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R

rich1977

right then good morning to everyone.

I am looking to get back into the industry after a 6 year absence and Im looking for advice as to the best way to go about it in terms of qualifications.

now I undertook a electrical apprenticeship with crown house engineering back in 1994 and obtained the following qualifacations

city and guilds 236 parts 1 and 2
am1
nvq levels 2-3 in electrical installation and engineering
various health and safety certificates

unfortunately due to personal reasons I didnt get to take my AM2 but continued to work as a improver/part qualified spark for a number of year for various agency's and companies up untill 2006 when I accepted a job working at the company im at now as a production operative (crap job but good money and 200 yards from my door)

now I have experience mainly within the industrial side of the industry working with trunking,conduit,cable tray,ladder rack ect along with working with a number of different cable types singles,swa,multi core control cables ect.

the majority of my experience has come from working on ne supper market builds such as sainsburys and tesco, aswell as working on leisure centres and quite a few factorys and plants.

now I applied to become a mature apprentice at quite a few company's but as of yet I have had no luck, so have decided im best doing it of my own back.

is the 236 part1 & 2 still a recognised qualifaction or do I need to start a fresh or can I just take a refresher course?

im presuming I will require my am2 and 2391 but is there anything else I will need to work in the industry again?

lastly has much changed in the last 6 years? and would be advice me to go work as a mate for a few months to get my skills back up to speed while taking qualifactions before jumping back in as a spark.

thanks for and advice

rich
 
What section of the industry do you want to be in.
The requirements for domestic are different to commercial wrt membership of a Building Regulations Part P scheme.
Are you lloking to be self employed, or working for a company?
 
will be looking to get back into industrial/commercial the domestic side has never really interested me tbh always preferred terminating a armoured cable into a 3 phase motor and having to wrestle with it, as opposed to buggering abot with getting t&e down a chase.

idealy I will go back to working for angencys to gain as much experience as possible for a few years and then idealy would like a maintenance job at somewhere like british gypsum or imperial tobacco
 
will be looking to get back into industrial/commercial the domestic side has never really interested me tbh always preferred terminating a armoured cable into a 3 phase motor and having to wrestle with it, as opposed to buggering abot with getting t&e down a chase.

idealy I will go back to working for angencys to gain as much experience as possible for a few years and then idealy would like a maintenance job at somewhere like british gypsum or imperial tobacco
 
right then people could really do with some info asap as now have the opurtunity of taking voluntary redundancy and looking at using the cash to pay for qualifactions needed.
 
In your position I'd stay right where I was mate, the industry is in a very sorry state and as far as I can see is only going to get worse. There are sparks I know, very well qualified and experienced lads, bloody good sparks working as cleaners just now.
You never know though, Georgie boy's £50 billion might kick start things and leave me with egg on me face
 
if i were you, and i was determined to get back in as a spark, then i would get a job as a mate on site, and get my head in the books revising the theory, until i thought i was ready to work as a spark again, as you have all of the neccesary quals.
I would get 17th edition though to bring you upto speed on regs.
2391 isnt a neccesity, but im certain that its one of the reasons ive been in solid work for the last four years
 
trust me the current job is really killing me I loved my job working as a spark, and not blowing my own trumpet I was always bloody good at it most companies I worked for via agency's took me on (all though the crafty gits always payed me less than sparks despite doing sparks jobs)

I really need to pull my finger out and stop stagnating in a dead end job and get back to building myself a career again. now I have tried to get companies to take me on as a adult apprentice to try and sort my qualifactions out but not had much success. think they see me as a risk as if they pay for my courses im likely to leave them so decided I might be a more attractive prospect if I pay for them myself
 
Best advice you can be given is stay away from it!! My family members have had to give it up through lack of work, poor prices, foreigners here doing work for next to nothing. Too many sparks out there. I wouldnt even entertain going back into it if i was in your position
 
is it really that bad out there in the industrial sector?

I can understand the domestic side being swamped with foreigners but surely the industrial side is harder due to not being able to obtain a ecs card with proper qulifacations
 
Unsure of industrial side of the work, but from what i am told and hear regularly from people, the game is in a terrible state. Would be a major gamble if u took the redundancy in this day and age mate
 
trust me the current job is really killing me I loved my job working as a spark, and not blowing my own trumpet I was always bloody good at it most companies I worked for via agency's took me on (all though the crafty gits always payed me less than sparks despite doing sparks jobs)

I really need to pull my finger out and stop stagnating in a dead end job and get back to building myself a career again. now I have tried to get companies to take me on as a adult apprentice to try and sort my qualifactions out but not had much success. think they see me as a risk as if they pay for my courses im likely to leave them so decided I might be a more attractive prospect if I pay for them myself

all your missing is am2 from what i can see,tho nvq3 should get you jib spark,why would you want to be an adult apprentice if you have 236 and nvq 3
 
There's plenty happening on Supermarkets still.

R22 has to be out within the next couple of years so there's a lot of pack / case changes happening.

Biomass and P.V solar panels are the hot topic at the moment.

Try Halsalls and Carmel.

.
 
tbh I wasnt sure if my lack of am2 and the fact the 236 part 1+2 have been super seeded a number of times would mean I would be required to take more than just the 2391 or equivalent to be able to work as a spark again
 
I'd get your 2382:12 (17th edition BS 7671:2008(2011)) as a minimum.

As Johnboy stated, 2391 keeps us in employment (as it did with me too). This has since been replaced, as mentioned, with 2394/5. I would recommend the 2395 as it is the better qualification that includes Periodic Inspecton & Testing.
 
tbh I wasnt sure if my lack of am2 and the fact the 236 part 1+2 have been super seeded a number of times would mean I would be required to take more than just the 2391 or equivalent to be able to work as a spark again

Many employers (mine included) prefer the older generation of electricians that have undertaken an apprenticeship. I have 2360 Pt 1&2, 2391 and updated to 2382 which are the main ones some employers look for. I have also known employers that don't fully understand the newer apprenticeship qualifications (2330 or whatever it is).

I doubt they will even ask if you have an AM 2.
 
so with the above qualifactions listed would I be able to get a ecs card as a spark
 
yeah I have my level 3 have certificate upstairs awarded in 1997 I was fast tracked through my level 3 as normally have a year with no college (or did back then before taking am2) and just gain experience via work to help towards am2 I continued at college as not everyone did the level 3 and was due to take my am2 the summer crown house went belly up and made a load of redundancys
 

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