My background is in engineering and thus I would consider myself an engineer first and foremost. As I mentioned before I worked hard to get a BEng Hons in Mechanical Engineering. This covered a lot of electrical theory too in the course.
I've never suggested that I'm going to be an expert electrician from day 1, far from it in fact. I did the same thing (a 5 week course) prior to starting my plumbing business 3 years ago and now it's one of the most successful plumbing businesses in my home town (going from the rate I'm accumulating Checkatrade feedback compared to my rivals).
There's nothing 'bad' about doing a 5 week course, what is bad is expecting you will go out there and be an expert from day 1. Most people over about 21 now cannot get apprenticeships as the government's grants are all skewed towards employers taking on people who have just left school. Most people cannot afford to earn next to nothing for 4 years doing an apprenticeship when the alternative I've suggested, if approached with the right attitude, is more profitable.
You say 'multi skilled doesn't work' but my experience running my business over the last few years is that customers want someone who can do lots of things, rather than the stress of managing lots of trades themselves. My plan now is to continue plumbing and take on whatever electrical work comes in that I feel confident doing. This way I will build up experience in a controlled manner over the next few years. The main plus is I won't be paying someone else any more to do relatively straightforward jobs like putting in spotlights in bathrooms. I'm sure, like plumbing, the hardest part will be starting a job and finding existing problems/bodges but I'll learn as time goes on.
I've subcontracted to several electricians (and tradespeople generally) and I've been left feeling that I could do a better job myself to be honest. Some examples include: -
1.) Central heating wiring centre finished off with loose neutral wire, something I had to diagnose myself after the electrician had left.
2.) Temperature sensor for under-floor heating system not wired in prior to the floor being tiled, resulting in the floor having to be re-lifted and damage to the wiring that cost ÂŁ250 to repair. Guess who had to pay for this and go back to fix it? Not the electrician.
3.) ÂŁ800 to change a consumer unit and fit a contactor and a new circuit for what was a 1 day job.
4.) Huge delays in waiting for certificates to be issued and customers then chasing me for them.
I know that most electricians on here will be excellent, otherwise they wouldn't be spending there time on here reading up. My experience of the electricians who have sub-contracted to me has been quite the opposite though.
I do understand that these courses turn out a lot of monkeys due to their tendancy to pass everyone to make their stats look good. Do remember though that we're not all monkeys though. I can also understand that there will be resentment amongst some that spent 4 years doing an apprenticeship to get into the industry; The reality though is that these courses wouldn't be run if there wasn't a real demand for them. Shame there isn't quite the demand for tradesmen at the end but that's a subject for another thread I fear.
