Career Advice
What is an Apprenticeship?
Australian apprenticeships combine paid work and structured training to give people a nationally recognised qualification.An electrical apprenticeship is competency based, however in most cases will take four years to complete.
This is done by being ‘indentured’ to an employer for the life of the apprenticeship and attending off-the-job training with a Registered Training Organisation.
Monitoring is undertaken to ensure adequate experience on-the-job is being provided by the employer.
On completion of the apprenticeship both on-the-job and off-the-job experience is combined to achieve a nationally recognised qualification and an Electrical Workers Licence.
Why the Electrotechnology Industry?
When people consider a career in the electrotechnology industry, most people think of a residential electrician or an energy supply electrician.When you think about it the electrotechnology industry impacts on almost every aspect of daily life. Workers in the electrotechnology industry will always be in high demand.
Technology is advancing so rapidly with new products and systems becoming available, there is plenty of opportunity to continually grow your skills and advance your career.
The industry is vast and encompassing and includes several sub sectors and career pathways including:
- Electrician
- Communications
- Computer Systems
- Electronics
- Information/Data Technology/Communications
- Instrumentation
- Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
- Lifts
- Renewable/Sustainable Energy
- Gas
- Electricity Supply (Generation and Transmission and Distribution)
All of these career sectors are then available in several industry sectors such as:
- Commercial
- Residential
- Industrial
- Mining
- Manufacturing
- Generation
- Maritime
- Rail
- Wholesale/Retail
- Sustainable/Renewable
Lifestyle Benefits:
- Travel – this trade sector provides ample opportunity to travel. Australian qualified electricians are highly sought after overseas and within Australia,
- Diversity – there are so many industry sub sectors that once qualified you become a highly mobile tradesperson,
- Own your own business – once you have completed your apprenticeship and have gained valuable experience as a licensed electrical worker, you can work towards owning and operating your own business,
- Technology – the electrotechnology industry is advancing so rapidly there is constant change and evolution with products and systems,
- Career Pathways – there is ample opportunity to grow your skills and move into other career pathways within the electrotechnology industry such as the corporate environment.
How do I find an Electrical Apprenticeship?
Prepare your resume and ensure you include information relevant to the electrotechnology industry such as your school results for English, Maths and Science.You should also include information such as relevant work experience/history, any industry related certificates or qualifications.
If you need help with your resume, Seek.com has templates you can use to build your resume and application. Find the Seek templates here.
Once you have a resume together we recommend you:
- Contact electrical contracting businesses directly -
- Use the White Pages
- Target companies you are familiar with
- Use a Group Training Organisation -
- You can find a complete list of Group Training Organisations at www.gtaltd.com.au
- Use a recruitment company -
- You can register your details with recruitment companies
- Submit your resume to ApprenticeConnect -
- ApprenticeConnect is an apprenticeship management and mentoring service that we provide to electrical contractors. Services are varied to meet the needs of each individual business and sometimes this does include recruitment. You can submit your resume to ApprenticeConnect and we will hold onto it for a period of up to six months. Should we have a vacancy arise, we will contact you to see if you are interested in the position. Submit your resume to info@apprenticeconnect.com.au.
