Due to the exciting choices available, the electrical industry offers jobs that many people choose. For simplicity\’s sake we will use the phrase Electrical Industry to cover off the more accurate term of \”Electro-Mechanical Engineering\”. Also, due to a wide variety of qualifications and standards throughout the world, we\’ll focus on those that fit the UK domestic and commercial market. We will begin by reviewing the main issues first and come back to the \’add-ons\’ later, because of the huge number of options available as a career within this subject.

On consideration, we observe two forms of access into the electrical market. Whilst many candidates opt to join later on in their life, there still exists the more traditional route of the apprenticeship. Throughout this document we will simply refer to two types of people the \’Junior\’ and the \’Mature\’ entrants.

Principally, Mature Entrants join the electrical workplace later on, and focus on becoming self employed. This means working on their own and not having to pay salaries to anyone else. Whereas the \’Junior Entrants\’ train alongside regular electrical employment to pick up practical work place skills as they gain their qualifications. Often a young apprentice will be in their first job since leaving school, and will therefore have a host of ancillary skills to learn during their first few years as a working adult.

Entry has two separate approaches to teaching. NVQ\’s are the key factor for all junior entrants. There is a particular requirement to attain the NVQ qualifications as part of the overall program. This means that work programs or apprenticeships have to be sought in order to arrange the necessary course work and testing phases of work.

Many mature students gain entry into the market without the NVQ element, and simply choose the most commercially practical route to self employed work. Instead most of them aim for the techniques that will get them up and running as quickly as possible and give them the best return against the cost to train in the first place. Whilst this may seem to reduce the overall qualification set, this meets the trade requirements for the areas involved, and thus provides a quicker and more direct commercial route to the market.

So we have two defined routes laid out – one being for general employment and the other centred on self-employment. Obviously, with self-employment, there is the added issue of whether the Entrant is part-time (working around another job) or full-time; we will concentrate on full-time. Income levels are also dictated by experience and knowledge gained – usually proven via an accredited proficiency or certification level.

\’Junior Entrants\’ can expect a basic salary of 12K at the beginning of their training. With application and experience this figure often more than doubles in time. Mature Entrants are more difficult to assess, and incomes up to and above 70k are regularly reported within the UK Press. However, it should be borne in mind that a self-employed person must meet their own costs for tools, clothes and vehicles (including insurance and petrol.) Self employed people also have to allow for added expenses. In the UK there is a lot of work for electrical professions due to a short fall of current skilled people. If a student wanted to work every day of the week this would be possible in some areas. To achieve the high salaries of 70+ thousand then you will need to put in very long hours and commit yourself fully.

To be fair, most Junior and Mature electricians experience very different working hours to each other. For a \’Junior Entrant\’, most work is on a simple working week basis. The Mature market is however often reliant as to when their client base is available, especially in the domestic sector. Again, this varies considerably, and many self-employed electricians make the mainstay of their income from office and small business installation, testing and inspection, which is Mon-Fri 9-5pm.

A Junior Entrant that has chosen to adopt a career within the electrical trade is more than likely to gain follow up expertise within the particular field they fall into, often dictated by the main business activities of their employer. But by securing work within the fields of gas or plumbing many mature entrants can gain knowledge outside of their chosen path. If they are working mostly in the domestic market, this makes it easier for them to take on larger jobs across a range of disciplines (without having to sub-contract.)

A new trade example is that of the \’Green Engineer\’. This new service to the industry could fit into the overall skill-set of an electrician. The opportunity to provide both employment and potential service contracts, especially in the UK and the EEC sectors, mean that this area is of interest to both Junior and Mature electricians.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Navigate to CLICK HERE or 2392 Courses.