B
belge
Hi, first post here which will probably be a lengthy one so please bear with me.
I've worked for the past ~4 years as an electrician's mate / departmental assistant to 4 electricians in the electrical side of an in-house building services team for a large commercial building in London. Recently the boss of my department approached me and asked if I was interested in gaining formal qualifications to be able to take over more responsibilities and work more independently, without constantly having to ask someone to supervise me while I rewire something or whatever. The other guys in my department all served indentured apprenticeships some 30 years ago for companies like BT and GSK, and as helpful as they try to be, aren't really up to scratch with what's what in regards to current City & Guilds qualifications.
Now, I'm 28, have been through uni and gained a largely useless degree and a lot of debt, so this is effectively the potential start of a new career path for me. The problem I have is that due to my age and having some years experience, some colleges have advised me to stay away from an Apprenticeship-type learning scheme as they are primarily aimed at school / college leavers and the places tend to be prioritised for them. So I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I need to be looking for in a training course.
My working days usually consist of lamping, changing the odd ballast here and there, and assisting people with fault-finding and various installation / maintenance jobs when necessary. I've got a CSCS card, IPAF and various other general construction things, but not any specific electrical training or qualifications. As far as I can tell, something like the C&G 2357 would have been ideal, but admissions departments to colleges are often unable to advise me on any specifics and if I ask to be put in touch with one of the training staff, I never seem to hear back from them again. I'd much prefer to go to college and go through everything properly than use a 'fast-track' scheme.
If anyone can shed some light in this confusing post-2357 world where nobody seems to know how to get started on the way to a qualification, I'd be very grateful. Apologies if this is a bit of a rambling introductory post, but if you made it this far then I appreciate your time.
I've worked for the past ~4 years as an electrician's mate / departmental assistant to 4 electricians in the electrical side of an in-house building services team for a large commercial building in London. Recently the boss of my department approached me and asked if I was interested in gaining formal qualifications to be able to take over more responsibilities and work more independently, without constantly having to ask someone to supervise me while I rewire something or whatever. The other guys in my department all served indentured apprenticeships some 30 years ago for companies like BT and GSK, and as helpful as they try to be, aren't really up to scratch with what's what in regards to current City & Guilds qualifications.
Now, I'm 28, have been through uni and gained a largely useless degree and a lot of debt, so this is effectively the potential start of a new career path for me. The problem I have is that due to my age and having some years experience, some colleges have advised me to stay away from an Apprenticeship-type learning scheme as they are primarily aimed at school / college leavers and the places tend to be prioritised for them. So I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I need to be looking for in a training course.
My working days usually consist of lamping, changing the odd ballast here and there, and assisting people with fault-finding and various installation / maintenance jobs when necessary. I've got a CSCS card, IPAF and various other general construction things, but not any specific electrical training or qualifications. As far as I can tell, something like the C&G 2357 would have been ideal, but admissions departments to colleges are often unable to advise me on any specifics and if I ask to be put in touch with one of the training staff, I never seem to hear back from them again. I'd much prefer to go to college and go through everything properly than use a 'fast-track' scheme.
If anyone can shed some light in this confusing post-2357 world where nobody seems to know how to get started on the way to a qualification, I'd be very grateful. Apologies if this is a bit of a rambling introductory post, but if you made it this far then I appreciate your time.
