Insights On Part P Electrical
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.
On consideration, we observe two forms of access into the electrical market. Along with apprenticeships for school leavers, students entering the field at a later phase in their life now have an alternative to more traditional amateur routes. For the sake of clarity throughout, the first will be known as ‘Junior Entrants’ and the second simply known as ‘Mature Entrants.’
Primarily, those who join the industry later on, (the Mature Entrants,) generally do so with the aim of becoming self-employed at some point, or to work on their own building projects etc. without having to pay wages to external electricians. On the other hand, to gain further credentials and experience ‘Junior Entrants’ tend to work for a recognised electrical firm. To be fair, young apprentices leaving school will have a lot of supplementary skills to learn during their early years as a working adult.
The two different ways into the industry have two separate methods of preparation. In essence, the Junior Entrants follow an NVQ syllabus, or SVQ syllabus in Scotland. As part of the training program an NVQ would be a requirement to attain. This means that work programs or apprenticeships have to be sought in order to arrange the necessary course work and testing phases of work.
By opting to work on a freelance basis, many Mature Entrants appear to focus on those areas that provide profitable and practical solutions other than NVQ’s. Such as obtaining documentation that gives them the best chance to gain from their training endeavours and thereby the best financial rewards. This method allows for a quicker route to the market and does meet the necessary trading elements for the areas concerned despite reducing the overall qualification set.
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.
Basic salary for Junior Entrants can start at around 12 thousand per annum, often going above 35 thousand after several years in industry. On the other hand experienced self-employed electricians have been known to earn around 70 thousand or more within the UK. However, it should be borne in mind that a self-employed person must meet their own costs for tools, clothes and vehicles (including insurance and petrol.) Self employed people also have to allow for added expenses. With the current skills shortage in the UK, there is a high work load demand available. In light of the above, a full seven day week is available to most people should they want it. To be fair, high salaries bounded about by the press do require long working hours or help to achieve them.
It should be noted that the working week for most electricians differs between the Junior and Mature Entrant markets. Most of the work for Junior Entrant electricians will be on a simple 9-5, Monday to Friday basis. The Mature market is however often reliant as to when their client base is available, especially in the domestic sector. 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.
Any specialist knowledge the Junior Entrant gains whilst in someone’s employ is usually down to the sectors of industry that company works in. Alternatively, the mature entrant can gain other training outside of their chosen field, such as gas and plumbing work. Without a doubt the extra skills help them in their overall employ whether this is commercial or domestic work.
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.
Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Go to 2392 Courses or www.NewCareerCourses.co.uk/incc.html.