Wise choice ?

[Sparklife]

Hello all,

I'm Kev 39 and seriously considering investing in quality training to become an electrician after making a decision on a career change. Having done some googling it appears as though the c&g 2365 level 1 and 2 is the way to go for a complete nobody like me wanting to get into the trade. Then there is the 2357 NVQ element to complete. It doesn't bother me that I'm 39, as I'm a grafter learn relatively quickly and thankfully a fit lad. In addition to this, I have come across media reports that are conflicting but indicate there will be a need for sparks moving in to the years ahead, however the last link from the national careers website indicates there will be less vacancies as we move towards 2020

Demand for Electrician Courses Soars as Result of Population Boom | Options Skills Ltd

We need engineers and electricians, not more hairdressers and personal trainers, colleges are told | Society | The Observer

Electricians in the UK Market Research | IBISWorld

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/Electrician.aspx

I take such reports as food for thought as opposed to being accurate but, for you pros out there do the reports ring right ? Can you corroborate what the reports indicate ? There are more reports but you get the idea.

I would love to hear from anyone who has gone down the 2365/2357 route and at some stage after that gone self employed and are now running your own business.

I understand these courses are attainable after around 3 years, however I think it would be more around 5 years or more before being comfortable to describe yourself as competent.

The reason I am enquiring is that I believe I would enjoy the work of an electrician and being in control of your own working day, something which is not an option in my job at the moment. Plus I think hard work for myself will be of more benefit than hard work for my current job.

Thanks in advance and hope this is a healthy thread.

Kev

 

[Adam W]

Obviously the training centre will tell you if you buy their course you're almost guaranteed a well paid job at the end of it, but that has been done to death in other threads.

It's funny how the media tell you there are no jobs in the media. Personally I would like more information on where they got their job vacancy figures from - OK last week I was getting about 3 calls a day from agencies asking me to work for them which indicates a healthy jobs market, but August is always a busy time of year with electricians going on holiday while at the same time there is a lot of work to be done in schools, and come September the demand drops significantly. It's important to remember these are temporary jobs as well, so based on contracts lasting a month each, a contracting electrician might 'apply for' 12 'vacancies' a year whereas a personal trainer working in a gym or a stylist working in a salon might apply for one job every 5 years, so you can see how the figures can be distorted.

Obviously there is the option of thinking up a company name, buying a van and driving around doing remedials and alterations, but whenever the media tell us there is a desperate shortage of 'electricians' this is exactly what people do, which has caused a massive surplus of newly 'qualified' domestic installers; again the 'job vacancy' figures can be distorted - you hardly ever see vacancies for jobbing domestic electricians, while on the other hand they could be including jobs on the likes of MyHammer, of which you might need one a day to make a living out of, ie based on a 48 week working year, 5 days a week, each jobbing electrician would need 240 of these 'vacancies' compared to a stylist's 0.2 per year.

 

[Sparklife]

Thanks Adam, sorry for the late response, as only just finished going through all the replies.