Electrician at a crossroads
Discussion
Hi All!
Bit of background info, 23 year old male, living at home with parents, qualified electrician for the last 4 years.
Currently employed by a nationwide property services company, the money is good (but varies hugely due to price work and inconsistent levels of work), am thoroughly done with the work that I am currently doing for several reasons; 100 mile a day round commute, annual wage has gone down every year for the last 3 years, working in council houses breeds an environment of zero pride in standards and emphasis on how long a job takes, undervalued etc.
Ideally I am looking to move sideways to something a little more intellectually challenging. I half-regret not taking the A Levels>Uni>Engineering route but at this point I have been earning too much to realistically be satisfied with going back into full time education for 3,4,5+ years. The way I'm seeing things at the moment I suppose I have 4 choices in what to do next.
1. Go self employed as an Electrician
2. Take a trainee job doing something such as Electrical Design, Renewable Energy Engineer etc.
3. Look for another job as a spark
4. Stay put until 1,2 or 3 get's forced upon me
Ideally I'd like to take a trainee job doing something more Engineering based than a domestic electrician but the places I have looked all seem to demand a degree (apparently it is irrelevant what the degree is in, you just need to be a graduate of some description) or a HNC/D in electrical engineering etc. I am confident in my knowledge of electrical principles but it seems a struggle to actually get in front of someone to have half a chance of persuading them. It also doesn't help that I seem to have missed all the large companies engineer training programs that all appear to have deadlined in September.
Sorry for rambling! Anyway, any input from a more mature audience is much appreciated and if anyone has ideas of companies that are willing to take on ex-tradesmen and train them for wind turbine/high voltage/linesman/cable jointing etc. I am all ears!
Thanks in advance.
Bit of background info, 23 year old male, living at home with parents, qualified electrician for the last 4 years.
Currently employed by a nationwide property services company, the money is good (but varies hugely due to price work and inconsistent levels of work), am thoroughly done with the work that I am currently doing for several reasons; 100 mile a day round commute, annual wage has gone down every year for the last 3 years, working in council houses breeds an environment of zero pride in standards and emphasis on how long a job takes, undervalued etc.
Ideally I am looking to move sideways to something a little more intellectually challenging. I half-regret not taking the A Levels>Uni>Engineering route but at this point I have been earning too much to realistically be satisfied with going back into full time education for 3,4,5+ years. The way I'm seeing things at the moment I suppose I have 4 choices in what to do next.
1. Go self employed as an Electrician
2. Take a trainee job doing something such as Electrical Design, Renewable Energy Engineer etc.
3. Look for another job as a spark
4. Stay put until 1,2 or 3 get's forced upon me
Ideally I'd like to take a trainee job doing something more Engineering based than a domestic electrician but the places I have looked all seem to demand a degree (apparently it is irrelevant what the degree is in, you just need to be a graduate of some description) or a HNC/D in electrical engineering etc. I am confident in my knowledge of electrical principles but it seems a struggle to actually get in front of someone to have half a chance of persuading them. It also doesn't help that I seem to have missed all the large companies engineer training programs that all appear to have deadlined in September.
Sorry for rambling! Anyway, any input from a more mature audience is much appreciated and if anyone has ideas of companies that are willing to take on ex-tradesmen and train them for wind turbine/high voltage/linesman/cable jointing etc. I am all ears!
Thanks in advance.
Whilst you are still living at home with your parents, no mortgage to worry about paying. Take the leap and go self employed...the experience and skills that you will get from that alone will give you more experience and exposure than anything else.
If it all goes well then brilliant, if it doesn't work out for you then 1. You would have learnt a lot along the way, and 2. You won't spend the rest of your life saying "What if I had gone self employed"
If it all goes well then brilliant, if it doesn't work out for you then 1. You would have learnt a lot along the way, and 2. You won't spend the rest of your life saying "What if I had gone self employed"
edc said:
What about moving towards fire alarm / security alarm/system installation/service. In a previous role we used to hire a reasonable amount of people from your background.
The work is there but from the positions I have seen advertised it would be somewhat of a pay cut and not really much more interesting. Apart from BMS work, which isn't easy to just walk into. As others have said, go contracting and aim for the more industrial side of things. If / when you start building a good reputation and gain more experience, opportunities will come your way which will allow you to either go towards offshore work or progress into the commissioning of industrial systems. Experience will go a long way in helping you into other jobs / fields.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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