Uncovering Electrical Qualifications - StraightForward Advice

For many people, a career within the electrical industry remains an interesting and varied choice. Within this document we will not use the full term of Electro-Mechanical Engineering but use the term Electrical Industry instead. Furthermore, we will focus on the UK market and the domestic and commercial elements rather than those from elsewhere around the world. Since there is such a wide list of choices in the electrical industry, we'll start by looking at the main themes first and then come back to any 'add-ons' later.

Essentially, we see two distinct forms of entry into the electrical market. To being with we have the older apprentice course and then secondly we have the option for those who wish to make a career change to join the industry. To clarify, we'll label each of them as the 'Mature Entrants' and the 'Junior Entrants'.

Many Mature Entrants enter the market so they don't have to rely on others, especially when they can work on their own building ideas and not have to pay for anyone else to help them. By contrast, Junior entrants would seek to work with an established electrical firm and build their skill-sets as they train. During their first years in the working environment, a young apprentice, or junior entrant, will have a host of additional skills to learn.

Clearly these two options have both differing training styles and methods of entry. Junior entrants go through NVQ training in England and Wales, and SVQ training in Scotland. The training itself is similar to non NVQ training, but completion of the full programme means getting the actual qualifications. New employees gain the necessary course work and testing elements through an apprenticeship or some form of suitable work program.

Mature Entrants, with the possible aim of entering the market from a self-employed perspective, seem to focus on attaining the most commercially viable qualifications (without the need for the NVQ element.) Having said that, the mature student does aim to gain the necessary skills to do the job, whilst at the same time reducing their training costs at all times. Although this may offer quicker and more commercial options, it does reduce the official requirements set for certain areas of the industry.

In terms of typical earnings, we have two clear routes - those relating to employment and those for self-employment. The question remains as to how much work per week a self-employed person puts in - for the sake of this review we assume that it is full time. It is recognised that competence and qualifications add to income levels as well as experience and information gained.

Although starting wages for 'Junior Entrants' are around 13k p.a. they can rise above 30k p.a. but this does depend on their level of experience. 'Mature Entrants' salaries though are often more difficult to work out, but can rise to 70.000 and above as reported in UK newspapers. Regardless of all that is the need to cover off additional costs such as tools, clothes and even a vehicle and all that goes along with that. In addition to this they will also have to allow for items such as accountancy and personal/professional insurance. That aside, whilst the work is open to market-forces to some degree, the current skills shortage in the UK means that there's a high work-load available. Working 7 days a week is totally achievable for most people if they want it. It should be understood that the 70-100k figures that we see thrown around in newspapers are not easily achieved, and would either require working long hours or having assistants (or both.)

In light of the above, it is often understood that there is wild variance between the working expectations of Junior and Mature Entrants. Electricians who are 'Junior Entrants' would work a simple 40 hour working week. Whereas the Mature market can be more dependent on the domestic market for some - i.e. weekend and evening work, when their clients are available and back from work. With many self-employed electricians the core of their income comes from items such as business testing and installation and as such operates during the main part of the week.

Any specialist knowledge the Junior Entrant gains whilst in someone's employ is usually down to the sectors of industry that company works in. Whereas the mature entrant can gain knowledge from any trade source - even one outside of the core of electrical work. Within the domestic market this allows them to work under a range of headings without having to rely upon sub contract suppliers.

An area that is relatively new to the industry overall, yet requires new expertise is that of 'Green Engineering'. The curiosity of both Junior and Mature Electricians to this new industry is well founded especially when considering the power of the UK and the EEC markets in areas of growth and governmental projects.

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Author: Scott Edwards. Browse around Part P Courses or CareerChangeHelp.co.uk/qcch.html.

by: Jason Kendall
Total views: 1 Word Count: 835 Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 Time: 5:11 AM 0 comments

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