Electricians Course

[Rusty]

Hi All , My Son is about to sign up for a twelve week Electricians course at Filton College in Bristol , once completed he can sign up for the next level and another twelve week course , eventually becoming a fully qualified Electrician , anyone got any experience with these courses or any thoughts on the current ( no pun intended ) work situation for Electricians ?

 

[gavuk]

Mate of mine ,Bath ,Chippenham area,has recently not worked for 3 weeks due to lack of work,as a domestic (part p)sparky ....is it domestic he wants to study towards?......or industrial control etc .....still think it would be worth doing the course.....i have just done a course on industrial control for fitters as everyone local is asking for dual training ........just my thoughts ,hope it helps...Gav

 

[bill_gj]

My son is C&G2331, Parts 1, 2 and 3 and also has an Advanced GNVQ in Engineering and has just started a new job after nearly 4 months out of work.

He was working for a company generating electricity from land fill gas but had a bit of a disagreement over the way the site was run and some of the H&S practices.

If you want an opinion, the best option, if you can find it, is to get employed by some company that is at least trying to make it look like they're running an 'apprenticeship' rather than just getting cheap labour and letting the lad go to college one day a week.
I helped my sone to fund his courses over three years while he worked as a labourer, then electrician's mate and now as an electrician, or electrical engineer when he can get the work.

Trouble is, there's not many permanent jobs for electricians, or so it seems. There's still a lot of companies employing unqualified or at best qualified eastern europeans at low rates and really aren't bothered to have C&G electrical types thet need a higher wage.

So - be careful

 

[TechnicAl]

My youngest son aged 22 was made redundant last November. He has since applied for over 100 jobs. He has had 1 interview but no job.

He is an ONC qualified electrician,hes got all the safety papers etc, done a proper apprenticeship with a big firm but he only has a few years experience.

There are more experienced Electricians out there.

Sorry for the doom and gloom but it is hard out there at the moment.

 

[bill_gj]

I think it's an indictment of how far down the drain we are sliding when there seems to be no real/proper/official training for people in true skills.

All the BS the government pumps out regarding 'apprenticeships' makes me sick.
For 'apprenticship' read: answering phones, customer assistance, office clerk.
There's very, very little in the way of real training. You have to strike lucky.

There's also just about nil support for real retraining for adults. Those adverts on the TV where some chap suddenly becomes a fashion photographer and a builder's labourer transforms into a network technician are a real joke. Obviously sponsored and made by jokers with a thin grasp on realities.

Having a rant - sorry.

 

[Rusty]

Thanks for your input guys , Gav, yes Domestic , my Son is 31 and is a fully qualified Motor Technician NVQ level 3 but has had enough of the trade , he signed up today for the first twelve week course and is already getting stuck into the course info they gave him , some friends of mine who used to be in the Motor trade left and became Plumbers and seem to be doing OK at the mo but I think Electrics is a bit more specialized than Plumbing as most Handy Persons could have a go at Plumbing but perhaps not so many would attempt Electrics.

 

[Skinner]

Hi thought id post a reply as im a young electrician, I left school went to one college for nearly two years then realised the course was rubbish in what qualifications it would have given me so i got an apprenticeship and got on another course at a college that was about 50 odd miles from where i lived to get the all important NVQ 3.

So after another 3 years of courses and waiting for people to sort out paperwork and certificates i enventually got a City & Guilds level 3 qualification and an NVQ 3 as well as completing a proper apprenticeship scheme.

I would advise the apprenticeship route to make a better electrician but it does take longer BUT... looking back now i have worked with soo many quick qualified electricians who dont really know what they are doing but still get the same money but they gain experiance quicker and get that all important big wage packet.

Now time has passed i have been to Australia and returned to find i need the 17th edition update course and i cant get a job because of that plus there isn't many jobs about.

So in the case of your son i would say do a short course that has a requirements for electrical installation certificate at the end, (could be C&G2381) then do the C&G2391/ 2392 as a separate short course this would definatly help getting a job.

Being an electrician in good times is great, really good money and interesting work and as im finding out very bad when times are hard.

If you need to know anything else or a bit more info just ask
good luck