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Good Evening,

I am 21 years old currently working an office job for a house builder, and i sometimes wonder if the office job is for me. I was going to undertake an electrical college course out of school but i instead went down the office career path. I have been drawn to domestic and commercial electrical work for a while.

In terms of where i stand knowledge wise, i have a very (and i mean very) basic knowledge of the domestic side of electrical works due to the nature of my job and liaising with electricians on our housing sites regularly.

I understand i would have to gain an NVQ at some point to be able to be classed as a fully qualified electrician and i have looked into a C&G 2365 night school course.

Employment wise, this is the one i am finding the difficult part. Obviously the majority of people will get into this career through an apprenticeship, but my current circumstances mean i could simply not get by on an apprenticeship wage. I have calculated the average apprentice salary against my current outgoings (which i stripped down to the minimum) and i would have around £20 to myself a month. Not ideal. Any advice on if there is any other ways of gaining employment where i could get a slightly higher wage, i could work with minimum wage, maybe a little higher, which i understand is a lot for someone with next to no knowledge and no quals.

This is just me looking into the what possibilities there are, so any advice would be massively appreciated.

Thanks for your time
 
Hey pal!

I'm in the same boat as you, I work full time at the moment and simply couldn't afford to drop down to an apprentice wage at present. Due to this I have signed up to a City and Guilds level 1 diploma night course so I can train whilst still earning a full time wage.

Ultimately though I think eventually I might have to drop down to an apprentice wage and then get another job in the evenings until I get enough experience to earn a reasonable wage in the trade as I can't see any spark taking someone on a full time wage whilst lacking skills.

Starting the regret not taking my dads advice at 16 now when I had no outgoings and could of trained at college for free :tearsofjoy:
 
Good Evening,

I am 21 years old currently working an office job for a house builder, and i sometimes wonder if the office job is for me. I was going to undertake an electrical college course out of school but i instead went down the office career path. I have been drawn to domestic and commercial electrical work for a while.

In terms of where i stand knowledge wise, i have a very (and i mean very) basic knowledge of the domestic side of electrical works due to the nature of my job and liaising with electricians on our housing sites regularly.

I understand i would have to gain an NVQ at some point to be able to be classed as a fully qualified electrician and i have looked into a C&G 2365 night scho.
ol course

Employment wise, this is the one i am finding the difficult part. Obviously the majority of people will get into this career through an apprenticeship, but my current circumstances mean i could simply not get by on an apprenticeship wage. I have calculated the average apprentice salary against my current outgoings (which i stripped down to the minimum) and i would have around £20 to myself a month. Not ideal. Any advice on if there is any other ways of gaining employment where i could get a slightly higher wage, i could work with minimum wage, maybe a little higher, which i understand is a lot for someone with next to no knowledge and no quals.

This is just me looking into the what possibilities there are, so any advice would be massively appreciated.

Thanks for your time

GO FOR IT.
 
I feel for you it's hard when your older trying to get qualified, no one tends to want to know unless your a school leaver.
I think there should be more help for people over funding age there always saying there's a trade shortage.
My last apprentice was older and I had a lad start Monday who's 25 they are just lucky they could get by with help.
I'm short I don't know the answer for you but wish you luck in your career :)
 
Hey pal!

I'm in the same boat as you, I work full time at the moment and simply couldn't afford to drop down to an apprentice wage at present. Due to this I have signed up to a City and Guilds level 1 diploma night course so I can train whilst still earning a full time wage.

Ultimately though I think eventually I might have to drop down to an apprentice wage and then get another job in the evenings until I get enough experience to earn a reasonable wage in the trade as I can't see any spark taking someone on a full time wage whilst lacking skills.

Starting the regret not taking my dads advice at 16 now when I had no outgoings and could of trained at college for free :tearsofjoy:

Does make you wish you used the free college courses better doesnt it! Thanks for your advice mate, glad someone else is in the same boat, think carrying on with work full time and training on a night course would be the best option
 
I feel for you it's hard when your older trying to get qualified, no one tends to want to know unless your a school leaver.
I think there should be more help for people over funding age there always saying there's a trade shortage.
My last apprentice was older and I had a lad start Monday who's 25 they are just lucky they could get by with help.
I'm short I don't know the answer for you but wish you luck in your career :)
Yeah i agree, seems fairly strict that you have to fork out thousands for a course you couldve got for free a couple years earlier! Thanks for the reply!
 
It's not all about an apprenticeship. I went to college at 30, got a little knowledge, rang an agency and started on site as a mate. I had the usual house, bills and kids etc. The time flys to getting fully qualified. Just do it. Your only 21.

That was what i was looking into, trying to get work as a mate or an improver, did you get the work fairly easily then through an agency? Had you gained a qualification already when you got the mate job or were they happy to take you on while you were still studying? Thanks for the advice mate, is there options for funding etc to pay for the college course or do you have to pay straight out your own pocket, if you dont mind me asking? Thanks again!
 
I think I was part way through or just finished my level 2. Agency's don't care who they are taking on when it's mates aslong as you keep the employer happy which is easy. The company was fine with me having every Friday off to go to college. Also working for agency's you can keep moving on till you find something suitable. I had to pay for everything it I started when I was 30 so not sure about someone who is 21. Honestly though just do it don't even think about it. Mates don't have to much responsibility anyway but be honest what your skill level is otherwise you'll look silly if you say you can do something when you can't and then a spark should take the time to show you. Also don't think things are beneath you. I was a fetching and carrying for lads ten years younger than me but it was getting me where I needed to be.
 
I think I was part way through or just finished my level 2. Agency's don't care who they are taking on when it's mates aslong as you keep the employer happy which is easy. The company was fine with me having every Friday off to go to college. Also working for agency's you can keep moving on till you find something suitable. I had to pay for everything it I started when I was 30 so not sure about someone who is 21. Honestly though just do it don't even think about it. Mates don't have to much responsibility anyway but be honest what your skill level is otherwise you'll look silly if you say you can do something when you can't and then a spark should take the time to show you. Also don't think things are beneath you. I was a fetching and carrying for lads ten years younger than me but it was getting me where I needed to be.
Thanks mate really picked my ears up this advice, sounds like you had similar ideas to me so its good to see someone go down the route i was looking into and get to where you wanted to be, im going to look into what centres offer the courses and try finding out if theres funding etc.. yeah definitely cant have that mindset, im still in the early days of my current career anyway so i wouldnt think im above anyone as it is! Thanks again!
 
As soon as your gold card drops through the door the stuff you e been through to get there be forgotten. Just keep going and don't give up
Exactly mate, its all worth it in the end. Thanks again for the advice, been really helpful and its made me all the more confident knowing others have done the same as what i've been looking into
 
As soon as your gold card drops through the door the stuff you e been through to get there be forgotten. Just keep going and don't give up
Exactly mate, its all worth it in the end. Thanks again for the advice, been really helpful and its made me all the more confident knowing others have done the same as what i've been looking into
 
Is it a local college or a training provider where you're studying the night course? Good luck mate hope all goes well!
Thanks pal it's a local college, if it helps the college I'm going to offers this course for free to under 23 year olds, obviously their could be catches to it but it's meant to be the same nationwide so maybe it's worth looking into, what with you being 21.

It's the City & Guilds Level 1 Dipolma in Electrical Installations.
 
Is it a local college or a training provider where you're studying the night course? Good luck mate hope all goes well!
Thanks pal it's a local college, if it helps the college I'm going to offers this course for free to under 23 year olds, obviously there could be catches to it but it's meant to be the same nationwide so maybe it's worth looking into, what with you being 21.

It's the City & Guilds Level 1 Dipolma in Electrical Installations just in case you are interested in seeing whether your local one does it.

Sadly as I'm 27 it's setting me back around 1k but it will be worth it as once I have that me old man is going to take me on in his firm as an Electricians Mate whilst I do the other levels.
 

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