Thread: Is a Electrician a good Career Path?

Hi Matt
I am a Carpenter by trade but ended up in the Kitchen industry and now retired on medical problems. I grew up in Sydney and had an opportunity to come out to the country and here I am today
Electrician....YES. of all the building trades I reckon that being a sparky would be among the best! Why. Everyone will need an electrician sooner or later!!!You can carry just about everything you need in a van that can be locked up. The field is so broad now. Once you get a grounding say in domestic stuff (which nowadays is getting more and more electronic) you can follow a lot of different paths. You could get into security systems, even that field has a lot of diversity. You could get into machinery wiring and installation. You have low voltage systems that control high voltage stuff that end up in mines or heavy industry. There is also the electricity commissions, but they may be harder to get a start with.
Pay wise? An electrician when qualified would pull around $750-900 a week but if you were contracting you could charge around $100 per hour depeding on what you are doing.
Like all trades, when you start you will be saying "What a crappy job this is". You have to look at the long term and realise with qualifications and extra coarses you could find yourself a plumb job may be even traveling the world to do it!
Be ambitious. And be interested in what is going on around you in regards to other trades and you will end up to be a tradesman that people will seek out
Yeh go for it!!!And good luck

Hi Matt

I agree with Chambezio in that of all the building trades the electrical trade is probably at the top of the pay scale and is reasonably assured for demand in the foreseeable future. It is not normally disgustingly dirty or otherwise unpleasant, although I know of electricians who are really fed up with crawling through hot ceiling spaces

Initially you have to choose between domestic and industrial trades and of the two I would suggest the latter is the way to go. You could always revert to domestic if you wished, but the other way around is more difficult as you are required to have "experience." (Nothing to do with time spent in the rear seat of a car on a Saturday night.)

If you are an industrial electrician, a contractors licence for domestic work is a relatively short additional course (about 6 months), although you do have to keep that up to date (either a yearly or two yearly frequency).

Working for yourself as in your own business is not for everybody and while the principle of independence sounds excellent, there are some serious drawbacks which I won't get into here.

While I have recommended the industrial path the drawback is you have to find that opening and by choosing a small area (In your case Victoria) you limit the opportunities. Apprentices are paid poorly and it is difficult to exist on the pay without your living being subsidised. This could be, and normally is, living at home or it could be some sponsorship with a large industrial enterprise. Those jobs are fiercely contested, but give you an enormous foot in the industrial door. They are paid better too, even as an apprentice, although the "excess" wages may be held "in trust" until you come out of your time.

I hope this helps. Remember it is important to do something you enjoy and while money helps (to choose your poisons if nothing else) it is not the be all and end all.

Regards
Paul

Hi Matt,
My Son, also a Matt, is an industrial electrician. He did his time on cable cars and lifts. After completing his apprenticeship he continued on at tech to do instrumentation, which now means he is dual trade. His current job is on the gas fields doing instumentation. The money is excellent. The Company look after their "chosen ones" very well. Car, fuel, phone, laptops and accommodation. They also pay for any extra courses that he wants to do. In another two years he has asked to be allowed to go to uni and do electrical engineering and would the Company give him leave? They said, "We'll send you." It dont get much better than that.
It is a well paid, clean trade, with many fields. If you have a good work ethic, good at maths and have an enquiring mind you should do well.
As for running your own business, let that come later. In the meantime get as much experience and qualifications as you can. This country needs good tradesmen.

Hi Matt,
I'm an electrician and I did my apprenticeship with the State Electricity Commission in the Latrobe Valley. Sadly they don't exist any more as they were an excellent way to get a broad range of experience in the trade.
It's not all fun and ganes and sometimes I can't believe the c**p I have to put up with but I would still say go for it.
As for running your own business, well it's not for me. I've been there and done that and I won't be heading back down that path. The domestic scene is not something that I want to do again. I've worked in many different places and environments and it is often rewarding and fullfilling. I've mainly worked in industrial and commercial and in diversre industries such as power stations, water and waste water treatment plants, paper mills, spinning mills, abatoirs, saw mills, large commercial places like potteries and manufacturing plants, engineering shops actually just about everywhere an electrician is needed. I'm currently working as an instrument technician in the Hunter Valley mines.
I also have additional qualifications in electronics, PLCs and instrumentation. So once you finish your apprenticeship you will have some knowledge of the industry and can decide which way you would like to head.
Some people are happy just servicing the domestic market but i'm not one of them.
I would suggest that you try to get an apprenticeship with a group training company as they can provide you with a diverse range of employers and industries.
For future employment prospects, it's all about experience.

Good luck with it. There is now and will be for quite some time, a shortage of qualified tradesmen. Jobs shouldn't be too hard to come by as long as you are enthusiastic and prepared to learn.

Okay, here is a bit of an ad but I think it is a genuine option...What about the Defence force? Disclaimer...I am in the Navy but not as an electrician. With the Navy for example, you get paid a decent wage while doing your training, Your training is in Victoria so you can go up to Melbourne and see the Hawks beat every other footy team in town each weekend. Once you complete your training, you go to sea (depending on availability of ship positions) where you can travel all around Australia and South East Asia. You only need to sign on for 6 years and at the end of that, you have a wealth of experience in industrial electrikery.
Anyway, just a different option for you to consider. It won't be your dream of being in Victoria the whole time but it could set you up for the future.

This is a nifty little government tool that shows what industries have what prospects, now and in the near future.

Job Outlook - Make Your Career a Reality - Job Outlook

I found it useful to get a general idea of what the likelihood of me gaining and sustaining work will be if I take on a mature-age carpentry apprenticeship now...which, btw, it looks like I'm going to try and do.

I'm a mechanic by trade. Hopeless. Low pay, chemicals, terrible job. Don't think we rebuilkd engines or anything intersting, most mechanics most of the time change oil and plugs.

I wish I'd been a plumber, with sparky at second place. Both are well paid and can take you lots of places. As mentioned above you can branch out later in all sorts of directions.

A bloke I used to work with made the point that of all the people he knew back then the ones with the landcruisers, big boats and nice houses were all electricians and plumbers. Better stuff than the professionals, business people or anyone really.

I did engineering at night while I did my trade. I'm happy because it got me into interesting work in research, design and development, but you couldn't pay me enough to me a mechanic again. In fact if I could retrain as a plumber in a short time I'd do it, even though I'm old now.

So if you can pick up a sparky apprenticship go for it. You'll never regret it.

Hi Matt

I'm in much the same boat as NCArcher. I did my electrical apprenticeship with the WA power authority and was exposed to nearly every aspect of the Electrical trade. Domestic work is not for me either. There seems to be a much wider variety of work in the commercial and industrial areas. If you can, try for an apprenticeship in one of these areas as you will get a little exposure to a lot of areas and will then be able to decide which area suits you. Not being biased, but I believe electrical is the pick of the trades because of 1. the money and 2. the vast number of paths you can follow. (particularly PLC and instrumentation, as everything is becoming computerised these days)
I have done the domestic and commercial thing, but am more than happy that I have returned to the industrial/mining industry. By the time you finish your time, you could probably take your pick of jobs with the mining industry taking off like it is and the shortage of skilled tradies. (would have to move states though. VIC doesn't have a lot of mining)
(But never give up on woodworking! even if it is just a hobby)
Cheers
Berto

Hi Matt,
Another Electrician here too. I did my apprenticeship with the Brisbane City Council as and Electrician / Instrument tech back in the mid 90's and have progressed my way into the petrochem industry. I have also gone on to do more study that is in-line with my trade. I have watched all of my friends do various apprenticeships and university courses and I am still one of the higher paid ocupations. I have also got my own small business (electrical contractor) which was giving me extra money on the weekends in the housing (domestic) field. Of all the jobs I have done, the Instrument side of things is by far the most enjoyable part of my job, which entails calibrating various instruments that measure process temperatures, pressures, flows in pipes, ph of iquids and levels in tanks etc. I get to repair and calibrate on-line industrial analysers like the ones that you would normally see in a LAB. It also involves working with PLC's (programmable logic controllers) and other control systems as well as the normal industrial electrical jobs like electric motors, lighting and High Voltage switching. In Queensland, dual trade Electricians with an Instrument qualification are highly sought after and a quick look on-line at job sites like seek, will give you a good insight in the what jobs are available. I have had a collegue at work leave recently to work in WA on a project that had a roster of 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, 2 weeks on, then 4 weeks off and the job was paying in the vicinity of $200 000.00 a year. The mining and natural gas industries are ramping up here in Queensland and there is already a shortage of qualified electricians. As for my small business in the domestic scene, I will be handing back my contractors licence at the end of the year as I really don't enjoy climbing through ceilings and digging trenches. The general public don't understand how much materials cost these days and the cost of maintaining an electrical business and want everything done for next to nothing. So to answer your question, yes, an electrical trade is a great trade to be in. You just have to decide which area you would like to work in as the elctrical trade covers many areas including, Instrumentation, High Voltage & refrigeration just to name a few. Good luck with your decision and job hunting. I still enjoy my woodworking in my spare time as it is vastly different from my day job.

That sounds like a YES to me and I thouroughly agree with , I now wish I had the brains when I left high school to stick with being a sparky


Pete

True though all these things may be they all missed the real point. If you become a sparky then you can get a 15 amp saw and wire your shed yourself for a 15 amp circuit and plug.

My grandson has already applied for and been accepted for an app elec,he hasn't finished year 12 yet they are screaming for them over her for mine work