If you live in the UK and you are searching for your new trade, there are set routes you can take to begin learning your new career. If you are willing to work hard and take the relevant tests, becoming an electrician is a great way to work towards self-employment or your larger career goals. First comes electrician, then comes electrical engineer, and before you know it, you are designing the components that make the newest sports car purr like a kitten.
How do you find your way into the business? You follow our fantastic advice, of course.
How to Become an Electrician in the UK
There are different paths you can take. These different paths all involve study but may change depending upon what age you are. Alternative trades with a similar career progression path include locksmiths, gas technicians, and construction workers. Let’s take a closer look.
Taking an Apprenticeship
Traders near you are always looking for cheap help to give them an extra pair of hands around the site. Yes, you will get paid far less than a full time, full experience electrician, but an apprenticeship is the best route into finding those electrician jobs when the time comes. Everyone has to start somewhere and this method is best for those who are young enough to still live with their parents.
The hardest part of this method of finding work as an electrician is finding the patience to stick it out. You may end up in a large corporation and hate the workload or the expectations. That same student might team up with a small local business and love the job. Don’t give up because you had a bad placement. Stick it out and it will pay off down the line.
How long will an apprenticeship as an electrician take?
This method of entering the electrician trade takes between 3 and 4 years. It brings you up from a minimal education to learning the full trade. You will have most practical experience this way.
Electrician’s Assistant
If you are slightly older, still eager to learn, and want to enter the career path a similar way, then try to find a job as an electrician’s assistant. The chances are that you already know someone who’d be willing to take you on at a minimum rate. Again, you won’t make much at first, but think of the extra hours as an investment in your future. You should have a high school qualification in subjects like maths, English, and perhaps science to do this. You also have to enlist in a college course which you take alongside your practical learning.
Going to College
College will teach you the paperwork components before the practical experience. You will cover a level 2 and 3 diploma, learn about electrical systems used in the UK, and eventually complete your NVQ. The NVQ can take 1-2 years but you will finish it out in the working world.
How long will going to college to train as an electrician take?
If you condense all that learning into one course, college study puts all the paper learning first. This lets you out of school early to complete the practical parts of the job while you are out working as an electrician. This method takes between 2 and 3 years.
Apply for a Course this Semester.
Applying for a college course or an apprenticeship is the first step. Find out about local firms and contact them to see if they will help you along. Learn a trade today and you will never be out of work.
