Becoming an Electrician

[Klash1987]

Hello All, I am in my 30's and currently, work as a Maintenance Technician/Engineer and always have.
My Apprenticeship was in Manufacturing Engineering, some of which included basic electrical knowledge/aspects, for multi-skilling... However, the majority was mechanical.

Since my apprenticeship, I have been working as a 'Multi-Skilled' Engineer/Technician.

I already have done the 18th edition (company requirement).

I have worked with great electricians and other multi-skilled lads for many years and for the most part, (for the last 7 years at least) my work has become predominantly electrical, from fault finding, PLC's, to installing a new final ring circuit in an office... In other words, using more terminal screwdrivers and testing equipment than I do 'ye olde' 1-5/16" combination spanner.

Though I will always probably be mechanically biased in my roots and within my qualifications, I would like to achieve more electrical qualifications to back up my experience, gain more experience or even become an electrician wholeheartedly (or at least to become more employable during 'these unprecedented times').

I have been looking at courses/colleges/training centres online (West Midlands), all of which are 'full time' or evening courses. I work shifts so I don't think many lecturers would be very thrilled for me to attend 'every now and then' so I have been looking at weekend courses.

I know to stay away from 'Become an electrician in 7 weeks! 110% Pass rate, Guaranteed!'...

One course in particular offers 'C&G Level 2 and Level 3 completed in one year' total price, £7,000.

Are courses like these worth it? Are there better alternatives?

I am in this for the long haul, and I personally don't mind studying for a few years, should it be required.

Cheers!

K

 

[Spoon]

Welcome to the forum mate.
There are a lot of threads on this on the forum. Best to have a search and have a read.
Short courses may be ok for some people. They teach you the basics. As long as you are aware of this then all is good. There are some people on here who have done good from these courses, but they are not for everyone.
Best to keep working with the electricians you have been doing up to now. Practical knowledge is important. The more the better.

 

[Klash1987]

Welcome to the forum mate.
There are a lot of threads on this on the forum. Best to have a search and have a read.
Short courses may be ok for some people. They teach you the basics. As long as you are aware of this then all is good. There are some people on here who have done good from these courses, but they are not for everyone.
Best to keep working with the electricians you have been doing up to now. Practical knowledge is important. The more the better.

Thanks for the reply!

The course is by a company called 'Optima' and they're based in West Brom.

As you said, I am very lucky to have worked with who I have over the years to gain experience electrically.

 

[Chetru]

Hi Klash1987,

Firstly I would like to appologise for anything silly that I'm gonna do about the post as this is my first post on the forum and it might not be the best one.

If you have experience doing electrics but not an gold card yet, there is a route to get there. It's called Mature Candidate Assessment(MCA) and it's the quickest route JIB offers for people like you and me.

I've been working in electrics for more than 3 years but didn't owe any qualification in UK (I've studied electrical engineering in Romania and even worked for a few months in there) and was struggling not knowing what's the most efficient way to get to the gold card. Someone told me about this route and give me some tips and apparently everythig is simple. All you have to do is sign in with a training centre that does the MCA route and get your NVQ level 3. This is gonna be the last piece of the puzzle in order to get your gold card. I will leave a link to the Mature Candidate Assessment page on the JIB site so you can get all the details over the route including training centres. (I've done my NVQ with Quickstep and they know their stuff for real)

Experienced Worker Assessment | Joint Industry Board (JIB)

The JIB has launched an assessment strategy that allows experienced workers to demonstrate their knowledge and competence to NVQ3 standard.

www.jib.org.uk

Even if you feel that there's gaps in your electrical knowledge, these can be filled with some research and should not require going back to college.

Hopefully this will be helpfull to you as it was to me. I wish you all the best with getting a qualified electrician. But in the end it's not only about having a 'gold card', it's practical knowledge that's more important. The more the better as Spoon mentioned earlier.

 

[James]

You could have a look here, they are one of the forum sponsors.

Online Electrical Training Courses - Level 3 NVQ 2346 & 2357

Online Electrical Training Courses in the NVQ 2357 & NVQ 2346-03 Experienced Worker Assessment, making you eligible for your contractors’ JIB/ECS Gold Card

xstraining.com

 

[Klash1987]

Thanks for your replies lads! You have given me something to look into!
Much appreciated

Though you get your NVQ lvl 3, does this include testing and inspection?

James, I did my 18th with XS, so defiantly worth going back to them.

K