How you started......

[SPARK2B]

HI all, hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday, and if your working, i hope its all going smooooooth-ly!!

as my journey is just starting out, i thought i would ask how everyone else s started, apprenticeships, college...etc

i been trying to find out about my grandfathers path, he was a snr electrician on the GWR works in swindon here, retired in the early 60s, back when the works were the main employer for swindon,hes passed now,..... i was too young to quiz him on his path, but me and the my mum assume it was apprenticeship, trade school ?...I am not sure how it worked in the early 20s when he left school.

anyway, I am rambling,....

anyone want to talk about how they became a spark ?.........i am always intrigued to hear others stories...


hope you all have a good weekend.....


SPARK2B

 

[dan86]

http://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=74596

 

[Des 56]

Applied to the national coal board advertising for electrician and fitter apprentices
Took an examination at their training school along with a few hundred others

Waited a few weeks before getting the result,if we were accepted.it was only at that time we found out if we were to be electricians or fitters

So I suppose my own choice of being a spark never really occured
We then went to college for a year full time.back to the workplace during schools holiday periods
Spent the next few years a day and evening a week whilst picking up the trade and being a general dogsbody at the same time

Just to add,to be a spark or fitter meant much lower wage packets throughout the time than the guys of the same age who were training as miners,but the effort was supposed to pay dividends eventually


Much easier to do these days,some can take just a week away from their present job,take some training and emerge with all sails blowing
I wonder why we had to drag it out so much

 

[Pete999]

6 Year Apprenticeship, 1 year improver worked up from there, contracting, maintenance, supervisory overseas working, semi retired now helping my son who is a Sparks, all started from 1960, yes 1960 lead cables, capping and casing VIR cables TRS sheathed, youngsters today don't know how lucky they are, Sorry for the rant
Pete999

 

[SPARK2B]

Which courses should I be looking at... - Electricians Forums

check, starting with 2330 in sept..

 

[SPARK2B]

Applied to the national coal board advertising for electrician and fitter apprentices
Took an examination at their training school along with a few hundred others

Waited a few weeks before getting the result,if we were accepted.it was only at that time we found out if we were to be electricians or fitters

So I suppose my own choice of being a spark never really occured
We then went to college for a year full time.back to the workplace during schools holiday periods
Spent the next few years a day and evening a week whilst picking up the trade and being a general dogsbody at the same time

Just to add,to be a spark or fitter meant much lower wage packets throughout the time than the guys of the same age who were training as miners,but the effort was supposed to pay dividends eventually


Much easier to do these days,some can take just a week away from their present job,take some training and emerge with all sails blowing
I wonder why we had to drag it out so much

thats so cool,...you seemed to know where you stood back then......things r such a mess now!!...my gramp, doin his apprenticeship would have had to use the rail works library and school rooms,....now you can down-load entire course info on a usb stick!!....us beginners have it easy......but i am still going to work my --- off!!

thanks for the info Des 56.........im ALWAYS interested in other ppls stories

cheers!!

 

[SPARK2B]

6 Year Apprenticeship, 1 year improver worked up from there, contracting, maintenance, supervisory overseas working, semi retired now helping my son who is a Sparks, all started from 1960, yes 1960 lead cables, capping and casing VIR cables TRS sheathed, youngsters today don't know how lucky they are, Sorry for the rant
Pete999

lovvitt!!!....glad to see your boy followed you!...great to have a teacher on hand!! ....starting out now, compared to when a lot of you guys did,.....we do have it a lot easier...god bless the inter webb!!

many thanks pete999....much appreciate the info!!

SPARK2B

 

[Pete999]

No problems
After I finished contracting, bad knees,legs, back, hips you name it it's all bad, I decided blow that i'm now working for HMG and have been ever since, worked all over the world, you would not believe some of the work Ive seen.
Pete

 

[Kamikaze]

I started off as an apprentice in electrical biomechanical engineering at the local hospital. Went to college once a week on day release and spend the rest of the time at the works. Back then the wages were crap. Someone the same age filling shelves at the supermarket would earn more money. The lads had more time to teach you though, and because it was before health and safety, let you make your own mistakes. Sure, you would balls up once in a while and got a telling off and had the mickey taken out of but it was character building. The electrical industry back then was run by people who worked their way up the ladder and knew the ins and the outs about everything. Now the show is run by clowns that I wouldn’t trust to sit the right way round on a lavatory. It’s all too mental now. Can’t do this, can’t do that or the other. Five weeks to learn the trade etc. Wouldn’t want to start learning the robes all over again right now. Good luck though, because it’s definitely the best trade to be in. The stuff we have to know, if you filled just halve of it into a plumbers or chippies head it would frazzle their tiny little minds…lol

 

[tamz]

I think nearly everyone who started in any trade before the mid 80's done it through an apprenticeship.
Things changed when Thatcher started closing all the pits, shipyards, steelworks and other heavy industries and introduced the retraining (adult trainee) program. Then as the 90's came the training providers jumped onto the money spinner churning out 6 week wonders.
Btw i'm a plumber. I got into this one sunny afternoon during the school holidays in 1973 when my mate picked up is first £12 wage packet and i thought "i'm not going back to school again" so knocked the door of the local plumbers on the way to buy a Victor to see what Alf Tupper was up to (the older guys will remember that) and asked if they had any jobs.
After a few questions of who my family were i was told be here at half 7 tomorrow and i was in.
4 years day release at college then done an HNC in building services for all the good that done me.

I don't agree with the fast track stuff. Allegedly i'm also an electrician (not) after watching a few video's and listening to a bit rambling in a classroom a few years back.
IMO there is no substitute for serving your time (although i realise there are always exceptions) and if it wasn't for the tinterweb these fast trackers wouldn't last a week.

Just to add,to be a spark or fitter meant much lower wage packets throughout the time than the guys of the same age who were training as miners,but the effort was supposed to pay dividends eventually

It did pay dividends as all the miners were paid off years ago!
I know a lot of good sparks who started off in the pits

 

[trev]

There was an old mate of me dad's who was a spark, after the old man died he kind of took me under his wing and used to take me on jobs (he'd never get away with carting a 9 year old with him now hehe)
I thought it was really interesting and thought "That's the one for me" left school on a Friday and on the Monday started a 6 month YTS with a contractor local to us. After three months I was dragged into the office (expecting a -------ing) and was told that when the 6 months was up there was an apprenticeship on offer. I could have cuddled old Harry Cook so hard I'd have snapped him.

 

[SPARK2B]

I started off as an apprentice in electrical biomechanical engineering at the local hospital. Went to college once a week on day release and spend the rest of the time at the works. Back then the wages were crap. Someone the same age filling shelves at the supermarket would earn more money. The lads had more time to teach you though, and because it was before health and safety, let you make your own mistakes. Sure, you would balls up once in a while and got a telling off and had the mickey taken out of but it was character building. The electrical industry back then was run by people who worked their way up the ladder and knew the ins and the outs about everything. Now the show is run by clowns that I wouldn’t trust to sit the right way round on a lavatory. It’s all too mental now. Can’t do this, can’t do that or the other. Five weeks to learn the trade etc. Wouldn’t want to start learning the robes all over again right now. Good luck though, because it’s definitely the best trade to be in. The stuff we have to know, if you filled just halve of it into a plumbers or chippies head it would frazzle their tiny little minds…lol

i cannot wait to get started,....if someone thought that they could learn a trade in 6 weeks,........surely thats a good system for weeding out the nutters,.....

are you up for this....yes,.

...do you want to do this course.....yes......

...do you believe you can be competent in 6 weeks.....yes..

...right....GET OUT!!

 

[SPARK2B]

There was an old mate of me dad's who was a spark, after the old man died he kind of took me under his wing and used to take me on jobs (he'd never get away with carting a 9 year old with him now hehe)
I thought it was really interesting and thought "That's the one for me" left school on a Friday and on the Monday started a 6 month YTS with a contractor local to us. After three months I was dragged into the office (expecting a -------ing) and was told that when the 6 months was up there was an apprenticeship on offer. I could have cuddled old Harry Cook so hard I'd have snapped him.

NICE!!.......thats a good story,.....and the guy that took you under his wing.....well i read it to my missis,...her reply

aww thats so sweet!!!.........

she never shows me that kinda affection ??


anyway, another story well worth hearing!

many thanks trev

 

[tamz]

if you filled just halve of it into a plumbers or chippies head it would frazzle their tiny little minds…lol

Obviously i have to disagree with the plumbers bit here although i agree there are some out there i wouldn't let plug a hose in the same as there are some sparks i wouldn't trust to swap a bulb

 

[trev]

My 2 older brothers had served their time as fitters and used to bugger about with car engines and such. They used to let me muck in with them but I decided very early that all that oil and grease wasn't for me.
Now the oldest has been retired from the police for twelve years and the other is earning mega bucks as an instrument technician.
Ever thought you'd made a mistake somewhere along the line?