Need advice on electrician course.

[Chrissyd]

Hi folks,

I know this has probably been posted before, but I was wondering what is the best way to become an electrician.

To give you abit of a background story. I've been working In the i.t environment for a number of years, but I have been recently considering a career change. I am bored of I.t now and Ive always wanted to be a qualified electrician. I do have some knowledge of electrical circuits from fixing pcbs and various electronics.

I recently found this company that would do a fast track course at a cost of a grand -vat. I am highly doubtful of these courses as I know it takes more than 8 days to be a spark. Haha.

I am 31 and wouldn't be in the position to go back to college full time. I could do a night course, if it were availible. I've just stumbled across this forum tonight and would love to hear some feedback.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Chrissyd]

Thanks kennyken. I was literally updating my c.v tonight and have been scrolling indeed for electrician apprenticeships. Going to start bombarding agencies and employers to see how far I get. I've also made enquiries with some education authorities to see what they can offer. The journey begins .

 

[telectrix]

apprenticeship wages are OK if you still live at home with parents. if you have a mortgage/rent, wife, kids, dog, then you could not survive. first to go would be the wife (hopefully taking the kids), then repossession, all you'd have left would be the dog and the clothes you're wearing. .

 

[Chrissyd]

Sorry guys my posts were getting blocked as spam there.bit odd. I hear what your saying about the apprenticeships wages. It wouldn't be ideal, but looking at the big picture it gain me the experience needed to advance further in the field.

 

[telectrix]

take thew courses by allmeans, but try to find employment as a sparks' mate, maybe with an agency, blagg it. mates wages are £10+ /hour. apprenticesip wages are around £3/hour.

 

[Chrissyd]

Thanks for the solid advice mate. How long have you been in the trade for?

 

[MJPD29]

I'm in Belfast also so if I come across anything I'll let you know, but short courses here are few amd far between compared to the mainland, and if you need any help with anything message me

 

[Chrissyd]

I'm in Belfast also so if I come across anything I'll let you know, but short courses here are few amd far between compared to the mainland, and if you need any help with anything message me

Cheers matthew, I will do. Yeah, courses are pretty sparse here, practically every short course I've seen is in england. Though that one in east belfast seemed to be to good to be true. I've emailed the college to find out some more information about courses etc, but If you find anything of use for me definitely throw it my way.

Thanks again.

 

[Chrissyd]

Hi folks,

Bit of an update on my thread. I met with a careers advisor called Carmel. Nice girl. Had a long chat with her told her what my long term goal was etc. She recommended me to sign up for a course doing fire and safety systems, as she this would be a good starting point to gain employment in a sparky environment.

She also said if I gain employment with a spark as a labourer then it may help me get on the relevant courses to become a spark.

 

[JAWS]

Not 100% sure about fire systems courses other users may point you in the correct direction regarding that route.
To become a recognised JIB electrican you will need your level 2 and level 3 if that's the route you want to take.
This will mean college on part-time basis normally 2 or 3 year, but theres also nothing stopping you applying for an electricians mate now whilst enrolling in college.
Or you could skip getting your JIB card altogether and just me a mate for a couple of year then when you've the confidence join a CPS scheme.

Its all about getting your foot in the door and keep applying until something finally pops up.

 

[rapparee]

Hi folks,

Bit of an update on my thread. I met with a careers advisor called Carmel. Nice girl. Had a long chat with her told her what my long term goal was etc. She recommended me to sign up for a course doing fire and safety systems, as she this would be a good starting point to gain employment in a sparky environment.

She also said if I gain employment with a spark as a labourer then it may help me get on the relevant courses to become a spark.

Chris get into PLC programming, TIA Portal seems to be the way everyone is going these days.

A lot of fire alarm companies seem to use sparks and then retrain them into fire alarms.

A CCTV specialist is another way to go. It is mostly all Cat 6 with PoE cameras. Even a data specialist who can do fibre optic connections is an option. I think the ETT do a course on this in Ballymena

The short courses aren't regarded here in Ireland north or south. That's why you might find if you go over to the UK to do that course you might have to stay over there.

 

[FatAlan]

One of my mates stumped our sixth form careers advisor when he said that he wanted to be a shepherd. Same guy (not the careers advisor) spent his lunch time in the common room grinding the valve seatings in the cylinder head of his Moggy 1000. I digress

 

[Chrissyd]

Chris get into PLC programming, TIA Portal seems to be the way everyone is going these days.

Thats twice I've heard that on this thread now. Deffo seems like something I should look into.

 

[Bobster]

Chris get into PLC programming, TIA Portal seems to be the way everyone is going these days.

Thats twice I've heard that on this thread now. Deffo seems like something I should look into.

TIA portal is Siemens flagship programming studio. Studio 5000 is equally, if not more prevalent in the UK and is owned by Rockwell Allen Bradley.

There are multitudes of platforms, but those two are the market leader.

The trend I've noticed is a lot are moving to higher level programming languages in PLCs.

Something I would look into is Codeysis, lots and lots of free tutorials, usually cheaper to buy the training software etc.. Although, not as intuitive for an electrician to use, unlike Siemens or Rockwells ladder editior.

Ladder is still preferred for maintenance electricians as it can be followed like an electrical drawing. However higher level languages like STL, SCL are quicker to program, take less memory and can perform more powerful instructions.

If you want the real specialist stuff, look into Siemens PCS7, generally only used in multi million pound installations, and the engineers using this basically write their own pay. The last guy I used to help me on a PCS7 job charged out at 1200quid a day.

 

[Chrissyd]

Hi folks,

Just wanted to get some advice on where I can do some training on plc programming? Been looking online today to try and get started. I live in Northern Ireland, so any advice on where to get accreditations would also be appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[rapparee]

Hi folks,

Just wanted to get some advice on where I can do some training on plc programming? Been looking online today to try and get started. I live in Northern Ireland, so any advice on where to get accreditations would also be appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris

Check your local tech

Different regional colleges are running courses in the north