What do they not teach you at college? Is there anything that I'm missing? | on Free Electrical Advice - Electricians Forums (2024)

I've heard that when students go to college the colleges usually teach them most of what they need to know in order to be a competent electrician.

What is it that I'm missing? I've completed C&G 2330 Level 2 & 3 but have no practical experience. I'm going to set up a board at home so I can improve my speed if I ever get a job in the industry, I thought about learning the 2391 Inspection and Testing at home, then go into college when I feel ready to complete the test, I could practice installing different things on a board like they have at college.

It'll be worth it in order to get a job, If I can say to an employer that I've been practicing at home for the last year then I'm in a much better position to get the job. It's just that they don't teach you everything at college, somethings are missed out apparently...

Mr Curnow said:

I've heard that when students go to college the colleges usually teach them most of what they need to know in order to be a competent electrician.

What is it that I'm missing? I've completed C&G 2330 Level 2 & 3 but have no practical experience. I'm going to set up a board at home so I can improve my speed if I ever get a job in the industry, I thought about learning the 2391 Inspection and Testing at home, then go into college when I feel ready to complete the test, I could practice installing different things on a board like they have at college.

It'll be worth it in order to get a job, If I can say to an employer that I've been practicing at home for the last year then I'm in a much better position to get the job. It's just that they don't teach you everything at college, somethings are missed out apparently...

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Are you honestly comtemplating telling a prospective employer that?? ....Hells Bells!!

If you have your 2330 2&3 then you will probably have a good grasp of the theory side of things

What you now need to do is get a job as a mate to improve your practical skills

From my experience as a second year trainee with around 6 months experience on site, college teaches you very little on the practical side compared to the real world

All the best mate

Mr Curnow said:

I've heard that when students go to college the colleges usually teach them most of what they need to know in order to be a competent electrician.

What is it that I'm missing? I've completed C&G 2330 Level 2 & 3 but have no practical experience. I'm going to set up a board at home so I can improve my speed if I ever get a job in the industry, I thought about learning the 2391 Inspection and Testing at home, then go into college when I feel ready to complete the test, I could practice installing different things on a board like they have at college.

It'll be worth it in order to get a job, If I can say to an employer that I've been practicing at home for the last year then I'm in a much better position to get the job. It's just that they don't teach you everything at college, somethings are missed out apparently...

Click to expand...

Waste of time, you need to find employment as an Electricians mate and learn from him as much as you can over a 3-4 year period before attempting to work alone as a qualified trusted Electrician.

As has been said you need to gain experience. Rigging something on a board isn’t going to teach you how to run a cable, etc in real life. You may connect something so it works, it doesn’t mean it’s correct.

As for trying to teach yourself testing. You’ll be red hot at fault finding if you’ve put the fault on in the first place. It needs another person to drop the fault in so you have to find it.

I usually find that you can find most information online, I bet there are books on the 2394-2395.

I know I can't learn everything at home, I will need experience in the industry but it puts me in a better position than other people. People from college have little experience.

I've been looking for a job in this industry for a while now, you say I should start looking for an employer but I've been doing that for the last 4 years, I KNOW I need experience, I just can't find anything.

Mr Curnow said:

I usually find that you can find most information online, I bet there are books on the 2394-2395.

I know I can't learn everything at home, I will need experience in the industry but it puts me in a better position than other people. People from college have little experience.

I've been looking for a job in this industry for a while now, you say I should start looking for an employer but I've been doing that for the last 4 years, I KNOW I need experience, I just can't find anything.

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No I am afraid not, screwing a socket on a bit of timber at home so you can test it won't make you better than someone who has never even seen a socket, you are mistaken if you think along those lines.

I started by calling up electricians from the yellow pages on my first year at college, then moved onto sending letters to companies, at one time I sent about 300 letters out still without a reply or a negative response that they weren't recruiting. I then moved onto sending out emails, going through google maps to search for employers, I've been applying for electrical engineers as well, I've sent out letter directly to the director but it's costly. I've recrently signed up for recruitment agencies, I can't think anything else than I can do, my CV is quite good, I've revised it many times. I've been asking for free work, work experience, internships, apprenticeships etc. But still nothing...

I look on the jobcentre website, most of the time they want experienced electrician, just like recruitment agencies like indeed, jobsite etc.

I can't think of anything else to do.