College Or Training Course

[Mastbruch]

Afternoon everyone.

Apologies if this is in the wrong section. 

Im 43 yrs old & would like to persue a career as an electrician (improver) I fully understand becoming an electrician require yrs of hard work & proper on site practical work with qualified electricians with many still learning after 20 yrs in the trade. These are if I understand proper proven well experienced electricians.

Anyway, although I would like to have the relevant electrical certificates etc I'm not looking to go down the commercial route or new build on site route, Ive done this for 12 yrs in another trade & site work for me is not what it once was.

I know college does the Level 2 & 3 route which is 3 yrs & would rather go down this route as believe this route is better, but I also looked at these 5 week electrical courses ( now I'm not stupid to believe whatever the trade especially the electrician course won't make you an electrician it might give you the basics)

So my preferred route is definitely college but wondered what others think as I've done the college route before.

The only college route I can go on is an evening course.

Again I understand these college courses or private courses won't make you an electrician but it is a starting point, we all have to start somewhere.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sharpend]

What are your reasons for changing trades? What is your current trade? 

Whilst I commend your approach, I think it's only fair that you understand that the electrical trade is not what it used to be and despite all the necessary technical knowledge that you have to gain and understand the general pay of an electrician is poor. Many other trades can and do earn better.

This may be something you wish to consider before enrolling on the 3yrs plus of training at presumably your exspense??  

 

[Mastbruch]

Hi Sharpend a dry liner by trade & after a good few yrs I just want to take another route mate TBH. 

Agree Some sites we can be home way before electricians & probably earn what they have so I understand where you're coming from there regarding the pay scale & agree it's a hell of a lot of work & need a lot of knowledge to become an electrician but money has never been a factor for me I'd rather wake up knowing I'm doing something I've been wanting to do for the last few yrs but always bottled it & as many know being dry liner we don't have to use to much of our brains.

So although I've spent many yrs working mainly on building sites I know I'll be entering a completely different ball game when comes to the sparky side of it hence why I keep bottling it.

 

[Doc Hudson]

From previous posts over the years, it is evident that some of the "short course" providers are only actually teaching wiring regulations and building regs basic info. Not actually teaching the electrical science theory and calculations needed to design circuits correctly. There is a small A5 companion booklet to the full wiring regulations called the On Site Guide, This has a lot of quick ref information for "standard circuit arrangements" used in domestic and small single phase installations. I get the impression that some of these courses never get to reference a full wiring regulations book BS7671, only the On Site Guide. As we have had numerous questions in the past from people working as "electricians" yet they are unable to do basic calculations using the reference tables and formula in the full regs book. They also sound overpriced for what you get, and sometime what you get is not needed such as PAT testing!

Doc H.   

 

[Sharpend]

Mastbruch, perhaps a relatively small spend would be to purchase a couple of books, best speak to college to get up to date reference material, then have a browse/read through to get a feel of what is expected. At least this way you will know if your comfortable with your ability to learn/absorb the necessary information, prior to full enrolment and costs for college. 

You sound as though you are willing to reignite the grey cells, but are the grey cells still there after years of non use as a dry liner!  

 

[Mastbruch]

Thanks Sharpend & Doc.

Appreciate your feedback, & Sharpend you're right about the brain cells...

 

[phil d]

Depending on where in the country you are, it may be worth your while visiting one of the "Elex" shows, there's one in Coventry this week, that way you could have a wander around, chat to a few people and see the type of things we work with, if you wanted you can also purchase certain books a bit cheaper, like the on site guide, or guidance note 3, these books while not teaching you everything, will, give you an insight into how we test things and some of the calculations we need to do.

I applaud your attitude for realising that the short course would not make you an electrician, too many people think otherwise. Whatever you decide to do, take your time on making the decision, don't rush it, even if you decide not to become one of us, at least a bit of reading will give you an insight into the sometimes challenging work we carry out, and that it's not just "throwing a few wires in"!

Best wishes Phil

 

[Mastbruch]

Thanks Phil.

Ive decided the college route, I find the short courses are well too short especially when dealing with electrics, surprised many can take it in, hence while doing the college it can at least sink in with me. 

 

[Andy™]

good choice. you will do much better that way

 

[phil d]

good choice. you will do much better that way

Yes, someone came asking for advice and took it, it will take him longer, but as you say he'll do a lot better, he'll have a better grasp of the job.

 

[Sharpend]

What area are you in? 

 

[Mastbruch]

I'm on the Suffolk/Norfolk border Sharpend.

 

[Sharpend]

It might be worth speaking to our sponsor @eodneil as he may not be a million miles from you? He is a trainer that trains mature persons. 

 

[Mastbruch]

I looked at his courses Sharpend before  I was asking on here & what route to take yet it's still getting on for 2hrs from me to Cambridge.

I've purchased a few books, so going to get my head down & have a read on what things mean what so to speak. They won't make no sense to me whatsoever but it's a start I suppose before hopefully taking the next step.

I spoke to a sparky today who's all Jibbed up & he said just go for it & I mentioned I was asking on here & he said course's are fine for people with Some electrical background but especially for those who've been in the game a few yrs who need their tickets, but for someone with no electrical background he said it will be to hard to take it all in & mistakes will be too common.

 

[Doc Hudson]

Whatever route you do take, a big factor as to how well you will do, is how good you are at grasping maths and physics rules, formula & calculations etc. If you really struggled with maths and physics a school you will probably struggle with many electrical design calculation. But if they were easy subjects then you should soon pick up the basic concepts again quite quickly.  Some people think electrical work is just a list of different cable sizes for different uses, and how to join the wires to make the switch work.  Whereas fundamentally it is actually about transferring energy from a supply to work a load via a suitable transmission medium. Where you need to get the energy from A to B with minimum losses, without breaking the method of transmission due to heat or others factors under normal or fault condition. And in the event of a fault making sure the energy cannot escape to a dangerous level causing harm to people ,property or livestock. (shock or fire etc.).  So an understanding of; How big the supply is. How much power you will need to work the load. How far away the load is from the supply. What is the best route from supply to load. Are there any specific protective measures needed due to the environment of the load or transmission route. Will any protective devices chosen operate in sufficient time to prevent danger to any people or damage to the supply, transmission or  load. Plus making sure that multiple circuits in close proximity will not reduce acceptable safe operational specifications for individual circuits.  For all these sort of things there are numerous tables, formula and calculations, which are just a bit of maths and physics.

Doc H. 

 

[Mastbruch]

Cheers Doc,

Funnily enough it's the electrical science side of it I'll enjoy studying for. 

 

[alextrician]

Cheers Doc,

Funnily enough it's the electrical science side of it I'll enjoy studying for. 

Never to late mate. You'll do just fine, especially if you like the theory behind it. I started and and finished my college a few years back with no site experience at all. I used to be a qualified chef for 16y prior to that.

 

[Mastbruch]

Thanks Alex.