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”. Furthermore, we will focus on the UK market and the domestic and commercial elements rather than those from elsewhere around the world. Because of the vast number of options available for a career within the electrical industry, we’ll start by concentrating on the main topics, and come back to the ‘add-ons’ later.
Really there are two main ways to enter the electrical market. Along with apprenticeships for school leavers, students entering the field at a later phase in their life now have an alternative to more traditional amateur routes. We have to reference individuals so we will plainly do so by ‘Junior’ and ‘Mature’ entrants.
Primarily, those who join the industry later on, (the Mature Entrants,) generally do so with the aim of becoming self-employed at some point, or to work on their own building projects etc. without having to pay wages to external electricians. By contrast, Junior entrants would seek to work with an established electrical firm and build their skill-sets as they train. This could be a young apprentice’s first position since leaving school, so it will be necessary to pick up supplementary working skills.
Clearly these two options have both differing training styles and methods of entry. Junior Entrants are heavily linked with NVQ’s (or the Scottish equivalent – SVQ’s.) The training itself is similar to non NVQ training, but completion of the full programme means getting the actual qualifications. This requires being in a directly-related work program or apprenticeship of some type, so as to meet the testing and course-work requirements.
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. 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. This system, although appearing to reduce the attributes laid out, does allow for a faster and more solid entry into the domestic market.
Salaries are often simply broken down to those that relate to self -employed people and those in general employment. Whilst self-employed people can choose the hours that they work, we assume that they are working full time for the purpose of this review. Skill and knowledge levels can often determine salary levels, although this is equally via a proven ability or certification scheme.
With the right level of experience, ‘Junior Entrants’ salaries can rise considerably from twelve to thirty thousand pounds per annum. 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. They will also have to make allocations for personal or professional insurance and accountancy. That aside, whilst the work is open to market-forces to some degree, the current skills shortage in the UK means that there’s a high work-load available. Therefore, working seven days a week (if a student wanted) is a possibility for most. Although by working very long hours and having assistants to help, the figures of 70-100 thousand advertised in newspapers might be achieved, it wouldn’t be easy.
For the most part there is a strong difference between the Junior and Mature Entrants’ working week. Most ‘Junior Entrants’ do not work at the weekends. While on the other hand, the opportunities in the domestic market (where mature entrants often work) can be heavily dependent upon when the clients get home. 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.
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. Alternatively, the mature entrant can gain other training outside of their chosen field, such as gas and plumbing work. They can take on larger jobs and do all the work themselves then – which is a particularly great benefit to domestic clients.
One fresh approach is that of the ‘Green Engineer’. With expected growth through new employment contracts and business options, this new entity is extremely attractive to many Junior and Mature Electricians, especially when considering the UK and EEC support overall.
(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Look at Electrician Qualifications or Electrical Course.