Electricain. Good Trade? Money? and setting up?

[lloyd1980]

I would not even consider it at the moment
You seem like you want to pay 5k to become 'an electrician' youll then turn up to someones house with shiny boots and tools, and possibly a van. youll end up putting your foot through a ceiling or screwing through cable when laying floorboards back ( easily done ) , or a fault will develop when your in the premesis and you wont know where to start or how to fathom it out
all this will lead very quickly to a bad reputation and word will spread very very quickly, builders will then not touch you and people will avoid you

My honest advice to you is to do the full 3 year course and gain a few years experience before thinking of going self employed, there are no short cuts mate to learning a trade, it takes time and you cant simply buy the knowledge you need.
It will be hard and you will be expected by the older sparks to do the **** jobs and make the brews and clean up their **** , you will basically be the ***** untill youve paid your dues like all other learners.

once you come out the otherside you can be proud of what youve achieved and hold your head up high amongst other trades as we ARE the best and its a cracking career

dont mean to be negative mate just giving the facts, and I really wish you well and good luck to you

Lloyd

 

[m25maintenance]

sounds like an advert letting us know u can get our web site to top of list, ha ha

 

[lloyd1980]

why dont you stick at that!!!
plenty of sparks needing SEO services

Cu Connected Electrical contractors, domesitc and commercial electrician services based in Chester covering Cheshire, North Wales, Wirral

 

[markj82]

Thanks all.

And your correct about SEO, one of the things that did attract me is that as a trade, electricaians generally have crap websites and seo. And I am sure I can get my website to the top, very sure.

I am not that conceenered about looking an idiot at a customers, wont be the first time.

Thanks all again.

Looking bleak though


Mark

 

[Noddy67]

my two-penneth is endorsing what's been said previously about short-training courses.

i almost did a short course (4k?) but instead did the level 2, 2330. full time for a year. it sounds painful, but it's only 39 weeks a year, only 2.5 days a week (tops) and when you get a bit older time flies anyway (I'll be off to level 3 next year but will take the testing and regs certs in a few weeks).

But i do know that what i've learnt in this year is over-and-above what was in the course. The tutors get the syllabus (sp?) done but talk around the individual areas to show you how it all fits together. Not something i'd have found in a text book.

you keep wanting to know if it makes money. i'm only in the infancy of starting but i have to consider that what an experienced sparks would do in a day, would probably take me two days to do. The client isn't going to pay over the odds to see me train, so effectively i'll be similar money to an electricians mate for a good few years... and i guess they'll be times when i'll feel very alone in a clients house as i try and work something out that would normally have come with experience.

It's a proper and involved trade and so if it's big pay you're looking to, from-the-off, it's probably not right. But then nothing worth achieving is easy and i'd trust anyone who told me that there was "easy money" in a trade as much as I trust those emails from nigeria i keep getting.

good luck -

 

[mogga]

you dont trust them Emails from Nigerea so I ddint have an unknown family relative die n leave me 7 million?? chit the Aston will have to go back

 

[wh666-666]

There's no money in this trade at the minute. There are experiences sparkys on here who can't find any work. For a lot of self-employed people, their phone isn't even ringing.

Remember there are hundreds of people every month doing the same course as you. The 'lack of electricians' is a myth. There's not that much money in it at the best of times, and the earn £50k/year you hear about is carp.

Exactly, great advice here!

No there isn't much work out there. The domestic market is jam packed full of people who have found there isn't "money in computers" anymore and were suckered in by the "There's loadsa money in trades now" training companies who sell you a load of certificates which don't mean anything.

I would agree with you on companies milking individuals selling them useless courses.

However I disagree with you on the work not being out there, it is, but you have to adapt. I actually work in IT and wages arent as high nowadays as they once were, but the work is there.

However people have to get real. You cannot expect to charge people numbers picked out of the air and call out charges. Credit isnt free flowing, so there will be less goons throwing money away. Adapt or starve.

My advise would be to try and find a position with a company as an electricians m8 and get a few years experience. Passing a short course means absolutely sweet FA, I did a full apprenticeship and to be honest I could have completed all the written exams in a year or so and I still would have known nothing but on paper I would have been qualified.A short course just means the customer is going to be paying for you to learn and muck up on their jobs, Your first practical experience should be done under the supervision of a qualified electrician so he can lay down a good base of installation know how and working practices. I'm not trying to put you off or get all high and mighty about the full apprenticeship Vs short course Issue but gain the experience before you embark on your own, it'll take you 3-4 years minimum there are no short cuts in my eyes. cheers good luck.

Best advice so far and would be my exact advice as well!

By the time I realised when I was younger that the acedemic route wasnt for me and I really wanted to do an apprenticeship, I was too old! If anyone is still under 21 I would advise they pick up a trade while they can.

Working as an electricians mate is very good. I've worked alongside/under Eelectricians before and the experience really is invaluable. Alas I still havnt got all my certification, however the way the industry is at the moment, il stay where I am for now.

In nearly all skilled industries, employers and those in the same profession will laugh you out/tell you where to go quite graphically, if you have qualifications only. Many need qualifications and experience, however some may settle just for experience and be prepared to help you with qualifications.

 

[JB1975]

I would not even consider it at the moment
You seem like you want to pay 5k to become 'an electrician' youll then turn up to someones house with shiny boots and tools, and possibly a van. youll end up putting your foot through a ceiling or screwing through cable when laying floorboards back ( easily done ) , or a fault will develop when your in the premesis and you wont know where to start or how to fathom it out


Lloyd

AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

Lloyd, I remember doing that when I was an apprentice. I put my foot through a ceiling on one job and another job I dropped a lump hammer of a ladder and it fell into a shiny new toilet and cracked it!!! Luckily enough that was 18 years ago and I was my Dads apprentice so I didnt get sacked!

 

[lloyd1980]

AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

Lloyd, I remember doing that when I was an apprentice. I put my foot through a ceiling on one job and another job I dropped a lump hammer of a ladder and it fell into a shiny new toilet and cracked it!!! Luckily enough that was 18 years ago and I was my Dads apprentice so I didnt get sacked!

some of the apprentices in my old firm were out standing

one put his foot through a ceiling, another knocked over an antique china cabinate full of expensive plates and tea pots smashing the lot

another decided to use his inititive when we werent there and took the mains drill with a chissel bit on, chased the kitchen wall and hit a water pipe - kitchen flooded

another used to chip boxes out with so much enthusiasm, that if it was single brick wall, you could guarantee the brick would be knocked thru into the next room

another was clustrophobic and scared of heights, if up a ladder his knees would start to knock

they were indeed outstanding - but they all tried hard and no doubt dont make these mistakes any more

 

[DurhamSparky]

in my learning days with 3 Rivers Housing i IR'd a circuit at 500v while the spark was untwisting the CpC on a socket....lol..

all i heard was AWWWWHHHH!!! BANG !! SMASH!! as he jumped backwards into the little old ladies decorative plate rack..!! lol.. me and the other spark nearly died laughing!!

 

[bluebird]

Hi all you out there,thought Id introduce myself.
I went to college for 3 years doing my 2330 course and just got my level 3 certs.im unemployed at the moment and was thinking of taking my 2392 but the way things are at the moment is it worth paying out extra money for qualifications if theres no jobs and they arnt woth the paper theyre written onWhats going on.Are other trades e.g.plumbers gion through the same and whats happened to the electrical trade?.why have we let it get to this stage.Everyone seems to be goin on these 5 day wonder courses and flooding our trade.Why cant we have a set standard for everyone and do the 3 years at college like most of us who want to try and do it the right way.
Sory if I sound like a whinger but ive always wanted to be an electrician but im wishing id gone into something else now.
Bluebird

 

[KWCFC]

some of the apprentices in my old firm were out standing

one put his foot through a ceiling, another knocked over an antique china cabinate full of expensive plates and tea pots smashing the lot

another decided to use his inititive when we werent there and took the mains drill with a chissel bit on, chased the kitchen wall and hit a water pipe - kitchen flooded

another used to chip boxes out with so much enthusiasm, that if it was single brick wall, you could guarantee the brick would be knocked thru into the next room

another was clustrophobic and scared of heights, if up a ladder his knees would start to knock

they were indeed outstanding - but they all tried hard and no doubt dont make these mistakes any more

Im an apprentice, and this is why Im glad the company doesnt do domestic!

Commercial and Industrial for me, any mistakes alot easier to rectify and no antique cabinets lying around!

 

[cantabrian9]

good trade WAS,!! good money WAS,!! qualifications not needed (was) i like many others on this forum i have worked with TOE-RAGS, they never needed no tickets some of em could not even read a drawing (what can the spark industry DO??)

 

[m25maintenance]

ok it depends where u live, and luck can be helpfull. i got a call one evening from a schoolin london who saw my advert for electrical work and maintenance. they asked if i could fix a leaking toilet so as i was in the area i popped over did d job in one hour but boy was i lucky as iv wakled into a gold mine. that school hires me almost twice a week for all their maintenance needs and i now do 3 of their schools at 200 a day. i also do regular weekly work for 60 nhs offices in london. i did 8 months course last year and i aint looked back. as sum lads said word of mouth is everything. so follow ur heart and be a good honest worker and the jobs will come in. sorry i cant say where i place my adverts as i dont need the compitition

 

[cantabrian9]

hey M25 when you mentioned the 8 month course you didn,t mean (WE HOPE)that is your qualifications if so it can mean some people are lucky!(don,t take this to heart if you are genuine)