Electrician's Blog: My first job

Read part one Where it Started... here.

I had just left college, acquired my 16th Edition and was now a fully qualified electrician. At least, that’s what I thought.

A couple of months after qualifying I got a job with a company in Yorkshire. I would be a maintenance electrician and the main duties would be dropping and refitting lights and accessories after floods etc.

In the interview, I was told: “This job would ideally sit better with someone nearing retirement, not a young buck like yourself”.

I didn’t mind, I was keen to get in my van and start working independently as an electrician. I was so excited that I didn’t really register what was involved.

The following day I turned up to the office bright and early to pick up my van. A nice little Transit Connect which was fast! I was also given some tools, PPE and a uniform. I took a few minutes to appreciate all my new stuff before I was handed my job sheets for the day.

A challenge

Over the next few months, I got myself into a routine. The jobs to isolate lights were easy because I would just lock of the MCB and leave the wires taped. The bigger jobs in commercial showrooms etc. were a little harder because you had to trace and identify the installation to ensure you only isolated and rewired the affected areas etc. whilst the shop floor stayed open. I still didn’t have a tester at this point.

I had been working for the company now for a few months and everything seemed to be going well.

 That was until I was told that one of the Directors sons was getting an electrical apprenticeship with the company and that it would be my responsibility to train him. No problem, right?

Just to be clear. I had been to college full time and gained experience because I went out of my way to get it. I had my Level 2 and my 16th Edition. I ‘genuinely’ believed I was an electrician and that the only difference between me and the men/women with 20 years’ experience was exactly that: experience.

Still, I was worried I was going to get caught out. I knew, at this point, that my skill set, although pretty good, was not at the level it needed to be to teach an electrician.

I felt obliged to do a bit of research to ensure that I provide this young man with the right tools and experience so he can be a great electrician. The research really did scare me though, a total realisation that at this point I hadn’t done most of the stuff on the apprenticeship scheme. I was very worried.

A couple of weeks before my apprentice started, I downloaded a document with all the competencies needed to fulfil an apprenticeship. I also downloaded lots on National Occupational Standards, ethical standards, apprenticeship blogs etc.

Anyway, I’m not going to go through all the nitty-gritty. I ensured that what the apprentice was being taught at college was what he did at work. I made sure I knew everything about each part and I tested him on it.

I made sure he worked hard but we also had some right laughs. My favourite was the story of the 118 plasterer.

During the time when Hull was flooded badly, a lot of properties needed rewiring due to water filling the property up. My apprentice and I were asked to rewire a bungalow. The plasterer was on site and wanted to get on with it so we needed to pull our fingers out and get it done quickly.

We turned up to meet this four-foot guy who looked exactly like a mini 118 guy. He was probably the angriest person I have ever met in my life and kept saying: “If you don’t shut up, I’ll knock you out!”. He was hilarious.

On the second day, Luke Skywalker (Apprentice) and I devised a plan to get back at him. We would arrive early to get the final bits of the first fix done and then rig a trap for him when he arrived.

The plan was simple.

Cut a hole in the ceiling in the back bedroom, small enough for us both to get into the loft. Rig the plasterers bucket up to the loft hatch full of dirty water and then tell him we’ve put his ladders and bucket in the loft.  Then it was just a case of sitting and watching.

I would give anything to go back in time and video this for you all. It was, without doubt, the funniest thing I have ever seen and then his angry reaction was to attack Luke and I, which again, was hilarious.

Imagine Danny DeVito fighting Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film Junior. It was just like that.

To wrap this blog up, I'll finish with this. I learnt a lot working for this company, spent countless hours studying, learning principles and regulations. I’d moved away from working as a doorman and my life was just coming together. I was saving money and was starting to feel a purpose in life. So much so that I had saved up enough money to go on a holiday of a lifetime in Vegas.

Everything was amazing until I received a call whilst sitting on my bed in Vegas telling me the company was closing down…

To be continued…

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