Plenty of jobs out there?

[n180]

Hi all,

I'm looking to become an electrician (career change). Looked into various training centres like OLCI, RFTraining, New Career Skills etc. They all claim that there's a massive shortage of electricians at the moment in the UK, that there should be plenty of work for a qualified sparky. But of course they would say that.

I want to hear it form you guys already in the industry (so that I can get some real info instead of a sales pitch), whats the market like these days? Is it easy for you to find work? Is there plenty of it out there? I'm talking about working for a company and/or working for yourself. Or are most electricians leaving the industry due to lack of work, or sitting at home twiddling their thumbs?

 

[Dave 85]

There seems to be a couple of undisputed opinions on here and Im gonna dispute both.
1. An electrician cant earn 50k working on his own
2. House bashing is the lowest of the low.

Well you CAN earn 50k....
How?
House bashing....
I know a lot of you won't believe this but I know a few self employed electricians who make 45k+ doing mainly domestic work, usually on their own. I know one who turns £150k+ with 1 or 2 casual mates, which is probably half taxable profit.
I do mainly domestic work, I dont make 50k, but probably nowadays making equivalent to 40-45k on the cards.
Im sure there are a few on this forum who make more than 50k.
Ok so you have to have good contacts, business skills, customer interaction and generally work for the wealthy.

With regards to house bashing...
I love it...
I love rocking up in my trainers, chatting to the various housewives, who are generally very friendly, getting a cuppa and the occasional bacon sarnie, not lugging a 110 transformer around, not having to worry about risk assessments, nonsensical h&s policies or getting told what to do by jobsworths, not having a boss, being able to earn faster by working harder, always being busy whilst working so the days fly by, working with other free thinking self employed trades, constant variation in what I'm doing, rarely being on the same job more than 2 days in a row.....
I could go on for ever...

I know its not everybodys cup of tea, but I'd never do anything else.
I do enjoy doing the odd minor industrial job, little barn/warehouse or summin, bit of SWA trunking and conduit cos you get a bit more job satisfaction than you do smashing holes in things all day, but to work on big sites (which I have done a couple of times for very short periods) is my absolute worst nightmare... do that, dont do this, wear these, dont wear those, dont go here dont use this etc etc.
As is sitting around a factory all day waiting for something to stop working.

Not slating people who do this kinda work, each to their own, but its not for everyone.

 

[TaffyDuck]

There seems to be a couple of undisputed opinions on here and Im gonna dispute both.
1. An electrician cant earn 50k working on his own
2. House bashing is the lowest of the low.

Well you CAN earn 50k....
How?
House bashing....
I know a lot of you won't believe this but I know a few self employed electricians who make 45k+ doing mainly domestic work, usually on their own. I know one who turns £150k+ with 1 or 2 casual mates, which is probably half taxable profit.
I do mainly domestic work, I dont make 50k, but probably nowadays making equivalent to 40-45k on the cards.
Im sure there are a few on this forum who make more than 50k.
Ok so you have to have good contacts, business skills, customer interaction and generally work for the wealthy.

With regards to house bashing...
I love it...
I love rocking up in my trainers, chatting to the various housewives, who are generally very friendly, getting a cuppa and the occasional bacon sarnie, not lugging a 110 transformer around, not having to worry about risk assessments, nonsensical h&s policies or getting told what to do by jobsworths, not having a boss, being able to earn faster by working harder, always being busy whilst working so the days fly by, working with other free thinking self employed trades, constant variation in what I'm doing, rarely being on the same job more than 2 days in a row.....
I could go on for ever...

I know its not everybodys cup of tea, but I'd never do anything else.
I do enjoy doing the odd minor industrial job, little barn/warehouse or summin, bit of SWA trunking and conduit cos you get a bit more job satisfaction than you do smashing holes in things all day, but to work on big sites (which I have done a couple of times for very short periods) is my absolute worst nightmare... do that, dont do this, wear these, dont wear those, dont go here dont use this etc etc.
As is sitting around a factory all day waiting for something to stop working.

Not slating people who do this kinda work, each to their own, but its not for everyone.

Well I agree 100% with you Dave. You can earn a very good living as a self employed sparks. I do. Will someone who comes out of a 6 week course be able to, no chance. In 5 years or so when they have a good customer base, a good amount of experience and a hard earned reputation, then yes. Straight out of "college" whatever form that takes there is no chance whatsoever.

 

[alarm man]

There seems to be a couple of undisputed opinions on here and Im gonna dispute both.
1. An electrician cant earn 50k working on his own
2. House bashing is the lowest of the low.

Well you CAN earn 50k....
How?
House bashing....
I know a lot of you won't believe this but I know a few self employed electricians who make 45k+ doing mainly domestic work, usually on their own. I know one who turns £150k+ with 1 or 2 casual mates, which is probably half taxable profit.
I do mainly domestic work, I dont make 50k, but probably nowadays making equivalent to 40-45k on the cards.
Im sure there are a few on this forum who make more than 50k.
Ok so you have to have good contacts, business skills, customer interaction and generally work for the wealthy.

With regards to house bashing...
I love it...
I love rocking up in my trainers, chatting to the various housewives, who are generally very friendly, getting a cuppa and the occasional bacon sarnie, not lugging a 110 transformer around, not having to worry about risk assessments, nonsensical h&s policies or getting told what to do by jobsworths, not having a boss, being able to earn faster by working harder, always being busy whilst working so the days fly by, working with other free thinking self employed trades, constant variation in what I'm doing, rarely being on the same job more than 2 days in a row.....
I could go on for ever...

I know its not everybodys cup of tea, but I'd never do anything else.
I do enjoy doing the odd minor industrial job, little barn/warehouse or summin, bit of SWA trunking and conduit cos you get a bit more job satisfaction than you do smashing holes in things all day, but to work on big sites (which I have done a couple of times for very short periods) is my absolute worst nightmare... do that, dont do this, wear these, dont wear those, dont go here dont use this etc etc.
As is sitting around a factory all day waiting for something to stop working.

Not slating people who do this kinda work, each to their own, but its not for everyone.

or you confusing turnover with earnings.,also h&s doesnt cease to exsist just because its a domestic enviroment,ie wearing trainers instead of suitable footwear/not wearing eye/ear/head protection its all h&s

 

[ipf]

or you confusing turnover with earnings.,also h&s doesnt cease to exsist just because its a domestic enviroment,ie wearing trainers instead of suitable footwear/not wearing eye/ear/head protection its all h&s

I'm in agreement regarding H+S. We know it's over the top at times but just because there's no proper supervision it doesn't mean accidents wont occur. Insurance to think about too. If an investigation takes place it's important that certain criteria have been met. Just as we're liable for the work we carry out, we're also liable for our safety on site.

 

[TaffyDuck]

or you confusing turnover with earnings.,also h&s doesnt cease to exsist just because its a domestic enviroment,ie wearing trainers instead of suitable footwear/not wearing eye/ear/head protection its all h&s

I agree about the H+S point. But I have been running my business for many years and I do know the difference between profit and turnover. Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity. My income is broadly in line with what Dave is saying, 80% Domestic and before anyone thinks I am ripping old ladies off I live and work in a rural area where word of mouth is how a business thrives. Quality of service, having a good relationship with your clients etc etc.

 

[alarm man]

I agree about the H+S point. But I have been running my business for many years and I do know the difference between profit and turnover. Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity. My income is broadly in line with what Dave is saying, 80% Domestic and before anyone thinks I am ripping old ladies off I live and work in a rural area where word of mouth is how a business thrives. Quality of service, having a good relationship with your clients etc etc.

agree 50k could be eaisly made self employed,theres employed lads making that,but h&s doesnt stop just because your working in someone house

 

[Dave 85]

or you confusing turnover with earnings.,also h&s doesnt cease to exsist just because its a domestic enviroment,ie wearing trainers instead of suitable footwear/not wearing eye/ear/head protection its all h&s

I also am aware of the difference between turnover and profit as my post quite clearly shows. A self employed persons taxable profit on their tax return generally results in more disposable income than the same figure as a salary. This is due to a number of reasons: less NI, the odd bit of cash that gets 'forgotten', the fact that for many people their vehicle, fuel, phone and several other expensis are already paid out of turnover etc etc.

Not exactly sure what the point about health and safety is....I dont need someone to tell me not to stick my tongue in the main fuse and im willing to risk my life using 240v tools. I don't have a written health and safety policy because I dont see any point. I am blessed with a rare and valuable attribute called common sense which has kept me alive so far.

 

[oldtimer]

I agree about the H+S point. But I have been running my business for many years and I do know the difference between profit and turnover. Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity. My income is broadly in line with what Dave is saying, 80% Domestic and before anyone thinks I am ripping old ladies off I live and work in a rural area where word of mouth is how a business thrives. Quality of service, having a good relationship with your clients etc etc.

Yep me to I do electrical repairs and specialise in fault finding and this is down to 36 years experience I am not boasting I find fault finding easy and because of this combination I am in and out with some jobs and most of my customers are grateful and a minority will say well that was easy and I say well I make it look easy but 36 years of doing it is a bit of an advantage for me and that is what I am selling.

 

[alarm man]

I also am aware of the difference between turnover and profit as my post quite clearly shows. A self employed persons taxable profit on their tax return generally results in more disposable income than the same figure as a salary. This is due to a number of reasons: less NI, the odd bit of cash that gets 'forgotten', the fact that for many people their vehicle, fuel, phone and several other expensis are already paid out of turnover etc etc.

Not exactly sure what the point about health and safety is....I dont need someone to tell me not to stick my tongue in the main fuse and im willing to risk my life using 240v tools. I don't have a written health and safety policy because I dont see any point. I am blessed with a rare and valuable attribute called common sense which has kept me alive so far.

cowboy springs to mind,regardless of how you treat yourself or anyone else working for you,you have a duty of care to your customers while working on their premises also

 

[Dave 85]

Yes thats right...
Im a cowboy...

 

[alarm man]

thought like.

 

[wellshocked]

i woldnt say anyones a cowboy just because they wear trainers to work. you just dont need all that health and safety crap in houses, it would take to long to organise and most homeowners just want you in and out so they can go back to normal life.

generally most people have all the health and safety stuff in the back of the van and would you really want someone walking over your carpets in grimey old work boots

most people use common sense in housebashing and yes accidents can happen and everyone here has probably had an accident or near accident in the years they been doing it,.

you can earn 50k in this trade, the comapnies aint lying they are just not telling you the facts of how long it takes to get it.

for answering the bloke who posted the question in the first place.

it is definetly worth doing , it will probably cost you more in the long run(my mate done one of them courses to do plumbing and it cost him about 4000 ) but now he is earning 120 a day on site , and spends most weekends doing private work on price. obviously it doesnt work out for everyone , you can struggle to find work, get knocked by some ******s, but once you get your foot in the door you are well on your way.

you can earn about 25,000 -30,000 a year once fully qualified and if you have your own buisness you could ( a BIG could) you can earn well over 50,000 by having the right contacts and a bit off luck.

if i was you i would just bite the bullet and retrain, but save a bit off cash up for periods where you might not have work and try and buy your tools and equiptment before you start retraining as that puts you one step ahead of alot of apprentices.

it would defintely be worth investing in a cscs card and an IPAF card

 

[NigelreoC]

i went down the training centre route and it was a good route in for me. i did find work as well after i qualified, true that people are pointing out though its not an easy ride to get work...

 

[grantr37]

stop havin a go at everybody else:iamwithstupid:

 

[GJH]

No disrespect to the Electrical Trainee's as we all have to make a living but the time served sparks out there are really suffering due to the influx of inexperienced guys.
i did a 5 year apprenticeship, with the old 'c' certificate as an extra aswell as 2 years day release with the ONC and to be offered £7 to £9 per hour from some companies is an absolute kick in the teeth! I am self employed and have a good business but I'm earning less now than 5-10 years ago due to the rates going through the floor. The governing bodies are not doing enough to help our industry and it stinks! I know some Portuguese guys and they say sparks earn £600 euros a month, it has been de skilled that much. Thats where we are headed! Rant over and like I say, FairPlay for the people who want to give sparking a go and try and earn 50k but it wont happen.