AdultCareerTraining.co.uk

A New Future With An Electrical College

Train For A Profitable New Career As An Electrician

Electricity is one of the most important aspects of modern life. We constantly need skilled electricians for both domestic housing and industry. Electrical certifications can lead to a wide variety of jobs, depending on the individual's training and experience. The electrical trade overall is now responsible for 20 Billion pounds of business a year in the UK alone. It could be a very good decision to bite the bullet and start your electrical training now!

What's The Work Like?

People often question whether they'd be any good in this role. As electricians use tools and are very hands-on most of the time, you must be able to work well practically. You should have a logical, orderly way of thinking, and be safety conscious at all times. Many electricians work on their own for a large amount of the time, so you must be quite independent. You'll also need a good head for heights, as work isn't always at ground level! Essentially, you'll need commitment and enterprise if you plan to start out on your own.

Download Your Free Copy of Training Information

You may have a few skills under your belt already, or you may know next to nothing. Whatever your present knowledge, good industry training will have you equipped for the job very quickly. Take a look at our regularly up-dated e-book to get to grips with the best training route for you. There's no charge for this - we'll email a copy across to you within minutes of your request.

It will shed light on all the different training programmes you read about and help to clarify what you need. Why not download the book first and take time to read through its contents. When you've done that, come back to this website and refer to a number of the training companies listed on this page. It could be an idea put us in your Favourites file to make this page easier to retrieve.

Becoming Self-Employed

One reason many people retrain to become electricians is because they want to become self-employed. Most newly qualified adult electrical workers choose to either work for themselves, or on a contract basis. As demand for qualified professionals continues in domestic households, this arrangement can be ideal. Some people train so they can do electrical work part-time to generate additional income. Others want the skills and legal qualifications to do more of their own DIY.

As with plumbers and builders, electricians will get some good referrals if their customers think they've done a good job. So you'll be costing yourself money if you're not well mannered and considerate to everyone you deal with.

Some electricians employed by big companies work shifts, but most work a regular eight hour day during the week. Despite regional variations, the average employee electrician in Britain in 2009 earned approx 26K. Self-employed electricians should be prepared to extend their hours where necessary, but usually their higher pay will reflect that. They will also have to allow for added business costs such as tools, transport and administration.

What's The Right Course For Me?

The main recognised trade certification bodies in the UK are City & Guilds and EAL. National Vocational Qualifications can also be undertaken by proving commercial competency in industry. But naturally this takes several years. So older career changers tend to go for less lengthy courses that they can fit in around their current work. As most of them are preparing for work in housing rather than industry, they don't need NVQs.

Various training routes are offered by commercial colleges that will quickly lead to industry recognised qualifications. So whilst trainees emerge with more limited qualifications, they are still considered competent and qualified to carry out the more in-demand jobs.

So What Would I Learn?

Probably a good place to start would be on a course that prepares you for your EAL level 2 Domestic Electrical Installer. Your course will deal with basic wiring principles - installing new electrics, rewiring houses, fitting appliances etc. The law aims to ensure that all domestic electrical work is done in accordance with 'Part P' regulations, so your training will equip you for that.

Electrical installers also need to pass the City & Guilds Certificate 17th Edition IEE Wiring Regulations, so you can expect preparation for that. Once you've trained sufficiently and become qualified in these areas you can both carry out and self-certify all your domestic work.

You should find a typical domestic electrical training programme takes between 300 hours and 400-500 hours, and is a mixture of home study and workshop assessments. Training will give you confidence and ultimately success - as you'll never be stuck for work with such in-demand skills.