The fact is that a career within the electrical sphere is a frequent alternative for many people. Whilst the original term is ‘Electro-Mechanical Engineering’ we will simply refer to the subject as the Electrical Industry. 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. By starting on the main subjects and checking the ‘add-ons’ later on we can review the centre of the electrical industry.
The electrical market has in our opinion two methods of entry. Whilst many candidates opt to join later on in their life, there still exists the more traditional route of the apprenticeship. To clarify, we’ll label each of them as the ‘Mature Entrants’ and the ‘Junior Entrants’.
People who do not want to pay any extra salaries, but want to enter the industry with the focus of being self employed are who we refer to as Mature Entrants. By contrast, Junior entrants would seek to work with an established electrical firm and build their skill-sets as they train. Upon leaving school many apprenticeships provide a fast learning curve for young adults looking to boost their auxiliary skills.
The two different ways into the industry have two separate methods of preparation. Junior Entrants are heavily linked with NVQ’s (or the Scottish equivalent – SVQ’s.) The core syllabus is similar to non NVQ commercial training, but the certification is compulsory. New employees gain the necessary course work and testing elements through an apprenticeship or some form of suitable work program.
By working independently and without the need for NVQ assessments, many Mature Entrants can concentrate on those areas that provide the biggest profit and offer the largest practical solutions for themselves. For example by concentrating on those qualifications aimed at giving them the best return from their training costs. 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.
Salaries are often simply broken down to those that relate to self -employed people and those in general employment. The question remains as to how much work per week a self-employed person puts in – for the sake of this review we assume that it is full time. It is recognised that competence and qualifications add to income levels as well as experience and information gained.
The basic salary for Junior Entrants tends to start around the 12-15k mark, but rises regularly to around 30k with the right level of experience. However, with incomes of 70,000 or more a year, a ‘Mature Entrants’ salary can often be more difficult to judge. That aside, many added costs need to be remembered by self employed people in order to make their business work. Furthermore, professional items such as accountancy, tax and insurance need to be considered to make the business work properly. Whilst there is lots of available work, a severe skills shortage means electricians are very much in demand. Without a doubt, the market would allow for some people to work a full seven days a week. It should be understood that the 70-100k figures that we see thrown around in newspapers are not easily achieved, and would either require working long hours or having assistants (or both.)
Firstly, it is worth pointing out that the working week between the Junior and Mature electricians can vary enormously. Most of the work for Junior Entrant electricians will be on a simple 9-5, Monday to Friday basis. But due to the needs of the domestic market the Mature Entrant is often more reliant upon when their client base gets back from work. Although by testing and installing various business systems, many self-employed electricians manage to work during a normal working week.
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. However, many mature entrants gain extra skills by learning those trades such as gas and plumbing work. This gives them the chance to complete work for domestic clients without having to sub contract jobs out every time.
One new, fast growing area – one that invokes a wide array of skills sets and is new to the industry overall – is that of the ‘Green Engineer’. 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.
Written by Scott Edwards. Try CareerRetraining.co.uk/qcaret.html or Part P Electrical.