Highest paying specialty?

[Littlespark99]

Good morning everyone,

I'm new to the forum so firstly hello I am currently training to become an electrician however I'm undecided as to what kind I should be. I currently have my level 2 City and guilds + ecs card and am working towards my level 3. I have a few weeks experience in domestic wiring (I've just started thanks to my teacher recommending me to someone). I've thought a lot about getting into rail or UPS or even test related kind of work but I've yet to talk about this to someone who knows what they're talking about. My main concern is money and career progression. I'd like to at least be earning 40k take home a year by the time I'm 30 (I'm currently 18), ideally about 80-100k+ by the time I'm 40. These are just some personal goals and obviously don't need to be met I just need to know the best possible path to get there. I enjoy electrical work so I'm not fussed too much about what kind as long as the pay is good. Also I'm a little stressed as I was told it'd be much more difficult to find an apprenticeship after I turn 19 which is soon, should I be worried? I would greatly appreciate any advice given. If you have any questions please let me know.

Thank you

 

[littlespark]

Nevermind the money. Can you change your name @Littlespark99 ?

There can be only one.....

 

[snowhead]

I'm sure it's easy enough to achieve less than 250 a day

Really

That's £32 per hour before stoppages, working 12hrs per day, every weekday of the year.
No holidays off, Bank holidays not worked and no allowance for sick days.

 

[Tes369]

I was on a chemical plant in Scotland and the Scottish sparks that were their doing maintenance and upgrades told me the Electrical engineer on the job was on 4k a week and he had a brand new Audi in the car park to prove it still with the knobely bits on the tires. Alot of money being thrown about... I remember I saw him once in his beautifully clean overalls.

* imagine the scene a bit like a admiral walking down the guts of a submarine pipes running everywhere instruments everwhere dirty sweaty greasy Electricians watching in amazement and the words "At ease gentleman as you were" spoken by his number 1.

 

[Octopus]

Only electricians i have ever heard on that sort of money were in the wild west of Iraq after the invasion but you ran risk of getting blown up, or your head hacked off. so was a judgement call on the rewards verses the risks! they were on couple of grand a week tax free.

I meant in any industry, let alone sparking

 

[Deuce]

Really

That's £32 per hour before stoppages, working 12hrs per day, every weekday of the year.
No holidays off, Bank holidays not worked and no allowance for sick days.

I said easy enough to achieve 'less'

 

[Squid]

I was on a chemical plant in Scotland and the Scottish sparks that were their doing maintenance and upgrades told me the Electrical engineer on the job was on 4k a week and he had a brand new Audi in the car park to prove it still with the knobely bits on the tires. Alot of money being thrown about... I remember I saw him once in his beautifully clean overalls.

* imagine the scene a bit like a admiral walking down the guts of a submarine pipes running everywhere instruments everwhere dirty sweaty greasy Electricians watching in amazement and the words "At ease gentleman as you were" spoken by his number 1.

£600 to £800 per day for a contract project manager is the norm.

 

[Deuce]

I have zero income at the moment since the flat renovation, okay I have something coming in but not that much and am looking for new opportunities, like buying another Lotus, the Caterham I think is far too small.

I'd hurry up on the lotus. I was chatting to a guy who does a lot of automotive work the other day and we got to discussing how micro brands like Lotus can possibly survive the end of internal combustion sales. The problem being that development of a new electric platform is way beyond the resources of the smaller firms.

I always admire the Evora when I see one... Lotus's way of thinking appeals to me very much.

 

[Squid]

I'd hurry up on the lotus. I was chatting to a guy who does a lot of automotive work the other day and we got to discussing how micro brands like Lotus can possibly survive the end of internal combustion sales. The problem being that development of a new electric platform is way beyond the resources of the smaller firms.

I always admire the Evora when I see one... Lotus's way of thinking appeals to me very much.

I was taken for a test ride in a GT 430 what a machine....... I ran a 111R for 3 years and miss it Lotus with Geely's input may survive as they can just build a copy of the Tesla Roadster.

 

[Littlespark99]

Nevermind the money. Can you change your name @Littlespark99 ?

There can be only one.....

Ah a fight to the death then?
*unsheathes philips

 

[Littlespark99]

Alright thank you all for your suggestions, I will look into electrical+mechanical engineering, Control & Instrumentation, railway, going private/starting my own company. Any other suggestions are welcome but you've all been a great help

 

[Deuce]

I was taken for a test ride in a GT 430 what a machine....... I ran a 111R for 3 years and miss it Lotus with Geely's input may survive as they can just build a copy of the Tesla Roadster.

I was saying to my mate that hopefully they could at least survive doing R&D and development work for other firms, as they always have. For some reason this made him smirk so perhaps they don't make as much from 'developed by Lotus' work as I thought!!

Anyway, getting out of Caterham because it's too small, but also missing the Elise - another tiny car haha. I like the Evora because I had a poke around one and it felt like a car that had genuine performance credentials but also had at least a functional and complete interior that I could live with. Also, the looks...

life's to short to hold back mate, go buy one

 

[littlespark]

Ah a fight to the death then?
*unsheathes philips

I’ve got a pozidrive

 

[Squid]

The Elise has a roof thats a bonus, Lotus do a lot of work for other companies on weight loss/suspension setups etc etc.

My old one,

 

[PEG]

The Elise has a roof thats a bonus, Lotus do a lot of work for other companies on weight loss/suspension setups etc etc.

My old one,

View attachment 45534

...The OP's anticipated earnings,mean he'll be buying one each of them,for the apprentices...

 

[StephenRowley]

HV earthing systems I hear is paid well.

 

[simpson93]

100k a year??? Easy just copy the rates of Pimlico plumbers.

 

[pirate]

Lotus? Really? well, I'll raise you my Reliant Scimitar, and throw in my Gilbern Invader!
In exchange for something that works...

 

[Deuce]

Lotus? Really? well, I'll raise you my Reliant Scimitar, and throw in my Gilbern Invader!
In exchange for something that works...

Scimitar? Not caught fire yet..?

 

[jonny5]

For controls ... search 'systems integrator or automation company' in your area and see if they are taking on apprentices. Following this route would lead to a lot of options. Also, have you looked a specialising in something like ATEX installation?

 

[Deuce]

This kid probably earns a few quid more than average...

 

[Squid]

Lotus? Really? well, I'll raise you my Reliant Scimitar, and throw in my Gilbern Invader!
In exchange for something that works...

What model?

Mate was doing the head on this,

 

[DefyG]

Unless you are employing a number of people £100k a year is unrealistic as a SE 'one man band', unless you can really find that niche speciality that we all search for but then again £100k when you are 40 may equate to about £45k in todays terms!

 

[Brian Taylor]

I think you have to be realistic...I've been in the industry for 40 years and earn well under £15000.oo per year..if you're after the sort of money you state may i respectfully suggest that being a sparks is not what you should be considering....try becoming a member of parliament..they seem to get a good screw for minimum qualifications.

 

[TJ Anderson]

I think you have to be realistic...I've been in the industry for 40 years and earn well under £15000.oo per year..if you're after the sort of money you state may i respectfully suggest that being a sparks is not what you should be considering....try becoming a member of parliament..they seem to get a good screw for minimum qualifications.

15k? What are you doing man!!

 

[Deuce]

I think you have to be realistic...I've been in the industry for 40 years and earn well under £15000.oo per year..if you're after the sort of money you state may i respectfully suggest that being a sparks is not what you should be considering....try becoming a member of parliament..they seem to get a good screw for minimum qualifications.

You worked one career for 40 years to achieve minimum wage!?

Pretty much every self employed spark I know, once they're established earns about £40-45k a year, on the basis that with a good reputation that's not too tough to achieve, and that it's fairly pointless trying to earn more as you jump into the next tax band = more work for less reward and starts to screw with the work/life balance.

 

[TJ Anderson]

I'm sure Brian miss typed

 

[TJ Anderson]

You worked one career for 40 years to achieve minimum wage!?

Pretty much every self employed spark I know, once they're established earns about £40-45k a year, on the basis that with a good reputation that's not too tough to achieve, and that it's fairly pointless trying to earn more as you jump into the next tax band = more work for less reward and starts to screw with the work/life balance.

You're LTD co aren't you.......45k+ is not an issue when you're Ltd as I'm sure you know

 

[Deuce]

I'm sure Brian miss typed

That's what I thought, but then 150k wouldn't make any more sense given the context.

 

[Deuce]

You're LTD co aren't you.......45k+ is not an issue when you're Ltd as I'm sure you know

It actually makes very little difference these days. As it happens I also cap my drawing (salary/dividends) at the same sort of tax sensible level, and any excess goes into a complicated buy to let project we set up in place of a pension plan... I'll let you know how that worked out in 20-30 years

I suppose the one thing about being ltd is if you have a good year you can leave the excess in the company and draw on it the next year, with less pressure to work as hard. But in the end, if salary or salary+dividends exceed the limit, you go into 40% tax. Or as I call it, the de-motivation tax.

 

[lumenmachine]

£1270 a week not £1200

Year Month Week
Gross Wage £100,000 £8,333 £1,923
Taxable Wage £88,141 £7,

 

[lumenmachine]

I'm in Scotland and I'm 31. My friends who earn that kind of money are in Oil and Gas, there is demand for HNC qualified sparks in decommissioning work at the moment. The people here who make good money are either on the rigs or have their own small companies in wealthy communities and are confident enough to charge what they are worth.

Also, watch out for the boys who say they earn next to nothing, they're usually the ones who make £100k before they've combed their hair in the morning!

 

[tudore]

100k is achievable but you'll have to work long hours and usually far from home. This summer I was offered work on Tottenham football stadium at £2400 per week, but that required working 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. So £100k+ is achievable, but not sustainable. firstly you will burn out. secondly you will have little social life and no family life, thirdly these projects are not continuous, so even if you could, the work won't be there all year every year.

 

[Deuce]

Another angle on this "I want 100k a year by X age" view...

There isn't really very much difference in lifestyle between 50k - 100k. The shift in tax means that of the extra £25k, you will only see around half of it anyway. And lets face it, if you're on £40-50k already, you're already in an income bracket where you don't have to worry too much about money. Those that earn minimum wage have to worry about the pennies when they're in the supermarket. For me, the biggest leap in quality of life money-wise came at the point I simply didn't have to worry about that sort of thing anymore. So if I see something I want to eat/drink, into the basket it goes. Same as worrying about MPG of my car, or whether I can afford to eat out overnight on holiday. The biggest leap anyone will make wealth-wise is simply not having to worry about cash everyday. Beyond that leap, there is no other leap until you reach the point where you have the supercar, 7 bed house with pool ect, at which point you can call yourself a rich bast@rd.

Earning effectively an extra £25k wouldn't really make very much difference. I would need to be earning substantially more to make my lifestyle 'better'. But on the other hand, for a spark, as has been pointed out, generally higher income means more hours, or in some way more stress and/or time away from home.

So at best you have a mildly wealthier lifestyle, but you get to enjoy far less of it one way or another.

 

[snowhead]

So at best you have a mildly wealthier lifestyle, but you get to enjoy far less of it one way or another.

It's also the difference between having a chipboard casket and solid oak casket.
You'll probably be paying for the solid oak long before the chipboard one.

 

[Deuce]

It's also the difference between having a chipboard casket and solid oak casket.
You'll probably be paying for the solid oak long before the chipboard one.

To be clear I'm not paying for my own casket. Sling me in the back of the rubbish truck for all I care

For sure though, chasing ££ has many hidden costs in the form of stress, health and relationships. If you've got a comfortable house, a full fridge and a reliable mode of transport, you're basically in a place where you can have a great life full of experiences without needing very much more.

My only flamboyance is my car, but I could argue it still serves a functional purpose at least

 

[Brian Taylor]

Sorry to be brutal but 15K a year is what I earn.....I think minimum wage is a lot less. I've been through this discussion on another tread and have had the same response..I certainly don't know if any basic spark. That earns 45K..the norm in this area is about 23K max

 

[Deuce]

Sorry to be brutal but 15K a year is what I earn.....I think minimum wage is a lot less. I've been through this discussion on another tread and have had the same response..I certainly don't know if any basic spark. That earns 45K..the norm in this area is about 23K max

I haven't checked min wage for quite a while but I'm sure that several years ago it was at least 14k for 21+

May I ask what age you are and how many hours you put in? I totally understand if you don't want to share, but it's hard to make anything of your input without knowing.

 

[Brian Taylor]

yes I'm now 63 and normally do a 5 day week

 

[Deuce]

yes I'm now 63 and normally do a 5 day week

I could take this as an opportunity to make a point about what minimum wage would be. But I won't. What I will say is that at your time in life, and the doubtless experience you have over that time, someone is taking the p*ss by paying you £15k a year.

I'm sure many others will read this and agree. It's a nonsense salary for anyone working a full week in a trade that requires care and knowledge.

EDIT: Read back through and it's not clear if you're on payroll or self employed. Just to be clear though, my view is the same either way. You're well below a reasonable income for a tradesman working a full week.

 

[Brian Taylor]

Yes this view is what other treads have said...I am S/E because I have to be...companies do not employ people in the cards these days especially at advanced age.....I assume it's the same all over..would love to get into some branch of the trade that paid a reasonable rate but never quite figured it out.....any suggestions welcome