Tuning Club

Lots of people choose a career within the electrical industry because it both appeals and motivates them. Within this document we will not use the full term of Electro-Mechanical Engineering but use the term Electrical Industry instead. 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.

We consider that there are two 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. 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. Upon leaving school many apprenticeships provide a fast learning curve for young adults looking to boost their auxiliary skills.

The different ways into electrical work have two distinct types of training: Junior Entrants are heavily linked with NVQ’s (or the Scottish equivalent – SVQ’s.) 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.

Mature Entrants, with the possible aim of entering the market from a self-employed perspective, seem to focus on attaining the most commercially viable qualifications (without the need for the NVQ element.) i.e. Those certifications that will get them up and running with the best financial return from their training investment. This system, although appearing to reduce the attributes laid out, does allow for a faster and more solid entry into the domestic market.

In terms of typical earnings, we have two clear routes – those relating to employment and those for self-employment. 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. Mature Entrants are more difficult to assess, and incomes up to and above 70k are regularly reported within the UK Press. However, it should be borne in mind that a self-employed person must meet their own costs for tools, clothes and vehicles (including insurance and petrol.) Allocations for personal/professional insurance will also have to be catered for. However, the driving force remains the UK skills shortage and this means that there’s a load of work available. In light of the above, a full seven day week is available to most people should they want it. To achieve the high salaries of 70+ thousand then you will need to put in very long hours and commit yourself fully.

Firstly, it is worth pointing out that the working week between the Junior and Mature electricians can vary enormously. Most of the work for Junior Entrant electricians will be on a simple 9-5, Monday to Friday basis. 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. This alters quite a bit, with lots of self employed electricians gaining much of their income from small office work, which is predominantly Monday to Friday 9am-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. The mature entrant, on the other hand, may seek training outside of their core electrical field, possibly including plumbing and gas work. Within the domestic market this allows them to work under a range of headings without having to rely upon sub contract suppliers.

‘Green Engineering’ is another area to consider. This requires new skills and working knowledge and is one of the fastest growing areas today. This could be an area of interest to both Junior and Mature Entrants, and with the expected growth and governmental (both UK & EEC) support, it could provide some highly lucrative employment and business opportunities.

Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Hop over to Electrician Courses or Click HERE.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 9:40 amand is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.