Electrical Careers Case Studies

My father was in the industry and he encouraged me into it. I also had friends who were already apprentices and they were enjoying themselves, so I was happy to try it. I liked the idea of being hands-on and learning on the job. The fact that I was earning while I was learning was a big bonus.

I have just finished my apprenticeship and it was the practical side I enjoyed most. I was able to work away and given responsibility to work on my own, allowing me to teach myself at my own pace. I enjoyed college too but not as much as being on a job.

I had six weeks on site followed by four weeks in college and then back on site and so on. Each day could be very different, and the projects too. I worked on a lot of new build schools. Apart from that, the one job that stands out was working at Harry Potter World, helping to install the electrics in some new stages that were being built there.

Now I am a qualified Electrician, I am going into the office to get some experience there for a while to see if I would like to follow a more office-based career. I will be shadowing other people and I’m not sure exactly what I will be doing yet, but I am looking forward to it. I will also carry on training with a day off each week to study for an HNC.

Do it! I encouraged my little brother who is now doing an apprenticeship and I’ve also recommended it to cousins and friends. It is so much better than some of my friends’ jobs where they aren’t happy and have no freedom and are constantly watched. I feel like I have good opportunities here to do what I enjoy. And, maybe I shouldn’t say this, the money is great too!

There is no typical day, every day is different. The estimator is the first point of contact who takes the initial enquiry from the main contractor. Once we have received all the information that we require to provide a tender (drawings, specifications, etc.) we then have to provide a cost for each element of the electrical installation based on that information we have received. This includes sending out enquiries to the nominated subcontractors for the specialist parts of the bid like the fire & security, data installation, etc. This is then inputted into our estimating software to give us an overall price that we believe we could complete the works for. The average timescale that are given to price a job is 2-4 weeks and the value can range from anything from £1M-£5M.

Once the price is submitted back to the main contractor there are always questions about what we have allowed for within our estimate and we are occasionally called to meetings with the main contractor/client to discuss our proposal and ensure that we have incorporated their requirements correctly.

There is a lot of to-ing and froing but it is good to be kept in the loop to find out how the job works out. The good thing about estimating is that you don’t really get tied down to a particular project for a long period of time meaning that there is the opportunity to work on a wide range of different projects.

When I was three and a half years into my apprenticeship, I was given the opportunity to come into the office as an assistant to the estimator. DBS needed another estimator and wanted to recruit from site because that person would have a skills background, which is really helpful for an estimator.

It was very interesting to see the company from the other side and how much goes on in the office that you don’t realise when you’re working on site.  I completed my apprenticeship and joined the office team as an estimator on a permanent basis.

I enjoy the variety and dealing with lots of different people. I also enjoy working to a deadline. There can be quite a lot of pressure just before a deadline, but I get satisfaction from getting the estimate done on time, and then moving on to something new.

I would encourage them as there are lots of options to choose from and you can either follow a site-based route or office-based. You get a good understanding of the industry doing an apprenticeship and having practical knowledge can sometimes give you an advantage over office staff who come straight from school with only academic experience.

When I completed my apprenticeship, DBS was growing rapidly and looking to grow the company from within. It selected those apprentices that did well and invited us to come into the office and try out various roles. I took up the offer and had a go at estimating and then design for the next two years, during which time the company also helped me train to technician level and then onto an HNC to formalise my Design Engineer status.

It has been a natural progression; as I have become more trusted, I have been given more to do. Now, as Principal Design Engineer, I oversee the design team, organising their training and workload, and form the link between them and management.

I am lucky to be in a company that believes in organic growth and encourages us to develop and progress within the company. My next step will be up into management and I am looking forward to that.

The first thing I do every morning is to go around each of the design engineers to find out what they have done and what they are going to do next, answering any questions. Next, I talk to the contracts team to see if they have any problems I can help with. Then I get onto my own workload. A typical day can include a wide variety of work from costing and pricing, to programming and design.

I have worked on all sorts of projects, including office blocks and manufacturing plants. I seem to have found my niche now in the education sector. I started off working on university projects but now work almost entirely on Government-funded schools projects. I work on both new builds and refurbishments. We put in a tender against competitors and then carry out the design, supply and installation.

My job will start with the tender, putting the initial design and costings together and then finalising the design once we win the contract. It doesn’t stop there though, as there may be changes needed to the design as the project progresses, or the school may want extra work that we need to incorporate into the design. Every school, and every design project, is different because there is so much variation. So, I need to liaise closely with the contract engineers to keep them updated and help them overcome any unforeseen issues.

There is a lot of crossover between planning, cost management and design which makes my job interesting. Doing a design isn’t just about knowing regulations and standards, there are lots of other skills involved such as planning and pricing, tendering and liaising with people. I like having independence and variation, and the challenges that brings. I really enjoy the finance side and delivering a job to a good standard and within budget. It is great when everyone is happy and it’s nice at the end to say, we did this job successfully and made a profit for the company.

I would ask them what their expectations are and question if this matches reality. I would never have thought when I did my apprenticeship that I would end up in an office, looking after a team and have financial responsibility. I believe that this industry offers more opportunity to develop lots of different skills, compared to other industries where you are put in a box. The skills are transferrable too, such as project management and cost management. This industry has so much variation, you can take different paths and there is flexibility to cross over into other roles very easily if you want to.

Before I did my apprenticeship, I’d spent about 10 years working in the electrical industry and learning from experienced electricians. However, I didn’t have the formal qualifications that I needed to get an ECS gold card.

SJD Electrical employed me and sent me to college to do the electrician apprenticeship as a mature candidate. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I was one of the oldest on the course! Although I had stacks of experience, I knew little about the theory behind it, I had just followed the instructions I was given. Now I began to see the whole picture and was able to make my own calculations and decisions.

After my apprenticeship, my ambition then was to become an Approved Electrician. Being able to back up my experience with a proven qualification gave me so much more confidence. It also made me realise that there was more to being an electrician, and now I wanted that bit more!

SJD gave me the support and opportunity to expand both my skills and experience, not just in design and installation but also sales and training. They suggested I take on the role of Contracts Manager. That had never been on my radar, but I knew I didn’t want to spend the rest of my working life on the tools.

I felt daunted at first, but quickly I came to realise that contracts managers are essentially project managers, so they need to understand everything that is going on with a job and work closely with the electrician team. This meant my experience of being an electrician was very helpful, if not essential.

There was still a lot to learn of course, such as materials sourcing, scheduling programmes, contract law, meeting budget and delivery targets – all sorts of new skills which have been challenging at times, but each adds to my experience.

Each day I need to chase any outstanding information that I need for upcoming or ongoing projects. Then there’s a variety of items that might need attention. Today, I have to source materials, get comparative costs from several suppliers to make sure we stay within budget, then order them and arrange delivery to site. I also need to produce a project programme to identify each project stage and what’s required in terms of materials, labour and time.

I also have to liaise with team foremen to organise the electricians who are needed on site and make plans for any unforeseen delays or changes to the design.

Some of the most interesting projects I have worked on have been classified, like the one we did for the Redbull F1 team, so I can’t tell you about those!

I juggle several projects at the same time, at least five at the moment, the biggest being a £2million prison contract at HMP Woodhill. This is an old building where we are installing both a fire alarm and panic alarm system, plus upgrading the ventilation system. Being a Category A prison, this isn’t a normal job at all and the security is very high.

It’s interesting going to different places and meeting new people, but the real satisfaction is seeing a project through to completion. I enjoy the process of planning and developing with the estimating and design teams, overcoming challenges as we go and then seeing how what started as an idea on paper turns out in reality. It’s great to look back and say, ‘we did that’!

Another part of my job I enjoy is training and mentoring; I’ve trained quite a few apprentices over the years and it’s great to help them by passing on my knowledge and seeing how they progress.