# Forum Home Renovation Electrical  mature age sparky apprenticehip

## thechemist

well after about 12 years in the work force, I have come to the conclusion I should have done a trade!!.  Electrical stuff interests me and was an electricians offsider while going to school and absolutely loved it.   Why I studied chemistry after  school who knows!  Pays the bills I suppose.  Even at my currect semi office job I get on better with the tradies/engineers!
I'm not afraid of hard work and am pretty handy.
Anyway,has anyone on here  done a mature age electrical apprenticeship before? and whats invloved?  
thanks 
matt

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## nev25

In Vic I know you can 
You just have to find a sponsor  
A few years ago when I was 45 I worked for a few months for a local sparkie who gave me a 4th year  apprentice that was 3 years older than me (48)

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## Ausyuppy

Have a look at the ENERGEX website. They are recruiting Electricians (Substation work), Linesmen's, and Jointers (Underground). I have seen some older apprentices getting around. However the only job that will give you an Electrical Fitters Mechanic ticket is the substation Electrican. 
One of our Telecommunication guys (26 yo) just changed over to become an Electrician as an Adult apprenticeship. 
Cheers
Steve 
Edit: See http://energex.nga.net.au/fnt_info_p...app&MemberID=0

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## Bros

I know someone who did one is his late 40's. His job was made redundant and he had a choice of an adult apprenticeship or redundancy package, he chose the apprenticeship.  
The only drawback I see if you get someone to take you on is you will be mixing it with younger blokes and can you keep up to the hectic social life enjoyed by apprentices??. 
I look back on those times with fond memories.

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## Sparky82

if you are concerned about pay try larger mobs like heyday and stowe, a mature age 1st year i know gets 23+ an hour  
if you want a larger variety of duties try a smaller company but be prepared to get payed a lot less 
government gives mature age apprentices 150 a week, this is a great incentive i think

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## TwinTrade

proof in the pudding right here mate 
i was a chippy (fully licensed) who started a sparky apprenticeship at a mature age. Unfortunately what is involved is the same as doing it at 16. Going to TAFE with pre-pubescent know it alls and dealing with teachers who think you don't belong.
The best advice i can give to you is if you want to do it "THEN DO IT"
I worked for two different companies during my time and both of them treated me as a slightly different case to the other apps. Slightly higher pay and more responsibility because as a mature man you can cope with the extra stuff. 
At the end of the day if you want this piece of paper ther is only one way to get it and that is through a couple of years of hardship but it is worthwhile. 
Yes i am married and with two kids 
Good luck go and do it 
Cheers 
Gordon

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## elkangorito

If it were me about to embark on a 4 year commitment, I'd be asking myself why I wanted to do such a thing. The answers may give you an incite as to in what part of the industry you wish to work. 
If you decide to work for a construction company, the chances are that you may learn little about 'electrical' stuff. You will be employed as a 'wire jerker'. But this is not all bad...you at least get to learn the rules about 'jerking wires'.
These companies invariably pay more because the job is repetitive & requires people to move quickly...very quickly. 
If you want to learn something, avoid construction companies. Go & work in a factory or for a switchboard manufacturer. 
Some electrical contractors can be ok to work for if they specialise in something (apart from domestic work). 
There are plenty of jobs available for 'maintenance electricians' & they learn a broad range of things although not to any great depth. 
If you work for a switchboard manufacturer, which are few & far between (not many of them), you will become an expert in 'handskills', 'control', busbar work, cutting & shutting metal work & cable installation. The problem is that there aren't many switchboard manufacturers around. They also only hire tradesmen who are highly skilled. They don't pay 'hugely' but once you secure a 'name' in this very small sector (it's almost like a family), you can follow the work anywhere.
The good thing is that if you can get a job with such a company as an apprentice, you will have a secure future that will take you many places in the electrical world. 
I did my apprenticeship for a manufacturer of underground mining substations in Tomago (NSW). This job required very good fitting & hand skills as well as an excellent ability to work with control circuits.
From there, I went to construction for a few years & then moved into switchboard manufacturing. The switchboard manufacturing job allowed me to do engineering. 
I started my apprenticeship in the late '70s. The engineering part allowed me to move into Facilities Management but I wasn't entirely happy with that change. FM used to be good...it used to rely upon engineering but now it's all about accountants, who know nothing about anything technical & yet they control engineers. I started FM work in 1998 but I am now disillusioned with this industry. Almost anybody can be an FM now as lonf as they now how to 'pass the buck' & are politically adept.  
Mind you, I can still get my hands dirty 'jerking wires' & I still know all the basics that I was taught. 
Good luck to you.

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## Jasey

I've done it, well for eight months so far.  I left a high paying job to get award apprentice rates, which meant working 6 days instead of four for less money.  Got four kids and wife and mortgage, so you can see that I'm up against it. 
But for me I couldn't stand the thought of being 50 and still doing the job I was in.  Retraining is tough no matter what it is, but at least a trade pays while you go while UNI costs you. 
It took a while to land a job, finally happened through a friend.  Your best chance is to promote the mature age benefits like knowing how to work and handling responsibility.  A number of places won't pay for the mature age, but you just need to suss out the ones who will.

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## Pulpo

So how long does it take a mature age person to do an electrician apprenticeship? 
4 years seems like a bit of an over kill for a mature age, certainly not designed for that. 
Makes sense for a 17/18 year old but not a 35 year old, especially if you have worked in the industry. 
Good Luck if you go down that path. 
I could not live off those wages for 4 years. 
Cheers 
Pulpo

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## dazzler

Hi thechemist 
If you want to do it then do it otherwise you may regret it later on perhaps.  
If its the tradies outdoor lifestyle and comraderie your chasing have you thought about starting a small business that links into the trades. Like a mini excavator/bobcat or something similar. 
Pay should be better and you are your own chemist so to speak. 
good luck!

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## pawnhead

How's your business, and the lifestyle change going for you dazz?

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## dazzler

> How's your business, and the lifestyle change going for you dazz?

  Hi John, 
business is on hold (still have the gear down here) and am running a team with the local council.  Lifestyle is great  :2thumbsup:  
cheers 
dazzler

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## macattack

hey guys. Did you make any progress with this? i'm looking for information on electrical mature age apprenticeships and whats involved.. any luck since you started this thread? or anyone else have any good website links or info anywhere that could help? thanks

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## Smurf

The most recent apprentice we took on at work is a mature age (31). Previous apprentices have generally been 16 - 18. 
From an employer's perspective there are both good and bad points about mature age (as opposed to 16 - 18) apprentices. 
Good points include being (hopefully) over the phase of excessive drinking, dangerous driving, partying hard etc that most (but not all) young males seem to go through. So a mature age apprentice is less likely to turn up to work drunk (or not turn up at all) or find themselves off work due to being in trouble with the law. 
Bad points include potential difficulties in the workplace if a younger person holds authority (this very much depends on the attitude of the individual) and that great cause of employee unreliability - kids. 
Best advice I can give to anyone seeking an apprenticeship is to remember the maxim "employ for attitude, train for skill" since training for skill is the entire point of an apprenticeship. No amount of TAFE courses and experience will impress if the boss is in doubt about the potential apprentice's ability to accept the realities of being an apprentice.  
In other words, if you are 40 and looking for an apprenticeship then get used to the idea of 22 year olds telling you what to do, expecting you to do it, and assessing your performance. If that idea makes you think twice, then a mature age apprenticeship is probably not for you.  But if you really want to learn a trade and can cope with the realities of being an apprentice then go for it. 
In terms of actually getting a job, I strongly suggest registering with the group training companies (all of them) as well as directly applying for advertised positions. A lot of employers never advertise their apprenticeships these days - they just go to xyz group training and ask for x number of pre-screened applicants to be sent around for an interview. The only time it gets advertised is if they don't already have enough people on the books. 
With regard to pay, that one varies hugely between employers. Where I work, we pay minimum wage for the first 6 months of an apprenticeship and after that there's a large increase subject to performance.  
PS: No, we don't have any jobs available at the moment so don't anybody flood me with messages please.  :Biggrin:

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## autogenous

Go FIFO on the mines as an apprentice. You'll learn commercial electrical which makes housing look like kindergarten.  
3 weeks on 1 week off 7 days a week 12 hour days.

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## macattack

smurf, thanks for the good info! I'm not worried about younger people giving me orders so I think I should be fine (although i'll report back again a couple weeks after experiencing it hehe)..  
Autogenous, I read up on mining, but the problem is that the mature age mining apprenticeships are mostly in WA. And 3 weeks on 1 off sounds extremely demanding! I have no idea how I would cope with that  :Shock:  
I also read up on mechanical apprenticeships (MECHANIC APPRENTICESHIP | MATURE AGE APPRENTICESHIPS - Your center for mature age apprenticeships) and i think i might apply for some mechanic apprenticeships as the money is good, there are mechanics all of Australia and of course there is electrical stuff involved. Win win win :Biggrin:

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## Bloss

Must be a perspective thing - 'mature age' to me is >50years and no reason why they would become a sparky then . . .  :2thumbsup:   :Wink:   :Redface:

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## Smurf

It will vary between employers. 
Just about every employer would classify 25 or over as "mature age" whereas nobody would classify 18 or under that way. 
Where the line is does vary - I know of some employers that prefer 18 or under for their apprentices and others that prefer 25+.

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