Newbie career change research

[Alectric]

Hi Guys,

My name is Al I've just been made redundant from my previous job as a software engineer. My job has been out-sourced to India and I'm looking to do something different, I figured a trade would offer better long term job security and since my original qualifications are an HND in Electrical and electronic engineering I figured I might be able to become an electrician, I still remember Ohms law

I'm a practical, hands on kinda guy and reckon with a bit of hard work I could pull off this career change but I need to figure out the best way to get into the industry. Long term (5 years) I'd like to be self employed doing domestic work.

I guess the best way would be to do an apprenticeship but I'm 35 and I reckon my chances of finding one are next to none plus i'd be earning a pittance for several years while training. The other option is one of these dodgy crash courses, i'm sure i could do the theory without learning the tricks of the trade so to speak i'd be severely lacking. Is there an in-between option I've missed?

I'd really like any advice from any sparks out there and especially from people who have done the career change themselves.

Cheers

AL

 

[Dan]

Welcome to Electricians Forum | Electrical Advice Forum | An electrical forum for electricians in the UK!

Welcome to electriciansforums.net Alectric. Thanks for introducing yourself.

 

[acat]

Hi and welcome pleased you joined us. You dont want to hear this but we already have lots of qualified and experienced sparks looking for work on the forum. As you quite rightly say a crash course is all you have and 90% sure no one will take you on because of lack of experience so you are looking at being self employed.

Google "business link" and take one of their free courses before you spend any money.


Good luck


Chris

 

[Phil]

welcome

 

[pmac10]

with an HND in electrical and electronic engineering you could get into minimum year 2 elec eng degree at university . with a bit of refresher training an electrical design engineer, maintenance manager, depending on the units you studied, junior mechanical design engineer, automation engineer. focus on the strengths you already have. if you have a level 5 qualification in electrical and electronic engineering why do you want to study it at level 2 and 3? especially considering the amount of time served sparks looking for work?

 

[Sintra]

Hi & welcome.

 

[Alectric]

Thanks for the welcome guys. More to the point, thanks for being frank with me. I am at the point where I am merely thinking about starting on the road to becoming an electrician, I'm currently doing my research to see if it's a viable option.

Bit more back ground. I started out when I left school wanting to be a sparky (in 1991) and got on a college course but part of the course I needed an employer to get the work experience. Due to the recession then I couldn't find an employer so ended up on the BTEC OND / HNC and finally HND route since I decided I wanted to become an electronics engineer. I was an electronics engineer for about a year and got made redundant but had the opportunity to re-train in software since back then there was a shortage of software engineers, I did this and have done this for the last 10 years and redundant once more.

I'm now in the position where I am not qualified for the job i was doing, don't have the experience in what I trained in so pretty much starting fresh :-( I think my best option is to be self employed and I thought becoming an electrician might have been a good option.

From what acat says, the skills shortage I keep hearing about is untrue? Just like the shortage of driving instructors the RED advert goes on about. And in response to pmac10, I don't really want more qualifications I want a good solid career that i'd enjoy doing and to be an electrician I'd need the level 2/3 quals.

Perhaps being an electrician doesn't make sense for me? But i've done software for a long time, the money was good but I hated the work, and that's no way to live. I know being an electrician is lower paid but I felt I'd enjoy the work, being out and about in my little van meeting lots of different people (not stuck in an office) maybe I've got this romantic misconception about what the job is really like and I need to take off my rose tinted specs and move on to the next possible career

Thanks again, you're comments have been helpful and I welcome more feedback from others.

AL

 

[Scooter]

Hi Al,

If it's any inspiration to you, I did the career change at 36, and all I knew at the time was how to change a plug! I was flying a desk in London and decided to go to the countryside and settle down with my lady and because I didn't want to commute decided on re-training as a spark.

I was lucky that I have a friend who was in the trade and he let me work on site with him for £50 a day, and I went to college one day a week to do the C&G 2330. Luckily, due to my house sale I was able to survive on that sort of money.

Long story short, I passed the course, have got my 17th Edition, taking the 2391 in the summer, and will be getting my Part P sorted out too. I currently do many jobs without any supervision (including testing), but as I don't have Part P my colleague signs it off. With the Part P we can expand the business.

In short, find a friendly spark, work for a pittance, and go for it!!

 

[Notsosmart]

Hello Al,

Welcome aboard.

 

[Guest123]

Welcome along.