Michael Marcello

Due to the exciting choices available, the electrical industry offers jobs that many people choose. For simplicity’s sake we will use the phrase Electrical Industry to cover off the more accurate term of “Electro-Mechanical Engineering”. As there are a wide variety of global standards, we will focus on those from the UK and in particular those relating to the domestic and commercial markets. Due to the huge list of opportunities available for a career in the electrical industry, we have to begin by focusing on the main areas and look at the ‘add-ons’ later on.

We consider that there are two ways to enter the electrical market. Initially there’s the more traditional apprenticeship approach, but equally there is now an alternative, suited to those who are keen to enter later in their life. To begin with we have the ‘Junior Entrants’ and then we have the ‘Mature Entrants’.

People who do not want to pay any extra salaries, but want to enter the industry with the focus of being self employed are who we refer to as Mature Entrants. By contrast, Junior entrants would seek to work with an established electrical firm and build their skill-sets as they train. This could be a young apprentice’s first position since leaving school, so it will be necessary to pick up supplementary working skills.

Clearly these two options have both differing training styles and methods of entry. Junior Entrants are heavily linked with NVQ’s (or the Scottish equivalent – SVQ’s.) The training itself is similar to non NVQ training, but completion of the full programme means getting the actual qualifications. As a result students often have to find their own work programmes to give them the relevant testing and course work covered by most apprenticeships.

By working independently and without the need for NVQ assessments, many Mature Entrants can concentrate on those areas that provide the biggest profit and offer the largest practical solutions for themselves. For example by concentrating on those qualifications aimed at giving them the best return from their training costs. This system does meet the purposes set out and therefore often provides a faster and more direct route into a trading position.

Salaries are often simply broken down to those that relate to self -employed people and those in general employment. With self-employment a person may be working on a part-time or full time basis -to that end we will assume they are working full time. Skill and knowledge levels can often determine salary levels, although this is equally via a proven ability or certification scheme.

Wages for ‘Junior Entrants’ can become as high as 30,000 or more per annum with the right experience, although starting salaries are around 12,000. On the other hand experienced self-employed electricians have been known to earn around 70 thousand or more within the UK. That aside, many added costs need to be remembered by self employed people in order to make their business work. Self employed people also have to allow for added expenses. In the UK there is a lot of work for electrical professions due to a short fall of current skilled people. In light of the above, a full seven day week is available to most people should they want it. Whilst figures of seventy to a hundred thousand are often bandied around in the press, they do not often inform you of the long hours you would need to work to achieve this.

For the most part there is a strong difference between the Junior and Mature Entrants’ working week. Most ‘Junior Entrants’ do not work at the weekends. To be fair, if the Mature electrician is focused on the domestic market then they often find themselves working out of hours, especially to support their clients when they get home. And yet, a huge number of self-employed electricians operate during the main part of the working week by focusing on office and small business systems.

Once a Junior Entrant is employed within a company, then any follow-on knowledge they gain is often down to the employers’ activity as opposed to anything else. Then again, the mature entrant can even go outside of the electrical field to gas work or plumbing work for example. Certainly if they are employed within the domestic sector this makes it easier to take on work without having to rely upon other people.

An area that is relatively new to the industry overall, yet requires new expertise is that of ‘Green Engineering’. Looking together to the UK and the EEC this activity could be of benefit to both Junior and Mature Entrants, providing new growth and opportunities to both disciplines.

(C) 2009 – S. Edwards. Try City and Guilds Electrical Courses or www.NewCareersInformation.co.uk/nnci.html.