Courses and change of direction in career

[The hurricane]

Hi

Firstly I work for contractor on new build houses and I want out. I'm 36, been at the same company since I left school. Ideally I want to be off building sites in the next few years. Not entirely sure what to do. 

With the type of job I've done, I'm not exactly blessed with a varied amount of experience in other areas. 

I've started looking at a few courses to try and help with that. The first being the 2396. I completed the 2391 6-7 years ago. Will this qualification help me change direction? 

I've also come across this site that offers free courses with the option of an upgrade for £49. Does anybody have any experience or knowledge of them? https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/electrical-engineering

Thanks for reading my boring thread on a Saturday night.

Apologies if this is in the wrong section

 

[Sharpend]

Well what to say!

2396 would be beneficial and may show prospective employer that you have a greater understanding/knowledge to design, however it doesn't support your experience in anyway. 

The next question is are you planning to be self employed or an employee elsewhere?

 

[The hurricane]

I've considered going self employed but I'm always apprehensive of taking the plunge. 

I keep looking at more maintenance type roles and also some design/engineer roles. Only problem is lots of these jobs want experience on certain systems or qualifications to HNC/HND level. In hindsight I should've done this when I completed my apprenticeship. 

 

[Tony S]

Sorry to say you will find it very difficult to get in to the engineering side of the job without prior experience.

 

[Sharpend]

Here's the thing, you're only afraid to take the plunge as it's the unknown to you, but reality is there are many thousands who have already done it and been reasonably successful at it so you are not doing anything that hasn't been done before. 

If you want to alleviate the fear then why not go via an agency for the time being, it will give you the confidence that there is actually plenty of work out there if you know where to look and will also allow you to broaden the use of the skills that you have attained thus far. 

 

[binky]

Plenty of work in the domestic sector. The hard part is getting your name about. You can survive on family and friend jobs for about 6 months, then it will most likely go a bit quiet on you until word of mouth and advertising cuts in. You will need at least 6 months money in the bank to fall back on if you do decide to go self-employed - don't want to lose the roof over your head. You will also find yourself working more hours than you have ever done catching up with paperwork, but it's different, because the work is for yourself. Going SE is not easy, but it is quite rewarding in its own right. 

 

[The hurricane]

Thanks for the replies.

Might just start applying for various roles and see what happens. 

I think I'd have a steady supply of work via a friends bathroom company, just don't know if it would be enough if nothing else came in

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I think I'd have a steady supply of work via a friends bathroom company, just don't know if it would be enough if nothing else came in

If you are considering self employment then you must have the capability to generate your own work and new leads.

Because... promised jobs, or hoped for projects can disappear over night.

You must have other sources of work, so an ability to promote, advertise and market yourself and the services you offer is essential.

It is a sad fact that a rubbish electrician who is good at marketing and promotion can be more busy than a more competent and qualified electrician who is bad at marketing.

If people don't know who you are, where you are or what you have got to offer, they will not be calling you for work.

A large amount of small business start off with the owners already doing the work as a side project or hobby.....

So the higher success rate is from...  The work is there so I will start a business...   NOT...  I will start a business and hope that the work is there.

While you are employed there is nothing stopping you doing other small jobs during you time off, (weekends evenings), to start building a customer base.

If you can get through the first 5 years then from general statistics you are probably doing something right and have a good Chance of long term success.

And as Binky says you MUST have a back up for when work is quiet..

General guidance is bare minimum 3 months finance sitting in reserve.  Preferable 6 months finance in reserve.

opcorn

 

[Sharpend]

^ all sound advice ^ 

 

[The hurricane]

If you are considering self employment then you must have the capability to generate your own work and new leads.

Because... promised jobs, or hoped for projects can disappear over night.

You must have other sources of work, so an ability to promote, advertise and market yourself and the services you offer is essential.

It is a sad fact that a rubbish electrician who is good at marketing and promotion can be more busy than a more competent and qualified electrician who is bad at marketing.

If people don't know who you are, where you are or what you have got to offer, they will not be calling you for work.

A large amount of small business start off with the owners already doing the work as a side project or hobby.....

So the higher success rate is from...  The work is there so I will start a business...   NOT...  I will start a business and hope that the work is there.

While you are employed there is nothing stopping you doing other small jobs during you time off, (weekends evenings), to start building a customer base.

If you can get through the first 5 years then from general statistics you are probably doing something right and have a good Chance of long term success.

And as Binky says you MUST have a back up for when work is quiet..

General guidance is bare minimum 3 months finance sitting in reserve.  Preferable 6 months finance in reserve.

opcorn

Thanks for that, great advice.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Thanks for that, great advice.

No problem...

I've been self employed since Feb 1999....

It's not an easy ride by any measure... Bloody hard graft sometimes...

BUT...  hard graft for yourself is about a Gazzillion times more rewarding than hard graft for someone else!!!!!!!

Some other key points I forgot to mention earlier are.....

If you are seriously looking at going self employed get a few books about running you own business ..

there are loads on amazon etc..  Do a bit of reading and research about running a business..

the type of trade is irrelevant..  The basics of running a small business are common for ALL trades.

Book keeping, Tax, Overheads, Price structure, Unique Selling Point. (USP) etc..

Knowing who you are and why you are better than the competition in your area...

If you don't stand up for YOU... then nobody will!!!

A couple of key tips I read before going it self employed are:-

1/ If your currently standard of living is based around a single wage earner with a regular monthly wage

to maintain that standard of living as a single wage earner self employed you need to be earning double self employed what you took home as an employee..

i.e.   if you took home £1,000 a month after tax as an employee...  you need to earn at least £2000 before tax self employed to cover tax & general overheads..

Too many failures think I earned £10 per hour after tax in my old job... I only need to charge £10 per hour working for myself...  That does NOT work!!!

2/  If you really really think you would like to have a go at self employment.. Then do your homework and preparations then DO IT!!!!

More people regret NOT trying.. Than those who try and fail.

Because if you give it a go and it doesn't work you think...  "Well I tried that but it wasn't a success"...

But if you never try you think...  "I wish I had tried that, I may have worked?!"

and you have that nagging doubt over you always!

Its NOT impossible...  BUT.. its NOT easy either..

If you are after an easy number then forget it, you are deluded.

Electrical qualifications and experience is a minor part of what will make or break you.

Guinness

 

[binky]

you need to be charging £25minimum an hour to meet overheads and earn around £30k a year, even as  1 man band.

Big mistakes I've made:-

1/ charging at a level to earn a living - ie too cheap. You will need to do some of this to get going, but then you will find any referrals or follow on work will be expected at the same cheap prices. Net result a busy fool!

2/ Not turning away lettuced customers - you will learn the hard way on this! If doing a big job for new customer insist on payment stages through the job. Also issue proper contracts in writing and get them signed (beware of doorstep selling legislation which is very much biased towards the customer. Whoever wrote this legislation has't heard of rogue customers).

3/ Cashflow is king - see point 2 above.

4/ Profit is more important than turnover.

5/ Small jobs interrupt bigger works that are more worth doing. In fact you need to effectively overcharge small jobs to compensate for them being only half a day or a few hours work. There' a good reason why so many small jobs are available, which is useful to get established when you have nothing better to do, but ultimately have  a serious effect on your overall earnings.

6/ Keep on top of paperwork, playing catch-up is a real pain the neck.

7/ Domestic work is seasonal - Xmas/ January tends to be dead. Summer holidays, like wise or at least quiet. You have to earn enough money the rest of the year to cover quiet periods - see point 1 above.

8/ if you get to the point of employing people, do not expect them to work like you do.