I regularly get contacted by fellow Electricians, asking whether or not I have any vacancies available. Because I work for myself, more often than not, I don’t have any openings. But my heart goes out to them, as it brings back the memories of when I first started out, it wasn’t an easy ride.

So I decided to write this post, to share my own experience and offer advice that worked for me. Being newly qualified and in my thirties, made it even more difficult. Nobody wanted to hire a newly qualified electrician, and apparently I was too old for an apprenticeship scheme.

I decided to take matters in to my own hands and setup as a sole trader.

Setting up as a sole trader

If you’re newly qualified and cannot get manage to find a job, due to the fact you’ve not got any experience, and you can’t secure an apprenticeship then like me, you can setup as a sole trader. The obstacle with this, is now to find work. I’ll share with you, the methods that I personally use, and those for which I’ve had a bad experience with. It’s important to invest your time and money in to methods that will work.

• Website: Fortunately for me, my best friend is a web designer and straight away, he suggested it was essential I have a web presence. Even today, I still get most of my work via my website, without it, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. Hire a good designer who’s familiar with search engine optimisation, this means he’ll be able to help you appear high up in the search results on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. There’s no point having a website, if nobody can find you.

  I suggest your homepage for example, targets the biggest town in your area. For me, this is Bournemouth. If you type in Electrician Bournemouth, you’ll usually find me at the top. You can then create sub pages, which can target the smaller towns. That’s only half of the battle though, you then need other websites to link to your pages. I’ll make another post on that some time soon.

• Local Paper: Unlike a website, which can take time to get established, local papers can get you instant business and it’s reasonably affordable too. The trick here, is to stand out. Have an ad designed, that stands out from the others, the last thing you want to do, is blend in. This means you’ll need to closely monitor the competitions ads in the paper, on a weekly basis and then have an ad designed, that stands out like a sore thumb. It’s also a good idea to have an offer that customers wouldn’t find elsewhere, give them a reason to pick up the phone and call you.
• Lead Based Websites: I get several calls daily, from different companies such as ratedpeople, findatradesman and mybuilder, asking me to advertise with them. I’ve tried a couple of them out, but not had great success with any so far. But I’ll be sure to update if I have any positive experiences.
• Yellow Pages: My personal experience with the Yellow pages, wasn’t a good one. I paid over £150 to be listed and I don’t believe I received any business at all. One of the problems is, you have no control over what position you’re listed, you could be first and 100th. I was near the back, of a list among several hundred other Electricians, it’s definitely not good value for money. Yet they continue to call me each period, with false promises.

As I said, this is the route I took, I must admit, it was a little like diving in at the deep end, but overall I’m glad I took the plunge. Because waiting around for the golden opportunity may have taken years, if ever.

If you’re newly qualified or still studying, and below the age of 25, and don’t fancy starting up as a sole trader, I strong suggest you get an electrician apprenticeship.

Find an apprenticeship

If you’re over the age of 25, then you may struggle to get an apprenticeship. Even if you’re under 25, unfortunately, there are a limited number of places and the competition for each place is fierce. You can visit http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/ for more details. Whatever your age, you can of course, call or email local electricians in your area and ask if they’d be willing to take on an apprentice.

You should be prepared to work for free, you’ll gain invaluable experience, which will make finding a job, a much easier task.

Once you’ve finished studying and completed your apprenticeship, I’d again suggest becoming a sole trader. Those of you who would rather get a job working for somebody else, here are some places to start.

Best places to look for a job

There’s no single best place to find a job as an Electrician. Personally I would pull out all of the stops. Here are a few places to start looking:

• Local Papers: This is always a good option, as you’ll find the listings are all local to your area, which is an important factor, unless you’re willing to relocate.
• CV: Don’t be afraid to pay your local builders yards and electricians a visit, hand them a CV and ask them to call you, should anything come up.
• Online: The internet is another great place to look, but it’s also a great place to put yourself out there. Join all of the online job agencies such as monster.co.uk, jobsite.co.uk and jobstoday.co.uk to name a few.

Ultimately, you’ll struggle to find work, without first getting an apprenticeship of some kind. If you’re struggling to get an apprenticeship, then please do consider setting up as a sole trader. Follow my advice, put the work in and you’ll be on the road to success.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and I’ll do my best to help.

Good luck,

Les

But why? As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to ensure the safety of your tenants. The problem is, that the majority of landlords are in the game to make money and cutting corners becomes part of the business. But this is bad practice and irresponsible.

There are over 4,000 home electrical accidents each year, in the UK alone and more worryingly, 30 of those resulting in fatalities. Many of which could have been prevented, had the electrics been kept within the safety standards.

Worryingly, there is no statutory requirement for your as a landlord, to have safety checks done on the electrical equiptment in your properties, which is largely why some landlords opt not to bother. But as I said previously, it’s your responsibility to ensure the electrical equipment and systems are safe and sound.

BUT and this is a big but, you may still be liable should the worst happen. If only for your own peace of mind, I’d urge you to have periodic inspections done.

Some other things to bear in mind, as a landlord, you must ensure that all electrical systems and supplied appliances are safe. So while it’s not a criminal offense not to get a periodic inspection,  it is a criminal offense not to comply with the Electrical Equiptment Regulations 1994 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987, failure to comply with these can result in:

• A fine of £5,000 per item not complying

• Six month’s imprisonment

• Possible manslaughter charges in the even of deaths

• The Tenant may also sue you for civil damages

• Your property insurance may be invalidated

• These regulations are enforced by the Health & Safety Executive.

Ultimately, it’s up to you. But my advice to you, is to take responsibility and protect yourself, your tenants and give yourself peace of mind.

I get calls daily, mainly from housewives, who’s husbands had attempted to hang a new down light or fit a snazzy new shower. Despite their best intentions, more often than not, something goes wrong and it results in loss of power, burned out wiring, blown equipment and in the worst cases, electric shock.

As an example, let’s look at replacing/fitting a shower. On the surface, it seems such a basic task, to replace one shower with another. Usually when somebody is replacing a shower, they are replacing it with one that’s more powerful. Showers have a power rating, the more powerful the shower, the more power they draw.

If your old shower is 6.5KW for example, then it’s likely the circuit will have 6.5mm cable, meaning that if you then replace the shower with a 9.5KW model, it will result in a burned out circuit, meaning the entire circuit may need to be replaced, which is costly.

Above all else, your families safety is far more important, than trying to save a few quid by “doing it yourself”. Trust me on this, call an electrician and make sure it’s done properly and that your home or business is left safe.

My advice will hopefully help guide you in finding a good electrician, though my advice can also be applied to other trades such as plumbers and builders.

• I believe that personal recommendation is number one. Most of my work comes from personal recommendation, which makes me happy, as it proves my customers are happy with my work. But it’s not always possible to find an electrician who’s come personally recommended. It maybe a good idea to look at their testimonials, not only on their own website but places like Google Business.
• Your family or businesses safety is essential. Choosing a tradesman who’s part of an accredited association such as the NICEIC, CORGI and NAPIT is always a good idea. These organisations regularly inspect tradesman’s work, to ensure it meets the strict guidelines. But not all good electricians are part of an organisation, as they can become expensive and not all tradesman who are part of such organisations are good.
• In my experience, you’re most likely to get the best service from a smaller company or a sole trader, they tend to care more as it’s their business. But once again, this rule isn’t set in stone, there are always exceptions.
• Call around, find an electrician who can confidently answer your questions and who makes you feel at ease. If you get a bad feeling during the call, listen to your instincts.
• Remember cheaper isn’t always better. Rogue electricians tend to undercut qualified electricians, which more often than not, ends up costing you twice as much, as you’ll end up having to call a qualified tradesman to fix the mess. Not a day goes by, when I’m not correcting other electricians work. Or over confident husbands work, but that’s a whole other post!

While there is no 100% guaranteed way to finding a good tradesman, following the above steps, should help you eliminate the chances of employing a rogue trader.

Good luck, Les

I’m extremely busy with work, but I’ll do my best to keep you entertained and perhaps even educate you once in a while.

A big thanks to Paul, my web designer, for setting it all up and making it all look so pretty.

Les