So, what's it all about?
Busy place, London. Crowds of people bustling around, buildings jostling for space, traffic snarling the streets and tube trains rumbling beneath your feet. Just looking at it can make you exhausted.
But that's just the surface of things. What's really mind-blowing is what you can't see. Electricity fizzing around at the speed of light along power lines, through cables into billions of lightbulbs and motors, industrial machines and household appliances. Voices babbling down telephone lines and over the radio waves. Gas pumping through pipes into ovens and heaters. Water gushing from taps and cisterns, down drains and into sewers.
Computers spinning webs of data while moving pictures bounce off satellites onto TV screens. And how did all those skyscrapers and houses and bridges and tunnels get there in the first place?
It's a wonder it doesn't descend into absolute chaos. That it doesn't is thanks to a legion of skilled people scurrying around, making sure their part of the system functions as it should.
A plumber mends a broken pipe while another installs a new boiler. A team of electricians wires up an office block as another fiddles with a computer circuit board. An engineer services an escalator. And so the whole show goes on.
The electrical and engineering sector is all about this: making things work. It's a huge field, so you'll specialise in a particular area. On an engineering Apprenticeship, for example, you could be demolishing buildings, servicing stairlifts, checking RAF aircraft or activating phone lines for BT - and that's just the start of a long list of opportunities.
You'll need to be good with machines, whether your specialism is fixing faulty DVD players in a local electrical store, or maintaining the reactor in a nuclear power station. You'll often need to be good with people, too - you might be going into somebody's home to fix their fridge or to stem the flood in their bathroom.
While there are many large firms in this field on the lookout for skilled employees, a lot of electricians and plumbers are self-employed or run their own companies. If you think you can combine your manual and mechanical skills with a head for business, there's a healthy living to be made.
What qualities do I need?
- be practical and handy with machines
- have a good understanding of technology
- have good electrical knowledge
- excel at physics and maths
- be methodical and able to follow instructions
- understand engineering principles
- have good communication skills
- be able to work on your own
- understand health and safety risks and take suitable precautions (electricity can be deadly)
- have excellent problem-solving abilities
- be computer literate
Hours: Although a 40-hour week is normal, in some roles you may be on call 24 hours a day.
Environment: You could be working on a building site, in a factory, in a shop or in people's homes. You may be working at heights and in enclosed spaces.
Location: You're unlikely to be staying in one place day-in, day-out. Depending on your speciality, you could be travelling to different local, regional, national or even international jobs.
These are the Apprenticeships currently available in this sector. For more information and for details of the Apprenticeship framework, contact the Sector Skills Council listed after each.
Building services and engineering technician
Contact www.summitskills.org.uk
Electrical and electronic servicing
Electrotechnical
Engineering
Heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration
Motor repair and rewind
Plumbing
Click here for a list of employers offering Apprenticeships in this sector.