning a few formulae. There is a reason most of us did apprenticeships of at least 4 years along with college.
If you are sure that this is what your heart desires then I would recommend you speak to some firms and find out what they require to get a position with them as an apprentice/trainee. Please don't believe the hype that you can do a few courses and then go it alone.

 

[Octopus]

Go ahead and spend £7K on retraining, about £5K - £7K setting up and then do the sums and see IF you can exist for a couple of years with little or no income.

As for the claims about the incomes of Sparkies - these training companies need to be taken to court for extremely misleading selling techniques.

 

[Guitarist]

Go ahead and spend £7K on retraining, about £5K - £7K setting up and then do the sums and see IF you can exist for a couple of years with little or no income.

As for the claims about the incomes of Sparkies - these training companies need to be taken to court for extremely misleading selling techniques.

So true.... You don't come out of a course and go into 30+ hours work per week. I did some calculations about 5 years after going self-employed and the total cost including loss of earnings from leaving a "full-time" paid job to having a healthy workload was probably nearer 50k.

 

[Bluesknight]

All the above posts have said it all.
The only thing I would suggest is trying to find a friendly spark, who might be willing to help with abit of training.

As everyone has said not easy into days market.

 

[Guest111]

I remember years ago the more quals you had the better the wage,now you see ads such as must have c&g plus 2391 plus 17th edition plus part p plus own tools plus own testgear plus own transport,then offer you about 9 quid an hour,there are other jobs paying more money with less aggro and if I had my time over again I,d definately do something else!

 

[oldtimer]

I remember years ago the more quals you had the better the wage,now you see ads such as must have c&g plus 2391 plus 17th edition plus part p plus own tools plus own testgear plus own transport,then offer you about 9 quid an hour,there are other jobs paying more money with less aggro and if I had my time over again I,d definately do something else!

If this was the case and I found myself getting offered £9 then I would look for a handymans job for the same money