New career

[Splitz]

Is there anybody out there that has just embarked upon a new career to train as a fully Qualified Electrician. I have recently signed up with a company called OCLI and have recently received the home study modules....heavy going!! Alternatively is there anybody that can give me some advice on how best to go about the whole process. I have quit my job in order to study full time! I sometimes wonder if I've gone completely mad and made a huge mistake, but I am committed to this now and must see it through! I have been stuck in sales all my life only to realise at the age of 51 that I really don't like it and that I've always wanted a trade qualification and electrical stuff has always interested me.
I decided not to do the Domestic Electrical Installers course as I want to get into commercial work, more on the Project Management side than anything else or maybe Building Management Systems. Not really sure at the moment just concentrating on studying.
Is it a good idea to try and get a part time job with an electrician, I know it would just be the donkey work mainly but is it worth the lost studying time?

Appreciate any comments no matter how shocking (excuse the pun) they may be!

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Despite what the training companies say, you really can't become a qualified electrician by correspondence course. The real training is on job, real electricians are time-served having done 4 or 5 year apprenticeships, that sort of training and real-world experience cannot be replicated by a training short course or least of all by correspondence. Sorry to be brutally frank, but you did want worts and all. Hopefully, you will get some hands on training with you OCLI course.
You really could do with a friend who is a electrician and try and get a job helping him or her. In today's economic climate you may have to work for nothing just to get the experience you require. The problem you have is obvious, you're unlikely to get an apprenticeship due to your age, if you apply to be an electricians mate you will be expected to have the knowledge and skills to be able to do that job and the company won't expect to have to train you up, they will expect you 'to hit the ground running' and you will be unlikely to get much on the job training in my experience.

 

[CRAGS]

Hi and welcome

 

[Mark Underwood]

Hi, newbie here also just started an OCI course after being made redundant after 10 years in IT. I'm lucky enough to have work with a builder mate doing some general labouring but also helping the electrician on the team with any electrical work on the jobs we do. Not completely ideal, I know, but I'm getting some practical experience whilst studying and earning as well!!!
Best of luck

 

[Sintra]

Hi & welcome.

 

[Adam W]

Welcome to the forum!
At 51 most electricians are looking to get off the tools and move into the office, although you would be expected to have 20 years or so on the job experience. It's a difficult time to change to a new career and go back to the bottom rung in most occupations.
Never mind getting a part time job with an electrician, I think you'd need to get any job doing electrical work. Particularly at the moment electricians and electrical companies aren't taking on labour, and if they are they'd be more likely to want someone who's going to get on and do the job with minimal fuss, and already has prior practical experience in the trade.

 

[Splitz]

Blimey, better throw in the towel before I've started then! There does seem to be a lot of cynical electricians out there! The one thing in my favour is my age. That makes me extremely reliable, quick to learn and adapt with a wealth of life experience behind me. I reckon the latter gives me an edge on the younger guys as they tend to be up to their eyeballs in family stuff and as is normal in any business, have maybe become a little jaded and less enthusiastic about the electrotechnical industry. That said I am certain there are lots of very successful and happy electricians out there making a decent living. It's all new and exciting for me and I guess it's up to me to find success!
Any body else got any positive feedback that could be useful to me, I need all the help I can get!

 

[Splitz]

Thanks for the reply. I am not under any illusions that I will simply attend the course and become an electrician overnight. I am studying full time, around 6 hours a day 5 days a week. There are 28 days of practicals and exam taking during the course. The speed I get through this and attain the qualifications is entirely up to me as is gaining on-site experience. You're right that any work I find will more than likely be the donkey work and so not very well paid and probably not getting much by way of on-site training so I know it's going to be tough! As this is new and exciting for me I refuse to be put off, it will be up to me to amke a successful career out of this and I have already drawn up a business plan to do so!
I'm not completely new to the practical side of things having converted two properties in France a few years ago. I completely rewired both properties myself with occasional help from an electrician mate. Both properties had three phase as they were previously working farms so I learnt a lot about that and although the methods employed in France are a little different than the UK (ie no ring mains) it was fairly straight forward.....and fully compliant with all the regulations!!

Anybody with any positive or practical advice please fling it my way, I am an information sponge at the moment so any help is welcome.

 

[Adam W]

If you only want positive comments on how you're making the right choice and how easy it will be to line your pockets, speak to the salesman who sold you the course.
I'm not saying that electrical work is all bad, in fact I love it, but I've seen many older people sold expensive courses with the promise of a better life only to find they can't get work because they either don't have the experience or the right qualifications because getting them "wasn't an option", when they do it's more physically demanding than they'd imagined, there are more rules and regulations than just knowing what colour wire goes where.

You might imagine it's the 'young and cocky' electricians who are lazy and won't listen, but I have found it's more like the older ones who think they know it all because of their age and 'life experience', they are less physically able, and expect everyone to rally around after them because in their mind age automatically commands respect.
If I had to take on a trainee I'd want one who I could teach to work my way and doesn't mind spending all day clearing up, rather than a belligerent know-it-all who thinks anything less than making final connections and testing is beneath them.

 

[ayjay]

i,m a sparky(58) always have been, but ive been out of the game for abt 3 yrs now
i,m getting back into it now and have appied for new cards and am going on a ipaf course on thursday(cherry picker/scissor lift)i normally work for agencys , you might consider the same as a labourer, that way you can get the feel of site work
don,t be afreaid to offer your help in installations on site, or they,ll have you lugging materials all day
as long as u can actually do the job and quckly thats all their interested in

 

[pih]

Well done - keep at it - as well as the course you are doing you may well find it helpfull to sign onto a couple of courses at your local college (I would say that woundn't I - I teach 2330/2391 et al). The important thing is to meet with the other students and see what they are doing as well. You may find that specialising in one or two non-Part P areas will get you work as well i.e. door entry/control systems. Anyway I wish you well.

 

[Phil]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[brucelee]

Hi mate welcome to the forum

 

[WilcoxElec]

Hi, I picked up this thread and read it because you said you had done electrical installation work in France..... ....... Good luck with your new career..I hope you stick with it to get the qualifications --- and ... and .... and ....

 

[Sparky Ninja]

welcome along!


:welcome: