Qualified without experience

[Tom Sherwood]

Evening guys, 

I’m after some advice. I’m looking at the possibility/feasibility of retraining as an electrician. I’m 28 with no trade experience, looking at a 16 week course partaking in a domestic electrician course followed by the C&G 2365 level 2&3 diploma. 
 

As you’d expect, it’s a huge financial commitment considering I’d have to leave my current job whilst paying a mortgage! Now don’t get me wrong, I am well aware you can have all the qualifications in the world but without real world experience you’re not a “ fully qualified spark”. 
 

What are my chances of finding employment towards the end of one of these courses? Hypothetically, would you take someone on with such little experience despite having “qualifications”? 
 

I’d be looking to do the level 3 NVQ whilst in the aforementioned employment, I’d be happy to self fund under the circumstances. 
 

Any tips and advice would be much appreciated and it’d be great to hear from anyone who has done something similar and missed the opportunity of an apprenticeship. 
 

Cheers

Tom

 

[Sharpend]

Where are you Tom? 

 

[Tom Sherwood]

Where are you Tom? 

York area 

 

[Sharpend]

What do you get for the 16week course? 

 

[Tom Sherwood]

What do you get for the 16week course? 

This is the link mate, better than me trying to explain it. 
 

https://www.tradeskills4u.co.uk/courses/2365-course 

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Evening guys, 

I’m after some advice. I’m looking at the possibility/feasibility of retraining as an electrician. I’m 28 with no trade experience, looking at a 16 week course partaking in a domestic electrician course followed by the C&G 2365 level 2&3 diploma. 
 

As you’d expect, it’s a huge financial commitment considering I’d have to leave my current job whilst paying a mortgage! Now don’t get me wrong, I am well aware you can have all the qualifications in the world but without real world experience you’re not a “ fully qualified spark”. 
 

What are my chances of finding employment towards the end of one of these courses? Hypothetically, would you take someone on with such little experience despite having “qualifications”? 
 

I’d be looking to do the level 3 NVQ whilst in the aforementioned employment, I’d be happy to self fund under the circumstances. 
 

Any tips and advice would be much appreciated and it’d be great to hear from anyone who has done something similar and missed the opportunity of an apprenticeship. 
 

Cheers

Tom

The simple blunt answer to your question I highlighted is...

It would be extremely  unlikely..

But you must also remember that 90%+ of the time it is who you know..  NOT what you know.. when looking for employment.

So in all sectors of industry people lacking experience can get their foot in the door then learn the ropes as they go along..

BUT..

If you don't have any contacts and have little or no experience..

Whilst not impossible..  it can be a very hard graft!!

"Short Courses" (e.g. 16wk), don't generally carry much merit within the industry as a whole..

as they omit several key factors that are taught on proper full time college courses.

They can end up being a very expensive way to purchase a bit of paper with negligible real industry value..

Remember short course training companies are businesses that are also trying to sell a product to make a profit..

So sometimes the fancy advertising blurb can be a bit economical with the truth!

If there are any local colleges offering evening courses..

these would normally be of far more value than a short course..

Guinness

 

[Sharpend]

That course appears quite comprehensive however it will be a lot of information to take in and more importantly retain. If we are to believe the spiel about most trainees obtaining work before the end of the course - a stretch to far as this suggests that it is really rather easy to find electrical jobs without any on site experience, which is fundamentally different to the workshop environment. 
I’m sure most on here and many other forums will tell you that non-experience with qualification gained in 16 weeks is not a first choice for most electricians, you may find have a chance with some of the larger companies that employ almost anything or body that offers arms and legs to use. :C  

I would personally look at the college route as it will allow you to continue working and give you time to absorb the information you learn, may take a little longer but you will be a better rounded spark at the end of it. Some of the 25+ year olds that I work alongside are doing a course very similar to this and think they are the bees knees, personally I’d give them the unistrut and tell them to build a bike for the ride home. Useless doesn’t come close. 

 

[GazzaD]

Hi Tom (and everyone else), 

I'm 37 and considering the same thing. Mechanical Engineer by trade and I've done several City & Guilds qualifications over the 20 years since leaving school but that was always in conjunction with my employment (and daily practical experience). My role has changed over the years and as I approach 40 I thinks it's time for a change. 

I enjoy learning new things and I'm fairly confident with the academic side of things. However, my concern mirrors yours and that is the lack of practical experience. I can see a consumer unit on a wooden board in a training centre showing the principal and enabling a practical insight of wiring a ring main & lighting radial etc. But it's a world apart from what sparkies see on site, fault finding and even simple things like routing cable(s) I'd imagine is pretty daunting at first.

Fair play to anyone who wants to re-train and further educate. I'm giving it a long hard think, from what I can see the college evening course is a more cost effective slower paced learning environment. Theres definitely a limit to the amount of information can be absorbed. 

Good luck, who know we might both be in the game in 3 years or so!

 

[Evans Electric]

Tom  & GazzaD   ... think carefully before spending hard earned cash on "Short Domestic Courses "   . If you are  committed to re-training  then go the college route  & make sure they put you on the correct courses.   

As Specs says above ,  getting  employment is more down to who you know not what you know , these days .      

If you did the "Short Course"   and  knew someone in the house bashing  sector who was willing to take you on ..albeit "Still learning "   then that would be great for you .  

I promise you  there is no alternative to learning "Hands On"  .    

 

[phil d]

Don't waste your money on a short course, you may as well spend it on beer or ****, our industry is becoming more complex by the month and experience is the key to surviving in it, I am from an era when a spark  not only wired a building but also installed such things as fire alarms, emergency lighting, cctv, telephone systems, even aerials, most of this is now classed as 'speciality' work.

Recently I was discussing a job with a spark of about my age and to be honest I think he was one of these short course people, while discussing a fault he seemed to lack what I would call 'basic fault finding skills' and when I asked him what his supply voltage was he replied "oh it's 230 volts", that to me rang alarm bells. Most of us on here will have never seen a 230v supply, they don't generally exist, it's always around the 240/250 mark.

He went back to his site and rang me later to talk him through testing the machine, he hadn't a clue, he has somehow managed to get a maintenance contract for a large nursing home and is clearly out of his depth. He even had the cheek to ask me if I would carry out the repair, for a small fee, and then he could charge the client a large amount, in fact, he suggested, perhaps he could contact me for advise on a regular basis, as he frequently struggled! Not a chance, there is no way I am doing all the work and letting him make all the money.

There are literally thousands of people out there who are either chasing a dream, or have been sold a dream that has turned into a nightmare, we've all seen the adverts, 'earn 50K a year as an electrician', they spend their hard earned cash on a short course and then find they are just one of a large number of people who have done the same thing.

The problem then arises when people find that there isn't a lot of money out there just waiting to be picked up, some of them will then blindly wander into the commercial or industrial sectors, having no experience of this work it usually ends badly, there is a good reason that a limited number of electricians earn high wages, it's their experience. When I was learning the trade many years ago, an old spark said to me, "any fool can wire something, it's when it doesn't work or goes faulty that the real men turn up" and I have to agree with him.

I'm not trying to put you off, but what I will say is this, and I'm sure that a lot of the older guys will agree with me, these days there are far easier ways to earn a living and not be mired in the ever increasing and ever changing regs that we have to put up with. Look at equipment for example, you'll need a tester, this will set you back at least £500, then it needs calibrating anually, then you have other tools, plus regs books, and their frequent ammendments and on we go. Realistically you could do your course and then end up spending the thick end of £3k on the basics, just to get you going.

As an older spark I think we had the best times, things have got to a stage now where the industry seems to be run by people with more of an interest in making money rather than actually being interested in safety.