Discuss Help & Advice needed - qualifications in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Reaction score
1
Hi everyone,

New to the forum so just want to introduce myself and hopefully get some guidence from you guys. TIA for any advice given.

My situation, i'm a HND qualified electrical and electronics engineer which i have never done anything with in 8 years. I'll explain more later.

I'm currently a self employed builder. I also do an awful lot of wiring with a very good friend who is fully qualified and certified electrician. He prefers industrial work, but I've done multiple re-wires and additions with him over the years as his 'electricians hand'.

He's told me on many occassions now to get certified because I have a good basic understanding of domestic work and obviously a good general understanding of principles due to my HND. Im classed as a competent person on his NICEIC insurance.

From what I gather I have two options... a Domestic Installer - which is essentially what im capable of now and would be the easier cert for me to get however - i realise this is not popular amung actual electricians.

My other option is becoming fully qualified - what do i need to do? Is my HND useful / transferable towards anything? The only work experience i have with my HND is around 9 months of internships on 3 month periods during my studies.

I didnt continue to degree level or work in the industry due to many personal factors, but to keep things simple for this post, during that period of my life i just didnt pursue it.

Finally, i cant afford too big a drop in Salary whilst i train, ideally id like to continue doing what i do now whilst i train.

Any help and advice would be greafully recieved.

Cheers
Greg
 
Hi everyone,

New to the forum so just want to introduce myself and hopefully get some guidence from you guys. TIA for any advice given.

My situation, i'm a HND qualified electrical and electronics engineer which i have never done anything with in 8 years. I'll explain more later.

I'm currently a self employed builder. I also do an awful lot of wiring with a very good friend who is fully qualified and certified electrician. He prefers industrial work, but I've done multiple re-wires and additions with him over the years as his 'electricians hand'.

He's told me on many occassions now to get certified because I have a good basic understanding of domestic work and obviously a good general understanding of principles due to my HND. Im classed as a competent person on his NICEIC insurance.

From what I gather I have two options... a Domestic Installer - which is essentially what im capable of now and would be the easier cert for me to get however - i realise this is not popular amung actual electricians.

My other option is becoming fully qualified - what do i need to do? Is my HND useful / transferable towards anything? The only work experience i have with my HND is around 9 months of internships on 3 month periods during my studies.

I didnt continue to degree level or work in the industry due to many personal factors, but to keep things simple for this post, during that period of my life i just didnt pursue it.

Finally, i cant afford too big a drop in Salary whilst i train, ideally id like to continue doing what i do now whilst i train.

Any help and advice would be greafully recieved.

Cheers
Greg
Hi Greg
Sorry no one has been able to give you advice on how to advance in this industry, being Old School Qualified back in the 1960s I'm not sure of the route you could or should take either.
The best advice I can offer would be to contact one of the Myriad of Training establishment that are currently operating, or your local Technical College for advancement advice, good luck and let the Forum know how you get on, you could also try asking one of the CP Schemes NICEIC as an example, but I think Colleges or Trainers will be your best bet
 
Last edited:
See i am not a cetrified electrician and nor do i think i qualify for give you a complete anwser to your problems, but luckily for me i have a teacher whom had a similar situation. What i suggest is looking at the entirety of what each subject is going to need you to cover. i suggest thet you ask your friends what they studied for and perhaps contact any qualified learning centre and see what they offer regarding courses and education.

Hope you workit out, mate.
 
Hi Greg
Sorry no one has been able to give you advice on how to advance in this industry, being Old School Qualified back in the 1960s I'm not sure of the route you could or should take either.
The best advice I can offer would be to contact one of the Myriad of Training establishment that are currently operating, or your local Technical College for advancement advice, good luck and let the Forum know how you get on, you could also try asking one of the CP Schemes NICEIC as an example, but I think Colleges or Trainers will be your best bet
Hi Pete, thanks for your reply. I really wasnt sure if anyone had seen my post at first. I hadn't thought of my local college to be honest, probably should have been my first step. I have tried NICEIC but noone came back to me. Ill try again today.

Cheers
 
See i am not a cetrified electrician and nor do i think i qualify for give you a complete anwser to your problems, but luckily for me i have a teacher whom had a similar situation. What i suggest is looking at the entirety of what each subject is going to need you to cover. i suggest thet you ask your friends what they studied for and perhaps contact any qualified learning centre and see what they offer regarding courses and education.

Hope you workit out, mate.

Thanks for the reply. Again, I guess contacting my local centre and asking what the course modules are I'd be able to see what is similar.
[automerge]1581416787[/automerge]
You'll probably have better luck speaking to the JIB for advice, they have more to do with training and qualifications than the NIC do

Okay, I'll contact them and see what they have to say. Thanks
 
Greg... sadly you're one of many many people that gets caught in no-mans-land when it comes to getting qualified as an electrician. You have not followed the 'normal' route of an NVQ scheme via an apprenticeship & local college and you're clearly way beyond this now.

There is definitely a need for a simple to follow qualification scheme that allows the more able or higher qualified candidates to progress rapidly. The existing schemes seem more concerned about keeping the NEETS figures down !

I think the answer to your question depends largely on what you want to do in life. If you want to work on building sites then you're in the world of JIB cards. If you just want to do some 'house bashing' as it sounds like you do... then I would just do the minimum needed to permit this. If you want to get involved with commercial work in factories etc. then that's a different game again...

The "Domestic Installer" courses that are advertised and offered all over the place do indeed have a bad reputation. This is generally because their primary purpose is to make a profit from you, and not teach you how to be a good electrician. As long as you attain a very minimum level... they pass you. Also, the qualifications that you get for your money can vary alot too... it's a real minefield !! I'd pretty much ignore what they tell you about what you're able to do with your qualification... instead focus on what C&G course codes you'll have at the end of it... So just use it as a route to getting the right certificates as cheaply as possible.
 

Reply to Help & Advice needed - qualifications in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock