started

[dingledong]

Nowadays I think that the newer breed of electrician looks up working for lots of money and chooses a job for the money but the older ones on here did the job to start with for different reasons
Can any one remember why they wanted to be an electrician

I will start I would think I was 12/14 and reading a book there was some picture in there of a 30ft high van Der Graff generator with a big spark going across it and thought that's what I want to be an electrician
No though of money or greed as nowadays
And no matter how little the 5wws know ,how badly it's fitted
They all know how to charge and usually they are bloody expensive to f ing expensive

 

[UNG]

Nowadays I think that the newer breed of electrician looks up working for lots of money and chooses a job for the money but the older ones on here did the job to start with for different reasons
Can any one remember why they wanted to be an electrician

I will start I would think I was 12/14 and reading a book there was some picture in there of a 30ft high van Der Graff generator with a big spark going across it and thought that's what I want to be an electrician
No though of money or greed as nowadays
And no matter how little the 5wws know ,how badly it's fitted
They all know how to charge and usually they are bloody expensive to f ing expensive

They have got 50K a year to make

 

[shanky887614]

Nowadays I think that the newer breed of electrician looks up working for lots of money and chooses a job for the money but the older ones on here did the job to start with for different reasons
Can any one remember why they wanted to be an electrician

I will start I would think I was 12/14 and reading a book there was some picture in there of a 30ft high van Der Graff generator with a big spark going across it and thought that's what I want to be an electrician
No though of money or greed as nowadays
And no matter how little the 5wws know ,how badly it's fitted
They all know how to charge and usually they are bloody expensive to f ing expensive

I wanted to be an electrician because I find it interesting, the money isn't as important to me.

I would take the lesser paid job if I thought it was a lot more interesting.


I don't mind fault finding in fact I enjoy that you can turn up and get people going again.


it was only last night I got sent to s pub and to get them going made a supply redundant to get the beer flowing.

 

[Slowhand]

I was brought up in South Yorkshire and in 1974 the careers bloke at school told me that l could work for the National Coal Board, British Steel or if l was lucky l might get an apprenticeship somewhere.
No way was I going down a coal mine, British Steel didn't need anyone and I was lucky enough to get an apprenticeship with a small electrical firm.

 

[rapparee]

well after i finished university i realised i couldn't be bothered continuing on with that career path, thought it was time to get a trade, and sure what other trade would you pick?

 

[telectrix]

why asre you posting ads?

 

[Adam W]

Nowadays I think that the newer breed of electrician looks up working for lots of money and chooses a job for the money but the older ones on here did the job to start with for different reasons
Can any one remember why they wanted to be an electrician

I will start I would think I was 12/14 and reading a book there was some picture in there of a 30ft high van Der Graff generator with a big spark going across it and thought that's what I want to be an electrician
No though of money or greed as nowadays
And no matter how little the 5wws know ,how badly it's fitted
They all know how to charge and usually they are bloody expensive to f ing expensive

I disagree.
When I started out I was often asked why I wanted to be an electrician:
It's something I always wanted to do, since I was at primary school wiring up D batteries with buzzers, light bulbs and switches in varying combinations. Later this progressed into flashing lights, amplifiers and radios soldered onto veroboard, stage lighting, and generally 'messing about with the electrics'.
I suppose I like the way there's a lot of time and effort which goes into something which most people don't even think about unless it doesn't work properly.
Unfortunately when I left school the government had switched their focus from apprenticeships to 'new deal', which was for people over 25, which they promptly switched back again when I got to 25, so I had to save up and put myself through college later in life.

Then I returned the question - "so how about yourself? Why did you want to become an electrician?"
"Didn't. Fell into it. Still don't wanna do it."
"Well why don't you do something else then? Something you do want to do?"
"Can't afford to take a pay cut."

This attitude used to wind me up a bit - there's me struggling to get a foot on the ladder to do something I wanted to do while the people who had had everything handed to them really couldn't care less.
Of course I didn't say anything though - nobody likes a whinger.

 

[GMES]

The other thing to consider also is, what kind of a Person you are.
The more I read Tony's posts the more He reminds me of myself, what I mean by that is For me it is always a case of doing whatever it takes to get a factory, production line etc up and running.
I have often been on a machine at midnight, having been called out by my customer's and all that interested me was why had it stopped working, what needed doing to get it working.For me the very last thing on my mind was " How much will I earn",.
Now don't get me wrong I am also in business to make money, but it always gets pushed to the bottom of the list, for me it as always been about customer satisfaction, learning and applying my craft, and doing the very best I can at all times.
So to round it up for me it is always Pride 1st Price & Profit 2nd, but don't feel too sorry for me I do OK!!!.

 

[Adam W]

You say 'the new generation' as if it's school leavers, but ironically it seems to be mostly older people who are doing it for the money, and I think I know why:
15-20 years ago people were going around shouting 'there's money in computers!' So a load of people who didn't have any clear career goal apart from to make money did computer courses to start their lucrative new career in computers.
Just before the last recession these jobs started to be outsourced, and at the same time the media started going on about how if kids all did things like media studies instead of trades, the resulting 'skills crisis' would be a 'ticking time bomb'. It transpired that some plumbers were earning £100k, likewise offshore electricians could earn £50k, and the people who were previously shouting about money in computers started shouting about money in trades, which became the next lucrative bandwagon - many will remember the first wave of 5WWs (I think it was more like 10 weeks back then) all seemed to be coming from IT.

 

[Pete999]

I wanted to be an electrician because my first choice was a joiner but I was crap at woowork

 

[UNG]

You say 'the new generation' as if it's school leavers, but ironically it seems to be mostly older people who are doing it for the money, and I think I know why:
15-20 years ago people were going around shouting 'there's money in computers!' So a load of people who didn't have any clear career goal apart from to make money did computer courses to start their lucrative new career in computers.
Just before the last recession these jobs started to be outsourced, and at the same time the media started going on about how if kids all did things like media studies instead of trades, the resulting 'skills crisis' would be a 'ticking time bomb'. It transpired that some plumbers were earning £100k, likewise offshore electricians could earn £50k, and the people who were previously shouting about money in computers started shouting about money in trades, which became the next lucrative bandwagon - many will remember the first wave of 5WWs (I think it was more like 10 weeks back then) all seemed to be coming from IT.

You can't address a skills shortage with a 5 week course, IMO the skills shortage is not in the domestic sector that everyone is rushing to it is in the commercial and industrial sectors and the **** will hit the fan if we climb out of the mire we are in now as a Electrical Trainee will not be able to step up and fill the void in these sectors

 

[telectrix]

too bloody right. Electrical Trainee aree being churned out by the bucketload, but totally biassed towards simple domestic. industry needs proper time served sparks, not wet behind the ears wannabees.

 

[Adam W]

You can't address a skills shortage with a 5 week course, IMO the skills shortage is not in the domestic sector that everyone is rushing to it is in the commercial and industrial sectors and the **** will hit the fan if we climb out of the mire we are in now as a Electrical Trainee will not be able to step up and fill the void in these sectors

I agree, but it seems to these people an electrician is little more than a glorified van driver, going around doing domestic remedials and alterations, maybe 6-8 in a typical day, squeezing in a couple of emergency callouts between jobs, then doing exactly the same the next day but at different houses. If this were true then cramming all the training into 5 weeks then shadowing someone for a couple of days seems a feasible way of learning the job. I don't know how many 'domestic installers' do manage to make a living only doing this kind of work, but I've found doing commercial and industrial work you can spend several months just metal-munching, in which case you're not going to learn a lot volunteering one day a week.

It seems somewhat misleading to declare a shortage of electricians within an advertisement for domestic installer training.

 

[ipf]

You say 'the new generation' as if it's school leavers, but ironically it seems to be mostly older people who are doing it for the money, and I think I know why:
15-20 years ago people were going around shouting 'there's money in computers!' So a load of people who didn't have any clear career goal apart from to make money did computer courses to start their lucrative new career in computers.
Just before the last recession these jobs started to be outsourced, and at the same time the media started going on about how if kids all did things like media studies instead of trades, the resulting 'skills crisis' would be a 'ticking time bomb'. It transpired that some plumbers were earning £100k, likewise offshore electricians could earn £50k, and the people who were previously shouting about money in computers started shouting about money in trades, which became the next lucrative bandwagon - many will remember the first wave of 5WWs (I think it was more like 10 weeks back then) all seemed to be coming from IT.

I remember doing my 17th seven years ago. Two IT blokes were doing the course, one night a week, said they wanted to be sparks. They didn't know wtf was going on. Turned up for the first session and didn't see them again...waste of money? Not for the course provider.

 

[telectrix]

too bloody right. Electrical Trainee aree being churned out by the bucketload, but totally biassed towards simple domestic. industry needs proper time served sparks, not wet behind the ears wannabees.

 

[Adam W]

too bloody right. Electrical Trainee aree being churned out by the bucketload, but totally biassed towards simple domestic. industry needs proper time served sparks, not wet behind the ears wannabees.

 

[Geordie Spark]

We'll end-up importing them from foreign shores like we did with bus drivers & conductors.

I remember in the '50s seeing the Newcastle Corporation trolley buses being driven by dark skinned blokes with towels wrapped around their heids and thinking WTF is that all about.

Next stop - dark-skinned Industrial Sparks with towels wrapped around their heids.

 

[jimmymac]

I wanted to be an electrician because my first choice was a joiner but I was crap at woowork

So crap that you can't even spell it...........

 

[ipf]

We'll end-up importing them from foreign shores like we did with bus drivers & conductors.

I remember in the '50s seeing the Newcastle Corporation trolley buses being driven by dark skinned blokes with towels wrapped around their heids and thinking WTF is that all about.

Next stop - dark-skinned Industrial Sparks with towels wrapped around their heads.

I can think of a few in the trade who need wet ones to stop the brain from overheating.

 

[ferg]

When all my mates were getting chemistry sets and rpg board games to play with I was getting bread board kits.

1 apprenticeship and a few jobs in industry later. I decided I didn't like the people working in it and quit.

By the time I realised my mistake I had kids to feed and a mortgage to pay.

Kids left home, I did some updates and am now self employed, if I don't like the people I'm working with EFF 'em I'll be somewhere else next week.

At times this forum reminds me of the reasons I got into the industry and at times why I left.

Fortunately when the latter rears it's head I have Geordies lifeboat

 

[PEG]

...Let me tell you a story,that me mum has told a thousand times,that indicated the direction i would follow....Picture a 5 year old Peg,invited with his siblings to a posh neighbours house,late sixties. Fancy buggers had a garden pond with a fountain in the middle. Mother took eye off the ball,and young Peg removes and dismantles said pump. One massive bollooking later i'm dragged home by my ear and sent to bed. At teatime,the husband is at the door and i'm presented for apologies,am asked how it was dismantled and are offered to show...march back to pond,where i re-assemble pump and stand with proud,gushing parent,observing re-activated fountain. BANG! .....no,that's not the pump,that's the crashing sound of a career in engineering beginning from then on. A whole lot occurred to help and hinder that path,but from it i will never stray. I cringe a bit,when i remember things like,making jacobs, ladder spark machines out of industrial boiler ignitor units (age 12),or rewiring family friends kitchens (age 15),but consider myself VERY lucky to put bread on my families table doing something i love. ....just don't ask me to give what i do a "name" :bow:

 

[Knobhead]

My father was a factory hand, he was determined his two sons would be tradesmen.

My elder brother got an electrical apprenticeship at the factory my father worked at. He set a board with various contactors on it for me in the garage. Safe it was not, 240V coils, no RCD, a 13A fuse was as good as it got. If I got a belt it was my fault. At 11 I was quite happy following single line drawings.

So that was it, my fate was sealed. I was to be an electrician.

When offered an apprenticeship with the company my father and brother were at, no chance, I went to another company. No way was I having them breathing down my neck.

I don’t regret one minute of it. It’s something your blood.

 

[shanky887614]

My father was a factory hand, he was determined his two sons would be tradesmen.

My elder brother got an electrical apprenticeship at the factory my father worked at. He set a board with various contactors on it for me in the garage. Safe it was not, 240V coils, no RCD, a 13A fuse was as good as it got. If I got a belt it was my fault. At 11 I was quite happy following single line drawings.

So that was it, my fate was sealed. I was to be an electrician.

When offered an apprenticeship with the company my father and brother were at, no chance, I went to another company. No way was I having them breathing down my neck.

I don’t regret one minute of it. It’s something your blood.

thats like me with my music etc.

I didnt realise one of my relatives is an electrician and one of my other relatives was a pianist and flute player who taught people to play

 

[tooleystreet]

There's a few venues that could do with a refit or two, do the proprietors even take notice of the sparks suggestions on what peripherals would increase clientele?

 

[trev]

Oh dear lord!

 

[tooleystreet]

But we save a packet by going with good old trusty grey....to prove how clever we are

 

[Knobhead]

 

[dingledong]

Who is grey ?

 

[trev]

Who is grey ?

Someone or something which is relevant in Tooley's world (and probably nowhere else)

 

[dingledong]

So the rumours are true Trevor

 

[trev]

So the rumours are true Trevor

What rumours would they be mate?

 

[Pete999]

So crap that you can't even spell it...........

Yeah you got it total crap at woowork as well

 

[dingledong]

The rumours about tooley ! He she has not replied suppose the polite word to use is eccentric

 

[trev]

The rumours about tooley ! He she has not replied suppose the polite word to use is eccentric

Not the phrase I'd use mate but it'll do

 

[7029 dave]

I always wanted to be a sparky since I was 13,nearly killed myself putting an torch bulb in circuit on table lamp,BANG burnt fingers.

 

[uksparks]

The other thing to consider also is, what kind of a Person you are.
The more I read Tony's posts the more He reminds me of myself, what I mean by that is For me it is always a case of doing whatever it takes to get a factory, production line etc up and running.
I have often been on a machine at midnight, having been called out by my customer's and all that interested me was why had it stopped working, what needed doing to get it working.For me the very last thing on my mind was " How much will I earn",.
Now don't get me wrong I am also in business to make money, but it always gets pushed to the bottom of the list, for me it as always been about customer satisfaction, learning and applying my craft, and doing the very best I can at all times.
So to round it up for me it is always Pride 1st Price & Profit 2nd, but don't feel too sorry for me I do OK!!!.

I enjoy what I do, I purely do it for the love of it, I find it very interesting and am very practical, I know this isn't electrics, but have always been in to extreme DIY such as building extensions, garage conversions, that type of thing and really do enjoy pulling floors up etc. I know my way around a house for example and have quite a lot of experience in how it all fits together.

You are right though, it depends on what sort of person you are, I am like you really, customer satisfaction and applying your knowledge, seeing that you do a good job. Yes I am alo not a charity, but money is not something I need or do electrical work for, I do it because I enjoy it.

 

[uksparks]

Just to add, I used to play its batteries a lot when younger, things like trying to put a voltage through the bedroom door handle to catch Santa lol. I used to be in the electronics club at school in the mid 90's constructing those kits you used to be ble to buy from maplins, I think it's just something I have always been in to.

 

[Silly Sausage]

I always wanted to be a Physicist, trouble is, it's too frigging HARD!
So, any variation of the Electrical/Instrumentation Technician world was more than good enough for me.

Anywhere other than an office! I've done time as a C programmer.

 

[PEG]

I always wanted to be a Physicist, trouble is, it's too frigging HARD!
So, any variation of the Electrical/Instrumentation Technician world was more than good enough for me.

Anywhere other than an office! I've done time as a C programmer.

...Did you get out using a rock hammer hidden in a bible?...:stooge_curly:

 

[Silly Sausage]

...Did you get out using a rock hammer hidden in a bible?...:stooge_curly:

Haha...Got laid off, they (Yanks) shut down the UK (quality) side.
I had to fake the gutted look when they broke the news!