Electrical Apprenticeship???

[beknluke]

Hi Guys,
I am looking at maybe getting into an Electrical Apprenticeship and I wanted ppls advice and opinions.
I haven?t had the chance to call any apprenticeship offices in my area to find out about availability etc, nor what the pay rate is, nor what studies are involved, but I am aware of the obvious pay drop that I will encounter etc, and it?s something that I actually REALLY want to do, so hard work isn?t a concern.
But I just wanted to know what ppl think my chances are of getting one in the first place, being a 22yo female and all.
So, if anyone has any first hand experience ie, they ARE an electrician or an apprentice sparky ? plz, your thoughts will be appreciated.
Bex

 

[Gilleni]

i think it might be hard for you because your an adult apprentice and not many people want to have to pay the extra money for an adult apprentice.

And dont let that stop you looking.

i could be very wrong though...

Go for it i say....

 

[beknluke]

Thanx Gilleni

 

[Guest]

Hit up the government agencies that deal with apprentices ect as they can help you get placement no matter what your age. And im pretty sure it will involve Tafe one day a week.

<-----(ooh oohh, 3000!!!)

 

[moosenoose]

Gee you really go to extreme lengths to get your cages wired don't you Bex lol

I always wanted to become a sparky. Apprentice wages in the trade are scarey to say the very least - it really sorts out those who are looking at the bigger picture or those who are just simply working for the money (impossible as a 1st yr apprentice - money is virtually non-existant! lol). Generally 3rd and 4th year apprentice wages tend to become more respectable. The long term prospects are good and certainly an industry you can branch out in. Good luck with your enquiries Bex.

I'm sure someone on here is a Sparky.

 

[NoOne]

You shouldn't have to many problems, i worked for a sparky for 6years and saw a few apprentices come and go.
Not sure about VIC but in NSW you have to do one day of tafe a week. The tafe gets very hard toward the end, ( eg, 3 phase induction motors) but if it's something you like you probably won't find it hard.
Another option is to do labouring work for a sparky (which is what i did for 6 yrs) you get better money and still learn alot and if you wanted you could put yourself through the tafe course, you get the crappy jobs tho as well as the good. Best way is to take a resume to as many electricians as you can and tell them your looking, then if you get a trail period , work your guts out.

 

[Gilleni]

The money is deffinately poor for all apprenticeships... but if you were an adult apprentice you would get paid more than normal apprentices....

probs around 400, i'm guessing.

 

[trader]

Hi Guys,
I am looking at maybe getting into an Electrical Apprenticeship and I wanted ppls advice and opinions.
But I just wanted to know what ppl think my chances are of getting one in the first place, being a 22yo female and all.

Good on ya Bex! I really do not believe age is an issue or that you are female IMO. Our 20 yo son is in his 2nd yr apprenticeship as a chippy. He is LOVING it!!! anyway he goes to Tafe every few months for a week...(and works at jobs during the other times) and his fellow classmate chippies range in age from 18-45 yrs old! and most weekends he works at odd jobs with the older of his classmates... He even was the one to work on the last 'My Restaurant Rules" Rest. in Melbourne getting it ready for the show! :wink:

Our son goes through 'Southern Suburbs Group Training' if that helps..they may have a phone number you can ring for your area??

I say go for it and please let us know how it goes.

 

[soulweaver]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

looked into all the rates in vic for elec appre a few months go, next time you call zo which will not be to far away i will have a chat with ya and tell you everything i know, i also have a contact that would be able to help you out as his job is recruiting ppl for this field.

 

[Sdaji]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

I was thinking about becoming a sparky, everyone told me it was almost impossible to get an apprenticeship, especially at the time as the industry was in a big slump (early 2000). I spoke to other people who were looking for apprenticeships, some said they'd contacted hundreds of sparkies in an attempt to find a place but had no luck. Spent about two hours cold calling sparkies from their ads in the yellow pages and had a few offers, so if it's that easy when things are really bad I imagine you'll have no trouble at the moment. I started the TAFE course, it was painfully simple, although the others seemed to find the material challenging (considering you're 22 I'm guessing you might have finished high school, if you took year 12 physics and/or maths and didn't have trouble you should cruise through). There was one girl in the course, she had some obvious disadvantages as a female, but she found someone to take her on without much trouble (although she later decided to throw it in and last I heard was an apprentice baker). I wouldn't think of being female as a disadvantage if I were you. Many people will hold it against you but some people are fond of anything which is different and there are more of those people around than females wanting to be sparkies, so you're at a net advantage.

Be careful who you choose to work with, I was zapped with 240 volts in my first week while wiring a GPO which my boss assured me was turned off... someone decided to turn on the electricity while I was doing it! (I think the painted who watched me get blown across the room had an even bigger shock than I did :lol: ) I rapidly grew sick of working around tradesmen as many of them were lowlife scum (I'm not trying to make a generalised statement about tradesmen there, some are brilliant people, I was just unlucky enough to have been stuck with bad ones. I was content to tolerate the bad language, I was just able to ignore my boss's and co-workers' brags about things such as getting cheap prices on prostitutes and their partners not finding out, but the final straw was when my boss wanted me to steal tools for him from some other people working on a house we were at). I'm not at all trying to put you off, it's a great industry in many ways and I occasionally think that as a means to an end I could have been happy there for some time, but it's worth keeping in mind that it's worth seeking good people to work with.

Good luck, don't get zapped

 

[womas4me]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

Hi Bex, my advice is to work out which field you want to go into also. There are your average cable jerkers ( domestic ), industrial ( fixed and mobile plant ), elevator and escalator, aircon's etc. The construction industry once your a tradey is where the big bucks are ( 1500 - 2000 g a week after tax ), with the mines following closely after.

There is alot of variety out there in the electrical game, so it's not a bad choice for your future. Good luck with it. Also dont overlook mining companys, they will often take on adults in apprenticeships easier than joe cable who has a tight budget.

 

[NoOne]

i started the TAFE course, it was painfully simple, although the others seemed to find the material challenging

:roll: :roll: yes yes we all know how smart you are :roll: :roll: so are you a qualified sparky now?

Can anyone here imagine Sadji on a job site? :lol: :lol: No wonder you didn't last long and you think alot of tradesmen are low life scum :lol: :lol:

Be careful who you choose to work with, I was zapped with 240 volts in my first week while wiring a GPO which my boss assured me was turned off... someone decided to turn on the electricity while I was doing it! (I think the painted who watched me get blown across the room had an even bigger shock than I did )

Come on Sdaji, how did you get blown across the room by 240vlt did you jump with it or something :roll: :lol:
I got sapped a few times over the years i was working, i didn't get blown across any rooms, had to go to hospital once to get my heart checked but thats it.

 

[Switch]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

Womas4me
1500-2000 a week after tax - not in your life buddy
My Leading Hand (one of the best around) is running 6 blokes for me at the moment on a large construction site and is on 1500 gross, and very happy with it.
Beknluke
Bek, I own a small Electrical Contracting Company, we have myself, 1 Leading Hand Tradesman, 3 Tradesman, 2 Apprentices and 1 Labourer.
In the past I have had several apprentices and 1 was actually a female.
It was a shame that when she finished her time as an apprentice she quit, got married and had kids.
I have a Labourer who is 26 and would love a mature aged apprenticeship, and i wish i could oblige because he is fantastic, he is mature, keen to work, and easy to get along with. Maybe someday.

I have 2 x 18 year old male Apprentices at the moment (1 x 1st year, 1 x 2nd year) and i find them very immiture and not ready to be in the big wide world, I get sick to death of holding their hand in life matters and listening to their trivial bulltwang. All they do is winge.
So to make a short reply long .....
In my opinion a mature person with a good work ethic and is prepared to make a few sacrifices such as money and time, worth their weight in gold, just point that out to your potential employer, really sell your qualities.

Sdaji, sorry to hear your had such a bad experience in the industry, people like that make us look bad.

 

[Switch]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

One other thing, you will need good maths marks

 

[beknluke]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

Wow guys - THANX so much for your insights, I'm sure you can guess how much I appreciate it.
Sdaji - you may not be intending to talk me out of it, but I'll tell you what - it would raise a few hairs on some ppl!! I HATE those filthy type men (and women) who can be feral to be around. BUT, I am a tough lil chicken and I am hoping that my strong work ethic - and determination to prove ppl wrong - will gain their respect.
Thanx for the boost in the 'go gettem' attitude Judy - I was just concerned that they wouldn't be interested in me coz I'm one of the girls
I finished yr 11, but not year 12 as my decision to move out of home forced me into the workplace, but I DO have an ok head on my shoulders, so hopefully I should manage.
Souley - Zo has mentioned bits and pieces to me, but it would be good to have a chat. Assuming I can decipher the truth from the sarcasm!! :lol:
Douga - thanx for that lil nugget of info. That sounds like a possible idea, but I will at least try for the aprenticeship first
Whilst I admit that I find the whole idea of sticking something out for 4yrs to be daunting, I think that I have a good support network around me, hey, you've gotta go through SOME rubbish to achieve anything in this life!!
Womas - I have NO idea about what PARTICULAR niche I wanna get into, but I am sure I will work it out as I go along.
In my current job, I work 40hrs a week as an administrator. I travel for 3 hours a day, lift 30kg boxes regularly, hate my boss (she has a habit of being VERY abusive) and earn $530 net per week. Now if I can get the travel down to maybe 1.5 hrs a day, but longer hours per week, love my job and have the potential to start my own business one day? Well, I would be happy with anything around what I am earning!! And I would accept much lower than that for the first and second years!!
Luke IS quite worried about me getting zapped, but hey, if I'm not paying attention, then I will probably deserve it. So I'll be drinking LOTS of red bulls
Switch - thanx for what you have said. It sounds very encouraging. Can I ask though (and I'm not about to come knocking on your door!!) if YOU would take on a 22yo? Or is their pay too hight to justify it VS an 18yo?
And do you reckon that you could PM me the rough weekly pay that the 1st and 2nd yrs earn? I know that it is probably different between states, companies, AND their ages and mine, but it would be a helpful guide??
Hopefully on my lunch break, I will get the chance to call my local apprenticeships office and ask about pays, the job availability etc etc. But again guys, ALL advice and comments are appreciated!
Bex

 

[beknluke]

Re: RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

One other thing, you will need good maths marks

Oh great!! :? Does that mean I am screwed??
I was last at school 5yrs ago!! And I didn't bother with maths in yr11, and I spent most of yr10 feeling sorry for myself and skipping classes Is that going to ruin this for me??
Damnit - my kids won't get ANY choice in their subjects :twisted:

 

[Sdaji]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

Sdaji, sorry to hear your had such a bad experience in the industry, people like that make us look bad.

No worries, I've dealt with worse and it makes life interesting. As I said, there are some great sparkies around and as a group I have nothing against them. I had fun getting them back on my last day anyway! :twisted: :lol: amazingly the idiot was on the phone the next week begging me to come back! :lol:

Sdaji - you may not be intending to talk me out of it, but I'll tell you what - it would raise a few hairs on some ppl!! I HATE those filthy type men (and women) who can be feral to be around. BUT, I am a tough lil chicken and I am hoping that my strong work ethic - and determination to prove ppl wrong - will gain their respect.

Yes, there are some filthy people around and they raise a few hairs, but don't let it stop you from doing what you want to do. There are good and bad people in most areas. Once you finish your apprenticeship you'll be able to more easily choose who you work with. As I said, I was just suggesting you put in a bit of extra care in choosing where you work if you're going to be a tradie. I've met a fair few sparkies who are great people.

finished yr 11, but not year 12 as my decision to move out of home forced me into the workplace, but I DO have an ok head on my shoulders, so hopefully I should manage.

I doubt very much that you'll have any trouble, sounds like you'll be fine with that side of things. You'll find it amusing when you see how some of the other cope!

so are you a qualified sparky now?

Yes, that was the claim I was trying to make. I am a qualified sparky. I thought I made that clear when I said I threw the idea in very early on and decided that the industry wasn't for me :roll:

Just out of curiosity, Steve, why is it that you feel such a strong need to sit on my back and get in my face? You obviously don't like me and no doubt have your reasons, but considering the fact that I've hardly ever spoken to you (if at all) I don't see why you feel the need to bad mouth me so often. Sooner or later I may start responding, might be fun

 

[Magpie]

RE: Re: Electrical Apprenticeship???

I think there is an exam of sorts you can sit to become a mature age apprentice if your school marks weren't up to scratch?

 

[NoOne]

How can you be qualified if you didn't do the practical work? You can't get a license to do anything if you haven't done that.

Why don't i like you..................ummmmmm cos i don't :roll:

 

[Guest]

Can anyone here imagine Sadji on a job site? :lol: :lol: No wonder you didn't last long and you think alot of tradesmen are low life scum :lol: :lol:

Geez mate, you really are quick to pigeon hole people arent you? Do you know Sdaji personally, have you met him, been on the turps with him??? I reckon he would make a great addition to any work place, and if you are generalising him cause of the photos you have seen of him then thats pretty stupid. He can foul mouth it with the best of them, i know that personally and for a fact!

Thats just my opinion dugaduga, but dont worry about me, i'll just go and count all my rich kid dollars now. :roll: :roll: :roll: