CAREER PROFILE

What does a Electrician actually do?

The honest version — real salaries, real hours, real entry routes. From the CourseThread Career Atlas.

Starting salary — log in
Mid-career salary — log in
40–45 hrs
Typical week
AI: Low
AI vulnerability

The short version

Electricians install, test and repair the systems every building runs on — and unlike most trades, the work is regulated: your signature certifies it. That licence is what protects the rates.

The pitch: demand is structurally rising — EV chargers, heat pumps, solar and smart homes all need qualified sparks, and the workforce is ageing. The catch: the apprenticeship is the longest in the trades (3–4 years), the exams are real, and apprentice-year pay is thin.

Entry routes that actually work

  • Electrotechnical apprenticeship (Level 3) + AM2 — the route that means "qualified" to employers.
  • Adult NVQ portfolio path — for career-changers working in allied trades; evidence from real jobs, then AM2.
  • 18th Edition + ECS card — the regs qualification and site-access card that open the work.

Read the full guide — free

The complete Electrician profile — salary by year, honest day-in-the-life, AI vulnerability breakdown, and the exit-path map — is in the Career Atlas. Log in to read it online or download the PDF.

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Free account. No card. The Atlas is free to read and download.

Inside the full guide

Money & progression — salary bands by level, sources cited
Day in the life — a real Tuesday, not the brochure version
AI vulnerability — what AI does, can't do, and how the role is changing
Exit paths — where people go at 2, 5, and 10 years

Compare with

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