Out-of-work Steve switched to current role as electrician
A FORMER IT worker who was made redundant has retrained as an electrician in a bid to beat the credit crunch.
Steve Hinds had worked for Egg at Pride Park for seven years and decided to embark on a new career after losing his job at Christmas.
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rewired: After being made redundant from his role in IT with Egg, Steve Hinds has now retrained as an electrician.
The 31-year-old, of Chester Green, used his payout to fund a City & Guilds course and has now gone from nine-hour days in front of a computer screen to being his own boss.
He said: "My colleagues found out that we'd be losing our jobs last summer so I started thinking about using it as an opportunity to start a new career.
"I wanted to do something completely different.
"I wanted the variety of meeting different people, working inside and outside, rather than sitting in front of a screen in an office every day. After doing it for seven years my eyes were a bit tired.
"It was something I got bored with but I probably would have kept on going if I hadn't been made redundant."
Mr Hinds developed an interest in electrics after watching a friend carry out work at his house.
He then signed up for a course run by New Career Skills, a company which specialises in retraining people wanting to change careers and become electricians and plumbers.
Mr Hinds also took on a job as a delivery driver in the morning to help pay his mortgage and used the afternoons to study for his City & Guilds qualification.
After six months of study he qualified in May and is planning to set up his own business.
Mr Hinds, who married fiancee Ophelia last month, said: "I think what I liked about the idea of being an electrician was being able to help people and doing something practical.
"Also, I knew that it would be a sensible career to get into because I could progress if I wanted to and become an electrical engineer.
"I'd advise anyone who has been made redundant not to panic, it's really not the end of the world and you can actually use it as an opportunity to do something you've always wanted."
Mr Hinds said he knew that he was taking a risk in the current climate.
But he said: "I have considered the impact of the credit crunch on electricians, but I am 31 and I had to make a decision on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
"You can't guarantee the security of any job in the current climate, but being an electrician is something I have always wanted to do and I hope to build up a company and employ other people."
For more information on New Career Skills, visit www.newcareerskills.co.uk or call 0800 037 99 22.
2 Comments
by Onlooker, Derby
Wednesday, July 01 2009, 2:36PM
“Well done Steve.The very reason that this country has been hit so hard by the credit crunch is we are fast becoming a nation of non-producers.Our manufacturing industries are almost finished due to lack of investment.We can't all sit playing on computers all day.We need to return to basic skills and fast.In truth these are the careers hardest hit in a recession not the financial services.When the economy does recover no one in this country will be trained to do this type of work and we will have to rely on migrant workers more than ever.”
by Chris, Derby
Wednesday, July 01 2009, 10:30AM
“Great achievement and well done for retraining. This does however show that IT is not everything that we have been led to believe as a source of plentiful and highly paid employment. I have worked in IT related jobs for the past 15 or so years and there is nothing available, yet we constantly see adverts for IT training with the promise of a highly paid job at the end of it.
Clearly what is needed is practical skills like Electricians, Plumbers, Gas Fitters, Joiners, Carpenters and Bricklayers.”