College Credit Cards

UK Electrician Qualifications Examined

The fact is that a career within the electrical sphere is a frequent alternative for many people. For simplicity\’s sake we will use the phrase Electrical Industry to cover off the more accurate term of \”Electro-Mechanical Engineering\”. Also, for ease we will concentrate on those principles that sit within the domestic and commercial markets for the UK. By starting on the main subjects and checking the \’add-ons\’ later on we can review the centre of the electrical industry.

Essentially, we see two distinct forms of entry into the electrical market. Initially there\’s the more traditional apprenticeship approach, but equally there is now an alternative, suited to those who are keen to enter later in their life. For the sake of clarity throughout, the first will be known as \’Junior Entrants\’ and the second simply known as \’Mature 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. Those who join as Junior Entrants, on the other hand, appear to do so with the aim of joining an established electrical firm – in order to gain further qualifications and experience whilst picking up practical and other work-place skills. This could be a young apprentice\’s first position since leaving school, so it will be necessary to pick up supplementary working skills.

The distinct types of entry have differing styles of training – It is the involvement with NVQ\’s (or SVQ\’s for Scotland), that differentiate the Junior Entrants. As part of the training program an NVQ would be a requirement to attain. 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 do not appear to seek the NVQ element but instead they go after the most commercially suitable qualifications. Such as obtaining documentation that gives them the best chance to gain from their training endeavours and thereby the best financial rewards. Although this may offer quicker and more commercial options, it does reduce the official requirements set for certain areas of the industry.

With regard to regular earning potential we have two clear paths – one for employees and the other for the self-employed. 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. Salary options are often affected both by the know- how and the knack for doing things as well as any perceived formal levels of understanding.

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. 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\’. It should be remembered however that a self employed person must often bear additional costs for items such as vehicles, tools and clothing. Furthermore, professional items such as accountancy, tax and insurance need to be considered to make the business work properly. 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. If a student wanted to work every day of the week this would be possible in some areas. 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. Electricians who are \’Junior Entrants\’ would work a simple 40 hour working week. The Mature market is however often reliant as to when their client base is available, especially in the domestic sector. There are however lots of opportunities for self-employed electricians to do work on small business systems during normal office hours.

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. However, many mature entrants gain extra skills by learning those trades such as gas and plumbing work. Without a doubt the extra skills help them in their overall employ whether this is commercial or domestic work.

One new, fast growing area – one that invokes a wide array of skills sets and is new to the industry overall – is that of the \’Green Engineer\’. The opportunity to provide both employment and potential service contracts, especially in the UK and the EEC sectors, mean that this area is of interest to both Junior and Mature electricians.