Purchase cheap safety clothing and protective equipment. The apprentice route
How do I become an electrician?
Possibly the most asked question I get. The following should help you out in your quest to become an electrician.
Starting out
Before you even approach a potential employer concentrate on your grades, particurlarly Maths and English. Physics and ICT are also beneficial. Many employers, certainly some of the larger employers, insist on at least C grades in your GCSE's and having these grades can help even further when you get to college.
Finding an employer
The hardest part of becoming an electrician is finding an employer. There is still some reservation on behalf of employers to take young trainees on mainly due to costs and being let down in the past. Also the employer needs to cover a range of work to enable you to complete your NVQ, at least 2 from commercial, industrial and domestic installations.
When approaching a prospective employer, there are some fundamental points you need to take into account. Remember, an employer is looking for reliability, punctuality, initiative and motivation above all other skills:
- Source and list the local electrical companies. Yellow Pages, word of mouth, the internet and your college should all be sources of information.
- Send a letter. Professionally written in a professional format and get someone to proof read and grammar check it before it gets sent. Remember that although textspeak is how you communicate with your friends, an employer is likely to view this as being illiterate.
- Include a CV with the letter highlighting your strong points. Have you had a part time job? Can you demonstrate you have been reliable in the past? Keep the CV short and informative. Your local college or careers advisors such as Connexions may be able to help you.
- Follow up the letter after a few days with a phone call. Many employers are business men, letters may just be filed and forgotten. Let them know you are interested and enthusisatic and most of all, motivated.
- Once you have been successful in finding an employer, immediately contact your local college. Spaces fill quickly so ensure you don't delay, your employer won't always be the one to make the contact.
College and what to expect
Colleges use 2 routes, either in house training and assessing or the use of a managing agent such as the JTL. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and both should be considered. Some trainers provide a day release program and generally cover the technical certificate in 2-3 years, others use a block release program and complete the certificate over 2 years. The NVQ should take approximately 3½ to 4 years to complete. Both ways are fine and often depend on your employer and their preferred route according to their business model.
While you are at college you will study the following which are known as the technical certificates:
- City and Guilds 2330 Certificate in Electrotechnology Level 2
- City and Guilds 2330 Certificate in Electrotechnology Level 3
and
or
As well as the following Key Skills**:
- AON (Application of Number) Level 2
- Communications Level 2
- ICT Level 1
Once you have reached a certain stage, you will also have to undertake an independent Practical Performance Assessment where your learned skills as an electrician will be tested one final time in simulated conditions. This is known as the AM2
*The NVQ is completed in the workplace and units are submitted to the assessor to be assessed. Site visits will also take place during your training, in most cases 3 visits over the course of your apprenticeship is adequate.
**Key Skills can be exempted providing you have satisfactory grades in English, Maths and ICT.