Hello all,
First of all I apologise if this is in the wrong forum, I figured the general forum may be the best bet
Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I apologise this may be a bit detail heavy but I figure if I can explain my situation then someone who has been/or is in my position can relate and offer advice, or use this as advice. My ultimate aim is to get set up my own business / sole trader and whilst I have experience in the industry I am trying to find out what would be the best way to accomplish this with the certifications & experience I have.
I worked for over 10 years at sea as an Electro-Technical Officer in the Merchant Navy, where I was awarded a Foundation Degree in Marine electrical & electronic engineering, this was during my cadetship which was a 3 year training of college & sea phases with workbooks to complete (the equivalent of an apprenticeship) and then eventually final exams for the FD and a final exam to get my ticket to work at sea
At sea I was responsible for the electrical department so, PMs, fault finding, installations, repair, all over the ship (bridge to bilges!). Since leaving sea nearly 4 years ago I have worked as a service engineer. However this was still in the marine side primarily for fault finding, installation and repair of radios, RADAR and battery systems and also some time as a radio surveyor. I now currently work as an electrical engineer for a manufacturing company but the role is predominately office based, cad drawings, system design etc.. but want to eventually strike out on my own as I miss being on the tools.
I have in the past few years attended training courses through TS4U for domestic electrician so have:
17th Edition wiring (soon to update to 18th Edition)
Level 3 in Requirements for Electrical installations BS 7671:2008
Level 2 in Fundamental Inspection, Testing & Verification
Level 3 in Building Regulations for Electrical Installations & Dwellings
Part P Building Regulations
I have also recently completed and passed COMPEX 12 - design application engineer course
My main issue is translating all of this so I can get registered with a certification body and/or get an ECS Gold card etc, so I can look to set up and trade. Ideally I would stick to marine work still and offer sub-contracting services for ships/marine installations and would also like to potentially work in domestic/commercial/industrial installations. However the majority of my experience has been on either ships (and rigs) with not much in the way of actual shore based experience and I have managed to convince myself that I am not ready/able to go it alone.
I appreciate that I am probably wrestling with a lot of the same issues as everyone else when it comes to going self employed for the first time, however I am struggling to know where to begin to get set up, or even who to speak to, to accomplish this. So I guess, this is where I am really asking for help, if there are any other experienced leccys out there who have had experience but then wanted to go it alone, how did you go about this? What should I be focusing on training wise (I know 18th ed. is right at the top of the list).
Are courses like the White-Goods academy worth doing so that I can offer appliance repair, or PAT Testing courses etc? What kind of scheme should I be looking to register with?
Again, I'm really sorry for all the detail and questions if you've made it here, thank you! I hope that other than the useful advice I will get that others in a similar position will also find this helpful as I have found that the way back from Sea is not as simple as it would appear to be.
Thanks in advance for your help,
- J
First of all I apologise if this is in the wrong forum, I figured the general forum may be the best bet
Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I apologise this may be a bit detail heavy but I figure if I can explain my situation then someone who has been/or is in my position can relate and offer advice, or use this as advice. My ultimate aim is to get set up my own business / sole trader and whilst I have experience in the industry I am trying to find out what would be the best way to accomplish this with the certifications & experience I have.
I worked for over 10 years at sea as an Electro-Technical Officer in the Merchant Navy, where I was awarded a Foundation Degree in Marine electrical & electronic engineering, this was during my cadetship which was a 3 year training of college & sea phases with workbooks to complete (the equivalent of an apprenticeship) and then eventually final exams for the FD and a final exam to get my ticket to work at sea
At sea I was responsible for the electrical department so, PMs, fault finding, installations, repair, all over the ship (bridge to bilges!). Since leaving sea nearly 4 years ago I have worked as a service engineer. However this was still in the marine side primarily for fault finding, installation and repair of radios, RADAR and battery systems and also some time as a radio surveyor. I now currently work as an electrical engineer for a manufacturing company but the role is predominately office based, cad drawings, system design etc.. but want to eventually strike out on my own as I miss being on the tools.
I have in the past few years attended training courses through TS4U for domestic electrician so have:
17th Edition wiring (soon to update to 18th Edition)
Level 3 in Requirements for Electrical installations BS 7671:2008
Level 2 in Fundamental Inspection, Testing & Verification
Level 3 in Building Regulations for Electrical Installations & Dwellings
Part P Building Regulations
I have also recently completed and passed COMPEX 12 - design application engineer course
My main issue is translating all of this so I can get registered with a certification body and/or get an ECS Gold card etc, so I can look to set up and trade. Ideally I would stick to marine work still and offer sub-contracting services for ships/marine installations and would also like to potentially work in domestic/commercial/industrial installations. However the majority of my experience has been on either ships (and rigs) with not much in the way of actual shore based experience and I have managed to convince myself that I am not ready/able to go it alone.
I appreciate that I am probably wrestling with a lot of the same issues as everyone else when it comes to going self employed for the first time, however I am struggling to know where to begin to get set up, or even who to speak to, to accomplish this. So I guess, this is where I am really asking for help, if there are any other experienced leccys out there who have had experience but then wanted to go it alone, how did you go about this? What should I be focusing on training wise (I know 18th ed. is right at the top of the list).
Are courses like the White-Goods academy worth doing so that I can offer appliance repair, or PAT Testing courses etc? What kind of scheme should I be looking to register with?
Again, I'm really sorry for all the detail and questions if you've made it here, thank you! I hope that other than the useful advice I will get that others in a similar position will also find this helpful as I have found that the way back from Sea is not as simple as it would appear to be.
Thanks in advance for your help,
- J