First Steps To Becoming A Domestic Electrician?

[davelee]

So guys I'm looking into becoming a sparky, domestic installer to start with to be precise, now I know a lot of you will be time served and shoot me down for asking but I'm 32 now and want to change my life plans regarding my job.

Now I've some experience in helping my buddy who did an apprenticeship and I'm about to purchase and study the yellow bible 17th edition regs book

what at would be the choice for the theory course you guys would recommend me look into first? I am currently working and I am not in the electricians trade so I have cash to put in and could book a few weeks off to do smaller courses

I have seen a combination of courses for example...

city and guilds 4141-01 looks basic but it's a qualification
city and guilds 2392-10 inspection and testing

i value all your help and input but I'd like to know what the minimum would be to get me into a job and then I would increase my knowledge and training further


thanks guys

 

[7029 dave]

Well it sounds like the op has been given some good advice, but me thinks he is after the short cut quickest route, that some training providers are offering, and promise you the earth (no pun intended), OP take the night school route get your level 2, and then try an get a job as mate, suck up as much experience as you can in readiness for your NVQ level 3.

 

[davelee]

Its not a quick fix im after buddy. And ive taken everything on board, its why im here. but ....the less time i have off work the better. I dont get regular days and nights off or weekends thats my issue currently. The level 2 aint bad at all. Would that see me as a electricans mate tho by itself as i do lv3 and nvq?

 

[7029 dave]

Its not a quick fix im after buddy. And ive taken everything on board, its why im here. but ....the less time i have off work the better. I dont get regular days and nights off or weekends thats my issue currently. The level 2 aint bad at all. Would that see me as a electricans mate tho by itself as i do lv3 and nvq?

Yes why not.? I know quite a few guys working as mate's with level 2, they are on site in the industry, gaining experience for their practical. For site work you will need cscs card.

 

[davelee]

Cscs card isnt an issue as most mates are on bigger sites anyway.

 

[rolyberkin]

Cscs card isnt an issue as most mates are on bigger sites anyway.

The 2365 L2 and L3 can be done by distance learning for £3400 and paid in installments. So spread that over the 24 months it is likely to take you you could pay a set amount per month and do a proper qualification. The 2382 is a course in how to use the index of a book, it is required but will teach you nothing.

I have been doing my training with the below company who are very friendly and let you work at your own pace. There are study days and practicals which you will have to attend but overall it is achievable while you are still working in another area like I am.

http://www.thompsontrainingltd.com/

 

[Adam W]

For some reason a lot of people seem to naturally assume that electrical training is completely modular in that you learn how to do different things each week and you can just stop at any time and be 'allowed' to do everything you have learned up until that point.
That is not the case.
Also the path to becoming an electrician doesn't begin with 'domestic installer' changing sockets in houses before moving on to rewires or new builds or whatever to eventually becoming a commercial or industrial electrician - that would be like trying to work your way up to being a Michelin star chef by working in a sweet shop.

The way to learn the theory is to do the 2365 technical certificate, then complete the NVQ3 while working as a trainee or mate.
The 'qualification' for working as a mate is to have started the course and/or have someone who will give you work. Chances are a lot of employers will be put off by someone who has only done a load of 'expansion pack' courses without having even attempted to play the game.

Trying to tack a load of short courses together would be like trying to buy your first car from a scrapyard bit by bit - by the end of it all you'll have is a load of bits which may or may not fit together, there'll be a load of bits missing, and people will look at you as if you're a dick.

I don't think there will be many people here who will be able to give advice on short courses - either we scare them off, they realise we weren't just bitter because we took 3 years to do what they managed to compress into a few weeks, or they realise beginning a lucrative new career where they can be their own boss, pick and choose their hours and earn up to £50,747 isn't as easy as the training centre made it out to be when they sold them the course.

 

[davesparks]

£150 quids not bad im currently on 8.50ph and work all sorts of shifts :lol:

£150 is terrible as by the time you have deducted materials, expenses, overheads (insurance, fuel etc) notification fee and all the other stuff you'll be lucky to see £50 of that for a day's work plus paperwork time in the evening.


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[davesparks]

:1eye:
I dont want to "short cut" but if i can gain enough qulifications to become a electricans mate for a year or 2 id be sorted while i continue to train and gain more papers

You know as well as i do theres enough cowboys out there... shoulda seen my electrics here when i moved in came with a rewire new cu and a part p.... the lectrics wouldnt stay on more than a day without tripping ...

Electricians mate is a posh word for a labourer, you don't need any more qualifications than the ability to push a broom and carry heavy stuff around the site.
It is not a trainee position, although some electricians will treat the mates better than others do.


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[davelee]

Yeah ive come for advice and am asking the questions to see whats best to do. £50,747 would surely pay for the courses tho in no time unk:


.....also my first car was a scrapyard fiat uno

 

[davesparks]

Its not a quick fix im after buddy. And ive taken everything on board, its why im here. but ....the less time i have off work the better. I dont get regular days and nights off or weekends thats my issue currently. The level 2 aint bad at all. Would that see me as a electricans mate tho by itself as i do lv3 and nvq?

Then get yourself on the full courses or even better an apprenticeship. Anything else is a quick fix shortcut, regardless of how you manage to convince yourself otherwise.

Out of interest what job are you currently doing? And how long did it take you to train?




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[davelee]

£150 is terrible as by the time you have deducted materials, expenses, overheads (insurance, fuel etc) notification fee and all the other stuff you'll be lucky to see £50 of that for a day's work plus paperwork time in the evening.


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Yes mate but i take home not a whole lot more than 50 quid a day now as a security maniger at a supermarket
I would happily labour for someone who was paying me even minimum wage as long as i was learning a trade.

 

[davelee]

Then get yourself on the full courses or even better an apprenticeship. Anything else is a quick fix shortcut, regardless of how you manage to convince yourself otherwise.

Out of interest what job are you currently doing? And how long did it take you to train?




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I did an apprenticeship in engineering when i left school took me 3 years to complete to nvqlv3 including cnc programming. I got out of engineering tho a few years ago. Its starting to go abroad too much. I am now a security maniger at a supermarket that took me under a year to get nvq lv2 in retail security and helped me progress

 

[Andy78]

Yeah ive come for advice and am asking the questions to see whats best to do. £50,747 would surely pay for the courses tho in no time unk:


.....also my first car was a scrapyard fiat uno

If any course is advertising itself by dangling a carrot of promised earnings in front of you, you can almost be sure of two things. 1, the course is not the one you want to embark on a serious career as an electrician, 2, the figure is most likely plucked out of thin air.

 

[davesparks]

I did an apprenticeship in engineering when i left school took me 3 years to complete to nvqlv3 including cnc programming. I got out of engineering tho a few years ago. Its starting to go abroad too much. I am now a security maniger at a supermarket that took me under a year to get nvq lv2 in retail security and helped me progress

Ok, and if someone came to you asking about a quicker/shorter way of achieving that same engineering qualification what kind of answer would you give them?


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[davelee]

Ok, and if someone came to you asking about a quicker/shorter way of achieving that same engineering qualification what kind of answer would you give them?


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Id say don t bother it was a waste of time and almost useless in this county now.. the cnc would be worth doing but i could teach that in a few days its simple