Retraining to become an electrician with David Savery 🔌 - SGTV!
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- 📢 Retraining for any profession at a later age can always be a daunting task but this is exactly what David Savery did to become an electrician. We welcome David back as he tells us about his journey through college and how hard work has got him to where he is today.
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I was so happy when this came up as a recommendation I retrained at 44 self funding I am just waiting for my nvq3 to be signed off unfortunately it has taken a long time to get everything level 2+3 AM2 inspection and testing nvq3 and 18th edition I am now 53 but only started getting any experience 5years a go it's also about meeting the right people on site who make the time to show you things as every thing has to be done at a million miles an hour and as David said there was little to nothing on you tube to use as a reference 2010 for me in my opinion college does not prepare you for site work I hadn't even seen a key / grid switch until I was on site how ever if you are retraining don't let my words put you off because it is very exciting and fulfilling I was a truck driver for 22 years never did well at school either but I do like a challenge after my first 6 weeks at college I was taken to one side and I was told that I would not likely get through level 2 there was 17 on my course most with electrical experience by the time we got to the end of level 3 there was only 6 of us left including my self I came out of that exam feeling like a god so if you are retraining study study study and good luck
Thanks!
Can you recommend any good resources online for studying before getting on a course?
@@ToolsAreToys yes a very good one is learn electrics and Gsh the gsh is a college work shop there are a few more but these two work for me everything is explained even I can understand 👍
And here I am. 39 years old holding electrical qualifications from my country of origin which count for nothing here in UK. Never been In financial position to train and become fully qualified electrician. Now this time has come and only way to get in is via experienced worker scheme. At this point in time I am just about to become domestic installer. My ambition is to obtain ECS Gould card. Thank you David for sharing your story with us. Your channel is one of the most entertaining and largely educating.
I'm 34 been sparking since I was 20. Got my level 2 and 3 2330 10 years ago. Finally doing my test and inspection and getting registered and going on my own... Gulp.
I’m in a similar boat, i have been in fitting and engineering for 9 years, started in welding and fabrication and morphed into electromechanical filtration systems. I’m moving onto more of a electrical background, connecting to panels, installing panels etc. I have a commercial electrician who oversee’s my work and is happy at my quality of work from the ways he has shown me and also shown me examples of what he doesn’t want to see. Its not for the money i am soley pursuing, its more of a health reason and something to really be passionate about doing. A level of responsibility and satisfaction in producing great work safely and reliably.
I went back to college at 40 to get my City & Guilds certificates started my own electrical business never looked back. I would suggest being an Electrician to any one. Agree you need a passion to do it, like all jobs you have to be interested. I loved being an Electrician and still do bits now I’m retired in Thailand. Self employment is the way. I was on £130 a day 10 years ago.2010 self employed.
Great video it’s a backdoor way into the industry but life is full of shortcuts.
ive just been paid off from offshore oil and gas. At 53 years old now my idea even before watching this is to do a compact course really just to make myself interesting for free or paid work experience, as this is absolutely necessary. Ive had guys out on the rigs with 5 years masters and naturally can`t know the work environment or how to apply the knowledge. will be self funding and on the look out for job experience in the Plymouth area. Fingers crossed
I worked in payroll/accounts and at 29 quit to become an electrician! 2 years later i am 80% through an NVQ and doing very well as an improver! Do not be put off by the old times who say the short courses are not the way! If your prepared to work hard and put alot of your time and effort you will succeed!
Completely agree with chap when he said about schools/colleges not promoting vocational careers. When I was leaving college in 2008, the "careers advisor" could not tell me anything about apprenticeships, but could tell me about every freshers week rituals at multiple universities.
I think one of the big problems is the impression given out by schools etc, that vocational work is for the "thick kids".
I did my courses late in life mid 20s,anybody can throw a few sockets in or spotlights not a problem but that isnt real life !! The challenge comes when i started with a company and was asked to rectify faults etc remember one of my first fault finding jobs,lights tripping in a house all lights taken out of circuit no loads connected etc tested ok still tripping ??? I remembered being stood there thinkin i cant fix this coz i dont know how to,and thats a situation fast track learners will certainly find themselfs in, 10 years down the line its a different mindset and with experience comes confidence that you know you can deal with issues and fix em,
well said mate..
What was the fault in the end did you ever hear back?
Im retraining to become a spark at the age of 49. My Dad worked in a power station his entire life and my brother is an Electrica Engineer. Ive come from a background in music and education!
Luckily for me, my friend has been in the trade for 20 years and has given me the opportunity to work with him to gain practical experience, and has provided a wealth of information about being self employed, what tools I do and don't need, even what type of van.
Im hoping to spend a year or two working with him and gradually branching out on my own doing small domestic jobs etc and progressing to level 3.
im 49 & have been a electrician for 23 years. I would like to re-train & go into the music industry. fuck this shit, but good luck to you
Thankyou David this has helped boost my confidence that I'm doing the right thing I'm 53 soon to be 54. I've gone the short route of domestic installer. Luckily I never went in with rose tinted specks and once the course is completed I'll look at further studying. At the I have financial commitments and a well paid lorry driving job that a hate (hence the change) so a long journey awaits but if I can have a self supporting business in 2 to 3 years that will leave me 10 to 15 years doing something I enjoy.
Top interview, Davao saveo is a true legend, he speaks sense. I got into the industry via the same way, I was lucky where I got to do a few years on site with a local guys. The courses show you the basics, but you do have to put a lot of work too.
I am 41 and midway through my level 2.
My trainor is strict but fair, doesn't hand anyone an easy ride, he's and ex career spark and takes what he does very seriously.
i love it but i was worried from the start about the maths side of it as im terrible at maths but im getting better and better at it everyday, i tend to find my own ways to work the maths problems and thats encouraged.
My 2nd year starts september this year.
with everything going on with the covid thing it threw everything up in the air regarding actually going to college, so ive not done any practical since march, and its been confirmed that our 2nd year will start as the 1st ended, by doing the classroom work online with no practical so we may not even be able to do the 12 hour practical assessment at the end of the level 2, which is really pants as i was looking forward to that.
I do feel though that my installation skills are good and are improving alot, sometimes i will rig test rigs just to practice certain wiring, that helps alot.
Good luck to all the trainees out there wether your a school leaver or mature student like me, put the work in, i really do think its gonna be worth it in the end and i dont regret starting it at all, i love it.
I did my level 2 and 3 plus 18th in 7 months last year. As it was easier to do it for me.... I got into work around the 4th month and now been working over a year. I have learnt 100 times more on site and still learning. I'm currently doing my nvq 3. It's not easy to get work I had loads of no's. Specially at 34. I also had a computer engineer background. Good luck to everyone who does it.
Level 2 and 3 in 7 months? Well played.
Very inspirational. I'm 40 and doing a similar route. I've been at it 2 years now and feel I need 1 to 2 more years before I go self employed with the niceic registration. I'm going the courses and supplementing with the practical experience too. IMO there is no such thing as a 3 week fast track electrical course that can teach you all you need to be competent in that time.
Very interesting. I was made redundant as a Design Technology teacher at 45. Thought my day was done as a teacher and did a short course in electrical installation. My father in law was an electrician and I did some work previously with him, so had some idea with the practical. I found it difficult to get work at first but got my foot in the door by doing general building and carpentry work and then came some associated electrical work. I agree the short course does just the basic. You need to be prepared to do further training/qualifications etc...This is not an easy number you can't just walk into this trade and expect to be a breeze, you need to be able to handle some maths and science theory also.
Great video! Can't agree more that there's less excuses available to those who don't put in the time and effort. Lots of learning to be done, and CZcams is an invaluable resource 😁💚
I am an electrician, i did a 4 year apprenticeship finished in 2002 been doing ever since now almost 39.
Firstly its a very tough trade and short course training has its place but experience is all really.
You need to have an eye for detail, be methodical and be physically able.
Some people will never be good sparks no matter what, others have talent and good hands and just need an opportunity. I can tell by how people handle tools wether they will be good or not and basically if you do a short course/s you are a first year apprentice on the tools in terms of practical experience, no way should they consider going out on there own without a few years on the tools minimum.
People must remember the training providers pushing the courses are businesses and need a steady stream of hopefuls coming along to survive so be carefull of that vested interest.
As an Industrial sparks for 50 years ,having been a foreman on large sites,for years we didn't see anybody coming from courses you have mentioned it was like me four and a half year apprenticeship with onside experience at the same time ,but definitely in my last 15 years I saw lots of these blokes come into the trade and I must say in my experience 95% of these chaps were unemployable,I stupidly ran jobs for a small company and frightened he was sending blokes who came into the trade late but still hadn't yet passed their am2 out running jobs where the general public were involved and these blokes were clueless,its a really worrying trend in the industry ,just because you can pass difficult exams it doesn't make you an electrician,I got my gold card at 21 and had it until I retired but only passed the 15th edition missing the 16th and 17th because I was working away ,I refused to take the 18th because I seen it as a financial rippoff ,I didn't take the test and inspection exam either but I still carried out that work for major companies ,because you only had to be a compadent person,I didn't take that foreman exam but I still ran large contracts with multiple workmen in my charge,so I had a great 50 years in the industry but the health and safety bs on major sites took the shine off the job because they had their own industry that was a money pot of the back of sparks.
We have this rated as an incredible trade. It does have some challenges but well worth the effort. All the best David!
Spot on. Never was a trade mentioned by my school. The focus was purely on getting numbers into uni.
The adult learning courses, it is up to the learner. The ‘online colleges’ want to sell the courses, because they make a huge profit on the loan, the course provider wants to be successful and have a high percentage of students passing. They teach the bare minimum to pass the course, that’s for the clued up and the strugglers.
You must get a role in construction as soon as you are on one of these courses. I got a Cscs labourer Card and worked as a labourer for a few months, constantly applying for anything electrical, and I got lucky.
I love the way David delivers his Humour, but it does hide his knowledge its there but it subtle the way he does pass across some interesting facts :)
I retrained at about 40 the same as David, and I had the same mentality that I wasn't going to finish my college course without knowing what to do, that's why I went out with Electricians for free or little pay to actually learn the game whilst at college.
A few years later I have an apprentice with exactly the same mentality as me, he comes out with me for nothing but what he is learning is worth a fortune to him and will excel him much further once he finishes his college course.
Great video
You are spot on David, my route was from decorator to sparking taking night classes for the original 2360 part1&2 achieved 2391 etc, now been teaching electrical for 20years , the quick courses are not as good as a college course due to the depth of the subject, love watching your videos.
Brilliant video.
in 2002 I did an apprenticeship but the sadly lost my job and couldn't complete it, I believe it was 2351, I am now 34 and going back to college, doing 2365 evening course and there are other students there who are 19/20 not working in the trade, doing the same evening course, the evening course is made for experienced people such as myself and not for a newbie, but will the college tell students, of course not because they just want to take your money
I'm doing the level 2 course which has lasted almost a year but never expected to be competent, I've always believed in gaining experience, sometimes the hardest part is getting the experience.
Awesome interview guys. 👍
Brilliant video well done
I'm a 37 year old Australian woman, I'm starting my Cert II pre apprenticeship in January and hopefully a Cert III and an apprenticeship not long after.
here you have to do the apprenticeship to get licensed, I should be able to get my license just before I'm 42.
Am back at college and we was speaking and looking at dead testing. And trying to injuce a fault to show up on the tester. I did say wake in a nail make it touch the cpc an push it over to just away from the live the lecture asked me won't that just keep it connected let me think how the cables are am thinking am hear for you to teach me. I was saying rub at the sleeving of the live so it just away a tiny bit. Am thinking I need to finish my training an teach it my self.
Im just finishing an apprenticeship in substations at the old age of 33.
I know what you mean about not knowing what to do though went to uni mainly as that was the done thing but didn't really know what I wanted to do.
Love working in subs and wish I hasn't got to uni now. Knowing what I know now but as they say hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I really like substations too.i visit them on holiday instead of historical monuments.the rance is interesting a tidal station
I would have been very interested to hear how David dealt with the chicken & egg issue of becoming Part P registered & needing to have work reviewed as part of the assessment, that you are not allowed to do until you are Part P registered...
I'm going to be 40 soon, thinking about a change.. life is going to force it on me sooner rather than later anyway. This was valuable information. Thank you both. Be well!
Ollie B same. I turned 40 last month.
@@th3manias happy birthday! 😀🍻 Mine was in May so, 40 next year yeah 😱😀
I'm 38 now...just started electrical course here in South Africa...Another 3 years to go till I am qualified. BUT I am somewhat alarmed that David mentioned that noone took on a 40 year old apprentice...In S.A I need an apprenticeship before I can apply to do my practical training.
@@jacgrobbelaar2425 yeah, I think over here apprenticeship is thought to be something you did instead of college or university, say around 16 or 20 years old, at least, that's the general feeling I have. It may not be so uncommon a thing to do nowadays but still unusual I suppose.
No disrespect but I think 40 is a bit late to learn to be an electrician. You won't be a good all round electrician for at least 10 years .
People don’t realise that 80% of the job is building work and not all testers and electrics and that’s where on site experience comes in which you don’t get at the fast track courses
True, but what about all the guys that think it's ALL building working and don't know which end of a tester to hold?!?
This is the same as a few years back in London when every man and his dog were training to be plumbers , that didn't work either .
Love your honesty here David you talk alot of sense and say how it is..Only other thing is how much of a dirty sweaty job it can be and how cold your olde cockles can be in the winter. The amount of knowledge and responsibilities that you have to take on I do feel electricians are under paid..Your also get loads of people wanting you to sign off their cowboy crap unsafe installs. Definitely not as a boring job as office work, so i suppose horses for courses .
Very insightful David. I agree 100% with what you've said here. I too am a 'mature' learner. I was 53 when I started the course and 55 when I passed my final exam. I did a course expected to take three years in two years and one month.
Lots and lots of studying but I had a mind and determination to learn.
If course, at some point I knew I had to go away on the residency to be appraised on my practical skills (something I had no worries about at all; I've always been good with practical stuff) but it's there that I had my eyes opened to the skills of my 'classmates'.
Some were good but most were not. I couldn't understand how they were at the same stage that I was but they couldn't drill a hole in the wall or route things straight.
Plus, they were making rudimentary mistakes, say, inside the CU. It's like, they didn't know the fundamentals.
I suspected they'd cheated through their training (no point; you're only cheating yourself) and sure enough, when it came to the exams, they failed miserably.
Now, almost three years in, I have a regular clientele base and have grown in confidence. But I did have the practical skills already.
I'd like to thank you David for your forthrightness and candour (not to mention the banter and entertainment value) of your videos.
I watch them regularly and have gained so much knowledge from them, and from others (CJR/ John Ward/ Luke @ Trusted Lecky) that produce similar vids. Cheers.👍🏼
Hi, can I ask, what course did you do. I am very interested and just looking at the available options at the moment., as to what exact qualifications etc are required as a start.
Matrix Churchill went there a few times in the 90's company I worked for bought two lathes and I went on buy off. They all had mugs with "I'm no mug I'm off to Iraq" the irony of it all. It was an amazing place though
What are mature apprenticeships like money wise obviously when your older you have commitments like mortgage and kids etc, I am considering changing career from chef to electrician it was what I wanted to do when I left school but I failed a colour blind test at primary and got told I couldn’t do the job, I recently did an online colour blind test and passed it so now at 36 I’m thinking I could go for the job I always wanted with that said would a matured apprenticeship offer enough financially or would I be looking at really low hourly wages ?
He first tried to get me in a sofa bed 😂
I retrained from retail management. Studied hard, got myself out on site and have worked my balls off since, learning from a lot of blokes who have been in the trade longer than I've been shitting... I've met a lot of mugs who have taken a short course and havent got a clue... Ive met a lot of apprentice trained sparks who havent got a clue. It all comes down to the individual, and those who wave their gold card around and spit on blokes who are new to the industry are the worst kind...
I know a guy who is 52 and just did 2365 level 2
I'm 50 myself and starting this journey of retraining. I'm under no illusions that it's going to be easy, not least in getting a position as a mate, or indeed any site work. Most want people with experience even for trainee positions these days. But I'm committed to achieving this.
No fast track way of being a competent electrician. I done a 5 year apprenticeship some 35 years ago in another trade which is all but worthless , the trade is dying a slow death. Got made redundant so many times , now using my last redundancy package to retrain. I have passed my level 2 and 18th edition and now starting level 3. I have on site experience in building trade and have experience as a sparks mate.
But still feel a million miles away from being let loose on my own. Up to now at the age of 55 this is the hardest thing I have ever done.
This is like looking in the mirror for me, I went off to tech during the Christchurch (New Zealand) earthquakes 2010=11 and was an inaugural candidate for the new training method that has been adopted here in New Zealand for training electricians, that being Doing most of the electrical engineering theory first and then seeking practical experience, this was to stream line a training process for electricians to get bodies on the ground out helping with the rebuilding process and also to address an all too evident need to ensure that want to be apprentices had the necessary academic requirements to cope with the technical level of study needed to succeed in the job. Alas despite achieving the required qualifications I am still to secure an apprenticeship and I am guessing that here to there is reluctance of prospective employers to take these "knowledge colleges" on as they have no experience, plus too my age is most likely against me too, being 53.
It has been inspiring hearing where David has come from and good to hear the honesty that it's not all wine and roses and can be a quite daunting prospect getting out there for the first time as a trades person in a market where there are others to compete with for contracts.
I tried to do a fast track course 10 or so years ago. Had to take a small loan out to fund the course, the owner of the training centre gambled all the money away he got from the students and did a runner. After trying to fight it with the bank etc now just finishing on paying for this expensive mistake and have a CCJ which is still fucking my life up right now. Be careful.
Going to college and uni works well for lots of people but at the end of the day it is an academic apprenticeship really. You are learning how to study and become a researcher. What is annoying is that it is hyped up to be this silver bullet which will allow you to walk into a job.
I thought I'd like to hear what DS has to say. What wombat thought that inane non-music in the background was a good idea? Sorry but I can't put up with that.
So is it worth doing a course at 40?
Sid Little I did the 2330 1st 2nd and 3rd level, 16 and 17 edition and the 2391 at 46. Have done 12 years working for myself.
Gary Burton cool. I haven’t done any training but have been looking into it recently I would start from the bottom. Just seems lots of naysayers so don’t want to waste my money 👍
I did have the advantage though of 20 odd years as an electronics tech, but electricians seemed to get paid more. I have stopped working for myself last year as I am now knocking on a bit. But I have an ecs gold card and a lovely job as a maintenance electrician so I did alright.
By the way I did not do the short courses I went back to night school at a local college to retrain, much better way.
Yes thats young
The apprenticeship schemes got destroyed by successive governments, I left school in 95, never got an electrical apprenticeship, instead I served my apprenticeship as an HGV technician and progressed into electrical from there, working on ships power plants etc, recently gained my L3 and inspection & test and ERG39 (self funded) done the qualifications while working as a electrical/mechanical engineer on high speed trains, as Dave says you need to put in leg work, it’s far from easy and my apprenticeship on HGVs was a massive help as modern day engines are quite electrical heavy with CANBUS systems etc
Unfortunately colleges seem to be all about making money and less about the quality, without real world experience the qualification is insufficient, if a person passes there driving theory test doesn’t mean they can drive
Left school in 1990??? Jeez, electrics must be hard!!!!
I brought a sofa from Dave at DFS 😂
Dave's Fabulous Sofas?
Never realised what a youth DS is. Going on about when he can't do it anymore... I'm 2 months younger than bojo you know...
Industry ready can't be taught in a classroom in weeks you need to be on sites for years to be industry ready
I would like to train but now too old no point. David is very lucky he doesnt need to learn the french electrical system called les normes like ive had to.
Why is it frowned upon? If you have the knowledge, qualifications and are working safely then it doesn't matter what age you start, some people need to get a grip
Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth ??
The problem with what David is saying is that he's tarring every person who attended a short course with the same brush. Ive done my level 3, 2391, 18th edition and a few others. Ive been working on my own for the past 2 years. I have my NICEIC assessment this month. yes, there were a lot of people who expected to be handed the certificate on a plate but like me and a few others on my course, we worked bloody hard and carried on learning long after we left the classroom because we wanted to. He talks about being crap on the tools etc but anyone with opposable thumbs should be able to do a reasonably neat job of most things. The most testing being glanding armour etc. The only thing really lacking is basic experience and that comes with time. start small and work your way up like with any work
Dace sort the wig out 😅
I'm looking at getting out of the game.
@@kevinwhitehouse3998 Hi mate thanks for your reply, I have done the electrical vehicle charging course, I haven't done any installations on them tho, I told my wife unless I picked up a good number that would keep me in the game I would go back and study more for an office type job, attics chasing walls bad knees are all taking the toll on me, plus dealing with different customers all the time can be frustrating 😊👍
Elv course, seriously? Is this the norm,,, A new 2.5 mm circuit to the db with a fancy commando socket on the end. Why the course?
@@sparky1543 with that information you definitely need to go on it.
@Happy Gilmore why, I’m genuinely interested. I cannot see what is so special about an elv charging point apart from maybe a separate earth and rebo to protect. I’m an electrician it’s just something I have not done on a domestic property. Fitted one at a school car park a few years ago.
@@sparky1543 without the course you can't, get approved by people the likes of rolec ect, even tho it's only a day course it was supprising what was needed to know for different scenarios.
Big song and dance about nothing is electrics.... it’s three wires for fuck sake..