To be perfectly honest......
Go for it, by all means, but.....
The electrical industry is full of guys with qualifications, of varying degrees of competence and ability, and many, many of them are struggling to find work. A search of the forum will show you an example of the depth of this.
A recognised qualification is not necessarily the same as a worthwhile one - and indeed, the most worthwhile qualifications are backed by a shed load of practical experience.
The problem with "taking courses in your own time while continuing to work" and wanting to be in any trade is how do you gain the two or three years of practical experience on the tools, out on sites, doing the job that makes an electrician an electrician - while he gains his qualifications one step at a time in between the practical work.
You're trying to do that the other way round.
No "study at home" part time type course can teach you the practical skills you need - how to run cables properly, how to strip, joint, terminate properly, how to isolate and test safely, to name a few - much less how to diagnose and rectify faults, beyond the most basic.
Electricity kills. That's why it used to be that most apprentices were kept well away from live mains for much of their apprenticeships. I qualified in 1986 - and was one of the fastest qualified in my "intake" - because I was a smart arse, I took the exams for my part one and part two at the same time - almost unheard of. I passed, but soon found out it didn't make much difference on site. I still had as much to learn as all my part one pals. And I was only allowed near live mains under close supervision for quite some time, until I proved that I wasn't going to electrocute the whole site - nobody cared very much if I buzzed myself though.
The problem, as time has passed, is that all of that "experience" has become compacted into a five week course for many, with the nett result that they do these courses, many of which were designed for UPDATING qualified electricians, and wander out into people's houses, onto sites, and start taking on work way beyond their competence - and end up endangering themselves, and their customers. Sure, they can quote the regulations, they can point to the right page in the on-site guide. But, none of these can teach them to clip cable without damaging it, or how to properly terminate cables without introducing excess resistance, or weak joints which end up running hot under load, becoming potential fire hazards.
Now I've done the negative.....if you REALLY want to be an electrician, or a tradesman of any sort, and a good one, then like all of us, you need to think about making sacrifices. I didn't have the benefit of someone paying for my education, my skills and my qualification....and I had to find a way, all those years ago, to pay for my courses, my books, my tools, a bedsit, the bills, and all the rest of it, on apprentice money. That was about ÂŁ30 a week then. By the time I had my part 1 and part 2, I was earning the majestic sum of ÂŁ95 a week - truth is, that was about ÂŁ10 a week more than the guys who had passed their part 1 at the same time I did both. And because of that, I took on extra responsibility too - I ended up as "supervising lad" - in other words, if any of the part 1 guys screwed up, it was my butt that got kicked. Hard.
All of that seems to be dead and gone today.
As I say - for all that's gone, if you really want to make it in this game, today, you need to put in twice what everyone else is - you need to get good, fast, and realise too that average earnings for an electrician on the cards, with a company, aren't that great - mid ÂŁ20's tops with overtime - and to go self employed, will take years to realise decent earnings, assuming you can build up a good customer base.
I'm really not trying to put anyone off - I think it is just time that people came to understand that becoming a tradesman - especially becoming an electrician or a (gulp) plumber (though they do have it easier (lol)).....is not a 5 minute job, and the larger part of what makes us tradesmen is EXPERIENCE, rather than qualification - though qualification is vitally important.
As with everyone - if you really want to be an electrician, do your best to get on with a good contractor, who will help you learn the trade, and make the sacrifice, take the pay hit, and work your way up, the way pretty well all of us had to.
Alternatively, spend money on a 5 week wonder course, qualify, wander out into the world, and find out that it isn't easy at all.
There's no shortcuts, really. And most companies out there can tell the "5 week wonders" from the "real guys" in a heart beat - trust me. I see around 80 CV's a week, and even if I had room right now, I'd probably employ an average of one or two out of those 80 at best - purely because 78 or so of those CVs scream "no experience", or "I took a shortcut" - and just don't fit what we need - whereas the "school leaver/young starter" pile is different - I see probably 40 of those a week, and the difference here is they know, and I do, the money they'll get is far less, though the investment overall is greater - but here, it is attitude and aptitude I'm looking for.
Our last two apprentices, by the way, were 26 and 31. The one before that was 17. And the 17 year old was (yes, was) running rings round the two granddads to start with....in terms of time and ability. That soon changed though - but the thing about these guys is they were willing to (a) take the hit in money, and (b) work bloody hard. What they had was attitude and aptitude - it wasn't an age thing at all. For their part, it came down to them accepting the reality of what training in a new profession or trade is about. Effectively, they took a hit in the short term, to get to where they are now - and both did it with families to support - but obviously, with support of their own families/partners/whatever.
I know it's tough, fella - but it's reality.
