The electrical industry can be split into three distinct categories; new works, that is installation work; manufacturing, that is the building of switchboards, control panels etc.; and maintenance, which is repairing and maintaining electrical equipment.
With proper training during a real apprenticeship not a cut price modern apprenticeship an electrician can switch between any of the industry sectors.
It must be noted that the numbers of electricians who entered the trade via fully indentured apprenticeships is fast diminishing due to retirement. Thus there are fewer true electricians available to train the future electricians.
A major sector of the electrical industry is new works of which the majority of work is in the construction industry which is why it has it's own section in this article.
Other sections detail the work and responsibilities of the various personnel in the electrical industry from entry as an apprentice to electrician, charge hand, foremen and authorised person which are seen as manual work. Historically, due mainly to the class system prevalent up to the mid twentieth century, there was always a ceiling on manual work which could not be crossed into office based work, that was perceived as moving from working class to middle class or blue collar to white collar. The office based work ranges from design engineer to project engineer, contract manager, quantity surveyor and consulting engineer by tradition these are seen as graduate entry points into the industry.
Due to the education requirements many electrical engineers come straight out of university with absolutely no practical experience and have never done any work as an electrician or as an electrical designer and have no site experience, yet they are going to tell you what to do, how to do it and in what time.
Which is one of the reasons why so many electrical engineers are held in complete contempt by those that do have the relevant experience.
There is much to be said for a route of training and education to enable an apprentice to rise to the highest levels of the industry. As there is, at present, little chance of starting as an electrical apprentice and working your way up to be a chartered engineer, and if you do manage it you will be looked down on by chartered engineers as you have worked with your hands. However electricians will look up to you and will normally cover your mistakes!
That route of training would also diminish the us and them barriers that exist at present, it would also increase the respect level for the ‘office’ based workers and diminish the contempt level which exists in the ‘manual’ workers for the ‘office’ workers.
For further proof of how the parachuting in (officially called fast tracking) of graduates in preference to those with ability to positions of seniority creates discord among the established work force look at the most recent examples of industry where graduates are fast tracked to senior positions. That dirty stinking war mongering piece of scottish socialist filth Tony Blair who was the prime minister for most of the labour goverment of 1997 to 2010 created graduate entry schemes for both the fire brigade and police service. The resentment level from the lower ranks towards these graduate entrants is intense. Higher education is no substitute for workplace experience. Obviously these graduate entrants prevent the career progression of lower ranks, there is also a tendency for the graduate entrants to promote other graduate entrants to prevent real competition for the most senior positions, the reasoning being that if those that can do the job are kept down the idiots that can't increase their promotion chances. Ask any fireman or policeman their respect levels of the graduate entry officers, it will be low in the extreme although any verbal reply will probably be in more colourful language.
So why anyone wishes to join the industry is a mystery. You will make more money buying run down houses, doing them up and selling them at a profit, or even better renting them out and building up a property portfolio, in ten to fifteen years you will be able to retire. In the construction industry in the same time you may just make foreman, take a pay cut to get there and increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke due to the stress the added responsibility brings.
A word of warning on renting out property, the law is against you, if you walk out of Asda without paying you are a thief, if a tenant does not pay their rent the law will prevent you evicting them, the local council will help them to stay in your property without paying.
The law protects that thief.
In England there are lots of laws but very little justice and you are governed by foreigners, Scots, who have more say in the English (UK) Parliament than the English have in the Scottish Parliament.
Also don't ever accept payment of a tenant's housing benefit direct to you. If the tenant has falsely claimed or has been overpaid housing benefit then you the landlord are liable for the tenants over payment, even though you are in no way at fault, it is not justice but it is the law.
Justice and fairness is something that if you are English you will never get in England.
In fact England is a country where if you are English you are one of an oppressed people, it is a country where if you are either foreign or a do nothing know nothing you get everything. If you are English and work hard, try to better yourself and leave something for your children you will get taxed to the hilt and constantly kicked in the teeth and kept down by an establishment that is run by foreigners.
The best advice that an old man can give – get a trade then emigrate whilst you are young enough, don’t hang around in this dump of a country!!!!!!!!