Qualifications Needed

[AuxDIYer]

Can I ask all you qualified sparky's what qualifications I should be looking to get if I want to become an Electrician.....I am lookin for a career change and am very interested in this field.

Any positive advise would be welcomed

 

[il78]

City & Guilds 2360 parts 1 & 2, City & Guilds 2381 (16th Ed), City & Guilds 2391 (Inspection & Testing)

 

[JackTheCat]

Talking about qualifications, in the electrical installation/inspection world, does a hnc in electrical/electronic engineering count for anything?

I havent got one, but been looking at the local college website and im still in 2 minds?

 

[dingbat]

Talking about qualifications, in the electrical installation/inspection world, does a hnc in electrical/electronic engineering count for anything?

Nope.

 

[SparkyUK]

I have done the City & Guilds 2360 parts 1 & 2.
This course is no longer available. The replacement course is C&G 2330. the new course is more practically based.

 

[lizzieg]

my goodness sparky, if the 2330 is more "practically" based..... I hate to think what it was like before,

it seems like a never ending list of formulas to learn...LOL

 

[Bright_Spark]

my goodness sparky, if the 2330 is more "practically" based..... I hate to think what it was like before,

it seems like a never ending list of formulas to learn...LOL

i'll second that...the 2330 is all about maths !!! formula after formula after formula....there is a certain ammount of hands on and im lead to beleive that the 2360 had several practical assignments that were done in 'exam conditions' in order to pass, whereas the 2330 has a 'workbook' where you can get help off teachers etc and only has one major practical assignment and another set of small assignments which from what i can gather thus far is going to be about how well u can use ur test meter !

 

[dingbat]

i'll second that...the 2330 is all about maths !!!

No it's not. It's about electrical theory and requires only a moderate level of numeracy, really.

formula after formula after formula....

But most of the formulae are of the same level and form. You'll understand more if you can grasp the mathematical relationships, rather than just try and learn every formula by rote.

 

[plugwash]

lemme guess its dumbed down in the same way as A level electronics? Lots of forumulas that only require GCSE level maths to work with but are horrendously long and hard to remeber?

electricity makes far more sense once you have a sound understanding of calculus and know how it can be used to describe electical systems.

 

[divadoll_1]

I think you will find that the 2330 leaves it a lot to the tutors because I do a lot of practicals in the workshop and have my days in the bays in 'lifelike' scenarios. I am doing my resit for my main practical assignment in two weeks as I failed due to (I have to admit) sloppy work...but find the theory side no problems. The 'multiple guess' online exams we have had so far are nothing to stress the grey matter, although the formulae you have to learn in lessons are usually far too indepth to be tested in these exams. Theres lots of regulations to become familiar with, and these are constantly changing LOL.
Having spoken to the lecturers I have in college they say that the 2330 is far more thorough and all round than the 2360 and they have been doing it for a few years!

 

[RF Lighting]

When I did the 2360 we had to do a series of jobs which were done in pairs of apprentices (but there was nothing to stop you getting help off the other apprentices) and also with a bit of guidance from the teachers. I did have to do one large job under 'exam conditions' in the college workshops but this was for the AM1 rather than the C&G qualification. In addition we also had to do a series of well documented jobs on site at work. Divadoll, when I was at college the 2330 was just geting implemented and our lecturers said it was an easier course to pass to try and compensate for the shortage of qualified tradesmen this country has. It is a shorter course after all (I did 3½ years). This is not to offend anyone, just what we were told!

 

[dingbat]

Theres lots of regulations to become familiar with, and these are constantly changing...

That's folklore. The regulations change quite rarely, but sparks who qualified a few years back and have forgotten most of the regs use this as an excuse when challenged.

 

[Adam_151]

electricity makes far more sense once you have a sound understanding of calculus and know how it can be used to describe electical systems.

Not sure where you are going there, but I'm guessing it comes into play when the wave forms are distorted and you can't do calculations with the RMS values anymore etc ? and that kinda thing

Didn't do too well in my A level maths tbh, got a D, I'm alright with very basic calculus, but once you start throwing in logs etc, I'd have to get the books out again

You doing a degree in elec. enginneering or something I assume?

 

[Bright_Spark]

i'll second that...the 2330 is all about maths !!!

No it's not. It's about electrical theory and requires only a moderate level of numeracy, really.

formula after formula after formula....

But most of the formulae are of the same level and form. You'll understand more if you can grasp the mathematical relationships, rather than just try and learn every formula by rote.

its trig and pythagorus amongst other mathmatical forumula and if you havnt done such things since school then you sometimes struggle to get back into them - due to whatever reasons. especially if its been a number of years since you went to school.

i understand what your saying about grasping the mathmatical relationship - to exclude maths alltogether from electricity is just fatal. well it just wouldnt happen - simple.

we just seem to have a lot of emphasis on the mathmatical side of things.

 

[plugwash]

well take capacitors as an example, you can calculate thier impedance which defines how they behave in phasor form (which requires complex numbers but only a very low level understanding of them) but thats only usefull for certain types of analysis (constant AC analysis).

you can say what happens in the case of a sudden step but then you get a horrible formulae to remember.

or you can say that I=C(dV/dt) and get everything else you need to know about capacitors from there.