A Background In Electrical Qualifications
For many people, a career within the electrical industry remains an interesting and varied choice. From here on we will use the phrase of Electrical Industry to explain the more accurate term of “Electro-Mechanical Engineering”. Equally we’ll focus on those credentials that fit the UK domestic and commercial sector rather than those from 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.
Basically there are two clear ways to gain admission into the electrical market. Along with apprenticeships for school leavers, students entering the field at a later phase in their life now have an alternative to more traditional amateur routes. Throughout this document we will simply refer to two types of people the ‘Junior’ and the ‘Mature’ entrants.
Mature Entrants who join the industry later on do so with the aim of working for themselves, usually as a one person business. Alternatively, ‘Junior Entrants’ will pick up lots of their work place skills by working with an already reputable electrical company. After they leave school a young apprentice will have many skills to learn during their first few years of working life.
The two different ways into the industry have two separate methods of preparation. In essence, the Junior Entrants follow an NVQ syllabus, or SVQ syllabus in Scotland. An NVQ qualification would need to be obtained as part of the training program. Often, this means that students have to gain an apprenticeship in order to be able to realise the course work and testing requirements of the job.
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. This method allows for a quicker route to the market and does meet the necessary trading elements for the areas concerned despite reducing the overall qualification set.
Between self-employment and general employment we have two routes to consider in terms of typical income. For the sake of this document we will assume that everyone involved in electrical employment is working full-time. It is recognised that competence and qualifications add to income levels as well as experience and information gained.
Basic salary for Junior Entrants can start at around 12 thousand per annum, often going above 35 thousand after several years in industry. That said, due to the UK press telling people that electricians can get salaries in excess of 70k p.a., it is more difficult to gauge incomes for ‘Mature Entrants’. Irrespective of this salary level many self-employed people also need to manage extra business costs such as tools, clothes and vans. They will also have to make allocations for personal or professional insurance and accountancy. However, the driving force remains the UK skills shortage and this means that there’s a load of work available. Without a doubt, the market would allow for some people to work a full seven days a week. 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.)
It should be noted that the working week for most electricians differs between the Junior and Mature Entrant markets. Most of the work for Junior Entrant electricians will be on a simple 9-5, Monday to Friday basis. But due to the needs of the domestic market the Mature Entrant is often more reliant upon when their client base gets back from work. Although by testing and installing various business systems, many self-employed electricians manage to work during a normal working week.
Once a career in electrical work has been chosen, a Junior Electrician is often at the mercy of their employer when it comes to learning new skills and expertise. Alternatively, the mature entrant can gain other training outside of their chosen field, such as gas and plumbing work. They can take on larger jobs and do all the work themselves then – which is a particularly great benefit to domestic clients.
An up to the minute angle – involving a new level of skills – is that of the so called ‘Green Engineer’. 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.
(C) 2009 S. Edwards. Visit www.JobQualification.co.uk/pjobqual.html or Electrical Courses.
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