2 Years Experience; No Qualifications - I want to be a spark, where do I start?

[Tilko Misiek]

Long story short;

I dropped sixth form 2 years ago, started working for an electrical firm with my dad
Began studying from sep2010, AAT Accounting Level 2, Halfway through 3 now....

However sitting behind a desk is not my preffered way to spend my working hours,
Ive got these 2 years of experience where I actually enjoyed working.


I want to become qualified
and I want to do it as fast and as soon as possible.
What are the courses I enroll onto?
When Where how?
Can I still work as an electrical labourer/ along them lines?

I have my JIB ECS card


I need to keep working .. I really cannot afford to be an apprentice.
The company I have been working for has gone bust,
And the people that took us over practically sacked the lot of us; I was earning very good money for my inexperienced position...
Im having problems at home, and was going to move out in the next month/2 but everythings gone down hill...


please guys help me out.
I just want a straightforward path to get qualified asap

 

[trev]

College, City & Guilds 2330 is your starting point if you want to be a qualified electrician.

 

[Guest55]

You want to become qualified as fast as possible eh ?
Well hand over a large wad of money to a training centre and enroll on one of the Electrical Trainee courses.

Or go to college and spend 2-3 years learning a trade properly.
Your choice.

 

[Guest55]

And you say you have a JIB card ?
What does it say on it ? ?

 

[trev]

You want to become qualified as fast as possible eh ?
Well hand over a large wad of money to a training centre and enroll on one of the Electrical Trainee course

And get a load of quals that most employers will completely ignore

 

[Guest55]

And get a load of quals that most employers will completely ignore

Lol , they always throw in the PAT testing course with these training packages - the most pointless qual known to man :-D

 

[sedgy34]

start at college like everyone else

 

[Guest55]

start at college like everyone else

i've a feeling the OP has not the patience for the normal route.

 

[swparksey]

You want to become qualified as fast as possible eh ?
Well hand over a large wad of money to a training centre and enroll on one of the Electrical Trainee courses.

Or go to college and spend 2-3 years learning a trade properly.
Your choice.

And who says you will learn any more in college over 2 - 3 years ?

I know a few that did the college route and a few that did the Electrical Trainee route, and TBH no real difference in them.

Apart from neither of them are any good with tray work

 

[telectrix]

the college route can be done evenings. do it while you've got a day job.

 

[mickys86]

Rome wasn't built in a day.....

 

[swparksey]

the college route can be done evenings. do it while you've got a day job.

That it can and its much cheaper than a 5 day - 10 day thing.

But Longer !

If you want to do to quickly simply book the exams through an exam centre and do your NVQ online. You will need to be working to do it. Then you need to pass

 

[Adam W]

Lol , they always throw in the PAT testing course with these training packages - the most pointless qual known to man :-D

Apparently Staffordshire University do a degree in David Beckham studies, although presumably it could be of use to someone working in that field (excuse the pun), whereas knowing how to test appliances in a commercial environment wouldn't be of much use to a housebasher.

 

[Guest55]

And who says you will learn any more in college over 2 - 3 years ?

I know a few that did the college route and a few that did the Electrical Trainee route, and TBH no real difference in them.

Apart from neither of them are any good with tray work

Are you seriously trying to suggest that training for 2-3 years at college is no better than a 5 week course ????????
That definatley wins dumbest post of the week award IMO.

 

[Darkwood]

And who says you will learn any more in college over 2 - 3 years ?

I know a few that did the college route and a few that did the Electrical Trainee route, and TBH no real difference in them.

Apart from neither of them are any good with tray work

Sorry SW Sparkies but i too am also am dumbfounded by this post, you must have made this judgement using some poor examples and depends how you also compared them, asking both to chop boxes in and throw some 2.5mm then yes you may see similarities but ask the Electrical Trainee to write down on paper all the calculations you need to do to establish the 2.5mm is correct for its job and see just how much actually sank in. There will always be a Electrical Trainee that has dedication and studies at every opportunity as well as gets all the onsire exp' he can who will move forward to be successful but personally its a no brainer when suggesting 2-3yrs indepth training is better than a fast track stripped down Electrical Trainee course.

 

[i=p/u]

its whatever suits you. but i went the longer route and 3 years finally up next week. and all for less than £1000 level 2 , level 3, 2377, 2391.

itt hasnt been a rich few years, but i made sacrafices to get what i wanted, and now wish i trained as bin man oj.

 

[Guest55]

And just to add , i can spot the difference between a 3rd year apprentice and a Electrical Trainee from a mile away -
the apprentice can do conduit and 3 phase DB's , the Electrical Trainee cant.

 

[i=p/u]

well can honestly say i can just about do 90's , 45's in conduit. but i never had to do much. im sure if i bought a bunch and practised id be one step behind you just then

 

[swparksey]

That's funny

I employ a number of sparks nationwide for industrial. Chap one 15 experience no quals did a Electrical Trainee to get his quals and a site diary. I would trust his work with my life. Second example came to me as an apprentice did the 3 years college route passed all his exams and still Lacks basic numeracy and literacy skills I am sure all he did was turn up. So frankly I am talking from experience of running a business that turns over in excess of 14 million pounds a year. Stupid I think not !

Mind you my field is very specialised and we share £135 per hour

 

[Guest55]

its whatever suits you. but i went the longer route and 3 years finally up next week. and all for less than £1000 level 2 , level 3, 2377, 2391.

itt hasnt been a rich few years, but i made sacrafices to get what i wanted, and now wish i trained as bin man oj.

Congrats on sticking at the college route !
Are you glad you learnt the trade using traditional long term training ?

 

[highspark]

This guy is exactly what the short courses where made for. He has 2 years experiance. More than some of these Electrical Trainee

 

[Guest55]

That's funny

I employ a number of sparks nationwide for industrial. Chap one 15 experience no quals did a Electrical Trainee to get his quals and a site diary. I would trust his work with my life. Second example came to me as an apprentice dis the 3 years college route passed all his exams and still Lacks basic numeracy and literacy skills I am sure all he did was turn up. So frankly I am talking from experience of running a business that turn over in excess of 14 million pounds a year. Stupid I think not !

Thats a rubbish example - when a guy has 15 years experience BEFORE he starts training , obviously hes going to be better than a new college trainee.
Maybe thats just a reflection of how low standards are with apprentices round your area.
And your ealier comment is still nonsense no matter how big your turnover is.

 

[mickys86]

That's funny

I employ a number of sparks nationwide for industrial. Chap one 15 experience no quals did a Electrical Trainee to get his quals and a site diary. I would trust his work with my life. Second example came to me as an apprentice did the 3 years college route passed all his exams and still Lacks basic numeracy and literacy skills I am sure all he did was turn up. So frankly I am talking from experience of running a business that turns over in excess of 14 million pounds a year. Stupid I think not !

Mind you my field is very specialised and we share £135 per hour

I think what you had years ago is 3-4 yrs at college but to do this you had to have a job on the tools. Nowadays you can turn up at college for 3 years and come out fully qualified without having done a day on site. This to me is no better than a Electrical Trainee. I am fortunate enough at 28yrs to have an apprenticeship and I have just completed my level 3.

 

[mickys86]

Congrats on sticking at the college route !
Are you glad you learnt the trade using traditional long term training ?

I know the question isn't aimed at me but I wouldn't change anything if I could go back

 

[mickys86]

This guy is exactly what the short courses where made for. He has 2 years experiance. More than some of these Electrical Trainee

That's what i was thinking. You should not be allowed in someone's house with no experience. It's criminal to think of the damage you could do.

 

[i=p/u]

aye i am now, but there was times i thought f this. too much info to take in and it didnt make sense.

Congrats on sticking at the college route !
Are you glad you learnt the trade using traditional long term training ?

 

[swparksey]

Thats a rubbish example - when a guy has 15 years experience BEFORE he starts training , obviously hes going to be better than a new college trainee.
Maybe thats just a reflection of how low standards are with apprentices round your area.
And your ealier comment is still nonsense no matter how big your turnover is.

Sorry forgot to add the apprentice now has 6 or 7 years experience he came when he was 16 he is now 26 I think. It's generally the level of apprentices we receive is very poor.

Don't get me wrong I'm not mocking people who went to college. I did it and went to Uni after that long hall to get where I am today. But well worth the effort. I was trying to point out that the quality of college leavers can be very poor. And there are a lot to be said for people who say leave the forces and do a Electrical Trainee to get the certificates in some cases they are extremely skilled people. So it's time we stopped mocking the Electrical Trainee courses they have a place IMHO

 

[Guest111]

maybe the Electrical Trainee courses should be reserved for people with experience in the same way as fastrack courses are in other occupations.I know of several organisations that do a full length course for people with no experience wanting to enter the particular profession and a shorter course for people who have experience ,this seems to turn out a better class of worker in most cases.

 

[trev]

I don't know about the Electrical Trainee courses having a place Swparksey, I think they are something that is here to stay no matter what we think of the system.

 

[Guest55]

No-ones mocking anyone , 5week courses are perfectly viable for the needs of some trainees , usually those older than 30 whom are unable to commence years at college.
But put it this way , the ex-forces craftsmen that you speak of , whom leave the army after 15-20 years and do a 5 week course to get into house bashing - did they learn their original trade on a 5 week course or spend years at college ?
We both know the answer to that.