It’s notable that a career within the electrical industry, with its attractive options, remains a choice for lots of people. Whilst the original term is ‘Electro-Mechanical Engineering’ we will simply refer to the subject as the Electrical Industry. 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.
Basically there are two clear ways to gain admission into the electrical market. The first is for those wishing to train via a more traditional apprenticeship route, and the second is for people who are entering the field at a later stage in life. There are two sets of people for consideration firstly the ‘Junior Entrants’ and secondly the ‘Mature Entrants’.
Mature students, or entrants, often train so that they can become self-employed and work on their own projects without having to pay wages to external electricians. Alternatively, ‘Junior Entrants’ will pick up lots of their work place skills by working with an already reputable electrical company. After they leave school a young apprentice will have many skills to learn during their first few years of working life.
Entry has two separate approaches to teaching. The Junior Entrants syllabus involves NVQ/SVQ’s as well as proving working skills. As part of the training program an NVQ would be a requirement to attain. As a result students often have to find their own work programmes to give them the relevant testing and course work covered by most apprenticeships.
Many mature students gain entry into the market without the NVQ element, and simply choose the most commercially practical route to self employed work. For example by concentrating on those qualifications aimed at giving them the best return from their training costs. Although this may offer quicker and more commercial options, it does reduce the official requirements set for certain areas of the industry.
With regard to regular earning potential we have two clear paths – one for employees and the other for the self-employed. For the sake of this document we will assume that everyone involved in electrical employment is working full-time. The aptitude and talent for getting things done can affect the levels of salary as well as any experience or knowledge gained.
Basic salary for Junior Entrants can start at around 12 thousand per annum, often going above 35 thousand after several years in industry. Conversely, the UK newspapers often report experienced mature electricians can expect an income of anything up to 70.000. Often costs such as tools, clothes and even transport need to be assessed and included in the business mix overall. Furthermore, professional items such as accountancy, tax and insurance need to be considered to make the business work properly. 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.
To be fair, most Junior and Mature electricians experience very different working hours to each other. Monday to Friday 9-5 would be the working week of most ‘Junior Entrants’. That aside the Mature market is equally affected by when their clients are available – this is especially so within the domestic sector, where evening and weekend work predominates. 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.
If a Junior Electrician chooses an electrical career, then the main business actions of their company often dictate the type of expertise that they gain. Whereas the mature entrant can gain knowledge from any trade source – even one outside of the core of electrical work. Without a doubt the extra skills help them in their overall employ whether this is commercial or domestic work.
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. 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) S. Edwards 2009. Pop to CLICK HERE or An Electrical Course.