I’m going to try and give you the full perspective, so yeah it’s long, I’ll try to keep things interesting.
Okay so I want to work. I spent my teens and 20’s working as an AV TECH but decided to switch trades and learn to become an electrician. I live in Australia and in order to become an electrician you have to land an apprenticeship, in order to get that you need to get a Certificate II IN ELECTROTECHNOLOGY which I did and ended up getting very good marks (not bragging but this is important for later).
At the end of the course, actually a week before the end, they sat down our class in the classroom and the teacher said “okay so I’m assuming most of you have jobs lined up (ie positions to begin your apprenticeship), so how many of you don’t have jobs”
About 10 of a class of 25 put their hands up including me.
“Okay hands up who is over the age of 21.”
Me and two other guys put their hands up.
“Okay so you probably want not get an apprenticeship due to your age. It’s illegal to say so but they don’t have to tell you the reason for not hiring you so you are SOL. Ya see, due to government rules, wages for 21+ or mature age apprentices cost 4-6 dollars per hour more depending on experience. No tradie wants to pay more for an apprentice no matter how experienced they are”
He told us this after the refund cut off point date and to pitch the unhirables an alternative pathway. Go for an electrical engineering diploma with the school. So I did that and then Covid hit and moved the learning online.
I finished my diploma in electrical and electronics and had to move back up to far North Queensland around cairns.
Now I grew up here and some of the hardest years of my life was living away from FNQ, I had moved to Melbourne for my AV TECH career due to lack of roles in FNQ. I grew to hate the weather, even when I moved to Brisbane I found it way too cold.
So I decided to move back up to Cairns (really Port Douglas) but I find that even though there are plenty of jobs, I can’t find a single one that lines up with my skill set. I hardened up and took a job to make ends meet cleaning dishes. And while I don’t hate or resent it, I do feel like I’m wasting a lot of my energy on not working in a job that matches my skill set. Any job that is remotely close is basically an electrical apprenticeship and so I started to apply again for apprenticeship, now with a diploma in electrical and electronics. But again, due to my age I’m finding it tough to find one. I considered learning everything an electrician learns during their apprenticeship and practicing that in my off hours, become an Electrical Trade assistant and working towards an apprenticeship that way. If Ihad the skills of an electrician it would be a great bargain for An employer to hire me because I would require less supervision. But now I’m hearing that I’m too overqualified due to my diploma.
Considering all the jobs that line up with my skills are way down south (Brisbane and below), I can’t find the heart or the strength to move away again. For lack of better words, I got homesick and my mental health suffered immensely.
I tried finding resources online to teach me everything an electrician needs to know in Australia so I can basically learn what I need in my own time and not have to worry about an apprenticeship but I can’t seem to find any valuable resources that are through and deep enough to match a four years apprenticeship.
Forgive my rambling, but if anyone knows how I can somehow learn to become an electrician without getting an apprenticeship then I would be most appreciative. I want to work in something that matches my skill set and qualifications and stay in FNQ and I can’t think of another way to do it other than to take the learning part in my own hands, learn it in my own time and try to get an apprenticeship by showing I already know the ropes.