Electrician > Electrical Engineer

[ashking]

Hello all.

As the subject suggests I am currently working as an electrician, however I have been looking into becoming an electrical engineer.

I have located and contacted my local college in regards to the HNC electrical engineering courses and they have told me they do evenings, so that shouldn't be a problem as i still want to work as an electrician whist doing said course...

My questions are 

Is this a possible career change ?

I'm  27 and wondering if i've left it to late?

Will my current electrical background help or hinder me?

Will i struggle to find a job now?

Should I carry on to do HND?

Has anybody had any experience in doing this?

Tips and pointers are very much welcomed

Thanks

Ash

 

[binky]

27 isn't old, and its a natural progression from your current trade. Your problem will be getting employment as new graduate, as some employers would expect younger candidates with lower wage expectations. BUT as the youth of today are mostly un-employable, your working background, proven track record, and the desire to employ people that turn up on time might work in your favour along with your hands-on experience. Difficult to call, but I know what I would rather employ. Just try to get your course completed pronto, as 30 is possibly a psychological barrier for employers.

 

[Evans Electric]

If you are confident you can take a good shot at HND Electrical then its a natural progression and I wish you luck .  Go for it .  27 is NOT old . 

Just remember in this day & age . you can be OVER qualified.   While Electrician Grade & Approved Electrician Grade were dropping into jobs Technician Grade were struggling . 

Also most Electrical Consultants ..if finding themselves out of work ...would not have the skills or aptitude to earn a living as an electrician.

An apprentice who worked with us years ago just kept going with the college courses and has been a Project Design Engineer for the NHS for years now ( and is good at it)  The main reason contractors cannot pull the wool over his eyes is that he did a 5 yr apprenticship , contracting and then maintenance for the NHS and working his up .

Ashking ...you have nothing to lose and everything to gain ,  that HND could open doors later , when you can't face another winter on site ,  or your knees have packed up .

 

[ashking]

If you are confident you can take a good shot at HND Electrical then its a natural progression and I wish you luck .  Go for it .  27 is NOT old . 

Just remember in this day & age . you can be OVER qualified.   While Electrician Grade & Approved Electrician Grade were dropping into jobs Technician Grade were struggling . 

Also most Electrical Consultants ..if finding themselves out of work ...would not have the skills or aptitude to earn a living as an electrician.

An apprentice who worked with us years ago just kept going with the college courses and has been a Project Design Engineer for the NHS for years now ( and is good at it)  The main reason contractors cannot pull the wool over his eyes is that he did a 5 yr apprenticship , contracting and then maintenance for the NHS and working his up .

Ashking ...you have nothing to lose and everything to gain ,  that HND could open doors later , when you can't face another winter on site ,  or your knees have packed up .

Thank you for your reply

What sort of doors could it open in terms of jobs ect?

thanks

 

[Evans Electric]

Project managment  with local authourity / NHS / private sector ........ design engineer......... working for an electrical consultant .... estimating & design for an electrical contractor.... supervising with contractor  ... industry .... an assessor for one of the scams :innocent ......... fast track  teaching on Day Release or night School     :innocent

The more quallies you have the further you leave your tools & overalls behind in other words. 

Just look at me .....  Oh hang on ...just hide my tools and pretend I didn't arrive in that van . :coat

 

[ashking]

sounds good, is it worth topping up to a degree?

 

[davetheglitz]

Like a lot of people on here I've done things back to front. At 57 I'm on my tools but have come from a design engineer background and have been through ONC, HNC, Degree and Teacher Training before becoming a self employed electrician.

I love my job! For many years I enjoyed my time as a design engineer - but having seen the firm I was with go from 3000 down to 300 I did get a bit jaundiced. From my specialisation Devon and Cornwall didn't have many alternatives and the uncertainty with many rounds of redundancies was very stressful. An electrician can nearly always find some work. On the other hand my engineering background has paid for the house and brought up the kids!

I'm with Dave in that you need to get your skates on - engineers are open minded - but HR and recruitment for large firms like their jargon and don't look beyond simple criteria (yes - one day you will be bitter and twisted!)

As Deke says - having good practical experience is a big plus - and will serve you well. In my experience there are very few good project managers -  and if you are one you'll be worth your weight! Most develop sloping shoulders and do a good line in blame when things go wrong - and take credit when it goes right!

Regardless of qualification a big thing is confidence and getting on with people. I wish I'd been an electrician before going into engineering as I would be so much better at both of these now.

Best advice from my experience - after you've qualified - never go into teaching in a school or a FE college!!!!

 

[Evans Electric]

Like a lot of people on here I've done things back to front. At 57 I'm on my tools but have come from a design engineer background and have been through ONC, HNC, Degree and Teacher Training before becoming a self employed electrician.

I love my job! For many years I enjoyed my time as a design engineer - but having seen the firm I was with go from 3000 down to 300 I did get a bit jaundiced. From my specialisation Devon and Cornwall didn't have many alternatives and the uncertainty with many rounds of redundancies was very stressful. An electrician can nearly always find some work. On the other hand my engineering background has paid for the house and brought up the kids!

I'm with Dave in that you need to get your skates on - engineers are open minded - but HR and recruitment for large firms like their jargon and don't look beyond simple criteria (yes - one day you will be bitter and twisted!)

As Deke says - having good practical experience is a big plus - and will serve you well. In my experience there are very few good project managers -  and if you are one you'll be worth your weight! Most develop sloping shoulders and do a good line in blame when things go wrong - and take credit when it goes right!

Regardless of qualification a big thing is confidence and getting on with people. I wish I'd been an electrician before going into engineering as I would be so much better at both of these now.

Best advice from my experience - after you've qualified - never go into teaching in a school or a FE college!!!!

Have to agree with that .........if you have those electrical skills ...use them in the real world .

And , as with the original advice , if you feel you could complete the degree course ...then why would'nt you ?  

Or take this on board ..............  at sometime in the late 1920's  my late father in law passed  for the grammer school .

However he couldn't go because   the family could not afford the uniform and other stuff required and also needed him to be leaving school at the earliest opportunity to begin bringing a wage into the house.

All choices of further education were out of the question .

 

[binky]

Best advice from my experience - after you've qualified - never go into teaching in a school or a FE college!!!!

does it still hurt that much Dave :slap :slap :slap

 

[ashking]

Like a lot of people on here I've done things back to front. At 57 I'm on my tools but have come from a design engineer background and have been through ONC, HNC, Degree and Teacher Training before becoming a self employed electrician.

I love my job! For many years I enjoyed my time as a design engineer - but having seen the firm I was with go from 3000 down to 300 I did get a bit jaundiced. From my specialisation Devon and Cornwall didn't have many alternatives and the uncertainty with many rounds of redundancies was very stressful. An electrician can nearly always find some work. On the other hand my engineering background has paid for the house and brought up the kids!

I'm with Dave in that you need to get your skates on - engineers are open minded - but HR and recruitment for large firms like their jargon and don't look beyond simple criteria (yes - one day you will be bitter and twisted!)

As Deke says - having good practical experience is a big plus - and will serve you well. In my experience there are very few good project managers -  and if you are one you'll be worth your weight! Most develop sloping shoulders and do a good line in blame when things go wrong - and take credit when it goes right!

Regardless of qualification a big thing is confidence and getting on with people. I wish I'd been an electrician before going into engineering as I would be so much better at both of these now.

Best advice from my experience - after you've qualified - never go into teaching in a school or a FE college!!!!

I couldn't think of anything worse than going into teaching.

Seeing as you haven't ever been on the tools im surprised you went straight to being self employed, what sort of work you do? not find it labour intensive?

what makes you think that you would be better at both now if you had been on the tools first?

jaundiced! cant ever remember anyone using this word in a forum before

 

[binky]

Many engineering jobs involve a certain amount of hands-on work, and many have by necessity DIYed their own houses. In my case I completed a 4 year technician apprenticeship before going into the office, so returning to the tools wasn't that hard. It also has to be said engineers are by nature practically minded people with a strong urge to tinker! :^O

 

[Manator]

I love being on the tools, it what makes me happy. The other night I had to do some structural calculations for my employer, simply because he knew I could do them. I spent half the night going through pages and pages of calculations by hand.

When I finished a structural engineer friend of mine told me he just puts the data into a program and it spits out the data ready for building control!!

Where is the fun in that?

:slap

 

[binky]

done a few structural calcs myself lately - I like crunching numbers, keeps the brain working and provides a proper understanding of what you are doing. Chucking numbers into software is great, but suffers from NiNO - nonsense in = nonsense out

 

[Manator]

I like that, NiNO will be a new phrase of mine!!

 

[Sidewinder]

It used to be GIGO.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

 

[ashking]

Has anyone done open uni/distance learning?

 

[Sidewinder]

Yep, both.

 

[NozSpark]

Yes,, done some OU

 

[binky]

OU is brilliant - the study info is comprehensive, so it's probably the only stuff I can go back to and re-read.

 

[NozSpark]

Yeh but,,,,, when they say you need to spend x hours a week on study for a unit you can almost double it