Trade Skills 4 U waste of time?

[rebeccathornley]

I'm 24 and looking for a career change into the electrical industry. Could anyone advise me on the practicality of undertaking a fast track level 2 course with trade skills 4 u? I'm by no means expecting to be a fully qualified electrician by the end of this, I'm hoping to get the level 2 qualification to increase my chances of getting an electrican apprenticeship as it seems competition is rife right now and i'm a bit disadvantaged being older than the typical apprentice.

I've heard so much about these courses being a waste of time and money - is that still true even if I am just using this course to boost my chances of getting an apprenticeship after completion? Am I still better off doing the level 2 as an evening course at my local college?


Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated! Thanks

 

[7029 dave]

bitter older sparks

That is me, my journey into the industry was a hard slog the old fashioned apprenticeship, and it was blood sweat and tears literally at times. Not going to lie found the theory side of things quite hard, maybe my maths and English was not the best still cant spell that well.
But stuck with it head in the books nearly every spare minute of the day, no computers or sites like this back in the day. Nearly threw the towel in many times but kept going.
Got my C&G 236 A&B which was/is a good standard and was very proud to achieve this.
I can call myself an electrician

 

[Penguin]

I'm 24 and looking for a career change into the electrical industry. Could anyone advise me on the practicality of undertaking a fast track level 2 course with trade skills 4 u? I'm by no means expecting to be a fully qualified electrician by the end of this, I'm hoping to get the level 2 qualification to increase my chances of getting an electrican apprenticeship as it seems competition is rife right now and i'm a bit disadvantaged being older than the typical apprentice.

I've heard so much about these courses being a waste of time and money - is that still true even if I am just using this course to boost my chances of getting an apprenticeship after completion? Am I still better off doing the level 2 as an evening course at my local college?


Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated! Thanks

Hi Rebecca,
As a 24 yr old your on the ‘edge’ of Electrical company’s taking you on as an apprentice due to the “apprentice government scheme”, that rewards financial benefits to a Company taking on someone between 16-24 for an apprenticeship.

In my personal opinion the Level 2, is a mandatory before taking a level 3.

It was introduced to weed out the ‘Wheat from the Chaff’ ( old saying, meaning get rid of time wasters ).

Have you any experience in the electrical field??????

Get online and complete an online/classroom Level 2. ( much quicker than a one day release to college - minimum a year a day ).

ALSO be VERY VERY careful at what Course you sign and pay for that states..!!!

i.e- this Course is IDEAL to those wishing to become Professional Electricians, and will help you gain the knowledge required to achieve this qualification.!!!!!

WHAT are actually going to achieve.

What is PPE.???
What is Weil’s disease?????

£500 later you still can’t wire a BS 3pin plug to British Standards.

Send me the info on what course your looking at.

 

[rewireIT]

Hi Rebecca,
As a 24 yr old your on the ‘edge’ of Electrical company’s taking you on as an apprentice due to the “apprentice government scheme”, that rewards financial benefits to a Company taking on someone between 16-24 for an apprenticeship.

Grants are available now for apprentices of any age.

 

[Penguin]

That is me, my journey into the industry was a hard slog the old fashioned apprenticeship, and it was blood sweat and tears literally at times. Not going to lie found the theory side of things quite hard, maybe my maths and English was not the best still cant spell that well.
But stuck with it head in the books nearly every spare minute of the day, no computers or sites like this back in the day. Nearly threw the towel in many times but kept going.
Got my C&G 236 A&B which was/is a good standard and was very proud to achieve this.
I can call myself an electrician

One of my old apprentices, who now has his own business, said that he regarded me as ‘Leeds Football Club’ when they tackled they were FIRM but FAIR.
I treat my apprentices with respect and always buy them a Friday FryUp.

They never take the P…ss and know I’ll help them with issues (mainly finance).

They DO NOT operate or view their mobile phone during working hours, as it’s a £10 fine each and every time.

If they cockup they, don’t SHOUT it out they mention a special word.!!!!

Which gets my attention. Rather than shouting out IVE JUST GONE THROUGH A PIPE. (customers get nervous otherwise).

You sound like an Old School apprentice and that’s what we’re missing…!!!

 

[Penguin]

Grants are available now for apprentices of any age.

Are you meaning Company Apprentice financial benefits or individual grants.

 

[LeckyTrician]

So you're good with tools, it's a great start. Build on that by getting some cheap VDE rated tools and learn to use them to do electrical stuff with. I recommend the Stanley FatMax drivers, they're ace for the price. Just make sure to chuck the piddly little tester driver since they're dangerous.

This is something that bitter older sparks say online. On site you'll somewhat tongue-in-cheek get called a 'dilutey' but who cares? You just don't tell anyone where you did it. It's part of the culture where if you didn't do an apprenticeship on rubbish money for 5 years like them then you didn't do it properly. I dropped out of my apprenticeship because i was being paid £4 an hour as a 30-odd year old with a family. I went straight on site as a mate earning nearly £20 an hour. My wage now varies between £17-22 depending on the job. My quals are 18th edition, CSCS, ipaf.

The course content is the content. Taking 12 months to do a course that can be done in 6 weeks is stupid imo. Get an Anki deck going and work through the level 2 book, you'll memorise the lot. If you pm me your email i'll send you the books for free.

Apprenticeships are like rocking horse turds, you're better off applying for them but also doing other stuff to empower yourself to get to where you want to go. With an apprenticeship you're beholden to someone to take you on; if you go the mate route you can take steps to achieve that and nobody can stop you.

I am looking to become an electrician and came across your post. I've been contemplating doing a fast track course, but a lot of people say most of those courses are scams. I know this is an old post, but do you still have those books? After looking at your post am I looking at 18th edition, Part P, ipaf and health and safety ecs. Are these ok to learn separately?