Electrician, Career Chang Advice

[zain]

Hi people

Not sure if this is the correct place to answer but I'm thinking of changing my career.
I've done a few bits and pieces of simple household electrics and I quite like the idea of being self employed.

at the moment I work in the retail industry and ideally would like attend the appropriate courses, part time and preferably keep my existing job until I'm fully qualified /up and running.

I've searched around the net and found numerous different courses offering various different levels of NVQ's etc.
But I'm not sure which would be the best route to go down

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks for your time

z

 

[canduit]

My advice is to start from the beginning. Check out your nearest college & see if they do the City & Guilds 2330.

This is normally 1 day a week for 3 years, or 2 nights a week for 3 years. Other options may be available. There are private companies offering "be a sparky in 10 weeks" courses, but I don't think many proffessionals here would recommend them. 3 years may seem like a long time but it does seem to go faster. Ideally, try and work with a qualified/competent sparky to get as much practical experience as poss. You might even have to do this for free! Say one day a week or so.

 

[zain]

My advice is to start from the beginning. Check out your nearest college & see if they do the City & Guilds 2330.

This is normally 1 day a week for 3 years, or 2 nights a week for 3 years. Other options may be available. There are private companies offering "be a sparky in 10 weeks" courses, but I don't think many proffessionals here would recommend them. 3 years may seem like a long time but it does seem to go faster. Ideally, try and work with a qualified/competent sparky to get as much practical experience as poss. You might even have to do this for free! Say one day a week or so.

Thanks for the quick helpful reply.

So a C&G 2330 would be the one to go for?

forgot to mention I'm 38
Hence Ideally I'd be looking for a years course perhaps 2 days/evening a week.

Thanks

 

[canduit]

You might find a years course, but then you might not be able to continue working at the same time. Don't let your age deter you, if this is something you really want to do, (and get out of retail!) then go for it. I still stand by my suggestion of the 2330. Yes, it takes time, but then, if it was too easy, we would have even more incompetent "electricians" than we already have, and you, as a competent sparky, would struggle even more to make a living. BTW, I'm on my final year of the 2330 and I'll be 41 upon completion.[/b]

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Canduit's suggestion is right, I believe the 2330 is changing to something else though.
The 2330 course as it stands will lead you through both practical and theory.
On evenings (part-time) two evenings a week, it will allow you to keep a full time day job, level 2 will take two years to complete and level 3 about 6/7 month.
it' all about progression to the next level, after completing the level 3 2330, you can then go on to the 17th edition wiring regulations 2382 and then after you have gained the relative experience, inspection and testing 2391/92.

and don't worry about your age, it's open to all age groups, you may have to sit a type pre entry exam though. nothing to do with age, it's a numpty test!

 

[ColJack]

even then all that gives you is the book lernin' side of it.. the practical experience takes years to aquire..

depending on what kind of retail you're in and what it pays, it may be worth having a hunt about for either an apprenticeship ( although these usually go to the youngsters ) or someone looking for a mate. and work in the field you are training for..
there's nothing like the "ah, so that's what we learnt about last week ment" moments of putting knowledge into practical use.

 

[GaryMo]

I've just read this on another forum:

"By the end of 2010 the City and Guilds 2330 and the Electrical NVQ3 will be replaced by the 2357 syllabus. This qualification will combine both knowledge and practical assessment from the workplace. There will NOT be a certificate for the knowledge on its own, as only one certificate will be awarded at the end of the whole program.
People who are in the middle of a 2330 at this point in time could well be letdown as the 2330 will cease to exist at the end of this year. If you are doing a level 2 2330 and plan to start a level 3, you should talk to your training provider and see if they are going to provide a "bridging course " to get you on to the 2357 programme. "

 

[timtheenchanter]

Im doing a distance learning course, 6 weeks practical over the course duration. its with a well known company that will come up with a google,

So far been very happy with the quality, all materials provided, tutors available online or over the phone, ok the 1st weeks practical was a bit micky mouse if you have a bit of prior experience, but week 2 was good, I have 3 coming up in a couple of weeks.

I would be finished in 3 years, but ended up 18 moths behind because I couldn't do the practicals weeks because of a motorcycle accident, otherwise I would have been part P by now (thats after week 4)

downside is its cost me an arm and a leg, and part of my torso......

 

[planemad]

I've just read this on another forum:

"By the end of 2010 the City and Guilds 2330 and the Electrical NVQ3 will be replaced by the 2357 syllabus. This qualification will combine both knowledge and practical assessment from the workplace. There will NOT be a certificate for the knowledge on its own, as only one certificate will be awarded at the end of the whole program.
People who are in the middle of a 2330 at this point in time could well be letdown as the 2330 will cease to exist at the end of this year. If you are doing a level 2 2330 and plan to start a level 3, you should talk to your training provider and see if they are going to provide a "bridging course " to get you on to the 2357 programme. "

Very true

I'm currently on the 2330 level 2 and am due to finish this in 5 months time.
As long as my training provider register me for the level 3 this year then i'm ok to finish the 2330 level 3 next year. I will so to speak be in the last batch of 2330 sparks.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Is 2357 an improvement over 2330, or are we in for years of "dumbing down" complaints?

 

[scousespark]

Is 2357 an improvement over 2330, or are we in for years of "dumbing down" complaints?

I have just found this site, which describes the proposed course.

http://www.electricalqualifications.co.uk/cityandguilds2357.php

It has a poposal to drop the science as it's not relevant

The 2330 takes a long time and has some difficult bits, so how do we move forward? Make it shorter and drop the hard bits. Result - More qualified electricians.

This also seems to prevent non-electricians getting in to the industry, due the workplace stuff. Still, more students to do the 5 day course.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

There has been a push from certain elements within Summit Skills to reduce the amount of science taught due to lack of relevance. This goes against almost every other school of thought within the industry, including that of this websites, we are once again on the verge of dumbing down the qualification and creating something akin to the rather weak C&G2351 experiment where the content was slashed way too much to enable students to pass. There is a big danger that we do not learn from past mistakes, we hope that Summit Skills see sense and do not force the “hard” parts out of the syllabus just to push achievement rates up.
.
.
The C&G2330, whilst not a perfect qualification, has bedded in quite well but has had to go through several years of teething issues to become as established as it is. We hope that the Summit Skills will not use this qualification as another excuse to reduce the quality of electricians in this country by removing the aspects of the qualification that some students find difficult. We are more than in favour of a relevant syllabus but not at the expense of a decline in the standards of students that work through the system.

 

[AndrewDavie]

It has a poposal to drop the science as it's not relevant

The 2330 takes a long time and has some difficult bits, so how do we move forward? Make it shorter and drop the hard bits. Result - More qualified electricians.

I'm currently doing the 2330 Level 2. Tutor was going on about the older courses and apparently our course has already been made easier due to the restrictions of H&S - the only power tool we're allowed to touch is the cordless drill.
So we don't do any cutting/lifting of floorboards, chasing, etc - everything is just clipped to the board. I do wonder how some students are going to get on after this if they've not had any previous experience in the associated trades.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I do wonder how some students are going to get on after this if they've not had any previous experience in the associated trades.

That's why an apprenticeship, or some equivalent time spent actually doing the job IRL, should be an essential part of the qualification.

 

[1john]

i had to complete on-the-job log books of a variety of work in different areas to gain my NVQ2 and NVQ3, and then do an AM2 trade test, has all this gone now??