No one talks about how the apprenticeship process actually works here in New Zealand. You’ve probably tried asking ChatGPT with no luck. Electricians? ETCO? Pre-Trade? TLC? All the information I got in the beginning was hearsay. No road map. No nothing.
Since one of my Employers didn’t complete my paperwork properly, I lost half a year on my apprenticeship time. Do not trust people to know what they are doing.
1. Requirements
The Electrical Worker’s Registration Board of New Zealand (EWRB) regulated and manages licenses of all Electricians and Electrical Technicians in the country. All formal requirements can be found on the main EWRB page.
In summary, over a period of four years, you will need to:
- Take four years to complete your Apprenticeship, under a Trainee Licence.
- Complete the NZQA Electrical Engineering (Level 3) Certificate.
- Complete the NZQA Electrical Engineering (Level 4) Certificate.
- Pass the EWRB Electrical Theory Exam.
- Pass the EWRB Electrical Regulations Exam.
- Get your On-Job paper work signed off by your employer.
You must be a Citizen or Permanent Resident of NZ to be trained as an Apprentice. Overseas workers qualified in their country go though a different pathway.
2. Documents
EWRB is pretty strict when it comes to having the right paperwork. If you lack in any of these, it will compromise your ability to become a qualified Electrician. There are no exceptions. You risk repeating your apprenticeship.
To do this you must:
- Have a valid Trainee Limited Certificate issued by EWRB.
- Have an apprenticeship contract with your employer. (This is your apprenticeship training provider if you don’t go via the private route. Read below).
- Have an apprenticeship contract with your training provider.
- Have a Tradesperson registered as your Apprenticeship Supervisor with EWRB.
I’ve seen apprentices practise without a licence. I’ve seen people waste months on getting extra paperwork because they didn’t apply for the right licence. Emailing old bosses to prove that they were trained. You need to do your due diligence, ditch the ‘she will be alright’ attitude. It is your own fault. You are responsible. Not EWRB.
3. On-Jobs & Off-Jobs
So what will you do over those 4 years? Your apprenticeship will comprise of On-Job and Off-Job training.
In a nutshell:
On-Jobs are paperwork that your supervisors need to sign off, saying that you are competent in your training. The books are thin however, they take a long time to do since you have to be provided the opportunity to do the work before doing it. This is what you do in your normal day-to-day job.
Off-Job studies are NZQA accredited that are completed outside of work, where you’ll have unit tests for different topics. This is what you do in your night classes. You’ll either do weekly night classes (or fortnightly day classes if your employer agrees) and yearly block courses that run for a week.
4. Which Apprenticeship Route do I take?
You’ve heard of ETCO, ATT, Te Pukenga, ‘Pre-trade’, private contracts etc. I’m going to make this simple for you. There are three ways to become a Qualified Electrician:
Please pick wisely. You cannot switch easily. You will have a very different experience depending on which route you pick.
The option that you pick will have a huge influence on:
- Your pay – not all apprentices are paid the same.
- Your learning experience – not all apprentices are trained the same.
- Your treatment in the company – not all apprentices are treated the same.
- Your job specialisation – not all apprentices will be able to do the same thing when they finish.
Personally, I went via option one – the private apprenticeship route (pre-trade and direct contract). I was already very familiar with the employment process in NZ, and felt comfortable with handing my own contracts. I only did my schooling with Skills (later merged with ETCO). By the time I reached my 4th year, I was paid $7.00 NZD per hour more than some of my apprentice friends of the same level. That’s a pay gap of $15’000 NZD a year.
You’re at the end…
The apprenticeship process has a lot of paperwork. Many apprentices drop out because they don’t get it right. When I first started, I struggled with finding a straight-forward answer to this.
No one had written any information, and a lot of the information I received from training institutions was hearsay. No one had any idea.
I hope that you find this useful for you decision making.
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