Electricians are responsible for supplying, maintaining and repairing the supply of electricity to all aspects of modern life. A career as an electrician is busy, demanding and constantly evolving as technology creates more solutions for a world that is dependent on electricity. So let’s see what a career as an electrician involves and how your job as an electrician can develop.
Working as an Electrician
Although your role as an electrician will be extremely varied, in general an electrician is responsible for the maintaining electrical power, communications, lighting and controls circuitry, systems and networks across industry, business and homes. The scale of the project you are working on can vary greatly, with a massive emphasis on health and safety at all levels. Just some of the elements an electrician would generally be responsible for would be:
- Installing and maintaining wiring, circuits and networks
- Inspecting new and existing electrical components, such as circuit breakers, switches and transformers
- Identifying and repairing electrical problems with a variety of devices and methodologies
- Interpreting and following plans and blueprints when installing electricity systems
- Strictly follow and monitor wiring, circuits and transformers to ensure they are compliant with health and safety regulations and fire safety regulations
Job Responsibilities
Essentially all aspects of a construction site are dependent on electricity either partly or completely, as an electrician you will work alongside many different aspects of the construction or civil engineering projects. Just some of the other roles and trades you would be working alongside in your career as an electrician would be:
- Electrical engineer
- Structural engineer
- Foreperson
- Bricklayer
- Building services engineer
- Roofer
- Architect
- Health & Safety
- QA/QC Engineer
- Documents controller
- Contracts manager
Professional qualifications
Most electricians follow the apprenticeship path, a seven phase programme incorporating on the job learning and on the same time earning the required third level qualification. However many electricians come from third level, where they may have completed courses in electrical engineering or electronics but would prefer to direct their skills towards a more trade based route. During your career as an electrician you will constantly need to keep abreast of new technologies and hone your skills.
How your career can develop
As in any trade or profession, reliability, punctuality and work of the highest possible standard is vital. In terms of an electrician, it is even more demanding, due to the nature of the work and the health and safety regulations pertaining to it. A good electrician can choose to focus on domestic, commercial or industrial work but a those who are particularly good and choose to establish their own contracting services generally work across all sectors, where their skills are frequently in demand. Establishing a good relationship with a particular contractor, agency or multinational employer can pay particular dividends in your career as en electrician as they will likely retain your services as they continue to grow and expand their operations.