Apprenticeship: electrician, or electrical/instrumentation?

Dave!

Hey folks,

I'm 18, and I've recently been going over the idea of taking an apprenticeship in the area of electronics.

So I went onto the FÁS site and the two apprenticeships in the area are electrician, and electrical/instrumentation (http://www.fas.ie/services_to_jobseekers/apprenticeship.html), so I was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about these two areas of work.

I'm not really sure what the difference is between the two; my father tells me that electrician would involve rigging fuse boards, light fixtures, plug sockets, and that kind of thing. Would that be correct? Anyone in this kind of work, do you enjoy it? Does it pay well?

I'd be more interested working at wiring circuit boards, being able to design and build something like a guitar pedal, than that, although I'm still interested in the former.

Would electrical/instrumentation be more that kind of thing? What would it entail? Would it be more technician training, for example?

Thanks for any help,

Dave

A Dub in Glasgo

An Electrician is a tradesman involved in the design, installation and testing of electrical wiring in buildings and dwellings

An Instrumentation Technician is a tradesman involved in the design, installation and testing of measurement & control equipment, usually in industrial processes.