Full roll at the vocational SM – many are attracted by electrical jobs

Thousands of visitors have gathered in Tingvalla sports hall in Karlstad, where the Professional Championship started on Tuesday (April 23). The Professional Championship, which is a mix of industry meeting, fair and competitions, has been held in different cities every two years since 2004 (except during the pandemic), and is a large apparatus with roughly 60 professions represented, where competitions are held in a 30- speech.

Here, visitors get both information and inspiration for their future choice of study and career. In addition to the competitions, there are also seminars and try-on activities.

One of the professions that visitors can learn more about – and also try out – is distribution electrician. Among the elements that will be shown, and also tested, are climbing a 12 meter high mast, assembly and connection in cable cabinets with fuse strips and low-voltage cables, high-voltage joints and connection/replacement of electricity meters.

Long line to climb
On site in the booth are also students studying to become distribution electricians. Samuel Nagel, 19, is one of them.

– We have a long queue of people who want to climb the mast. It’s full steam ahead, says Samuel Nagel.

He attends a three-year high school education, where the last two years are held at Åsbro kursgård, a place he speaks of warmly.

– There is a lot of practice, where you climb poles, connect cable cabinets, strip and splice cable. Then everyone who works there is nice and friendly and has a very good grasp of what they are doing. Then you mustn’t forget that they also serve very good food.

How did you come to choose the education?

– My grandfather was an electrician, so I got to hang out with him when he connected electricity to households and some businesses. But the reason why I chose this particular education was that I like when it is physically large with large electrical cables and thicker bolts, says Samuel Nagel.

– Then there is partly a shortage in the profession and partly quite well paid. And it’s a lot of fun to connect electricity and exciting to climb, so it’s good with fun.

Great need for technicians
Several member companies from Energiföretagen are present at the event to meet colleagues, local entrepreneurs, job seekers, career changers and approximately 20,000 school youth who will satisfy their curiosity about upcoming career choices.

Cecilia Klugman, expert at EBR, which is part of Energiföretagen, also participates in the fair and during the first day has spoken to both fifth graders and high school students as well as older career changers. She stands in the booth for distribution electricians, a shortcoming she likes to highlight.

– There is a great need for technicians in the industry, both in electricity networks and energy. And absolutely distribution electricians, which is our focus at this fair. We at EBR work for an industry practice of how to build electricity grids in Sweden, and then the distribution electricians are a very important part of the professionals covered by EBR, says Cecilia Klugman.

At the Professional Championship, they do not participate in any competitions in the profession, but for those interested there are good opportunities for some hands-on activities.

What do you hope you get out of the fair?
– We hope to be able to sow a seed in children and young people regarding the importance of electricity and energy supply working in Sweden. And open your eyes to the fact that there is a lot of work in the industry. If you want a practical job and be outdoors a lot, distribution electrician is a very suitable profession.

Looking brightly at the future
Samuel Nagel takes a bright view of the future prospects, given the major energy transition that will take place in the next few years.

– Everything must be converted to electric power – electric cars, other vehicles, machines – and everything must be charged, at the same time that Sweden’s electricity grid is undersized and must be strengthened. So there will definitely be jobs for the next 50 years, he says.

It also means that in principle everyone who completes the education gets a job. Of which Samuel Nagel is a good example. In the summer, he will start at Skyllbergs Bruks outside Askersund, a company with around 1,400 online customers.

– I’m looking forward to it. It’s a small company so it will be a very varied job where you get to do everything possible, says Samuel Nagel.

Professional Championship takes place between 23 and 25 April. Read more here.

Jan Hallman