You Can be Great If You Really Want To

It’s notable that a career within the electrical industry, with its attractive options, remains a choice for lots of people. From here on we will use the phrase of Electrical Industry to explain the more accurate term of “Electro-Mechanical Engineering”. Equally we’ll focus on those credentials that fit the UK domestic and commercial sector rather than those from around the world. By starting on the main subjects and checking the ‘add-ons’ later on we can review the centre of the electrical industry.

Basically there are two clear ways to gain admission into the electrical market. Initially there’s the more traditional apprenticeship approach, but equally there is now an alternative, suited to those who are keen to enter later in their life. For the sake of clarity throughout, the first will be known as ‘Junior Entrants’ and the second simply known as ‘Mature Entrants.’

Mature Entrants who join the industry later on do so with the aim of working for themselves, usually as a one person business. Those who join as Junior Entrants, on the other hand, appear to do so with the aim of joining an established electrical firm – in order to gain further qualifications and experience whilst picking up practical and other work-place skills. To be fair, young apprentices leaving school will have a lot of supplementary skills to learn during their early years as a working adult.

Clearly these two options have both differing training styles and methods of entry. Junior entrants go through NVQ training in England and Wales, and SVQ training in Scotland. The training itself is similar to non NVQ training, but completion of the full programme means getting the actual qualifications. New employees gain the necessary course work and testing elements through an apprenticeship or some form of suitable work program.

Instead of seeking a work-based training environment, the Mature Entrant often seems to focus on working as a self employed person where different qualifications to NVQ’s are preferred. i.e. Those certifications that will get them up and running with the best financial return from their training investment. This system does meet the purposes set out and therefore often provides a faster and more direct route into a trading position.

In terms of typical earnings, we have two clear routes – those relating to employment and those for self-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.

With the right level of experience, ‘Junior Entrants’ salaries can rise considerably from twelve to thirty thousand pounds per annum. On the other hand experienced self-employed electricians have been known to earn around 70 thousand or more within the UK. Irrespective of this salary level many self-employed people also need to manage extra business costs such as tools, clothes and vans. Allocations for personal/professional insurance will also have to be catered for. With the current skills shortage in the UK, there is a high work load demand available. Therefore, working seven days a week (if a student wanted) is a possibility for most. To be fair, high salaries bounded about by the press do require long working hours or help to achieve them.

In light of the above, it is often understood that there is wild variance between the working expectations of Junior and Mature Entrants. Electricians who are ‘Junior Entrants’ would work a simple 40 hour working week. Whereas the Mature market can be more dependent on the domestic market for some – i.e. weekend and evening work, when their clients are available and back from work. With many self-employed electricians the core of their income comes from items such as business testing and installation and as such operates during the main part of the week.

Once a Junior Entrant is employed within a company, then any follow-on knowledge they gain is often down to the employers’ activity as opposed to anything else. However, many mature entrants gain extra skills by learning those trades such as gas and plumbing work. Without a doubt the extra skills help them in their overall employ whether this is commercial or domestic work.

An area that is relatively new to the industry overall, yet requires new expertise is that of ‘Green Engineering’. The curiosity of both Junior and Mature Electricians to this new industry is well founded especially when considering the power of the UK and the EEC markets in areas of growth and governmental projects.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Check out Electrician Courses or Part P Courses.

All of us are short of time, and most often if we want to advance our future prospects, getting educated alongside a job is the only option open to us. Microsoft authorised training could offer a solution.

Maybe you’d like to look for a person who’s got industry experience, who might give you help to sort out what sort of job would suit you, and what sort of tasks are correct for a person with your character and ability.

Training programs must be customised to suit your ability level and skills. So, having worked out the most fruitful career for you, your next requirement is the most suitable program that will get you into that job.

Always expect an authorised exam preparation system included in your course.

Students regularly can get thrown by practicing questions for their exams that aren’t recognised by the authorised examining boards. Sometimes, the phraseology is unfamiliar and you need to be ready for this.

Why don’t you verify your knowledge through tests and mock ups of exams to get you ready for the proper exam.

People attracted to this sort of work are often very practical, and aren’t really suited to the classroom environment, and endless reading of dry academic textbooks. If you’re thinking this sounds like you, try the newer style of interactive study, with on-screen demonstrations and labs.

Research into the way we learn shows that much more of what we learn in remembered when we use all our senses, and we get practically involved in what we’re studying.

Top of the range study programs now offer interactive CD and DVD ROM’s. Instructor-led tutorials will mean you’ll learn your subject through the expert demonstrations. Then you test your knowledge by utilising the practice lab’s and modules.

You really need to look at the type of training provided by each company you’re contemplating. It’s essential they incorporate video, demonstrations and various interactive elements.

It’s usually bad advice to go for purely on-line training. Because of the variable quality and reliability of your average broadband company, make sure you get disc based courseware (On CD or DVD).

A useful feature that several companies offer is a programme of Job Placement assistance. It’s intention is to help you find your first job in the industry. The need for this feature can be bigged up out of proportion though – it’s easy for eager sales people to overplay it. At the end of the day, the massive skills shortage in this country is what will make you attractive to employers.

Bring your CV up to date as soon as possible however (advice can be sought on this via your provider). Don’t procrastinate and leave it till the exams have actually been passed.

Having the possibility of an interview is far better than not even being known about. A surprising amount of junior positions are offered to students in the early stages of their course.

If it’s important to you to find work near your home, then it’s quite likely that a local (but specialised) recruitment consultancy might be of more use than the trainer’s recruitment division, as they’re far more likely to be familiar with the local job scene.

Just ensure you don’t conscientiously work through your course materials, and then just stop and imagine someone else is miraculously going to sort out your employment. Take responsibility for yourself and get out there. Invest as much focus into landing the right position as it took to pass the exams.

Wouldn’t it be great to know for sure that our jobs will remain safe and our work prospects are protected, but the growing reality for most sectors in the United Kingdom currently is that security may be a thing of the past.

But a fast growing sector, with huge staffing demands (as there is a massive shortfall of properly qualified workers), provides a market for lasting job security.

The computing Industry skills shortage throughout Great Britain clocks in at around twenty six percent, as shown by the 2006 e-Skills survey. Quite simply, we only have the national capacity to fill 3 out of every four jobs in IT.

This one idea in itself reveals why the UK is in need of a lot more people to join the industry.

While the market is growing at such a speed, is there any other market worth investigating for your new career.

Copyright 2009 Scott Edwards. Go to Database Administrator Course or Database Course.