Newbie looking for help!!

scotty497 · Jan 7, 2012

Hi Guys,
I know this must be the same boll@cks that all you sparkys have heard a million times before on this site but i am in serious need of some advice. I have just recently been made redundant from the Army due to cutbacks. unfortunatley my trade was a driver. I have my Cat C, C+E and Haz Mat 1,2,3 in and out of tanks licences. Unfortunatley for me i can't think of anything worse than driving all over the UK delivering packages for a living. I really wanted to do something more and Electrician seemed the best way ahead! I worked as a Roofer for 3 years (possibly a help to all those renewable energy solar panel fitters out there) before i joined up and during that time the Electricians on site were my mentors and the guys i looked up to. Although i have contacts in Scotland willing to help me out i am currently living in Beverley near Hull although am due to move to the Oxfordshire area around July. At present i have passed DEI and 17th Edition courses and before february i will have Inspection and Testing and Personal Appliance Testing (PAT Testing) under my belt. I have also completed the Health and Saftey Exam and the Part P section of DEI (Not a Quall i know) but hopefully a bonus. What im looking for is someone to help me out with experience. Any kind will do. Willing to work for very minimum wages (possibly Free) depending on what type of work you offer!! Anyone out there looking for a Grafter with the willingness to learn or anyone just looking to offer advice to a newbie just starting out would be greatley appreciated!!

Many Thanks

Scotty

Specialist · Jan 7, 2012

Hi Mate: Good luck with your quest, hopefully you can find someone. Just 1 thing PAT stands for Portable Appliance Testing.:lol:

GT1 · Jan 7, 2012

Seriously mate I would go for tanker driving. !
If you have got, or can get your ADR tickets for fuel them you will more money, quicker, than starting from scratch in this game.
Good luck.

MarkieSparkie · Jan 7, 2012

Hi, Best of luck in you search for employment. Post the area where you want to work, somebody on here may be able to fix you up or refer you to somebody who can.

SirKit Breaker · Jan 7, 2012

Good luck mate. you need to sending CV's here there and everywhere. Get it posted up on recruitment websites, you may get offers for contracting. full time agency work and the like. Being in Yorkshire myself, i can appreciate that as nice a place Beverley is, i can imagine jobs are a bit thin on the ground, so be prepared to travel.

On your CV include all the quals you have, and also include the quals that you are working towards. Some companies will recruit on potential, especially where the candidate is showing he is made of the right stuff by deciding which direction he wants to go in, and what he needs to do to get there.

Reading through your post i see you are going to take the C&G 2391. If this is so, then don't wait for the course, get hold of IET Guidance note 3, and read it back to front, inside out, and then do it all over again, it would also be a good idea to spend £15 and get the Exam Success book for this course. If you can digest GN3 you will fair better doing the course and the written exam. Very good experienced sparks, and i mean sparks who are at the top of their profession fail this course. It is notoriously difficult, the exam is closed book, and the 17th edition and PAT courses are infant school level in comparison.

I know several people on here who have far more knowledge and experience than me in this trade who have failed the 2391. I passed it, but i also know i only just scraped through,i only achieved this because for 5 weeks i read GN3 until i could almost recite it. So i will make no bones about what you are up against, especially as you lack experience. But good luck all the same, and keep coming back and ask and ask and ask again. As i always say "There are no stupid questions, just questions you don't know the answers to".

Cheers.............Howard

JONOXNAM · Jan 7, 2012

scotty497 said:
Hi Guys,
I know this must be the same boll@cks that all you sparkys have heard a million times before on this site but i am in serious need of some advice. I have just recently been made redundant from the Army due to cutbacks. unfortunatley my trade was a driver. I have my Cat C, C+E and Haz Mat 1,2,3 in and out of tanks licences. Unfortunatley for me i can't think of anything worse than driving all over the UK delivering packages for a living. I really wanted to do something more and Electrician seemed the best way ahead! I worked as a Roofer for 3 years (possibly a help to all those renewable energy solar panel fitters out there) before i joined up and during that time the Electricians on site were my mentors and the guys i looked up to. Although i have contacts in Scotland willing to help me out i am currently living in Beverley near Hull although am due to move to the Oxfordshire area around July. At present i have passed DEI and 17th Edition courses and before february i will have Inspection and Testing and Personal Appliance Testing (PAT Testing) under my belt. I have also completed the Health and Saftey Exam and the Part P section of DEI (Not a Quall i know) but hopefully a bonus. What im looking for is someone to help me out with experience. Any kind will do. Willing to work for very minimum wages (possibly Free) depending on what type of work you offer!! Anyone out there looking for a Grafter with the willingness to learn or anyone just looking to offer advice to a newbie just starting out would be greatley appreciated!!

Many Thanks

Scotty

Well all the best but I would not solely concentrate on electrical work as it is very tight at the moment and I hear it is going to get worse, there are loads of guys in the same boat.... A tip for your 2391 I would have a plan of what you are going to test in what order in your head as the time will go fast in the exam... unless you test everyday...