Retraining in a new trade?

[themodernchap]

I have a potential oppertunity to train as an Electrician.

I did a degree in English Literature and then a post-grad in Education to become a teacher, however there are virtually no teaching jobs in my own country and the work is highly stressful for little reward.

Currently on a local job board there are 44 Electrican's jobs listed offering an average lowest starting salary of £22,500p/a obviously the range runs up to around £40k but I used the lowest figures.

I currently earn 19,000 gross but am on a temporary contract so there are no benefits or job security.

It will cost me about £6,000 to self-fund the apprenticeship, but I would be employed though that whole period but on quite a low income. It will obviously delay my ERE ambitions but would probably provide a lot more security and job satisfaction. It will take 4 years to become fully qualified. I am good with my hands and perfer practical work to sitting under artificial light in an office all day pretending to work.

What does the ERE community think? It feels like a big committment, and makes me feel guilty for "wasting" my educational training. I am conflicted.

[Dragline]

Your prior training is what is referred to as a "sunk cost" and making decisions based on it is known as the "sunk cost fallacy" -- i.e., its a bad idea because the fact that you invested in the degree in the past does not determine what your best options for the future. It just gives you one form of certification.

The only thing you should learn from this past is that it is better not to make a long-term commitment to something on a half-hearted basis without considering all of the ramifications for your future.

I don't know what your other options are, but if you truly enjoy the work and are willing to commit to working as an Electrician for a serious period of years, it might be a good option.

But given it would be a long-term commitment, I would exercise some patience and put the idea on the shelf for six months or so before actually deciding. And see if you can do some small jobs like wiring up a thermostat or something similar. There is definitely a tangible joy of flipping a switch and watching a newly wired creation come alive. Read about the subject matter. Become a casual expert. See if it still excites you.

Because if you are not careful and make a rash decision, you risk repeating the English degree experience.

In the meantime, consider other options, including moving. If your debts are low, your possibilities are quite expansive.

[thrifty++]

Great advice Dragline. +1

It sounds like the electrician work pays more than what you currently earn. Starting at the bottom. On that basis I would go for it give it a run. But then you say it will cost you 6k to fund it yourself, which would make me say no don't do it. Why do you need to fund it yourself? Can you get an employer to fund that 6K? If so go for it. My advice to my younger self would be to stop paying so much for my own skills and try find someone else to pay for them one way or another or teach myself.

I am thinking it would be worthwhile trying to segue somewhere from your existing position though. Eg is there anyway that you can segue from your existing training somehow. Things which come to my mind are journalism jobs, any sort of editing work, copyrighting/advertising industry (probably hard to get I imagine but still), work in a publishing company, etc. How long ago did you graduate? Sometimes it can take some time to get a related job. You mentioned that there are no teaching jobs. Would you be willing to move elsewhere in the UK if there were teaching jobs available? Are there any other jobs available that you could segue into where you are working at the moment which pay more and/or offer the ability to be paid to learn new skills ?

[BRUTE]

much more than the 6k, brute is worried about taking 4 years to learn this.

will you make the 22k after or while you're doing it? in the former case, that's going to delay themodernchaps ERE date by 4 whole years.

are there similar trade/crafts jobs where themodernchap wouldn't require 4 years of semi-unpaid labor to earn money?

[UrbanHermit]

If you have any interest in electrical work, I'd say go for it. Afiak you have only looked at electrician jobs in your area, but the real money in most of these trades usually comes from investing in your own van & tools and running your own operation. If you're serious about it, in a few years you could be pulling down the upper end of that range. Also, why restrict yourself to local? Demand fluctuates by region, go where your skills will be most rewarded.

I do agree with Brute though that 4 years does seem awfully long... you could do a medical degree in the same time!

If you're looking for a way to leverage your degree, have you considered teaching english? Even today it's not that hard for someone young and outgoing to land a decent overseas ESL gig, and your teaching experience should give you an edge (see http://www.eslcafe.com/ if interested). Or could you do private tutoring as a side-hustle while working your current job, or doing the electrical apprenticeship? Just some thoughts.

[themodernchap]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I have done a bit of electrical work before, laying steel wire armoured cable, wiring sockets and things like that. I do find it interesting, especially the design of electrical systems. 4 years is a long time, but I will probably never be able to access that earning potential without retraining. I will earn a low wage during the apprenticeship, which will increase over the 4 years. It depends on the employer, if they are affiliated with the Joint Industry Board then they pay really well and minimum levels are set by JI, if not then the pay might be minimum wage or close to it.

It would definitely delay my ER date initially, but I am in temporary work, dead end by it's very nature. I will likely have several periods of unemployment over the next few years which would delay my ER date anyway.

@UrbanHermit
I've taught English in Primary and Highschools and also English as a second language, but the job market here for that is saturated, hence me looking to retrain. I think I would eventually either go self employed or into partnership as you suggest. I know someone who is doing that currently and he is having to turn work down because he is so busy. He had to hire his girlfriend as a full time bookeeper and admin because he didn't have time to do those functions himself. He is willing to take me out and get me experience that I can leverage into a job hopefully, and he's an excellent spark so I would be learning from the best!

The trade off is 4 years of low, but liveable pay for access to a trade where I could have massively enhanced earning potential. I think it is a good idea if I just accept my previous professional training as sunk costs and move on. I might have other ideas, or perhaps renewed vigour after pulling a few shifts with my friend like he has offered.

[BRUTE]

sounds like themodernchap has made up his mind. brute thinks it is a good idea!

ps: themodernchap doesn't need to limit himself to the place he lives in right now. plenty of other places in the world that enjoy electricity.

[themodernchap]

I ran the numbers a few months ago. Thought I might put them here so you can see if you think the trade off is worth it.

Assumptions
[*]The minimum hours an apprentice can work is 21 hours a week, most work a full time week, this rule exists to stop employers taking on apprentices then giving them no experience, making it difficult for them to complete the apprenticeship etc.
[*]I am assuming the lowest possible figures in these calculations and the lowest number of hours, the question is can I live on this money, not will I be doing well on this money.

If the employer is NOT JIB affiliated then the rule is that the apprentice must be paid a minimum of £3.70 an hour in the first year and then whatever the appropriate minimum wage is for their age. For me that would be £7.20 an hour due to the "living wage" being introduced in April 2016. So first year affordability is the question:

Non JIB affiliated employer - £77.70 for 21 hours of work plus £51.80 for 2 days in college. Total £129.50/w or £561.16/m. I am living on less than that at the moment!

JIB affiliated employer £100.38 for 21 hours of work plus £58.94 for 2 days in college. Total £159.32/w or £690.38/m.r

It's not a lot of money, but it is more than I need to live simply. The pay improves dramatically for JIB affiliated employers from the 2nd year onwards, eventually building to £10.40 an hour for a 4th year apprentice. This is more than I currently earn before I am even considered to be fully qualified.

So ERE chums. Do those numbers look like retraining is a good idea? I think it is but I have been known to make poor choices in the past...

[vexed87]

I would spend the next 12 months looking for an employer to fund the training before self funding, that should be a last resort. Have you tried calling local businesses that are advertising for staff to see what they can do, even if they are prepared to fund a portion, or are there too many kids out of college snapping up these jobs?

If I was really desperate to change jobs, I'd want a couple years expenses saved + the self funding costs saved up. I'd probably recommend taking work on the side too unless you were doing ridiculous hours.

[themodernchap]

I will try to get funding from an employer, but I can't imagine anyone being willing to take that punt on me. The kids get this stuff funded by the government, I'm too old for that unfortunately. I'm not desperate to change jobs from my current job, but I am desperate to have some stability and to get away from doing bottom rung admin work. Do something useful, you know?

[UrbanHermit]

Ok, well lets run the numbers... your costs are 6k in self funding, and 19k - 12*561 = 12.5k annually in opportunity cost. After four years, when you get your ticket, you will be 56k worse off than if you had stayed the course (ignoring investment returns for simplicity). You're looking at a range of salaries between 22.5k and 40k which is an earnings increase of 3.5-18k. So, your break even point is 7-20 years depending on the salary you achieve.

So... idk. The opportunity cost is pretty high, but if you enjoy it, work hard, build your skills, and earn a wage in the upper quartile, then it looks like a good deal. But if you're just looking for a way to increase your earnings, there are probably other options that will payback more quickly.

[BRUTE]

Riggerjack mentioned in another thread that US trade apprentices make $50k the third year. maybe there is an opportunity for themodernchap to do the apprenticeship somewhere else, where it may be free or better paid? if not in the US, maybe some other european country has more attractive apprenticeship options.

[themodernchap]

@UrbanHermit
I can't fault your logic. It is important though for me to mention that my employment is temporary. Last year for example due to two job losses and around 2 months of resulting unemployment I earned only around £7,000. So little that I have been recieving tax refunds this year. I have almost no rights as a worker and can be terminated at any time with no warning.

Part of what attracts me to retrain is the prospect of i. Self-employment and ii. Stability which I currrently lack. I may lose my job again in April depending on the budget given to my department. Temping sucks because you can never really settle into a job, no money or time is given to train you or develop your skillsets, you can't get promotions or advancement of any kind, or pay rises.

The pay is low for apprentices here because most are 16 or 17 fresh out of school and have no overheads or commitments. It's sort of seen as being doing your time, in fact a common way to describe a fully qualified spark is as a "time served" electrician.

[JL13]

He is willing to take me out and get me experience that I can leverage into a job hopefully, and he's an excellent spark so I would be learning from the best!

Can you spend a few weeks or months working with him rather than paying $XXX for the apprenticeship? Try before you buy. Can he not take you on as an apprentice for less? What does he think of the apprenticeship program you're considering?

[themodernchap]

@J_L13
He thinks it's great. He reccomended it and the establishment that facilitates it. I will be working with him starting soon to get my hands dirty before I commit.

Usually apprentices go to larger companies, since they can commit to hiring you for 4 years but I will look further into the idea of working for him. Ill still have to pay for the qualifications so the cost would be the same unfortunately.

[SimpleLife]

Any interest in IT work? You can teach yourself online and get a high paying job entry level if you can demostrate some knowledge.

[tonyedgecombe]

Any interest in IT work? You can teach yourself online and get a high paying job entry level if you can demonstrate some knowledge.

Have you done this yourself? The reason I ask is I keep hearing this sort of thing repeated but after a long career in the industry I haven't seen much evidence of it happening.

[Slevin]

Have you done this yourself? The reason I ask is I keep hearing this sort of thing repeated but after a long career in the industry I haven't seen much evidence of it happening.

Not quite in IT, but I basically did this in Software Engineering. To be fair, I do have a degree in STEM and got some experience in software during college, but most of my learning on the software side has been on job. From people I know who got the same non-CS degree as myself, about 1/3-1/2 of them are now in the software industry. Most had little (i.e. 3 credit hours) of software training from college, and are mostly self-taught.

[SimpleLife]

Any interest in IT work? You can teach yourself online and get a high paying job entry level if you can demonstrate some knowledge.

Have you done this yourself? The reason I ask is I keep hearing this sort of thing repeated but after a long career in the industry I haven't seen much evidence of it happening.

I make 153k a year from my work from home IT job alone. This is in Seattle, not SanFran. I taught myself. Been doing it for maybe 8 years now? My colleagues earn 60~90k a year currently, so it is skill dependent how high your income goes.

If you tried it and didn't make it or see most people fail, then nevermind. It is not for everyone, otherwise everyone would be doing it.

BTW, software developmemt is an IT job. I don't understand why some developers seem to think they are not in the IT industry. Help desk is IT, but so is software development...it is an IT job, not a Finance job, Retail, etc.

[SimpleLife]

Have you done this yourself? The reason I ask is I keep hearing this sort of thing repeated but after a long career in the industry I haven't seen much evidence of it happening.

Not quite in IT, but I basically did this in Software Engineering. To be fair, I do have a degree in STEM and got some experience in software during college, but most of my learning on the software side has been on job. From people I know who got the same non-CS degree as myself, about 1/3-1/2 of them are now in the software industry. Most had little (i.e. 3 credit hours) of software training from college, and are mostly self-taught.

So what job industry are you in then? Finance? Software "engineering" is IT work. Also, engineers are usually state licensed. The term is over used. Business Insider had a great article about this recently. Engineers have educational and licensure requirements. Just because one can code HTML doesn't make them an engineer, lol. Title inflation and snobbery at it's best. Even garbage men are now "Sanitation Engineers".