Retraining as Electrician - EAL or C&G? Prospective employers opinion on course trained Electrician?

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JoshH94

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Hi all,
 

I'm thinking of retraining as an electrician, but I'm weighing up my options and need decent advice from experienced electricians.

Bit of background:

 1 - Just turned 27

 2 - Currently working as a chemical engineer - Only way to progress my career is to move country to country now.

 3 - Moving is not an option for me anymore - I have a family + a business that is established in my local area (Not something I can just up sticks and take).

 4 - Business is running fine without me, so I have way more time now - I wanted to try this before I pick up even more commitments.

 5 - Ultimately my aim is to open a second business, but I need the correct experience.

My plans:

Knowing something in theory is totally different to knowing it practically, so I would never 'just' do a course.

 1 - Study my Level 2 and 3, along the way volunteering and scraping together as much work as I possibly can in order to complete the NVQ and AM2.

 2 - Study my level 2, find work as an electricians mate (Or related) and then continue with the rest of my course before hitting the NVQ & AM2.

I'm weighing up courses with the following:

 1 - C&G

 2 - EAL

I'm probably too old for an apprenticeship, even if I do feel its the better route. Since my options are already limited, I need to be more picky.

Questions: Course trained electricians seem to get a bit of stick from people who favour an apprenticeship.  Opinions shouldn't matter, but that's stupid thinking as opinions always matter so I need to ask this anyway: 
 

1 - Of EAL and C&G, which one do you feel is superior content provider/held in higher esteem with employers?

2 - If you were a prospective employer and your only option was to hire a course trained electrician, would you lean towards an EAL or C&G trained electrician (Providing that they had achieved work experience sufficient to pass their NVQ etc)? 

In total, I'm looking at 2/3 years of course directed learning, but I'll be conservative and say I probably wouldn't be qualified for NVQ & AM2 until I'm in my early 30s say.  With that in mind, any direction and help would be really appreciated.

Cheers,

Josh



 

 
Personally I’d go with C&G courses as they were established first, so more widely recognised. 
what is the second business? Electrical contracting? 

 
Hi Sharpend, 

Thanks - If I were opening a second business it would most probably be something to do with domestic electrical installations - but no certainty as it would be years in the future from now and plans always change.  Ultimately, it depends 1 - my training/experience, and 2 - what developments there have been in industry (i.e. are renewables more common and more accessible to everyday people).  

Equally, much like everyone else, our long-term plan is to start getting hold of properties and doing them up - I've got a lot of builders/joiners/plumbers in my family so its plausible at least. No electricians though so it'd be great to be able to be fully qualified and do the work myself/ with employees. 

Cheers

 
Well I shall wish you the best.

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