How did you get into sparking???

[millwall ken]

Hi all,
Right missus and kids asleep, bloody man-hating cat out, dog asleep on my side of the bed, and even the baby's hampster is quite. So peace and quite.

Okay, I'm interested in members stories into how and why they became sparkies. For the most part I'd say that most of us just fell into it as opposed to it being your career choice at school. Anyone wanna start us off?

 

[alarm man]

i wanted to be a footballer,but me dad was a spark,he made me do it...good job really as i was a crap footballer..:thinking:

 

[millwall ken]

i wanted to be a footballer,but me dad was a spark,he made me do it...good job really as i was a crap footballer..:thinking:

Which team do you pay your hard earned wages to? Please don't say Man Utd...

 

[alarm man]

Which team do you pay your hard earned wages to? Please don't say Man Utd...

theres only one united..newcastle united..:yesnod:

 

[Bradzz]

I’ve always played around with electrical things, i.e. stereo equipment, and just fell in to sparking first job Surrey docks, Down Town, around by what is now, Bacons school, I say this as me thinks Millwall Ken might know the location started as a mate age 15, 1985, and have gone on from then. I never got to go to college untill about 2001 to get certs, from the on 2360 1/2, 2380/2382/2377/2391/EAL domestic installers. But still no NVQ3 just made a down payment on that. lol
I thought i could get me boy in to sparking, i use to bring him out on jobs with me, i would tell him what cable i wanted him to pull, and always the wrong one he was pulling, then i found out yes you have it, he is F*****g colour blind what a blow. he is doing bizz studies now.

 

[Hawk81]

I had always been interested in electrics and the day I got my GCSE results my dad was talking to the best local spark and asked him would he take me on to do my apprentiship. He said he would give me a 3 month trial. I worked for him for 10 years before chancing it on my own 4 years ago. We still work together from time to time.

 

[alarm man]

I’ve always played around with electrical things, i.e. stereo equipment, and just fell in to sparking first job Surrey docks, Down Town, around by what is now, Bacons school, I say this as me thinks Millwall Ken might know the location started as a mate age 15, 1985, and have gone on from then. I never got to go to college untill about 2001 to get certs, from the on 2360 1/2, 2380/2382/2377/2391/EAL domestic installers. But still no NVQ3 just made a down payment on that. lol

i can see a cockney love in coming...:thinking:

 

[Sparky Ninja]

Grandad was a spark. Dad was a spark. I was forced into it when he waved money under my nose when I was 15. Little did I know the to$$er was just trying to avoid paying my mum the child support. Mum and I used to walk 2 miles to tesco at 7.30pm when all the bakery food was reduced so we could buy bread for 10p and stock up the freezer with 10p loaves. Mum wanted me to stay through six'th form, I was a top student. But I just wanted to start making our lives easier and start supporting her. (I still am 15 years later).
I took to the trade fairly well. I'm know teaching it nearly full time. But nearly every day I think about how my life could have gone if it wasn't for my old man. I did the retained fire service for a while, to try something new but I wanted something more mentally challenging. I've studied law for a few years, and am in the middle of working towards a degree. I've considered the HNC or even HND in sparking but I've studied the context and it doesn't attract me towards it as anything interesting.
I'm a Dad myself just recently, got a boy of my own. People assume he'll end up as an electrician as well but I hope not. Obviously I cant make decisions like that for him, but I can make sure that he has the freedom to choose to stay on academically.

 

[Sintra]

Back when i was 16 i had just finished my exams at school and was looking forward to a long summer break when my old man handed me a list with phone numbers on it and said get a job. At this stage i just wanted to be a lay about and hadn't got a clue about what i wanted to do.
So ended up after a couple of thick ears for arguing my case making the call.
First one i rang was a sparking company and i started work with them the next day.

 

[robsparky1975]

Well ive been a plumbers merchant,milkman,computer installer,tv/satellite installer,trainee plumber,audio visual installer,alarm installer,courier,and finally decided to do as my dad said in 2001 started the electrics courses(he is sparks too),i was never really interested before then,i had a copy of the 16th edition given by my pops back in 1992,it scared me to death,at 16/17 years old just wanted to get any job to pay for beer and wild weekends.i got here in the end though lol

 

[millwall ken]

theres only one united..newcastle united..:yesnod:

Many a good night I've had up there. Funnily enough, one of the missus' mates is married to a Geordie (fellow sparkie, as well), and they are moving up there at the end of the month.

PS: Just what do they put in the water up your manor?

 

[brucelee]

i wrote to about 100 employers when i was 15 errrr 25 yrs ago and gained a apprenticeship after various interviews and tests etc
then gave it up like a idiot
returned 2 years later doing new build with a electrical contaractors and been involved on and off ever since
in last few years been trying to gain the qualifications i should have gained all those yrs ago

 

[millwall ken]

Grandad was a spark. Dad was a spark. I was forced into it when he waved money under my nose when I was 15. Little did I know the to$$er was just trying to avoid paying my mum the child support. Mum and I used to walk 2 miles to tesco at 7.30pm when all the bakery food was reduced so we could buy bread for 10p and stock up the freezer with 10p loaves. Mum wanted me to stay through six'th form, I was a top student. But I just wanted to start making our lives easier and start supporting her. (I still am 15 years later).
I took to the trade fairly well. I'm know teaching it nearly full time. But nearly every day I think about how my life could have gone if it wasn't for my old man. I did the retained fire service for a while, to try something new but I wanted something more mentally challenging. I've studied law for a few years, and am in the middle of working towards a degree. I've considered the HNC or even HND in sparking but I've studied the context and it doesn't attract me towards it as anything interesting.
I'm a Dad myself just recently, got a boy of my own. People assume he'll end up as an electrician as well but I hope not. Obviously I cant make decisions like that for him, but I can make sure that he has the freedom to choose to stay on academically.

Top bloke mate.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Dad asked me what i wanted to do when i left school...i didnt have a clue, for some reason i ended up in the RAF careers office 3 months before leaving. I sat some sort of idiot test, and surprising to all it confirmed that i was fairly intelligent. So this sergeant careers bloke showed me a list of trades etc available, and asked me if owt took my fancy. So i replied "Pilot".Ok we will start again, you cant be aircrew, no A levels, right then Dog Handler sounds OK. No sorry you are too clever to be a dog handler. Well what can i do then, so he covered up what i couldnt do, this left a load of technical jobs, i picked aircraft electrician, got the job in 1978, the rest is history.

Cheers.............Howard

 

[millwall ken]

Back when i was 16 i had just finished my exams at school and was looking forward to a long summer break when my old man handed me a list with phone numbers on it and said get a job. At this stage i just wanted to be a lay about and hadn't got a clue about what i wanted to do.
So ended up after a couple of thick ears for arguing my case making the call.
First one i rang was a sparking company and i started work with them the next day.

I was expected to follow the family tradition into the Army, however like an immature little so and so, I rebelled against my dad (who spent 22 yrs in the Army), and my (school teacher) mum. Indeed it was my mother's strong Ulster Protestant work ethic that drove me crazy.
So I kindly repayed them for all of their love and support by being the worse son in the world. Drugs, drink, constantly having the peelers after me. I'd say that I was a large part responsible for them getting divorced. I bummed around from gang to gang, but then even I realised that if you want money then you have to go out to work - fortunately, I never followed some of my pals and went into robbing people; God that would of killed my mum.
So I went from job to job, a few days here, a few weeks there. However I started drinking with a bloke who was an electrician's apprentice; and he got me a start with his firm. I realized that I enjoyed the friendly banter and way of life on site, so I thought why not.