The electrician's trade is highly specialised and skilled, requiring a detailed understanding of complex electrical circuits and rigid safety practices.
The FAS apprenticeships system is the industry-wide recognised route to becoming an electrician.
Before joining the FAS programme you must first find an employer who will agree to take you on as an apprentice and register you with FAS. The FAS apprenticeship involves structured, standards-based training. This means you undergo specific training and tests and assessments in the trade to ensure that you reach pre-set standards of ability. This is done though phases of training, both on the job with your employer and off the job in FAS training centres or educational colleges, over a period of four years.
After successful completion of the apprenticeship you receive a National Craft Certificate and become a qualified electrician.
In order for an employer to register you as an apprentice you must be at least 16 years old and have passed five subjects in the Junior Cert. However, an increasing number of employers are looking for higher qualifications. The electrician's trade is the most popular FAS apprenticeship, so staying on to get your Leaving Cert or Leaving Cert Applied could help you beat the competition for jobs and apprenticeship places.
"Having a Leaving Cert certainly would be and advantage," says a spokesman for FAS, "but someone with a lot of enthusiasm who really wants to get on can succeed with just a Junior Cert."
A degree of initiative is needed for this job. FAS co-ordinates the training of apprentices after they have been registered by an employer but it doesn't find employers for would-be apprentices.
So you have to get the ball rolling yourself. A good place to start is with your career guidance teachers, who should be able to point you in the direction of local employers; they might even have lists of employers who regularly take on apprentices. When approaching employers, it's vital you ensure they are willing to register you as an apprentice with FAS and that they are committed to on-the-job training.
Research is vital says FAS. "While you're still in school you should go to a local contractor and find out what their work involves. It's your responsibility to make yourself familiar with the trade."
The Register of Electrical Contractors of Ireland (RECI) publishes a booklet listing more than 2,100 electrical contractors across the State. RECI monitors the standards of all registered contractors, so consulting its booklet or website (www.reci.ie) is a good way of locating reputable contractors near you.
"It's a good profession and fairly well paid compared to other trades," says David McGloughlin, general manager of RECI. The boom in the construction industry has created a huge demand for electricians but should the boom end, McGloughlain says electricians would be less adversely affected than other trades. "There is a lot of maintenance work involved in an electrician's job after the original infrastructure has been put in and the electrician's skills are needed in lots of different industries."
The electrician's workplace can be indoors or outdoors and ranges from houses and offices to industrial plants and construction sites. A qualified electrician can find work with big or small contractors, with the State, in local councils, with Bord na Mona, CIE or the ESB. The ESB employs about 1,000 electricians in its network technicians category and recruits about 60 new apprentices for FAS training each year.
Michael Kelly of the ESB says that while technical proficiency and manual skills are essential, candidates should be safety conscious and, "have a calm, even temperament". After training with the ESB, electricians are free to apply for work within the company or to seek work elsewhere.
