My first Interview a little confused what i want to do......

[Ashley Williams]

Today i had my first interview for an apprentaship. I didnt apply for it the company got a copy of my CV from my college. They rang me last week saying they would like to invite me for an interview and the guy said he was impressed with my CV and that i had won the apprentice of the year award. The job was in the mainternance environment. So i looked up the company and found out a little about them put there postcode into google maps and looked for the factory and the postcode came up with a HUGE factory. So i was impressed i went for the interview as we drove down the road i saw the HUGE factory as we got a bit thurther i saw on the front of it a sign which didnt match the company i was looking for and then i noticed nextdoor was the company i was looking for. In a small factory with rusty fences and about 12 cars in the car park my heart sunk a little but i looked on the bright side of things. So went in met the bloke. Very nice bloke knew what he was talking about. Wasnt a board of directors with no idea a proper mainternance engineer. He set about explaining the job which he went on to say about learning how to weld and learn about hydrolyics which is where i lost interests. Had a look about the factory and it wasnt for me. He flicked though his book on applicants all of which had big red crosses though and when i said i wasnt interested his heart sunk and while i was booking out he was pacing back and fourth lol so didnt look like he found what he wanted. So this leads me on to the point of this thread....... Im just out of college ive just finished my first year of my city and guilds 2330 and want to get an apprentaship for next year but just dont know what i want to do.... I like the idea of a bit of domestic but there seem to be so many bodgers about dont want to end up working for a firm of bodgers on crap money. I like the idea of doing commercial style work but dont know where to look. Also like the idea of doing some industrial but not mainternance, wiring new build factorys and wearhouses. Im just so confused by it all. Ive got so many people saying do this do that etc etc. Im just after some person experiances what did you guys do when where in my position.

Thanks Ashley

 

[saveloy]

Hello Ashley. IF (big IF) it was me I would have taken it. Not trying to push you either way. (just talking from my viewpoint only) You are the only one who knows what you want to do. I left school in 1988. I started as a bricklayer and went straight on the dole after getting my papers ( recession 1991). I've had a few jobs since then including , driving artics to spain, working at an airport, working in a builder's merchant. If I had known then what I know now I think I would have got an electrical apprenticeship. I only do domestic as I have no commercial experience. I have a lot of respect for those electricians.

However I don't regret any jobs that I have had because I was learning something new all the time. (Spain job was the best). And that is the key. You have to be happy in your work, because if you are not, then getting up in the morning is 10 times as hard. I just upped and left any job I was not happy in and tried something new.

One thing I would say is try to learn as much as you can, about anything you can. In that job description you mentioned learning to weld and hydraulics. For me personally, I would have loved to learn stuff like that. Try not to (if you can) limit yourself to one field. The more skills you have the more appeal you will have to employers. That is my own take on it. Some people just want to do one job and that's that. Fair enough.

Finally, as things stand, we are about to go into the biggest recession since the 1930's. Forget all that bull about green shoots and recovery. I saw the last recession and that was bad enough. Apprenticeships are dying off day by day. You maybe waiting a long time for the next offer.
However only you can know whether that one was for you. Do what suits you, no-one else.

Hope this helps.

 

[montybaber]

I have worked in factories since I left schol and I much prefer the enviroment to domestic etc, maintenance can be very interesting like working with robotic systems, large industrial installations, PLC programming etc possible earnings can be much higher than domestic

You cant pick up skills like this on site, it may have not long term been your thing but it would have certainly have been a feather in your bow, many apprenticeships in maintenance train you to a high standard normally HNC, with many training courses specific to machinery used at various sites and certainly look good in your cv.

You talk about hydraulics and welding like they are skills beneath an electrician, If I had invited you for an interview and I had seen your lack of interest in learning key skills I would'nt have dreamt of offering it to you.

I hope someone with a little less ego who really wants a job manages to get it, are you not on an apprenticeship now? how did you win apprentice of the year?.

 

[Morty]

I did my full apprenticeship for 3 years at college and from what I saw is that you will benifit greatly by working for a small company that does a broad range of areas of work. I was lucky to get an apprenticeship like that and I have recently been working with a lad that finished the course at the same time as me. He house bashed through his apprenticeship and although i cant knock him for his speed and effort at work, he just lacks the experience of having a broad range of skills and knowledge which is a shame. Sounds bad but he seems like my apprentice most of the time.

Get good training while your on low wages coz if u specialise in one area and end up being on good money for it, i think you'l find it very hard to be willing to take a drop in wages to get more experience.

But as i say its hard to find a good apprenticeship so if your struggling then i would definetly go down the industrial route because if you learn industrial you will be able to do domestic naturally, you wont be good at it but at least you will cope. Where as if u only do domestic and you end up getting plonked in the middle of an industrial job u won't know where to start.

Where are u from? My old boss is looking for a new apprentice

 

[Ashley Williams]

Im from Oswestry which is sort of north wales but in england if you get what i mean. I dont mind the idea of hydrolics and welding etc. But when he took me around the factory he was saying to me these are the jobs that need doing on machines like for example he was saying that machine needs and oil change that machine needs the extraction ducting fitting. None of the machines needed anything remotly electrical doing. And i dont want to change oil and oil filters i want to be an electrician. I dont mine fitting motors and changing motors fitting changing control panels fault finding on machines but not bloody oil changing.

Something i like is excitment in my life. Doing something diffrent everyday not going to the same place repairing the same machines etc. As far as i know there are only to big factorys that take on apprentices one is airbus which isnt ideal for me and the other is kelloggs which thinking about it would be awsome buti sent my CV and a letter but didnt get a responce.

A

 

[montybaber]

being an electrically biased maintenance engineer usually involves a huge variety of roles, one day you could be wiring a control panel and the next you could be using a mill etc to modify a component to improve efficiency on a machine.

It is interesting work, If you want excitement im sure you wont find it carrying out installations day in dat out

Your choice just please dont look down on maintenance, most engineers feel they area step abve the common electrician

 

[Ashley Williams]

I dont look down on mainternance engineers i have alot of respect for them, people who can weld well it takes alot of skill to do it and i also have alot of respect for people who can turn things on lathes and mill parts to tiny tolerances. I just want to be an electrician. I think its everyone's diffrent idea of excitment i find going to new places generally large places exciting. I love going to BIG places. I remember my dad did work at the new animal hostpital in liverpool a few year back thats the sort of work ide love to do just dont know where to find the right company.

A

 

[silva.foxx]

... I dont mind the idea of hydrolics and welding etc. But when he took me around the factory he was saying to me these are the jobs that need doing on machines like for example he was saying that machine needs and oil change that machine needs the extraction ducting fitting. None of the machines needed anything remotly electrical doing. And i dont want to change oil and oil filters i want to be an electrician. I dont mine fitting motors and changing motors fitting changing control panels fault finding on machines but not bloody oil changing.

Something i like is excitment in my life. Doing something diffrent everyday not going to the same place repairing the same machines etc. As far as i know there are only to big factorys that take on apprentices one is airbus which isnt ideal for me and the other is kelloggs which thinking about it would be awsome buti sent my CV and a letter but didnt get a responce.

A

Ashley. I actually responded to this post 8 hours ago but deleted it as I felt biased in my opininon as I'm a maintenance spark.

I know Fibrax... never worked there but that factory, as small as it is has been there for as long as I can remember. They make brake pads using hydraulic presses.

Apprenticeships are few and far between in this area. You mention Kellogg's... if you got an interview for an apprenticeship there, and the maintenance manager, Mr Selly said to you about getting you trained in welding and hydraulics... would you stick your nose up at that?
Besides... just because you become a maintenance electrician it aint all about sparking. My current role is more PLCs than power supplies.

Exciting? You really want exciting? Well, pulling cables aint no show stopper is it! When I was doing my apprenticeship I thought being a spark was the bees knees. After 10 years you think what's next... I'm bored! If you want to work Mon to Fri in a trade crawling in attics or on sites then great...find an apprenticeship with a bodger company on crap money as you put it. Remember, Britain don't produce much as a nation... steel and coal - gone. Motorcycles and cars - going/gone. Shipbuilding - gone. Where are all these factories and warehouses you want to wire up coming from? We need to protect what little industry we have and this may be where your future lies!

That apprenticeship is gold dust, mate... a real opportunity to develop... get all your certs, HNC plus degree. Get into a diverse range of subjects: pneumatics, hydraulics, HVAC, welding, PLCs and automation, motors and drives, plumbing, machine safety, etc...

I started on £70 per week... current pull is £17 per hour... I'm 32 and been at this game since 1994. I am still learning, still learning new subjects and reading up on things. Technology is changing so fast. I really wish I'd pursued HNC and a degree whilst young with no responsibilities. Trying to do courses when you work shifts and have a family is very tight. Get it while you can. The opportunity is there. Or should I say... WAS!

 

[montybaber]

You are atill an electrician if you have other skills....they dont take away your title

Thing is after completing this apprenticeship you could have chosen what you wanted to do in the future, I look through a broad range of jobs when I search including candI technician, PLC programming, design engineering, servive and installation engineet jobs for various machine manfacturers as well as electrical installation (commercial and domestix) to name a few.

I think you may have been hasty, if you now get an apprenticeship wiring domestic you know exactly what you will be doing in ten years time.

I class myself as an electrican...there are many types

 

[saveloy]

Have to agree with both Monty and Silva.foxx. Domestic aint all that. I run my own building business so I do all sorts.Every day is different for me. If I was doing solely electrical day in day out then it would drive me nuts. I would say it's 20% actual electrical and 80% cable pulling, chasing walls and chopping boxes.(oh and you spend most of the day on your knees in lofts on/under the floor or in cupboards under the stairs)
If you want to be "full time" electrician I would say aim for commercial/industrial enviroment.
I went to college with a maintenance electrician and his knowledge base was fantastic.You couldn't beat him for fault finding. By the sounds of it no 2 days he had were the same.If you like to be challenged then this is one of the routes for you. You won't be challenged doing domestic trust me.

Not saying you should take that particular job (that is up to you), just saying don't limit your horizons.

 

[Ashley Williams]

Over the past few days since i finsihed college ive had chance to thinkand I think im like my dad im more at home with a screw driver, hammer,spirit level and drill in my hand more than a meter and a circuit diagram. I like the idea of working in Commercial and inductrial premices but not manitaining things i want to be wiring factories, shops, warehouses. I want to be installing trunking, cable tray running SWA along them to isolators running copex to machines. I want to wire that complicated distribution board. But i dont want to change oil and seals etc. I like building stuff i like making stuff. I get my kicks from putting that conduit up level and straight.

Thats what i want to do i want to drive a big van i want my tea in a flask sturing it with a screwdriver.

I just dont know where to look.

A

 

[boatnik1]

Ashley. your posts have all the hallmarks of a spoilt twelve year old kid rather than a young man trying to get a job. I think it's utter madness to turn down the opportunity you describe. Wanting to do only the things you feel comfortable with is what's wrong with too many young people today. Any experience is worth having, wether you feel it is relevant or not. I started as a spark apprentice in 1961 and have worked at just about everything even remotely connected until I retired a couple of years ago. From starting off winding motors and transformers and outside contracting to house bashing and then to maintenence spark which developed into factory maintenence engineer/spark by doing welding, turning, milling, Hydraulics, pneumatics, and a bunch of other stuff that had me getting sent all over europe and the U.S. faultfinding steelworking machines, both electrical and mechanical and generally having a ball. Eighteen years of 24/7/52 callout and no holiday for nine years was a bit of a bind at times but I wouldn't have changed it all at any price.

Bear in mind that you need the attitude that a day you don't learn something is a day wasted and not I only want to do what I want.

Your version of the interview somehow seems a little one sided and I find it hard to believe that you observed disappointment in your interviewer.

Frankly had I been the interviewer and you expressed yourself as you have on the forum I would have helped you on with your coat and assisted you out the door.

This is maybe not what you wanted to hear and please feel free to be offended, but you will at some stage realise that what I'm telling you is how it is and until you open your mind and change your attitude you will stay on the dole.

 

[silva.foxx]

Over the past few days since i finsihed college ive had chance to thinkand I think im like my dad im more at home with a screw driver, hammer,spirit level and drill in my hand more than a meter and a circuit diagram. I like the idea of working in Commercial and inductrial premices but not manitaining things i want to be wiring factories, shops, warehouses. I want to be installing trunking, cable tray running SWA along them to isolators running copex to machines. I want to wire that complicated distribution board. But i dont want to change oil and seals etc. I like building stuff i like making stuff. I get my kicks from putting that conduit up level and straight.

Thats what i want to do i want to drive a big van i want my tea in a flask sturing it with a screwdriver.

I just dont know where to look.

A

So... you do know what you want... but don't know where to find it

Have you contacted local companies specialising in your choice of trade?

Electricians in Oswestry » Yell.com

I'll reiterate what all posters have said to you here: You need to keep an open mind.

http://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAc...vance&M=0&bandedclarifyResults=&ssm=0&x=0&y=0

But grab a rare opportunity when knocks.

Good luck, Ashley... hope you find what you're looking for. You need to be your own person but stand out from the crowd and not be a sheep

.

 

[Ashley Williams]

I had a look though some companys last night typed up some covering letters and put them in an envolope with my cv and addressed them up ready to put in the post box.

A

 

[Andy Smith]

I am a maintenance manager of a fairly large factory. It is the norm these days to employ multi-skilled personnel.
It is a difficult trade and covers many aspects, because of this it can be very rewarding and you learn allot of skills. My people will all be trained to HNC/HND level in a chosen area with a very good grounding in the other trades ie. Hydraulics, welding, machining and fitting etc etc.

When interviewing I would expect the candidate to have a first and second interview. The second would involve trade tests in there major trade, and a lesser test in the other areas.

Just fir interest the expected salary would be in the region of £25k plus over time, so possible earnings of £30-35K

Not so bad really.

Last point maintenance Engineers/Electricians cover a wide range of skills within the electrical sector.

Maybe worth a thought next time but its your choice at the end of the day, best of luck in your chosen field.