Newbie Intro

[Pops]

Morning everyone

Newbie to this forum and also a newbie to the world of Sparkies.

I’m from a Policing background (OK don’t all shout at once) and am due to start my training as a sparkie in February 2022.

I’m well into my 50’s so will undoubtedly be the old fart on the course 

Hoping to gain a bit of an insight into this new world prior to my starting so will be joining in with the forum on a regular basis.

I’m also a keen motorcyclist (BMW R1200 gs) and not so keen grandfather to 3 grandbrats.  :signthankspin:

 

[Geoff1946]

Hello and stick around. There are people on here who can offer you advice on which courses are money well spent and which are just burning fivers. 

 

[Pops]

Thanks Geoff, I certainly don’t like the idea of burning fivers 

 

[binky]

:Welcome:    and good luck with the garnd brats  :^O

 

[Sharpend]

Hi Pops, what course are you due to start? 
 

oh and I guess you know why they are called grand kids? 
 

cos they cost you a grand every time you see them! 

 

[Pops]

Hi Pops, what course are you due to start? 
 

oh and I guess you know why they are called grand kids? 
 

cos they cost you a grand every time you see them! 
 

its not so much what they cost but how they knacker you out 

I’m doing the level 2 and level 3 City and Guilds Diplomas followed by the level 3 NVQ

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Welcome  to the forum...

Do you have any contacts or other friends or family who are already in the trade?

As having a convenient access to get hands-on experience, to complement the theory from the courses you do, is as important as the qualifications themselves...

( bit like learning the highway code inside out and passing the theory test, isn't much use without the actual driving lessons ).

We hear too frequently on here of people who have done loads of courses...

but cannot get any practical hands-on work..

and end up struggling to progress past doing courses.

Guinness  

 

[Pops]

Hi SL

Thanks for the welcome.

Unfortunately I don’t have anyone I know who is already involved in the trade so I had planned to sign on with some agencies and try to find work through them to gain experience and have my work place assessments done for the NVQ.

I’m based in West Norfolk so any offers of work with an experienced electrician would be gratefully received.

I should finish my City and Guilds courses at the end of July 2022.

 

[binky]

Have you thought of going into CCTV or burglar alarms - kind of fits with the police background. 

 

[Pops]

CCTV and burglar alarms are maybe a bit too limited, and to be honest I want to get away from Police type stuff after 37 years doing it.

 

[Geoff1946]

I was about to suggest the same as Binky. Don't dismiss the idea too quickly.

At your age a lot of sparks are getting tired of house bashing, which is damned hard work, or if industrial tired of hauling coils of SWA about. 

There is also a lot of technical stuff to take on board, a lot of investment in test gear and a lot of practical skills to learn before you can become competent, especially at fault finding.

Your background would give you an enhanced chance of interview with a security equipment company  and a good introduction at the customer interface without tying you back to your old type of responsibilities.  

I'm sure there must be training courses on alarms and CCTV systems but I doubt they are anything like as difficult as full electrician training. There is nothing like the complexity involved and the installation work is a lot lighter and more straightforward. It is still a specialised field which is probably reasonably paid. (I don't know  about the pay really but it's worth looking).

Good luck to you whatever path you choose.

 

[Pops]

Thanks Geoff and Binky, I’ll certainly consider it.

 

[binky]

Thanks Geoff and Binky, I’ll certainly consider it.

 The nice thing is you only need know how to fit a fused spur on the electrical side. Training courses are usually free from suppliers, and as Geoff has pointed out, the work is a lot lighter, albeit ladders will be involved quite a lot. What you will need is some reasonable abluities with smart phone apps and internet portals, as just about everything is linke on linked these days. It pays similar, if not better money than sparkying as it seen as a 'specialist' field. 

 

[binky]

 The nice thing is you only need know how to fit a fused spur on the electrical side. Training courses are usually free from suppliers, and as Geoff has pointed out, the work is a lot lighter, albeit ladders will be involved quite a lot. What you will need is some reasonable abilities with smart phone apps and internet portals, as just about everything is linked to these, these days. It pays similar, if not better money than sparkying as it seen as a 'specialist' field. 

How come the edit function times out? Not good when you have dyslexic fingers like me  :^O

 

[Pops]

I’ve obviously got inbuilt dyslexic dictionary, it made perfect sense to me