Older trainees entering the trade.

[Evans Electric]

We've had quite a lot of guys from various employments,   come on here asking for advice  etc. on becoming an electrician ,  not apprentices but older guys wanting a trade  . 

Just seems we never hear of any again after that initial exchange of posts.   Or have I missed someone? 

 

[Blue Duck]

Probably realised there's no money in it and it's a **** load of hard work.

Working with an adult apprentice at the moment, he's from Holland and is very good at his job but has to jump through hoops for the the JTL, JIB etc.

So you must be very dedicated.

 

[Evans Electric]

It must be extremely difficult these  days for someone older .

Untrained blokes used to enter the trade as electricians years back  .   A  firm doing a big project would have non -time served men  installing  miles of trunking or tray  and to satisfy the union   (closed shops)  they were given Skilled union cards .  

Two years later , say , project finished , many  moved to other projects bearing their Skilled cards ,   then JIB grading came in and they became Electrician Grade. .  

 

[binky]

they think we earn a fortune and are thick tradesmen so anyone can do it!!! Then they get to work out the money isn't that good, and you need a lot of training, so probably shuffle off to build websites or do internet marketing or something..

It also has to be said, no one can be arsed to employ these people, they want adult wages as basically, an apprentice. On top of that is all the employment legislation lettuced we have to follow, like pensions, CIS  etc etc, so who would want an adult...

 

[Tony S]

Many moons ago I had a new electricians mate. He had been a fitter’s mate on another of our sites, he was 25 years older than me.

He took to the job straight away and would take on jobs himself to the point that I as a EETPU shop steward I asked about getting him made up to tradesman’s rates.

It seemed “Der Management” also had the same idea, one of the few times we agreed.

The company vetoed the idea because it would set a president.

 

[phil d]

they think we earn a fortune and are thick tradesmen so anyone can do it!!! Then they get to work out the money isn't that good, and you need a lot of training, so probably shuffle off to build websites or do internet marketing or something..

It also has to be said, no one can be arsed to employ these people, they want adult wages as basically, an apprentice. On top of that is all the employment legislation lettuced we have to follow, like pensions, CIS  etc etc, so who would want an adult...

Someone asked me the other day if I had my time over again and knowing what I know now if I'd still go into the trade, sadly I had to say no. It's been interesting at times, bloody awful at other times, I've been to some interesting places, seen things a lot of people haven't seen, and met some great people, but, looking at the way the industry is going there's no way I'd do it again, it's become stupid now.

When I first came into the game an electrician was an electrician, you did your training and could end up working on anything, a house, a factory, a hospital, you did general wiring, fire alarms, intruder alarms, all sorts of stuff, and you got on with it. Now you have industrial electricians, domestic electricians, virtually everything is classed as a speciality and you need to do a course, and have a certificate, which you only get after spending a load of cash. The regs change every five minutes, health and safety has gone stupid and everybody is ready to make a claim off you.

It's a sad state of affairs but you can earn far more money, far easier and with a lot less hassle working nine to five. I have a friend and I went to his house to install the supply for a jacuzzi he was having in the garden, he said he'd fancied being a spark when he was younger but couldn't get on anywhere, so, he'd ended up working in a solicitors office. He works from home 3 days a week, doesn't have to buy any tools or anything, doesn't work weekends, if he does he's on megabucks. I asked him how much he earns per year and it's about £40K, plus bonuses, he goes to work in a shirt and trousers and comes home clean, nobody rings him up at daft o'clock at night with some stupid question, or wants him to come and work outside when it's freezing cold, or peeing it down, and he gets about  6 weeks paid holiday a year, plus a company pension. I told him he'd be mad to want to do my job when he's got all that.

 

[Evans Electric]

When I first came into the game an electrician was an electrician, you did your training and could end up working on anything, a house, a factory, a hospital, you did general wiring, fire alarms, intruder alarms, all sorts of stuff, and you got on with it. Now you have industrial electricians, domestic electricians, virtually everything is classed as a speciality and you need to do a course, and have a certificate, which you only get after spending a load of cash. The regs change every five minutes, health and safety has gone stupid and everybody is ready to make a claim off you.

Sadly how true this is .   

We always did fire alarms  , now insurance companies demand "Specialist"  installers. 

Same thing with intruder alarms  other than basic domestic systems . 

And I'd say of the other customers who use my wholesalers .. 98%   wouldn't know how to check  out a basic 3 ph motor , let alone  remove it etc.

I'd also guess 99%   wouldn't know how to make a  pyro end off .   

 

[phil d]

Sadly how true this is .   

We always did fire alarms  , now insurance companies demand "Specialist"  installers. 

Same thing with intruder alarms  other than basic domestic systems . 

And I'd say of the other customers who use my wholesalers .. 98%   wouldn't know how to check  out a basic 3 ph motor , let alone  remove it etc.

I'd also guess 99%   wouldn't know how to make a  pyro end off .   

Ah yes pyro, I was in a wholesalers one Friday afternoon about half four and got talking to this other spark, I think he was a little younger than me but not much. Anyway his phone rang and it was his boss wanting him to go to Manchester and make off a pyro end that had been damaged, he came off the phone very annoyed. Apparently there were fifteen sparks working for the firm and 5 of them were already on site, but none of them knew how to do a pyro end! He said he was the oldest one there by a long way and was getting fed up with having to go all over the place just because other people didn't know how to do something.

Last year at one of the Elex shows I was chatting to a guy on a stand, he had loads of pyro stuff and I asked him what the company did, they ran courses teaching electricians how to work with pyro, Imagine that back in our day, no electrician worth his salt would say he couldn't work with the stuff. 

 

[rapparee]

We did it once in the training centre. During my apprenticeship.

Never touched the stuff again.

But I'm sure if I had to 12 years later, I could soon pick it up. I'd have to use have a few trial runs first. 

I wouldn't like to go straight in with no kissing.