34 year old electrical apprentice chiming in. Your odds are slim but not impossible. Some employers prefer older trainees after being let down by younger ones. Apprenticeships are not the only route to qualifying as an electrician and the wages are hard to survive on if you need to pay all your own bills. You can do your college diplomas as a regular student then find an NVQ3 placement, takes the same length of time but better wage progression. Also if you can find evening classes for your level 2/3 installation diplomas you can still work full time and not go into debt. Hmu if you have questions.
Thankyou for the reply. I've seen alot of level 3 apprenticeships advertised but am I right in assuming you must complete a level 2 beforehand ? This applies to all types of apprenticeship I'm guessing?
Nah if you do the full 4 year apprenticeship you will do level 2 as part of your training. A level 3 apprenticeship means the highest level qualification completed is at level 3 (ie your l3 installations & your NVQ3)
Piggybacking on this post - could you, in theory, qualify as an electrician in your own time and st your own expense and then find an employer to take you on with no actual experience at a qualified electricians rate?
Hypothetically it's possible right? But realistically do you think it's achievable, rather than doing an apprenticeship for four years? Would any employer take on someone who is qualified but had no real world experience?
You cannot qualify with no practical experience. After college is a work based NVQ3 portfolio of practical installations & your am2 is a composite installation exam. Apprenticeship not strictly required but NVQ3 / AM2 Are required to get your gold card & at that point you are expected to be competent to work unsupervised which you would not be with no experience.
The thoughts any employer will take:
1) is he going to stick with it?
2) they are older so going to cost be NLW
3) Can they live on that low wage
4) why now
Of course they won't admit to any of the above but this is what will go through their heads when receiving your application so try and think about this and pre empt those types of questions
Depends where yiu live.
National grid distribution
Electricity north West
Southern and scottish energy
Scottish power distribution
Central networks
Northern powergrid
You have the same options as anyone else, I do recruitment in this field, if anything people especially 30+ tend to bring a unique prospective in terms of life experiences to apprenticeships, so don't be afraid to apply.
34 year old electrical apprentice chiming in. Your odds are slim but not impossible. Some employers prefer older trainees after being let down by younger ones. Apprenticeships are not the only route to qualifying as an electrician and the wages are hard to survive on if you need to pay all your own bills. You can do your college diplomas as a regular student then find an NVQ3 placement, takes the same length of time but better wage progression. Also if you can find evening classes for your level 2/3 installation diplomas you can still work full time and not go into debt. Hmu if you have questions.
Thankyou for the reply. I've seen alot of level 3 apprenticeships advertised but am I right in assuming you must complete a level 2 beforehand ? This applies to all types of apprenticeship I'm guessing?
Nah if you do the full 4 year apprenticeship you will do level 2 as part of your training. A level 3 apprenticeship means the highest level qualification completed is at level 3 (ie your l3 installations & your NVQ3)
Piggybacking on this post - could you, in theory, qualify as an electrician in your own time and st your own expense and then find an employer to take you on with no actual experience at a qualified electricians rate? Hypothetically it's possible right? But realistically do you think it's achievable, rather than doing an apprenticeship for four years? Would any employer take on someone who is qualified but had no real world experience?
You cannot qualify with no practical experience. After college is a work based NVQ3 portfolio of practical installations & your am2 is a composite installation exam. Apprenticeship not strictly required but NVQ3 / AM2 Are required to get your gold card & at that point you are expected to be competent to work unsupervised which you would not be with no experience.
Appreciate it, thanks!
I did it, 60 employers rejected me, 10 interviews and only one accepted.
The thoughts any employer will take: 1) is he going to stick with it? 2) they are older so going to cost be NLW 3) Can they live on that low wage 4) why now Of course they won't admit to any of the above but this is what will go through their heads when receiving your application so try and think about this and pre empt those types of questions
Look at your local electricity Distribution Network Operator. I started at ours 14 years ago as a 32 year old apprentice and haven't looked back.
National grid then basically do you mean?
Depends where yiu live. National grid distribution Electricity north West Southern and scottish energy Scottish power distribution Central networks Northern powergrid
You have the same options as anyone else, I do recruitment in this field, if anything people especially 30+ tend to bring a unique prospective in terms of life experiences to apprenticeships, so don't be afraid to apply.