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Due to the exciting choices available, the electrical industry offers jobs that many people choose. Whilst the original term is ‘Electro-Mechanical Engineering’ we will simply refer to the subject as the Electrical Industry. Equally we’ll focus on those credentials that fit the UK domestic and commercial sector rather than those from around the world. 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.

We consider that there are two ways to enter the electrical market. Whilst many candidates opt to join later on in their life, there still exists the more traditional route of the apprenticeship. To begin with we have the ‘Junior Entrants’ and then we have the ‘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. After they leave school a young apprentice will have many skills to learn during their first few years of working life.

Clearly these two options have both differing training styles and methods of entry. In essence, the Junior Entrants follow an NVQ syllabus, or SVQ syllabus in Scotland. The core syllabus is similar to non NVQ commercial training, but the certification is compulsory. This requires being in a directly-related work program or apprenticeship of some type, so as to meet the testing and course-work requirements.

Many mature students gain entry into the market without the NVQ element, and simply choose the most commercially practical route to self employed work. 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.

Between self-employment and general employment we have two routes to consider in terms of typical income. Whilst we will focus on full time employment, there exists the issue as to whether self-employed people are doing this full time or part time. Income levels are also dictated by experience and knowledge gained – usually proven via an accredited proficiency or certification level.

Although starting wages for ‘Junior Entrants’ are around 13k p.a. they can rise above 30k p.a. but this does depend on their level of experience. However, with incomes of 70,000 or more a year, a ‘Mature Entrants’ salary can often be more difficult to judge. Irrespective of this salary level many self-employed people also need to manage extra business costs such as tools, clothes and vans. Earmarked within this is the need to cover additional expenses such as accountancy or insurance. However, the driving force remains the UK skills shortage and this means that there’s a load of work available. Therefore, working seven days a week (if a student wanted) is a possibility for most. To be fair, high salaries bounded about by the press do require long working hours or help to achieve them.

To be fair, most Junior and Mature electricians experience very different working hours to each other. Monday to Friday 9-5 would be the working week of most ‘Junior Entrants’. But due to the needs of the domestic market the Mature Entrant is often more reliant upon when their client base gets back from work. 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. Whereas the mature entrant can gain knowledge from any trade source – even one outside of the core of electrical work. This gives them the chance to complete work for domestic clients without having to sub contract jobs out every time.

One fresh approach is that of the ‘Green Engineer’. The curiosity of both Junior and Mature Electricians to this new industry is well founded especially when considering the power of the UK and the EEC markets in areas of growth and governmental projects.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Hop over to www.OnlineCareerAdvice.co.uk/goncaad.html or Electrical NVQ.