For many people, an interesting and varied choice often means a career within the electrical industry. Within this document we will not use the full term of Electro-Mechanical Engineering but use the term Electrical Industry instead. Also, for ease we will concentrate on those principles that sit within the domestic and commercial markets for the UK. Because of the vast number of options available for a career within the electrical industry, we’ll start by concentrating on the main topics, and come back to the ‘add-ons’ later.

Basically there are two clear ways to gain admission into the electrical market. To being with we have the older apprentice course and then secondly we have the option for those who wish to make a career change to join the industry. To begin with we have the ‘Junior Entrants’ and then we have the ‘Mature Entrants’.

Many Mature Entrants enter the market so they don’t have to rely on others, especially when they can work on their own building ideas and not have to pay for anyone else to help them. By contrast, Junior entrants would seek to work with an established electrical firm and build their skill-sets as they train. During their first years in the working environment, a young apprentice, or junior entrant, will have a host of additional skills to learn.

The different ways into electrical work have two distinct types of training: Junior entrants go through NVQ training in England and Wales, and SVQ training in Scotland. The training itself is similar to non NVQ training, but completion of the full programme means getting the actual qualifications. ‘Junior Entrants’ will have to be in an apprenticeship of some sort in order to achieve the testing and course work required.

Instead of seeking a work-based training environment, the Mature Entrant often seems to focus on working as a self employed person where different qualifications to NVQ’s are preferred. In the main the person will aim to gain the best from their investment costs against the return for that training. This method may appear to reduce the levels of knowledge overall, but it does allow for an increase in the speed by which people enter and become more prevalent within the market.

We should differentiate the prospective earnings into the two categories of employed and self-employed. 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. The aptitude and talent for getting things done can affect the levels of salary as well as any experience or knowledge gained.

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. Mature Entrants are more difficult to assess, and incomes up to and above 70k are regularly reported within the UK Press. Irrespective of this salary level many self-employed people also need to manage extra business costs such as tools, clothes and vans. In addition to this they will also have to allow for items such as accountancy and personal/professional insurance. Whilst there is lots of available work, a severe skills shortage means electricians are very much in demand. Working 7 days a week is totally achievable for most people if they want it. Although by working very long hours and having assistants to help, the figures of 70-100 thousand advertised in newspapers might be achieved, it wouldn’t be easy.

In light of the above, it is often understood that there is wild variance between the working expectations of Junior and Mature Entrants. Electricians who are ‘Junior Entrants’ would work a simple 40 hour working week. 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. With many self-employed electricians the core of their income comes from items such as business testing and installation and as such operates during the main part of the week.

If a Junior Electrician chooses an electrical career, then the main business actions of their company often dictate the type of expertise that they gain. But by securing work within the fields of gas or plumbing many mature entrants can gain knowledge outside of their chosen path. 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 up to the minute angle – involving a new level of skills – is that of the so called ‘Green Engineer’. The chance to win some big employment and business advantages within the governmental as well as the traditional growth sector means that this area could be attractive to both Junior and Mature Entrants alike.

(C) 2009 S. Edwards. Look at Electrician Qualifications or 2392 Courses.

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