A career in gas has a lot to offer those looking for a rewarding and dynamic way to earn a living. Gas engineers play a key role in society, interacting with the local community to provide safe and reliable maintenance to gas appliances.
With a growing skills gap in the energy and utilities sector, talented gas engineers are now more in demand than they’ve been in recent memory.
So why become a gas engineer?
One of the main things that makes a gas certification so valuable is the skills gap itself. The workforce is aging at a rapid pace.
With around half of UK gas engineers being over 55 and likely to retire in the next decade, a substantial drop-off in the workforce is just around the corner.
This provides the perfect opportunity to jump into a career where newly qualified candidates are sought after by gas companies. You will never be short of work in this industry.
This is especially true as candidates coming into the industry for the first time will be best suited to picking up modern and increasingly relevant qualifications in renewables.
With your core gas training as a foundation, you will be in the perfect position to upskill in the installation of more carbon-neutral appliances, like Air Source Heat Pumps. These qualifications are only going to become more necessary as time goes on, with a 22.4% increase in green jobs last year alone.
But now that we’ve established why gas engineers are so important to society on a broad scale, let’s focus on what a career in this field can offer you.
First and foremost, gas engineering offers an active and a flexible work structure, allowing you to practice your trade in the way that best suits you.
Many newly qualified gas engineers choose to work for a gas company, while others, with experience, go on to start their own business.
For those wishing to avoid the admin that comes with running a business, working for a company may be the right choice. However, should the idea of being your own boss appeal to you, you’ll have full autonomy in how – and when – you work.
On top of that, experienced gas engineers operating on their own terms can earn over £60,000 a year. However, this shouldn’t dissuade you from choosing this career path if you’d prefer to work for a company, or if you’re worried you’ll have to grind for years before earning good money.
You won’t need a decade of experience under your belt to start earning a decent wage. Newly accredited gas engineers can earn around £32,000 a year in full-time employment, fresh out of training.
Ultimately, working as a gas engineer can offer something that many jobs can’t: a hands-on, active life that will take you to new places you would otherwise never go.
As many workers continue to flock toward remote careers, working in gas you will be on your feet and moving for a good period of time, driving to different locations in your local area and interacting with the community.
You’ll be keeping both your brain and body active while at work, and each job will be a different experience. You’ll meet both good and bad clients. Some days you’ll run into obstacles and on others you’ll be in and out of a house in under half an hour.
Either way you look at it, on most days you’ll be going home with a story to tell that you wouldn’t get from working in an office. You’ll go to bed knowing that you’ve played an essential function in your community.
If this sounds like the career for you, SERT, in partnership with GFM, runs both an extensive gas apprenticeship and diploma programme.
Taught by supportive, expert trainers offering a tailored learning experience, these programmes provide you with the practical and theoretical knowledge needed to qualify you as a working gas engineer, acting as a solid foundation for a successful career.
Whether you’re hoping to kickstart your career as a gas engineer, or you’re an employer looking to take on one of our apprentices, SERT wants to hear from you!