The Facts On Electrical Certificates

For many people, an interesting and varied choice often means a career within the electrical industry. Often (and more correctly) referred to as ’Electro-Mechanical Engineering’, we’ll simply refer to it as the Electrical Industry for the sake of simplicity here. Equally we’ll focus on those credentials that fit the UK domestic and commercial sector rather than those from around the world. Since there is such a wide list of choices in the electrical industry, we’ll start by looking at the main themes first and then come back to any ’add-ons’ later.

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’.

Many Mature Entrants enter the market so they don’t have to rely on others, especially when they can work on their own building ideas and not have to pay for anyone else to help them. Whereas the ’Junior Entrants’ train alongside regular electrical employment to pick up practical work place skills as they gain their qualifications. After they leave school a young apprentice will have many skills to learn during their first few years of working life.

These two distinct types of entry have two separate modes of training: Junior entrants go through NVQ training in England and Wales, and SVQ training in Scotland. An NVQ qualification would need to be obtained as part of the training 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.

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. Having said that, the mature student does aim to gain the necessary skills to do the job, whilst at the same time reducing their training costs at all times. 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.

We should differentiate the prospective earnings into the two categories of employed and self-employed. 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.

Wages for ’Junior Entrants’ can become as high as 30,000 or more per annum with the right experience, although starting salaries are around 12,000. That said, due to the UK press telling people that electricians can get salaries in excess of 70k p.a., it is more difficult to gauge incomes for ’Mature Entrants’. Often costs such as tools, clothes and even transport need to be assessed and included in the business mix overall. In addition to this they will also have to allow for items such as accountancy and personal/professional insurance. However, the driving force remains the UK skills shortage and this means that there’s a load of work available. Certainly, working a full week is a realistic possibility for those who want to. It should be noted that figures of 70-100k p.a. advertised are not necessarily easy to come by and would require some long working hours to obtain them.

In light of the above, it is often understood that there is wild variance between the working expectations of Junior and Mature Entrants. Most of the work for Junior Entrant electricians will be on a simple 9-5, Monday to Friday basis. The Mature market is however often reliant as to when their client base is available, especially in the domestic sector. And yet, a huge number of self-employed electricians operate during the main part of the working week by focusing on office and small business systems.

Once a career in electrical work has been chosen, a Junior Electrician is often at the mercy of their employer when it comes to learning new skills and expertise. Then again, the mature entrant can even go outside of the electrical field to gas work or plumbing work for example. 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.)

An up to the minute angle – involving a new level of skills – is that of the so called ’Green Engineer’. The chance to win some big employment and business advantages within the governmental as well as the traditional growth sector means that this area could be attractive to both Junior and Mature Entrants alike.

Author: Scott Edwards. Pop over to Electrical Training or Click HERE.