I originally came here as a secondary school student after I got interested in US wiring on my school trip to NYC at age 15. Later I did a 2-year course in electrical engineering and renewable energy, which means I'm qualified to carry out electrical work but not to acquire a licence and open a business - for that I'd need another set of quite extensive exams.
Afterwards I worked in electrical planning for a short while, mainly planning the wiring of new railway stations (originally only the 230/400 V side but later also the switch track heating at 231/462 V 16.7 Hz) with occasional retirement homes and domestic buildings (in less fancy terms we once had to draw plans for wiring a top-notch block of flats for a super-rich MD, including a direct lift into the sitting room of his own top-floor loft). During school I also did a - rather horrible - one-month internship with a contractor, mainly carrying stuff, sweeping up and getting beer. Oh and once replacing sockets live, ended up getting a faulty socket that exploded 1 cm from my fingers when I pushed in the live wire. That was the sort of shoddy contractor that'd use yellow/green for switched phases and fuse 1.5 mm2 wire at 25 A for temp power. Unmetered too, no RCD and no earth. Not to mention the general work ethic and alcohol consumption.
Now I'm back to university and nearly finished with a teacher training programme (English and history) for secondary schools. I'm still interested in electrical work and do my own work whenever possible.
Last edited by Texas_Ranger; 01/02/16 09:28 PM.
