Sunday 5 February 2012

Electrician Qualifications: Do you have what it takes to be a Certified Electrician?


Before you can get an Electrician Job you need to have to right qualification, below we discuss how you can go about this.

In this day and age, technology has occupied a large portion of our existence. Hence we are partly dependent with electricity. And to complete the chain, we need individuals who can understand the current and the volatile characteristics of electricity. In other words, we need the services of electricians because of our dependence with electricity.

Indeed, in this day, an electrician’s service would certainly be valuable. But can any individual readily take on the job as an electrician? Just like any job and profession, there are certain standards that an individual must possess to become an electrician. 

Let’s take a look at how an individual can become a certified electrician.

Requirements to become a licensed electrician differ not just from state to state but from time to time as well. The surest route to electricianhood is to be an electrician apprentice which normally lasts between 3-5 years, and proceed on to taking the necessary examinations to gain a license.

To be an electrician apprentice one must be 17-19 years old to qualify as an apprentice in an electrical installer. Aside from the fact that they should posses the passion and interest in the different areas of the field, would-be apprentice’s grades in Mathematics, English, and Science must be C or above. Another qualification is the ability to read and understand technical drawings. If one has all of these, then one would surely be accepted in the apprenticeship program.

After this earlier stage of apprenticeship, future electricians have to attend advanced apprenticeship programs and attend college to gain theoretical knowledge in the field. 

Aside from taking theoretical courses, an apprentice must also continue trailing behind certified electricians and put into practice what he has learned in the classroom. This usually takes 3-4 years.

Apart from the qualifications presented for apprenticeship, an electrician-apparent must be physically fit to handle the job. Also, an electrician must have an above-average ability to solve mathematical problems and possess a good eye sight to associate the right color with that of the wire functions. Furthermore, future electricians should have good hand dexterity and good hand-eye coordination.

Although apprenticeship is the surest way to become a certified electrician, there are others who find the process pretty long. To avoid spending too much time at being an apprentice, others simply took a more practical approach to reach their goals.

Since this is a growing profession, many people are slowly turning to this direction. However, some find the traditional way of apprenticeship tedious, so they took shortcuts in achieving their goals to become electricians.

These individuals studied electrical course whenever they can, and try to gain essential qualifications such as the City and Guilds 2382 certificates, the City and Guilds 2391 Certificate, NVQ, EAL, Domestic Installer, and AM2. 

However to gain certificates in these fields, they must possess certain qualifications that differ per field.

An electrician’s learning journey does not end from having certificates and license in different fields. An electrician must always be eager to continue learning and apprising himself of the changes taking place in the field from time to time. 

The passion for the field is the number one requirement for every electrician. And the passion for learning rounded the list of qualifications for those who wish to be electricians.