For many people, an interesting and varied choice often means a career within the electrical industry. Often (and more correctly) referred to as \’Electro-Mechanical Engineering\’, we\’ll simply refer to it as the Electrical Industry for the sake of simplicity here. In addition, we will stay with the UK market and especially items relating to the domestic and commercial sectors rather than global issues. We will begin by reviewing the main issues first and come back to the \’add-ons\’ later, because of the huge number of options available as a career within this subject.
On consideration, we observe two forms of access into the electrical market. Whilst many candidates opt to join later on in their life, there still exists the more traditional route of the apprenticeship. To clarify, we\’ll label each of them as the \’Mature Entrants\’ and the \’Junior Entrants\’.
Primarily, those who join the industry later on, (the Mature Entrants,) generally do so with the aim of becoming self-employed at some point, or to work on their own building projects etc. without having to pay wages to external electricians. However, people who join as junior entrants like the fact that they can join a recognised firm to pick up the bulk of their practical and work based skills. To be fair, young apprentices leaving school will have a lot of supplementary skills to learn during their early years as a working adult.
The distinct types of entry have differing styles of training – The Junior Entrants syllabus involves NVQ/SVQ\’s as well as proving working skills. As part of the training program an NVQ would be a requirement to attain. This requires being in a directly-related work program or apprenticeship of some type, so as to meet the testing and course-work requirements.
By opting to work on a freelance basis, many Mature Entrants appear to focus on those areas that provide profitable and practical solutions other than NVQ\’s. i.e. Those certifications that will get them up and running with the best financial return from their training investment. This system, although appearing to reduce the attributes laid out, does allow for a faster and more solid entry into the domestic market.
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.
The basic salary for Junior Entrants tends to start around the 12-15k mark, but rises regularly to around 30k with the right level of experience. However, with incomes of 70,000 or more a year, a \’Mature Entrants\’ salary can often be more difficult to judge. Often costs such as tools, clothes and even transport need to be assessed and included in the business mix overall. Furthermore, professional items such as accountancy, tax and insurance need to be considered to make the business work properly. Aside from that, the current skills shortage within the UK still means that there\’s lots of high value work out there. Working 7 days a week is totally achievable for most people if they want it. To be fair, high salaries bounded about by the press do require long working hours or help to achieve them.
Firstly, it is worth pointing out that the working week between the Junior and Mature electricians can vary enormously. Monday to Friday 9-5 would be the working week of most \’Junior Entrants\’. That aside the Mature market is equally affected by when their clients are available – this is especially so within the domestic sector, where evening and weekend work predominates. Again, this varies considerably, and many self-employed electricians make the mainstay of their income from office and small business installation, testing and inspection, which is Mon-Fri 9-5pm.
To be fair it\’s often the boss of a company who states the type of specialist knowledge that Junior Entrants gain whilst in their employ. Whereas the mature entrant can gain knowledge from any trade source – even one outside of the core of electrical work. If they are working mostly in the domestic market, this makes it easier for them to take on larger jobs across a range of disciplines (without having to sub-contract.)
One fresh approach is that of the \’Green Engineer\’. The chance to win some big employment and business advantages within the governmental as well as the traditional growth sector means that this area could be attractive to both Junior and Mature Entrants alike.
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A Background In Electrical Qualifications
For many people, an interesting and varied choice often means a career within the electrical industry. Often (and more correctly) referred to as \’Electro-Mechanical Engineering\’, we\’ll simply refer to it as the Electrical Industry for the sake of simplicity here. In addition, we will stay with the UK market and especially items relating to the domestic and commercial sectors rather than global issues. We will begin by reviewing the main issues first and come back to the \’add-ons\’ later, because of the huge number of options available as a career within this subject.
On consideration, we observe two forms of access into the electrical market. Whilst many candidates opt to join later on in their life, there still exists the more traditional route of the apprenticeship. To clarify, we\’ll label each of them as the \’Mature Entrants\’ and the \’Junior Entrants\’.
Primarily, those who join the industry later on, (the Mature Entrants,) generally do so with the aim of becoming self-employed at some point, or to work on their own building projects etc. without having to pay wages to external electricians. However, people who join as junior entrants like the fact that they can join a recognised firm to pick up the bulk of their practical and work based skills. To be fair, young apprentices leaving school will have a lot of supplementary skills to learn during their early years as a working adult.
The distinct types of entry have differing styles of training – The Junior Entrants syllabus involves NVQ/SVQ\’s as well as proving working skills. As part of the training program an NVQ would be a requirement to attain. This requires being in a directly-related work program or apprenticeship of some type, so as to meet the testing and course-work requirements.
By opting to work on a freelance basis, many Mature Entrants appear to focus on those areas that provide profitable and practical solutions other than NVQ\’s. i.e. Those certifications that will get them up and running with the best financial return from their training investment. This system, although appearing to reduce the attributes laid out, does allow for a faster and more solid entry into the domestic market.
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.
The basic salary for Junior Entrants tends to start around the 12-15k mark, but rises regularly to around 30k with the right level of experience. However, with incomes of 70,000 or more a year, a \’Mature Entrants\’ salary can often be more difficult to judge. Often costs such as tools, clothes and even transport need to be assessed and included in the business mix overall. Furthermore, professional items such as accountancy, tax and insurance need to be considered to make the business work properly. Aside from that, the current skills shortage within the UK still means that there\’s lots of high value work out there. Working 7 days a week is totally achievable for most people if they want it. To be fair, high salaries bounded about by the press do require long working hours or help to achieve them.
Firstly, it is worth pointing out that the working week between the Junior and Mature electricians can vary enormously. Monday to Friday 9-5 would be the working week of most \’Junior Entrants\’. That aside the Mature market is equally affected by when their clients are available – this is especially so within the domestic sector, where evening and weekend work predominates. Again, this varies considerably, and many self-employed electricians make the mainstay of their income from office and small business installation, testing and inspection, which is Mon-Fri 9-5pm.
To be fair it\’s often the boss of a company who states the type of specialist knowledge that Junior Entrants gain whilst in their employ. Whereas the mature entrant can gain knowledge from any trade source – even one outside of the core of electrical work. If they are working mostly in the domestic market, this makes it easier for them to take on larger jobs across a range of disciplines (without having to sub-contract.)
One fresh approach is that of the \’Green Engineer\’. The chance to win some big employment and business advantages within the governmental as well as the traditional growth sector means that this area could be attractive to both Junior and Mature Entrants alike.
Copyright 2009 Scott Edwards. Go to City and Guilds Electrical Courses or Electrical Courses.
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