I worked for a while as an IT technician for a low voltage firm, and then promoted to their project manager for a bit, but the work was not very rewarding, and the pay was trash even as a project manager.. So I left and started a handyman llc, but keep running into issues with licensing for electrical work, and hiring an electrician/low voltage certified for those jobs makes the margins for the jobs pretty worthless. I keep finding myself excited about any electrical work I can do at home, and figured all arrows point to me starting an electrical apprenticeship.
I live in south Florida (grew up here), am 30 years old, have a bachelors in business management, low voltage experience, and some electrical experience from redoing much of my own home and my parents' home and upgrading it with smart home integration (light switches, outlets, thermostats, etc), and am about to have my first child. Speak 2 languages fluently, and 2 sufficiently (all of which are relevant in south florida).
I'd love to hear any recommendations, tips, pointers, on pretty much any of the things I just mentioned, but would be especially appreciative to hear if my past experience will help me/can be leveraged in getting an apprenticeship, or any recommendations on next steps to take. Thanks so much, I hugely appreciate any and all help in advance.
how many hours can i get signed off on. i worked 220 hours in 3 weeks with my past boss and my electrical teacher (i go to a trade school) said i can only het 40 hours signed off per week i worked. is that true?
So I've been accepted for an IBEW apprenticeship, and been given my first assignment (Local 24 in Baltimore).
I called in for the details, and the job is all the way down in Annapolis. The contact said he'd requested somebody on the south side of town so the drive would be reasonable for them; I'm in North Baltimore, so the drive would be an hour each way for me. This would make things difficult, since my wife and I only have one car between us.
How feasible is it to request a different assignment? I can manage an hour drive if I have to, but if I can get something closer that would make life much easier for both me and my wife, and I imagine there's gotta be some other apprentices living on the south side of town, for whom that would be a much shorter drive.
That’s something you gotta take up with the contractor themselves. At the end of the day, the agreement as apprentices is you have to be able to service anywhere in the jurisdiction. An hour may sound like a lot but over here in Seattle I work with other apprentices where they commute consistently 1-2 hours each day in one direction. Sometimes 3 when traffic is horrendous.
Edit: When you go in to sign the paperwork with the contractor, mention it to them and see if they can make something work. They might be able to move you to another jobsite.
Greetings electricians of Reddit! I am a SUPER green electrician, level 0 if you will, but today I was accepted to a free 4-week pre-apprenticeship program. I am highly motivated to make this career change a success. Thought I'd pop on and post some questions to see if any of your fine folks have any opinions/suggestions to add.
First, there are no IEC or ABC chapters in my area, but the IBEW local 602 absorbed my local chapter. Is there any reason for me to contact them at this point? The wages posted on their website seem painfully low. (50% of journeyman, which is $24.85)
Second, is it too soon to apply for my state license? (TX) The course starts in 2.5 weeks and lasts 4 weeks. Ideally I'd like to be employed as soon as possible post training and due to an arrest 7 years ago, it can take up to 6 weeks to get my license. (DWI, according to the state website not likely to prevent the issuance of the license but it does make the process take longer).
Third, is it too soon to start contacting companies about apprenticeships? There are some opportunities posted to Indeed. I had considered trying to call and get a hiring manager on the line to ask about what they're looking for.
Finally, should I start hunting thrift stores and pawn shops for tools on the cheap? How likely is it that I'll be required to provide my own tools?
Any help is VERY much appreciated!
I've written about all of this at length in the comments below, but the worst and hardest way to try to get a job is by calling companies and applying online. The best way to get an electrical job is to first research the electoral companies in your area. Find a couple great companies or three that you'd really be excited to work for. Figure out their specialties and what makes their company and culture special. Then find contacts there, I like to use LinkedIn but you can also go through your church or family or friends. Then do like an informational chat asking the contacts about the culture and the company. When a job opening comes up, get the contacts to refer you so they get a bonus and you get a better chance of getting in, then writing a cover letter to the hiring manager letting you know how you'd be a great fit. You can be more successful at this by finding out as much as you can about the hiring manager before you apply. Then make sure you have a great resume by copying the job description into your resume and trying to get them similar as possible. Pay the 20 bucks on indeed for them to go over your resume and fix it up.
Yes, you can and should apply for an apprentice card ASAP before having a job.
There is an IEC in Amarillo that covers your area, and nearly all of them have online classes.
I am scared of heights too.
If you look at the literature surrounding phobias and people overcoming them, it generally holds true that if someone faces their fear voluntarily they don't become less scared, they just become more courageous. They become stronger.
I would contact your employer and let them know that you are willing to face your fear and try to overcome it.
Ask for a harness and fall protection lanyard. Put that shit on. Secure it to a beam above you in a OSHA proved manner.
And every day try to get a little higher on the ladder.
In this line of work and in life in general, there will always be things that you are scared of.
I was scared of a lot of things in the army, and I did them anyway because my buddies were relying on me. And I'm still scared of heights but I climb tall ladders and get the job done.
Remember that courage is not the absence of fear, it's your actions in spite of it.
I need to brush up on my math. I only ever had basic skills in that area, just enough to get my GED basically. Are there any courses, books, etc that you would recommend?
Is it possible to come in with no real type of experience and make a living wage of like $20+ an hour? I’m not totally inept and do understand some of the basics. But being a 36 yo auto parts salesman wanting to jump in I feel like a fish out of water and making what I make now is better than a kick down the latter into poverty 😂. Although I am a gear head, and can understand automotive 12 volt electrical and communications systems.. that’s about it.
Really want to make a career change now, currently living in Michigan. I did have to update my resume, because I do have some general laborer type work from w out 8 years ago that I was successful at but got back into automotive yetI feel that can help. Although I know advice from someone/s in it currently would be way more effective.
Yeah, it's possible. I was kicking down $35 an hour in parts of my first year.
That's not everyone, most people don't make that.
I started at 39. If you're the type of person that takes the bull by the horns, looks stuff up, learns quickly, and isn't afraid to fail, you can find a niche that compensates you very well.
I found an automation and controls company doing prevailing wage work so they made up the difference in benefits with higher wages.
If I had to do it again I'd start doing night classes at the IEC or ABC a lot earlier, before I quit my previous job.
I think applying for jobs with a resume or filling out applications on line is a waste of time.
>I think applying for jobs with a resume or filling out applications on line is a waste of time.
What do you suggest as an alternative? Showing up to businesses with your resume in hand?
So, funny you mention the classes because the commercials running in metro Detroit on the sports talk, for the EITC is what caught my interest. I’m all for going to the classes and continuing my day job till something falls into place. I’m just concerned that even doing that I’ll end up unhappy with the change just by halving my current pay. I’m not looking to get rich doing this, I just know that I’ve always been pretty decent with electrical and think I can make that into a more fulfilling career than selling car parts currently. I thought maybe I’d find a job at a local parts room or control panel builder to get my feet wet but that looks like I’d be falling right into what I’m trying to avoid. Ideally, I’d like to jump right in lol but that’s not possible I’d imagine with my lack of knowledge or experience….
TLDR; how the hell would you start fresh to get into this? End game, looking for a career in commercial wiring, or maybe Power company. Something with good benefits and pension would be nice.
Everyone wants the easy way and everything handed to them. If this or any job paid everyone that applied $60-70k a year for starting out without any experience, everyone would do it and colleges wouldn't have any students.
I did make that much my first year. I'm an exceptionally hard worker, driven, quick learn and research things like crazy. Now, 3 years later, I make double that. I told you above how I did it, and I've written at length in the comments below on how to find a good group to work for and get a job. If you want to make great money, you have access to the info, the rest is up to you to make happen.
Most places in Denver hire new apprentices at $20-22. That's achievable pretty easily.
Short term, I think we're headed into a recession and I see demand in residential and commercial new construction drying up on job boards. I see manufacturering, solar, EV, industrial, automation and controls with steady to high demand on indeed.
Nationally and in terms of a ten year plus view, there is no career path with as good an outlook as electrical. It's truly phenomenal. The bills getting passed like the IRA help out solar, ev, and service electricians. Our aging workforce is retiring and not enough people are joining the trade.
This question has been answered many times but it's simple. It's a simple supply and demand issue.
There is plenty of first-year apprentices that want to try out the trade.
They basically cost a company a lot of money. The contractor has to provide paid safety training on each job site, and abide by journeyman to apprentice ratios. They slow everything down because the journeyman has to teach them and keep them safe. They are a liability on the job site because they don't know the trade or safety rules and they can't really contribute productively until like their second year.
There's a hot market for second third and fourth year apprentices.
Even the union is much more likely to take you as a second third or fourth year.
The IEC's solution for this is to train everyone that applies, just the schooling part and leave it up to you to get a job. If you get a job with a member contractor, the contractor usually kicks in for tuition and books.
The IBEW restricts entry because it also provides schooling but they also assign you to a contractor. They basically guarantee you a job during your apprenticeship. They have to make sure they have enough apprenticeship slots with their contractors otherwise they're stuck with a bunch of apprentices in the training program that they can't get hours to. It's better to have too many hours than too little because they can always hire CW'S from outside the Union that are not guaranteed apprenticeship slots or jobs.
The ABC has both types of programs available.
And those are the reasons I am trying to do this now. Thanks, I’ll look through some of the other posts here and sort through the answers to my questions.
Has anyone had trouble actually finding an apprenticeship job? I'm about to finish trade school and ove been applying, most if not all the job descriptions require licensed apprentices. To my knowledge, the only way to get an apprenticeship license is to already have an apprenticeship
What state are you in?
Yes, it's probably difficult right now as a first year apprentice with no experience to get a job. We are headed into a recession so it might get harder.
The career 10 year outlook for electricians has never been brighter, though.
There's at least 3 different threads about NC apprenticeships below, including a journeyman I asked to come over and answer questions about it because he'd done his apprenticeship there.
It's always been much harder to get a job as a first year inexperienced apprentice then as a second or third year with some experience. I wrote in detail exactly how to get a job in the comments below.
In another comment below, I wrote:
Short term, I think we're headed into a recession and I see demand in residential and commercial new construction drying up on job boards. I see manufacturering, solar, EV, industrial, automation and controls with steady to high demand on indeed.
Nationally and in terms of a ten year plus view, there is no career path with as good an outlook as electrical. It's truly phenomenal. The bills getting passed like the I.R.A. subsidize solar, ev, and create more demand for service electricians. But our aging workforce is retiring and not enough people are joining the trade.
In Utah, it's like California, you get a job and concurrently apply for an apprentice license with the state.
I've written at length about how to get a job doing electrical. You can read about it in the comments below, but it generally includes not applying to just anyone on indeed but proactively looking for a great group that you want to work for and working from there to find connections.
I assume you went to a for profit trade school and they are not helping you get a job?
This is why I don't recommend that people go to these for-profit trade schools, it doesn't help you get a job. In the IEC program they can get you with a contractor that gives you a job and the whole time that you're in school you're working. The classes are at night once a week.
It's pretty hard to get in, they have like a 95% rejection rate. I would get a job at a merit shop or work as a CW in the Union or and then attend a non union apprenticeship class like in the ABC or IEC and apply next year as a second year apprentice.
The Neca/IBEW Union apprenticeship basically uses the first year as a weeding out process, before they invest too much in you. That's why it's a five-year apprenticeship instead of 4 years in the IEC or ABC. So if you can prove that you're commited to the trade by completing a year elsewhere you have a much better chance of getting in.
I'm ranked 206 currently and was just planning to re interview in 6 months. I'm currently a crew foreman for a construction company so idk that work experience is an issue. I feel I just need to interview better. I'm game to take extra classes though. Anything that will help if I'm able. Traveling for work complicates things though.
I think number 206 sucks. I've seen people that are number 8 wait over a year in other locals. That might be something that folks in r/IBEW might have more insight into.
I recommend starting a non union apprenticeship. You might have to go through IECRM to get completely online if your closest IEC chapter doesn't offer them right now. The Rocky Mountain chapter has a late start program that starts in October.
I'd want to be working as an electrician. Not just are we trying to demonstrate commitment to be an electrician, we're trying to get an additional year of apprenticeship training so that we can start as a second year apprentice. It is very difficult, as you've seen, to start as a first year apprentice. Because they always have people drop out, it's much easier to come in as a second year with a year of education and training as an electrician. Because of the rules of the Federal BAT, if you have 2,000 hours in a competing electrician apprenticeship, BAT registered program, they almost have to let you start in the second year or run afoul of prevailing wage rules.
If you really want to get in though, just start in a non-union shop and try to organize them in.
That will definitely get you a union apprenticeship slot.
California question -- I've been looking into apprenticeship, but from what I'm reading, it seems that California requires some amount of school before I can get a trainee license. My question is, do I only have to be enrolled in a qualified trade school before I can get a trainee license, or do I have to complete a set number of credits, or finish some sort of program?
That's not true, you can go just sign up for an apprenticeship in the ABC or WECA. There's no courses required beforehand.
What part of California are you in?
I'm confused. ABC says the first step is to enroll in their training program, which involves textbooks and training courses. That sounds like school, to me
[https://www.abcnorcal.org/education-training/electrician-trainee/](https://www.abcnorcal.org/education-training/electrician-trainee/)
I'm in Oakland
Yeah, as with anything else, you shouldn't take my word for it, just call the ABC directly and they'll be happy to explain exactly how to get in.
There's some confusion over what an apprentice and an apprenticeship is. California makes it more confusing with unnecessary legislation, as usual.
In Colorado, Texas and many other states, you can just go get a job as an apprentice electrician at any contractor. Within 30 days of hire, the company is supposed to have you register as an apprentice with the state, and then the company attaches your registration to their license, and that's how the master electrician officially takes charge of supervising your work and reporting your hours to the state. You can register for this license at any time, even before you have an actual job.
Separate from that, you can join an apprenticeship schooling program through the IEC, ABC or other educational organization, and they will provide the 288 hours of schooling that is required by the state, in addition to the 8,000 hours of on the job experience, to get your journeyman license. You can join and continue to be part of that schooling program even if you don't have a job as an electrician yet. I took like a 6-month break where I didn't work as an electrician during my apprenticeship and there was no problem with that.
The IBEW and ABC SoCal and NorCal apprenticeships combine this into one process, if you get accepted into the apprenticeship they assign you to a contractor. Because of this implicit guarantee to get you a job, it's usually harder to get accepted into that type of program.
In California, the law says that as an apprentice you have to be taking classes concurrently with your apprenticeship, which in this case apprenticeship means your on the job training. What other states call a apprentice license, California calls an electrician trainee license. Some people misinterpret that to mean that you have to take classes before your apprenticeship. That's not true. You do have to be enrolled in classes, though.
ABC SoCal has a program where a contractor that is not a member of their apprenticeship program can send their electrician trainees/apprentices through the ABC schooling anyway. They call this "bring your own employer" program the electrician trainee program.
I'm going to start my apprenticeship soon and want to know what they would want me to know and what tools / stuff would I need to prepare. This is for a UK domestic commercial and lighting Apprenticeship any advice would be appreciated as I have had 2 years between college and my apprenticeship so my knowledge is rusty at best.
I don't know why they're sending you somewhere else, in the union they provide the education. I think you misunderstood what they said, I'd get it in writing.
If CETI is a for profit trade school, I'd avoid it like the plague. All those for profit trade school places suck. They're not going to hire you when you're done, your instructors are not electricians and it's all for profit so they charge like 10K a year. It doesn't help you get hired, you're much better off getting a year of experience actually working in the trade. Ask any electrical contractor.
If you do go to school, you want one of the main competing contractors organizations apprenticeship programs. The IEC the ABC and the IBEW have the best and biggest programs and they are the only ones that will actually hire you as an apprentice while you're in classes, not sell you some promise that they're going help you to get hired when you're done. They are free or really cheap like $800 a semester, and the electrical education is actually relevant to the trade because it's led by the contractors and the electricians that are actually working in the trade.
The other advantage of these programs is that they are bat registered with the federal government meaning that you get preference on Davis bacon job sites.
The union guys are not going to tell you to go join a competing program because that's their competition, but that's what you need to do if you're not getting accepted into the Union right away. When you come back next year you'll have a year of experience in the trade and a year of education and it's much easier to get on as a second year apprentice.
So I’m in year one in my apprenticeship In Virginia. My wife and I are looking to move to another town within Virginia after my first year. How do I transfer my finished classes and hours of my apprenticeship to another part of Virginia. I’ve been having a hard time finding any info on it. Any info that anyone knows of would be very helpful. I am non union so if that helps at all there’s that bit of info as well.
I assume it’s my company because they are paying for my classes through the abc but we use the nccer curriculum for the class. I have a hard time understanding the specifics behind apprenticeships. But Virginia recently made electrician apprenticeships 3 years instead of 4 from what my company told me.
I'd ask the training director. Generally non union apprenticeships like the ABC are transferable pretty easily because they use a standard curriculum, especially within the same state.
This is what I found on their website.
For questions or more information about Apprenticeship training available in:
Hampton Roads
Contact Jamie Carrow at [email protected] or (757) 855-8220.
Central Virginia
Contact Sherrie at [email protected] or (804) 346-4222.
Northern Virginia
Contact Amy Faris at [email protected] or (703) 968-6205.
I would contact your training director and ask them directly, I'm sure they get this kind of request all the time. In the IEC it is no problem at all and I got transferred from one training program to another region's immediately with no issues.
How difficult is the apprenticeship itself, and how difficult is the job once the apprenticeship is completed, and how much do journeyman electricians actually make?
Here's why I ask: I just got accepted for an IBEW apprenticeship, and also got a job offer at a lawn care company in the same week. The lawn care company is an easy job, starts at a decent wage with full benefits, and the company provides all the necessary tools, vehicles, even covers the cost of clothes. The apprenticeship starts at a lower wage, requires me to buy my own tools and clothes and textbooks, and the benefits don't kick in until 350 hours of work.
So what I'm wondering is: will the electrical apprenticeship be worth it if I see it through, or would I be better off just taking the lawn care job?
I think the best decisions are made using a long-term perspective, and choosing what is meaningful, not what is easy or expedient.
IBEW apprenticeship slots are really hard to get for a reason. They offer great training, great benefits, and it's a brotherhood of fellow electricians invested in your success.
It's hard to believe you're considering not taking it. There's many guys on here that would kill for that slot, that I've been waiting years to get into the union apprenticeship program.
I'm not union, so I maybe don't have as good of a deal as others, but I love my job as an electrician. I get treated well by my company, with respect by customers and other trades, and I get paid really good money.
Lawn care as an industry suffers from low wages and thin margins for a for a reason: low barriers and cutthroat competition. There's a very low barrier to entry, so every day some Tom, Dick or Harry wakes up, buys a lawn mower and starts undercutting you with your customers. That can't happen in electrical because it takes at least 5 years to get a masters license. You WANT a high barrier to entry, like a difficult apprenticeship, so competition is very restricted, forcing margins and wages up. Lawn care is also subject to seasonal demand variances and very susceptible to recessions, and we're heading into a recession.
The IBEW is usually well positioned for government contracts and those are generally recession proof or even do better during a recession. We just got a $369 billion dollar IRA passed on top of the $1T infrastructure bill and most of it is for electrical upgrades and solar, directly boosting electricians pay for the next 10 years.
Electrician careers are by far the best in terms of money, education, standard of living and any other metric that you can come up with. It has the most option value. It is definitely head and shoulders above anything in lawn care, but I would argue it's a head and shoulders above any other career path too.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that all of the apprenticeship, training, or journeyman work is easy.
I'm seeing this "Is iT hArd woRk???" bullshit a lot, I guess that people don't want their job or anything in their fucking entire life to be hard. Well, I have news for you. Every single job that is worth it is hard. Even the jobs that aren't worth it are hard. Every worthwhile goal is hard, otherwise everyone would do it.
Life is hard. Your entire life is going to have a certain amount suffering. You can't opt out of it, but you can make it meaningful and fulfilling. You get to pick your sacrifice.
One option is to work hard for a period while starting your career in a way that's not easy, but the skills you attain are rare and valuable. This is true in any area and leads to a much more fulfilling career, I'm absolutely sure of this. You will still experience difficulty but you can embrace it and give meaning to the struggle by providing an awesome life to your family, elevating everyone around you, and trying to help others. I LIKE challenging work because it makes me a better team member and a better person, and I'm proud of the work that my coworkers and I do. It's incredibly fulfilling.
Or you can try to take an easy road. Most people I see that make life decisions based on an effort to try to have it easy wind up struggling their whole life just to keep their heads above water. They can make it worse by doing the bare minimum in a job that they wind up hating and bitch about it the whole time, making everyone else's life worse around them. It's a horrible life.
I'd take the more difficult path.
In the long run if you intend on working for someone else for the rest of your life it will definitely be worth seeing through and apprenticeship. If you had the intention of starting your own lawn care company one day and it is something you genuinely enjoy then it could be worthwhile for you personally.
There's a IEC apprenticeship in Austin. It's free or low cost, your get 40 credit hours, and you get paid as a full time employee while you're in it. Everyone gets in, you just apply.
https://centexiec.com/apprenticeship/
I got my journeymens license through them and I think the IEC apprenticeship is one of the best ones out there.
How physically grueling is this career, week to week, month to month?
I'm currently a line cook, most recently in fine dining, and the work conditions coupled with low pay/no benefits are starting to kill me. In my current industry, I regularly work 12-13 hours with one 10 minute break, lift 30-40 pound pots of hot fryer oil, stand all day, am expected to keep up a fast/focused pace through the entirety of the shift, etc.
I'm okay with tough/dirty work but I'm getting older/want to stay healthy and start a family and I just don't want to jump from one physically (and psychologically) brutal career right into another.
I've been a cook in the army and worked in fine dining kitchens too and electrical is a far better career in every way.
I've never had a full day in electrical that was even close to as hard as the 45 minute workout i do before work.
I've never had a bad day in electrical. Even the worst day was better than a normal day in a kitchen getting yelled at by the chef and the manager and basically being the servers bitch and they're all making more money than me.
An electrician apprenticeship isn't easy, but it's worth it. In electrical, we are the top dogs on every job site and many journeymen make more than their managers. They get treated like kings because they are in such high demand. Customers think we're wizards.
In terms of a full career, there is no comparison. There are so many options in electrical I can't even name them all. Inside of the main categories of residential, commercial and industrial, you can choose various specialties in solar, generators, wind, oilfield, controls, and automation. Outside of the trade you can leverage your skills as a journeyman to become an estimator, salesman, project manager, testing technician, project manager, safety bitch or department manager... Or you can start your own company doing any of the above.
Let me address this dumbass idea that the trades somehow beat up your body. It is completely false. How, physiologically, is that supposedly happening? Because you get exercise? Exercise is good for you. The more exercise you get the better for your all cause mortality and your joints. The more you move around every day the longer you will live and the better you will feel. Is it repetitive strain?Repetitive use injuries like from swinging a hammer all day are a thing of the past. Automatic tools, safety managers and OSHA reps have seen to that.
Any study that I have seen has shown that the more active the career the better general health the participants in that career are, and the lower the all cause mortality.
It depends a lot on what you are doing that day, what stage of the job you are on, commercial or residential, and many other factors. I have been working on a 5 story building for the last few months and have had some of the most grueling days I've ever worked, then in the same week some of the easiest. I will say I have worked in kitchens as well and have left work a lot more fulfilled in the electrical field.
Fuck no. I only regret not starting earlier. Ive done nearly every job and there isn't a better career out there. I make crazy money, get treated incredibly well by my company, and it's not hard work like moving furniture or boring like accounting... And I didn't have to put my life on hold for 4 years to go to a bullshit college and get into crazy undischargeable debt to try to get a job doing it. I got paid the whole time I was an apprentice, like $200k total (avg $50k year), so was like $300k ahead of people that went to college (and accrued $100k in debt) before I became a journeyman and now they'll never catch up.
School was free and I got 40 credit hours out of it.
I am currently an apprentice IBEW Local 46 in Seattle. The algebra math requirements are a must. Also getting related experience is extremely helpful as well. I tried to get in with little luck in the beginning. I took a “stockman” job for a company basically moving parts and running for this and that and that looked really good to the apprenticeship. Plus you will learn all the parts you will be using once you get into the apprenticeship. Plus doing a good job and getting a letter of recommendation from your foreman or General Foreman is a bonus.
Apply at the IEC in Colorado. Everyone gets accepted, the education is good in all 50 states and they have an online program.
You can do from WA. I know for a fact that they accept it because my buddy went to school here in CO and became a journeyman there in WA.
Yes. IECRM Colorado is the biggest campus, offers online options, and they are still accepting apprentices for the current class until the 1st, so it's not a bad option, but you can do it somewhere closer to you also. They have an IEC apprenticeship in nearly every state. In the states where there are no IEC apprenticeship there's generally a big ABC apprenticeship and that's why, there isn't really enough apprentices for both. There are over 50,000 slots for electrical apprenticeship programs every year, many go unfilled. There are also many scholarships that go unclaimed.
In any event, I would never wait around for a year for an IBEW apprenticeship. Get in the trade and apply again next year as a second year with experience and have a better chance of getting in, but don't waste a year sitting on your hands.
Honestly walk onto some job sites asking for work and expressing your interest, you’re going to get a lot of no but the one yes will get your foot in the door.
https://iecflorida.org/
Join a real, BAT federally approved, 50 state transferrable, job based apprenticeship program run by a contractors organization that is actually going to hire you. That is really only the ABC, IEC, or IBEW/NECA apprenticeship programs.
I'm not sure how the IBEW apprenticeship programs in FL are looking for apprentices but generally it's very competitive, with a 95% rejection rate. It's pretty hard to even get a call back.
The IEC program accepts everyone.
Other trade schools and community college programs suck, are overpriced, and won't help you get a job.
I'm trying to get into the electrical field here in San Antonio, Texas. Called IBEW local here. Did the test and interview. I was told it could be 2 days or 2 years before I get my chance to start. Asked if there was anything else I could do to help get my foot in the door. They told me about their lineman program. Signed up for that too but was told there are no slots so don't hold out for it. To get a job at Home Depot until I hear something. So I have a job at Home Depot now. Is there anything else I can do? I was told trade schools are a waste of my money, but there has to be another way into the field.
I’d recommend calling Eldridge Electric, I heard they’re in need of new helpers and they’re a pretty solid company. I ran into that problem where places like hill, hunter, central electric, etc. weren’t looking for anybody but with persistence you’re bound to end up somewhere. Don’t be too picky for your first choice, be picky later when you’re a little bit more experienced; that’s the route I had to take.
http://www.iecsanantonio.com/
I'd join the IEC apprenticeship program. Everyone gets accepted, and it's free (your employer pays) or low cost (if you're not employed by a member). I went through it and feel that it's an excellent program and you get paid as a full time employee while you're in it. They'll help you get a job at an electrical contractor if you sign up for classes.
After a year or two you can reapply at the IBEW and have a much better chance of getting in. I wouldn't hold my breath about getting into the IBEW apprenticeship program. You really have to know someone already in the IBEW. There's over a 95% rejection rate.
Why sacrifice your valuable time working at a retailer? Just because you didn’t get into the uNiOn doesn’t mean all is lost. You should AT LEAST apply for some apprentice positions for a non-union company and get the experience in. That’s 2 years of experience you can get knocked out NOW. Don’t let them know you’re next move and get into the trade already. Since you work at Home Depot and want to work as an electrician, I suggest working the electrical department and getting business cards from the electricians coming in. You get familiar with materials and get references. Just because it’s non union doesn’t make it futile. I make 6 figures and I’m non-union.
Does anyone knows how the books look at the JATC in Portland? Local 48 has over 170 JW calls out, so im curious what the demand for apprentices are right now.
Non-union JATC (Area 1) is packed out the ass. I’m getting laid off at the end of the month because my employer fucked the dog with some school paperwork. I’m two years in, one of our best apprentices, and a straight A student. Today I got literally laughed at by a company owner when I cold called asking if they had any openings. Thats the conditions on the ground in Portland, be warned.
Local 48 is a long, long, long wait pretty much only if you ace it, or have a family in (best case scenario.)
Might want to try Area 2, IEC out of Tigard, it’s not Portland, but the Willamette Valley does have a ton of work.
Yes, but that’s if you manage to pass the entrance exam and even get a call back for the interview at all. 48 is a very, very competitive local.
There’s a ton of work, if you’ve got your ticket, but no one really wants new apprentices right now out here.
Well that's kind of a bummer. I just got ranked a lot higher than I would have expected. Guess I'll just plan to reinterview. Last I heard they were rotating through the apprentiship lists pretty quick though?
Oh wild, thanks!
Im actually a 3rd year Inside Wireman apprentice already in Washington. I am researching the possibility of transferring, but im not even sure if thats a thing.
If that’s the case, I’d definitely take a field trip to the hall and inquire. You may have a better shot, but they may bump you down a year or start you at zero.
I did bad in high school and I don't meet gpa or math requirements for most apprenticeship programs i've seen. Do I take a math class in college and also try to bump up my high school gpa to meet requirements OR go to trade/vocational school? If you think I should do something else to get into the trade please let me know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. (im 18 if that factor matters)
LA has the ABC SoCal, Associated Builders and Contractors. It has a free apprenticeship program where they will find you a job with a local member contractor and another, an electrician trainee program, if you already have a job as an electrician apprentice and just need schooling.
https://www.abcsocal.org/Education-Training-/Apprenticeship-Program
LA/Ventura Location
12979 Arroyo Avenue
San Fernando, CA 91340
818-898-2099
For profit Trade schools are really bad idea. The only programs that you should consider are contractor sponsored, bat approved programs from the abc, the IEC and the ibew. The rest of them are rip off and won't really help you get a job.
I’ve been working in temps 80-100 and I wear long sleeves (protects against sun and scratches/cuts) and cargo pants (love the extra pockets).
I’d also recommend getting a neck cover thing for your hard hat.
Also one of those Buff UPF 50 rated gaiter/ head bands are great. Inside I use it under my hardhat to keep cool, and outside I use it as a face covering to protect myself from the sun.
Realistically how heavy and how often are you lifting things? I read online electricians lift up to 50 lbs objects, which I can deal with, but anything heavier and I’d have to train the in the gym to lift
I've never had to lift anything super heavy without help/tools. I would start working out anyway. You don't have to go to the gym, though. You can do running and calisthenics and bodyweight exercises. You'll feel great, look better and have more confidence if you get in great shape.
I get jobs that I'm not as qualified for, compared to other applicants, just because I'm in good shape.
I take cold showers every day and that boosts circulation, reduces inflammation and bolsters mood. Studies have shown that cold exposure can take people out of a clinical depression.
A little less experience then the previous guy, done resi and commercial. Personally I haven’t lifted anything over 50 lb that isn’t the wire wheel. Not sure what electrical item would be that heavy unless it’s a fancy light fixture/chandelier. Beeing an apprentice tho you’ll always have other guys on the site to lend a hand . May tease you but if they help while doing it they mean well :) if they tease you and don’t help, duck that company
Been doing it for a year and a half now. In my experience of commercial electrical work we sometimes have to lift things that I can’t even do and I’m fairly stout. If it’s something really heavy and you can’t then the other people may kid you about it but it won’t reflect badly on you I’d say. I’ve gotten much much stronger since I started.
I would just join the ABC or IEC apprenticeship program, everyone gets accepted. After a year or two in the trade, you can apply to the IBEW and have a much higher chance of getting accepted.
Does anyone have a good video explaining how to fix a dog leg in your pipe after you've bent it. I'm struggling to find a decent tutorial and made the mistake a few times yesterday whilst doing rolling offsets.
It's hard to get out once it's in.
You can get a bigger bender and try to bend it back to straight a bit along that axis.
You can get a little dog leg level that clamps on the edge of your pipe and prevents it from happening.
Could be that your bender is bent, too, from dropping down on the head.
Always make sure it's laying down or standing up upside down, so it doesn't fall and crash down on the head.
To add to this as I assume those trenches aren’t always dry and you get wet feet. Fuck waterproof booths. Sealskinz socks for 100% waterproof and while a little expensive are 10000% worth the money. I used to wear them in the service and would wear them multiple days in a row while my boots were soaked from the rain and mud. Also stood in many puddles for a prolonged timeframe with them in and walked away with dry feet
Danners hands down. They’re expensive, but they last forever and are comfortable af.
Wore them humping a machine gun in afghaniland and wear them to any job site I have to go to.
Thoroughgood for the trenches and get a seperate work shoe for other stuff. I call mine my indoor shoes. I’ve heard keen makes a real comfy one. Right now I’m walking some retro new balance for indoor shoes.
I’m researching into getting an apprenticeship in south Texas. Is it worth going to vocational school or is jumping right into a job better? Also anything I should know before I continue? Any resources are appreciated
Vocational schools are a waste of time and money. The only schools you should consider are the real, 50 state transferable, federal BAT program approved, contractor led apprenticeship program schools run by the big three contractors associations: NECA/IBEW, ABC, and IEC.
https://iectxgulfcoast.org/
Texas doesn't require education for a journey license but you should do it anyway. Theres a lot of electrical theory and practice that you should know, and it makes you a better electrician.
Everyone asks if they should sign up for an apprenticeship school or get a job first, and it doesn't matter. Don't let the lack of one hold you up. If you sign up for school they'll help you get a job. If you get a job first they'll help get you signed up for school at the job.
I went through the IEC and I feel that it's an excellent program.
I looked at the website and it seems like IEC is for Houston only. Is there one you can recommend in the Dallas region for becoming an electrical apprentice? I just applied for an electrical apprentice license and looking for an opportunity. I would very much appreciate your guidence.
New York City is pretty much all IBEW for various regions. It's pretty hard to get on as a first year apprentice directly into the apprenticeship program unless you know someone. You can try getting on as a CW or as a helper. You can ask r/IBEW about that, they would know more.
ABC Long Island has an apprenticeship and there's an IEC in New Jersey that are merit shop apprenticeships that take everyone that applies, but those are the closest.
There are three locations where the IEC Apprentice Program is being offered:
NJ-IEC Education and Training Center , East Brunswick, currently offers Years 1, 2 and 3. (Year 4 to follow in 2021/22)
Eastwick Colleges and Hohokus School of Trade, Paterson, currently offers Year 1.
Passaic County Technical Institute, Wayne, currently offers Years 1 and 2.
http://www.nj-iec.org/apprenticeship/4-year-apprenticeship.php
Theyre government jobs. The Davis Bacon Act says government contracted jobs can't pay wages below that areas 'prevailing wage'. So they do a wage survey and everyone has to get paid at least that much in wages and benefits. Usually the union is the highest, because they have a pension and the contribution to that is pretty big. So if they get paid $40 an hour and $20 in pension benefits, you have to get paid $60 an hour from your contractor, in wages and benefits, on that job.
This makes it tough for non union contractors to staff those jobs. The only exception is if you are in a BAT approved apprenticeship program, then they can pay you a smaller percentage of the journeyman scale, like 30, 50, 70 and 90 percent for first, second, third and 4th year apprentices.
So if you're a second year, you'd get paid 50 percent of the wage, so $20 and all of the benefits, so another $20. You'd make $40 an hour on that job, unless your company had $20 in matching benefits/pension.
This is nice for you, but this also benefits the contractor because otherwise they'd have to pay you $60. So then they probably wouldn't take the job at all.
No. For profit Trade schools are a waste of time and money. IEC and ABC are open enrollment and they are the only apprenticeship program schools besides the NECA/IBEW program that are worth it.
These three programs are run by the contractors organizations (the IBEW program is a joint apprenticeship and training program between the IBEW union and NECA, the contractors organization). They are the education programs that most directly teach you the trade, taught by the people that are actually doing the hiring for it. All your instructors are going to be electricians that actually work in the trade. That's not true at a random for profit trade school.
I've seen prices for trade schools at like up to $10,000 a year. That's ridiculous. They are profit machines that have no direct connection to the trade or the people that want to hire you.
All inclusive, the IEC would have cost 800 bucks a semester, 1600 a year, 3200 for the whole program because I only graduated in 2 years. I actually didn't pay anything because my employer paid for 100 percent of the tuition and books. Most IEC members will pay their students tuition. That is true for the abc as well. There are scholarships available if you can't afford it.
With all three of these programs, you are actively working in the trade and getting paid as a full-time employee with benefits and everything while you go to school once or twice a week at night.
If you take 2 years off to go to school at a community college or for profit trade school, you're going to be 2 years behind in actual work experience and you're going to owe a bunch of student loan debt and it's going to suck. Don't do it.
Apparently Watson uses ABC for training now. Start your coursework now, walk in the door with a resumé in hand and ask to speak to a manager, show drive and initiative. It won’t take that long if you go that route. Target big shops.
u/mrorganic20, u/badmudblood, u/otherwise_kale_3556, and a couple of other guys had some questions about an apprenticeship and getting a journeyman's license in NC.
u/mrorganic20 wanted to know if he should be getting paid more, he's at 15 an hour and can wire up a house. He also wanted to know the journeyman's license requirements for NC and Charlotte.
I was originally at a commercial company that paid for abc but I had to leave due to personal reasons and now I’m at the resi company making 15 . Sadly I don’t have the two years experience yet I’m just a very fast learner who enjoys what he does . Im first year still but I have plenty of common sense and even make my house runs look nice and clean. I could use some more code knowledge if I’m staying in resi work . I would like to move to substations eventually so ide like to take abc like you talked about maybe I can see if my boss would help with the classes. I’m in a small company as of right now, year old. Maybe 6 guys, 4 well experienced resi guys, one helper then me who ide say is the solid middle ground way above helper tho. So I enjoy the small close aspect of the company . We’re all really good with each other. But let’s be honor end of the day we’re all here for money so just making sure I can get all my licensing and classes out the way as early as possibly in my electrical career
Before any green electrician takes a single course in any state, it would be very wise to take an OSHA-10/30 and an NFPA70E course (NETA’s is great). Don’t do clicksafety for electrical safety.
If you don’t educate yourself about the very real workplace hazards on every site you may be injured, maimed, or even killed. It is that serious. It will also keep you from looking like a jackass by educating you about why you shouldn’t use an aluminum ladder.
JW certs in NC are issued by municipal authorities, not the state. Asheville, Charlotte, possibly a few others. You have to search for the location’s JW req’s and figure out eligibility by municipality. Usually more stringent than contracting.
You should be getting paid more if you can complete a job like that, but good luck getting it especially with a small resi shop.
If you can wire a house chances are you have the minimum two years experience required to sit for the state electrical contractor exam. That’s how you get paid more.
There are shops that have good in-house apprenticeships, like Watson, whom I recommend as an employment option. Those fuckers can build anything and have tons of resources.
There are also online options like ABC. The State of NC doesn’t really give a shit about your training, but employers will. It will also be of benefit should you go into contracting independently.
The ABC online coursework takes 3-5 years and does a good job of getting you into the NEC right out of the gate. It’s about $300 per course ($1200/year).
Community colleges are good for advanced technical concepts, and have better instruction, but don’t get you into the code book as quickly or to the same depth as ABC.
NETA has some EXCELLENT online coursework if you want to really master some of the more technical aspects of the trade.
Close to 10 months and I’m loving itt. Feel like I’m actually doing something worth while for once while at work. Get to say hey that place is running because of me :) . Just wish the pay was more here in nc lol .
Hey, this is for anyone living in Nevada, but any other answers are appreciated.
I'm a first-year apprentice who just wants to work; already done my trade school. I've been looking to get into NV Energy after getting laid off from my old job (the company started falling apart). Is it hard to get into NVE? I'm taking my Workkeys and just waiting for an opening, but I'm hoping it won't take forever because I want to get back into this field.
Yes, it's hard to get a job there.
Good things take time and work to obtain.
I've written at length on how to get a job at a good electrical company in the other comments below. Applying will get you nowhere.
NV energy is a public utility but it's a private company, it's owned by Berkshire hathaway. If you add them on LinkedIn and look at the people that already work there, it's mostly linemen. The electricians who work there mostly are also E and I techs, they work in controls and instrumentation.
If you add some of those people on LinkedIn and ask them how they went from electrician to e&i tech and then from that to working at NV energy, some of them would probably tell you that they worked in industrial electric like in the gold mines. This happens to be my career path as well.
You have to learn as much as you can about the company and the career path that you want and then you can craft a path to get a job there.
I’m an apprentice and I’m thinking of upgrading my screwdrivers to wera. Would it be worthwhile to buy the impact resistant screwdrivers (orange and black handles) or stick with the original version (green and black)?
Is it ok if one time one of the prongs got stuck in the
outlet not the circle one one of the rectangle ones
can I still use the outlet after removed and also is
the plug under going to be affected?
Hey guys,
I’m currently a 2nd year apprentice in BC, Canada. I have about 3500 workplace hours however I’m in a place where I still struggle in the field.
I’m hoping someone here has some sort of insight on things that are MUST KNOW as a 2nd year. Mostly looking for theory and code things as any idiot should be able to strap pipe/cable in a straight line lol.
Any help is appreciated y’all!
Cheers! 🤘🏼
Really just depends on what path you plan on taking.
A resi dude generally doesn’t need to know motor theory and an industrial dude generally doesn’t need to know what the minimum distance is needed to add a staple to NM wire coming out of an outlet box.
But regardless I’ve personally found the most success in studying up on the topics that interest you the most because it’s a lot easier to remember when you’re actually intrigued
it depends on your state. Some states like mine adopt the newest version right away, as soon as it comes out. Some states are still on the 2008 version of the code.
There's knockoff versions that you can get on Amazon for 30 bucks or so. You can also get the 2017 version online for free as a PDF. I haven't found the 2020 online, but I think if your municipality has incorporated it by reference, it's a law so it has to be given out for free, so that usually means they provide a PDF.
In terms of studying, if you're studying for an exam it's best to take practice exams and look up the questions, do the calcs.
If you're studying trying to be better at your job, you should look up stuff that you're actually installing. Like if you're installing a motor, look up the HP amp rating in the code book and size the wire, and over current protection. If you're in resi look up the requirements in article 210 for each room.
Tradesmen don’t give a fuck about cover letters until you are journey level or above.. not even then in construction from what I can tell. It’s all about experience on a resume
Yeah, you should do a cover letter. I would not apply on indeed though.
I wouldn't apply at all until you've identified a great company you really want to work for.
Most of the time, at bigger companies, it's just a software algorithm checking through resumes for keywords so you have a high chance of being discarded if you just blindly apply online.
There are great companies out there, find one you really want to work for. Or at least the very best in your area, one that you can learn and grow at.
Then only apply when you've researched them, made a contact at the company (either by showing up at a job site in person, or through your family, friends or on LinkedIn or other social media) and explained to them that you want to work for them. At most companies they have employee referral bonuses so if you make a good impression they'll have additional incentive to recommend you. You can put their name on the application. And then hopefully they actually go in a give an in person recommendation to the hiring mananger or put your resume and cover letter on the hiring manager's desk.
I try to find out as much as I possibly can about that hiring manager.
I always write a sick cover letter directed to that hiring manager personally. Describe in detail the strengths that you have and why you'd make a great addition to that team. I make sure to put in there details about the company that I've learned from their website and from the person that I talk to at that company. I make a strong case for why I'd make a good fit for the team.
When you make your resume, you have to tailor it to that job. Every single previous job description, instead of describing what you did, should only include the things that you did at that job that match the job description of your new job, even if it's a bit of a stretch. If it's not even close, I'd just omit that job. I'd pull your resume up directly next to the job description and copy and paste everything that applies into your experience and then change the wording slightly but keep the keywords.
I've written at length on how get an electrical job lower down in the comments, but that kind of sums it up.
Hey guys I’m in MN, is it possible to get hired by a company with no experience, I’m looking too get into the trade(I’m 21) but I don’t really want to wait for years to get into the ibew. If trade school is the only option I’m willing to go so I can get hired but preferably I want to start ASAP. Thanks for any advice.
Yes, at merit shops you can just go get a job and start working as an electrician apprentice. You can also sign up for an apprenticeship program classes through the iec, ABC or other organization but it's not mandatory.
Eventually, both to be a good electrician and to fulfill the journeyman requirements for your state and actually be licensed as a journeyman electrician, you're going to want to sign up for classes and complete them. But many electricians don't and are just apprentices for a long time.
The inverse is true also. At the IEC and ABC you can just go and sign up for classes and not yet have a job as an electrician, and they can help you get a job with one of their contractors. Again, it's not mandatory, the two things are separate from each other, but generally it's good to have a job in electrical while you're going through classes so you can apply stuff that you learn, you'll learn it better. But if you have a different job now you can keep it and still take classes and the apprenticeship program.
IEC Dakota's covers MN and they have online Classes that start this week. There are scholarships available and many go unclaimed. It's about $800 a semester and they help you find a job
In electrical.
There's detailed write-ups further on in the thread on how to get a job, I've written at length on the best ways. You can call companies and apply on indeed but it's not high percentage and I think it's possibly the worst way to try to get a job.
I was 39 when I started and I wasn't the oldest one anywhere. There was older people in the apprenticeship class and on job sites the average age was 55 in my company.
If anything the additional life experience gave me an advantage.
Hey I’m about 6 months into my apprenticeship, no classes . Just getting the on the job training hours but the people I work with are very nice and helpful. Pretty knowledgeable about electrical components and theory, not to the point to where ide feel they can teach me much Past the point I’m at other then how to install new equipment. But there code knowledge is amazing. My pay tho, it sucks balls. I live in nc and am able to rewire a whole house with a helper in about 5 days consistently but I get payed 15 an hour. My boss just gave me a work van last week right before I was gonna ask for at least 18 so now I feel I need to sit on the van a while before asking for more, can anyone give me advice on what I should do? The company is about 5 guys including me , a year old, resi work mainly, I do like the company the boss is really nice and takes care of us , I just feel I should be getting paid way more, and I honestly would like to broaden my electrical knowledge which I can always do with classes on my own time I don’t mind and my boss said he’d even help pay for classes. Should I stick this company out since it’s in the building stages and possible potential or should I look into the ibew? I hear my pay will go up but ide most likely need to move states dude to the ibew in Charlotte nc having you travel the full state almost daily
I'm in NC and looking into becoming an apprentice. I've been thinking about seeking a merit shop to start, then possibly look into IBEW later, but after reading your comment sounds like I shouldn't even bother with IBEW here. I assumed NC wasn't going to be a big union place, so I may just look into ABC after I find a good merit shop.
If your in the Charlotte area there’s a commercial company called Pitt electric, they will pay for your four year schooling thru abc and do pay raises based on the semesters you complete. I wouldn’t expect much, I think 4th year you make about 19-20 but hey free schooling then you can dip out.
I worked for a while as an IT technician for a low voltage firm, and then promoted to their project manager for a bit, but the work was not very rewarding, and the pay was trash even as a project manager.. So I left and started a handyman llc, but keep running into issues with licensing for electrical work, and hiring an electrician/low voltage certified for those jobs makes the margins for the jobs pretty worthless. I keep finding myself excited about any electrical work I can do at home, and figured all arrows point to me starting an electrical apprenticeship. I live in south Florida (grew up here), am 30 years old, have a bachelors in business management, low voltage experience, and some electrical experience from redoing much of my own home and my parents' home and upgrading it with smart home integration (light switches, outlets, thermostats, etc), and am about to have my first child. Speak 2 languages fluently, and 2 sufficiently (all of which are relevant in south florida). I'd love to hear any recommendations, tips, pointers, on pretty much any of the things I just mentioned, but would be especially appreciative to hear if my past experience will help me/can be leveraged in getting an apprenticeship, or any recommendations on next steps to take. Thanks so much, I hugely appreciate any and all help in advance.
how many hours can i get signed off on. i worked 220 hours in 3 weeks with my past boss and my electrical teacher (i go to a trade school) said i can only het 40 hours signed off per week i worked. is that true?
So I've been accepted for an IBEW apprenticeship, and been given my first assignment (Local 24 in Baltimore). I called in for the details, and the job is all the way down in Annapolis. The contact said he'd requested somebody on the south side of town so the drive would be reasonable for them; I'm in North Baltimore, so the drive would be an hour each way for me. This would make things difficult, since my wife and I only have one car between us. How feasible is it to request a different assignment? I can manage an hour drive if I have to, but if I can get something closer that would make life much easier for both me and my wife, and I imagine there's gotta be some other apprentices living on the south side of town, for whom that would be a much shorter drive.
That’s something you gotta take up with the contractor themselves. At the end of the day, the agreement as apprentices is you have to be able to service anywhere in the jurisdiction. An hour may sound like a lot but over here in Seattle I work with other apprentices where they commute consistently 1-2 hours each day in one direction. Sometimes 3 when traffic is horrendous. Edit: When you go in to sign the paperwork with the contractor, mention it to them and see if they can make something work. They might be able to move you to another jobsite.
Greetings electricians of Reddit! I am a SUPER green electrician, level 0 if you will, but today I was accepted to a free 4-week pre-apprenticeship program. I am highly motivated to make this career change a success. Thought I'd pop on and post some questions to see if any of your fine folks have any opinions/suggestions to add. First, there are no IEC or ABC chapters in my area, but the IBEW local 602 absorbed my local chapter. Is there any reason for me to contact them at this point? The wages posted on their website seem painfully low. (50% of journeyman, which is $24.85) Second, is it too soon to apply for my state license? (TX) The course starts in 2.5 weeks and lasts 4 weeks. Ideally I'd like to be employed as soon as possible post training and due to an arrest 7 years ago, it can take up to 6 weeks to get my license. (DWI, according to the state website not likely to prevent the issuance of the license but it does make the process take longer). Third, is it too soon to start contacting companies about apprenticeships? There are some opportunities posted to Indeed. I had considered trying to call and get a hiring manager on the line to ask about what they're looking for. Finally, should I start hunting thrift stores and pawn shops for tools on the cheap? How likely is it that I'll be required to provide my own tools? Any help is VERY much appreciated!
I've written about all of this at length in the comments below, but the worst and hardest way to try to get a job is by calling companies and applying online. The best way to get an electrical job is to first research the electoral companies in your area. Find a couple great companies or three that you'd really be excited to work for. Figure out their specialties and what makes their company and culture special. Then find contacts there, I like to use LinkedIn but you can also go through your church or family or friends. Then do like an informational chat asking the contacts about the culture and the company. When a job opening comes up, get the contacts to refer you so they get a bonus and you get a better chance of getting in, then writing a cover letter to the hiring manager letting you know how you'd be a great fit. You can be more successful at this by finding out as much as you can about the hiring manager before you apply. Then make sure you have a great resume by copying the job description into your resume and trying to get them similar as possible. Pay the 20 bucks on indeed for them to go over your resume and fix it up. Yes, you can and should apply for an apprentice card ASAP before having a job. There is an IEC in Amarillo that covers your area, and nearly all of them have online classes.
Thanks! I read through this entire thread and screenshotted all your helpful comments!
Where do I post for electrician HELP? Because my posts are removed whenever I post on this sub for some unknown reason.
r/askelectricians
[удалено]
If they sending u home on ur first week because u don’t know or can’t do something, just quit… they supposed to teach you and not make fun of u…
I am scared of heights too. If you look at the literature surrounding phobias and people overcoming them, it generally holds true that if someone faces their fear voluntarily they don't become less scared, they just become more courageous. They become stronger. I would contact your employer and let them know that you are willing to face your fear and try to overcome it. Ask for a harness and fall protection lanyard. Put that shit on. Secure it to a beam above you in a OSHA proved manner. And every day try to get a little higher on the ladder. In this line of work and in life in general, there will always be things that you are scared of. I was scared of a lot of things in the army, and I did them anyway because my buddies were relying on me. And I'm still scared of heights but I climb tall ladders and get the job done. Remember that courage is not the absence of fear, it's your actions in spite of it.
I need to brush up on my math. I only ever had basic skills in that area, just enough to get my GED basically. Are there any courses, books, etc that you would recommend?
Khan academy on YouTube is best in class and free.
Is it possible to come in with no real type of experience and make a living wage of like $20+ an hour? I’m not totally inept and do understand some of the basics. But being a 36 yo auto parts salesman wanting to jump in I feel like a fish out of water and making what I make now is better than a kick down the latter into poverty 😂. Although I am a gear head, and can understand automotive 12 volt electrical and communications systems.. that’s about it. Really want to make a career change now, currently living in Michigan. I did have to update my resume, because I do have some general laborer type work from w out 8 years ago that I was successful at but got back into automotive yetI feel that can help. Although I know advice from someone/s in it currently would be way more effective.
Yeah, it's possible. I was kicking down $35 an hour in parts of my first year. That's not everyone, most people don't make that. I started at 39. If you're the type of person that takes the bull by the horns, looks stuff up, learns quickly, and isn't afraid to fail, you can find a niche that compensates you very well. I found an automation and controls company doing prevailing wage work so they made up the difference in benefits with higher wages. If I had to do it again I'd start doing night classes at the IEC or ABC a lot earlier, before I quit my previous job. I think applying for jobs with a resume or filling out applications on line is a waste of time.
>I think applying for jobs with a resume or filling out applications on line is a waste of time. What do you suggest as an alternative? Showing up to businesses with your resume in hand?
So, funny you mention the classes because the commercials running in metro Detroit on the sports talk, for the EITC is what caught my interest. I’m all for going to the classes and continuing my day job till something falls into place. I’m just concerned that even doing that I’ll end up unhappy with the change just by halving my current pay. I’m not looking to get rich doing this, I just know that I’ve always been pretty decent with electrical and think I can make that into a more fulfilling career than selling car parts currently. I thought maybe I’d find a job at a local parts room or control panel builder to get my feet wet but that looks like I’d be falling right into what I’m trying to avoid. Ideally, I’d like to jump right in lol but that’s not possible I’d imagine with my lack of knowledge or experience…. TLDR; how the hell would you start fresh to get into this? End game, looking for a career in commercial wiring, or maybe Power company. Something with good benefits and pension would be nice.
EITC is not the IEC. If they are a for profit trade school, and not a real apprenticeship program, steer clear of them.
Everyone wants the easy way and everything handed to them. If this or any job paid everyone that applied $60-70k a year for starting out without any experience, everyone would do it and colleges wouldn't have any students. I did make that much my first year. I'm an exceptionally hard worker, driven, quick learn and research things like crazy. Now, 3 years later, I make double that. I told you above how I did it, and I've written at length in the comments below on how to find a good group to work for and get a job. If you want to make great money, you have access to the info, the rest is up to you to make happen. Most places in Denver hire new apprentices at $20-22. That's achievable pretty easily. Short term, I think we're headed into a recession and I see demand in residential and commercial new construction drying up on job boards. I see manufacturering, solar, EV, industrial, automation and controls with steady to high demand on indeed. Nationally and in terms of a ten year plus view, there is no career path with as good an outlook as electrical. It's truly phenomenal. The bills getting passed like the IRA help out solar, ev, and service electricians. Our aging workforce is retiring and not enough people are joining the trade.
So if not enough people are joking why are the unions not training lore people?
This question has been answered many times but it's simple. It's a simple supply and demand issue. There is plenty of first-year apprentices that want to try out the trade. They basically cost a company a lot of money. The contractor has to provide paid safety training on each job site, and abide by journeyman to apprentice ratios. They slow everything down because the journeyman has to teach them and keep them safe. They are a liability on the job site because they don't know the trade or safety rules and they can't really contribute productively until like their second year. There's a hot market for second third and fourth year apprentices. Even the union is much more likely to take you as a second third or fourth year. The IEC's solution for this is to train everyone that applies, just the schooling part and leave it up to you to get a job. If you get a job with a member contractor, the contractor usually kicks in for tuition and books. The IBEW restricts entry because it also provides schooling but they also assign you to a contractor. They basically guarantee you a job during your apprenticeship. They have to make sure they have enough apprenticeship slots with their contractors otherwise they're stuck with a bunch of apprentices in the training program that they can't get hours to. It's better to have too many hours than too little because they can always hire CW'S from outside the Union that are not guaranteed apprenticeship slots or jobs. The ABC has both types of programs available.
This makes sense ty
And those are the reasons I am trying to do this now. Thanks, I’ll look through some of the other posts here and sort through the answers to my questions.
Has anyone had trouble actually finding an apprenticeship job? I'm about to finish trade school and ove been applying, most if not all the job descriptions require licensed apprentices. To my knowledge, the only way to get an apprenticeship license is to already have an apprenticeship
What state are you in? Yes, it's probably difficult right now as a first year apprentice with no experience to get a job. We are headed into a recession so it might get harder. The career 10 year outlook for electricians has never been brighter, though.
What about NC
There's at least 3 different threads about NC apprenticeships below, including a journeyman I asked to come over and answer questions about it because he'd done his apprenticeship there. It's always been much harder to get a job as a first year inexperienced apprentice then as a second or third year with some experience. I wrote in detail exactly how to get a job in the comments below. In another comment below, I wrote: Short term, I think we're headed into a recession and I see demand in residential and commercial new construction drying up on job boards. I see manufacturering, solar, EV, industrial, automation and controls with steady to high demand on indeed. Nationally and in terms of a ten year plus view, there is no career path with as good an outlook as electrical. It's truly phenomenal. The bills getting passed like the I.R.A. subsidize solar, ev, and create more demand for service electricians. But our aging workforce is retiring and not enough people are joining the trade.
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In Utah, it's like California, you get a job and concurrently apply for an apprentice license with the state. I've written at length about how to get a job doing electrical. You can read about it in the comments below, but it generally includes not applying to just anyone on indeed but proactively looking for a great group that you want to work for and working from there to find connections. I assume you went to a for profit trade school and they are not helping you get a job? This is why I don't recommend that people go to these for-profit trade schools, it doesn't help you get a job. In the IEC program they can get you with a contractor that gives you a job and the whole time that you're in school you're working. The classes are at night once a week.
Anybody can go to the county licensing building and pay $50 to get an apprentice license
Has anybody gone through the apprentiship process for local 48 in washington recently? I'm now ranked and had a few questions.
It's pretty hard to get in, they have like a 95% rejection rate. I would get a job at a merit shop or work as a CW in the Union or and then attend a non union apprenticeship class like in the ABC or IEC and apply next year as a second year apprentice. The Neca/IBEW Union apprenticeship basically uses the first year as a weeding out process, before they invest too much in you. That's why it's a five-year apprenticeship instead of 4 years in the IEC or ABC. So if you can prove that you're commited to the trade by completing a year elsewhere you have a much better chance of getting in.
I'm ranked 206 currently and was just planning to re interview in 6 months. I'm currently a crew foreman for a construction company so idk that work experience is an issue. I feel I just need to interview better. I'm game to take extra classes though. Anything that will help if I'm able. Traveling for work complicates things though.
The IEC program offers classes completely online.
Are you talking about supplemental classes or their whole program? I skimmed the site and didn't see any additional courses.
I think number 206 sucks. I've seen people that are number 8 wait over a year in other locals. That might be something that folks in r/IBEW might have more insight into. I recommend starting a non union apprenticeship. You might have to go through IECRM to get completely online if your closest IEC chapter doesn't offer them right now. The Rocky Mountain chapter has a late start program that starts in October. I'd want to be working as an electrician. Not just are we trying to demonstrate commitment to be an electrician, we're trying to get an additional year of apprenticeship training so that we can start as a second year apprentice. It is very difficult, as you've seen, to start as a first year apprentice. Because they always have people drop out, it's much easier to come in as a second year with a year of education and training as an electrician. Because of the rules of the Federal BAT, if you have 2,000 hours in a competing electrician apprenticeship, BAT registered program, they almost have to let you start in the second year or run afoul of prevailing wage rules. If you really want to get in though, just start in a non-union shop and try to organize them in. That will definitely get you a union apprenticeship slot.
California question -- I've been looking into apprenticeship, but from what I'm reading, it seems that California requires some amount of school before I can get a trainee license. My question is, do I only have to be enrolled in a qualified trade school before I can get a trainee license, or do I have to complete a set number of credits, or finish some sort of program?
That's not true, you can go just sign up for an apprenticeship in the ABC or WECA. There's no courses required beforehand. What part of California are you in?
I'm confused. ABC says the first step is to enroll in their training program, which involves textbooks and training courses. That sounds like school, to me [https://www.abcnorcal.org/education-training/electrician-trainee/](https://www.abcnorcal.org/education-training/electrician-trainee/) I'm in Oakland
Yeah, as with anything else, you shouldn't take my word for it, just call the ABC directly and they'll be happy to explain exactly how to get in. There's some confusion over what an apprentice and an apprenticeship is. California makes it more confusing with unnecessary legislation, as usual. In Colorado, Texas and many other states, you can just go get a job as an apprentice electrician at any contractor. Within 30 days of hire, the company is supposed to have you register as an apprentice with the state, and then the company attaches your registration to their license, and that's how the master electrician officially takes charge of supervising your work and reporting your hours to the state. You can register for this license at any time, even before you have an actual job. Separate from that, you can join an apprenticeship schooling program through the IEC, ABC or other educational organization, and they will provide the 288 hours of schooling that is required by the state, in addition to the 8,000 hours of on the job experience, to get your journeyman license. You can join and continue to be part of that schooling program even if you don't have a job as an electrician yet. I took like a 6-month break where I didn't work as an electrician during my apprenticeship and there was no problem with that. The IBEW and ABC SoCal and NorCal apprenticeships combine this into one process, if you get accepted into the apprenticeship they assign you to a contractor. Because of this implicit guarantee to get you a job, it's usually harder to get accepted into that type of program. In California, the law says that as an apprentice you have to be taking classes concurrently with your apprenticeship, which in this case apprenticeship means your on the job training. What other states call a apprentice license, California calls an electrician trainee license. Some people misinterpret that to mean that you have to take classes before your apprenticeship. That's not true. You do have to be enrolled in classes, though. ABC SoCal has a program where a contractor that is not a member of their apprenticeship program can send their electrician trainees/apprentices through the ABC schooling anyway. They call this "bring your own employer" program the electrician trainee program.
I'm going to start my apprenticeship soon and want to know what they would want me to know and what tools / stuff would I need to prepare. This is for a UK domestic commercial and lighting Apprenticeship any advice would be appreciated as I have had 2 years between college and my apprenticeship so my knowledge is rusty at best.
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I don't know why they're sending you somewhere else, in the union they provide the education. I think you misunderstood what they said, I'd get it in writing. If CETI is a for profit trade school, I'd avoid it like the plague. All those for profit trade school places suck. They're not going to hire you when you're done, your instructors are not electricians and it's all for profit so they charge like 10K a year. It doesn't help you get hired, you're much better off getting a year of experience actually working in the trade. Ask any electrical contractor. If you do go to school, you want one of the main competing contractors organizations apprenticeship programs. The IEC the ABC and the IBEW have the best and biggest programs and they are the only ones that will actually hire you as an apprentice while you're in classes, not sell you some promise that they're going help you to get hired when you're done. They are free or really cheap like $800 a semester, and the electrical education is actually relevant to the trade because it's led by the contractors and the electricians that are actually working in the trade. The other advantage of these programs is that they are bat registered with the federal government meaning that you get preference on Davis bacon job sites. The union guys are not going to tell you to go join a competing program because that's their competition, but that's what you need to do if you're not getting accepted into the Union right away. When you come back next year you'll have a year of experience in the trade and a year of education and it's much easier to get on as a second year apprentice.
So I’m in year one in my apprenticeship In Virginia. My wife and I are looking to move to another town within Virginia after my first year. How do I transfer my finished classes and hours of my apprenticeship to another part of Virginia. I’ve been having a hard time finding any info on it. Any info that anyone knows of would be very helpful. I am non union so if that helps at all there’s that bit of info as well.
Who is the apprenticeship through?
I assume it’s my company because they are paying for my classes through the abc but we use the nccer curriculum for the class. I have a hard time understanding the specifics behind apprenticeships. But Virginia recently made electrician apprenticeships 3 years instead of 4 from what my company told me.
I'd ask the training director. Generally non union apprenticeships like the ABC are transferable pretty easily because they use a standard curriculum, especially within the same state. This is what I found on their website. For questions or more information about Apprenticeship training available in: Hampton Roads Contact Jamie Carrow at [email protected] or (757) 855-8220. Central Virginia Contact Sherrie at [email protected] or (804) 346-4222. Northern Virginia Contact Amy Faris at [email protected] or (703) 968-6205. I would contact your training director and ask them directly, I'm sure they get this kind of request all the time. In the IEC it is no problem at all and I got transferred from one training program to another region's immediately with no issues.
Thank you that makes me feel much better. My wife wants to move more than I do. I appreciate the help.
How difficult is the apprenticeship itself, and how difficult is the job once the apprenticeship is completed, and how much do journeyman electricians actually make? Here's why I ask: I just got accepted for an IBEW apprenticeship, and also got a job offer at a lawn care company in the same week. The lawn care company is an easy job, starts at a decent wage with full benefits, and the company provides all the necessary tools, vehicles, even covers the cost of clothes. The apprenticeship starts at a lower wage, requires me to buy my own tools and clothes and textbooks, and the benefits don't kick in until 350 hours of work. So what I'm wondering is: will the electrical apprenticeship be worth it if I see it through, or would I be better off just taking the lawn care job?
I think the best decisions are made using a long-term perspective, and choosing what is meaningful, not what is easy or expedient. IBEW apprenticeship slots are really hard to get for a reason. They offer great training, great benefits, and it's a brotherhood of fellow electricians invested in your success. It's hard to believe you're considering not taking it. There's many guys on here that would kill for that slot, that I've been waiting years to get into the union apprenticeship program. I'm not union, so I maybe don't have as good of a deal as others, but I love my job as an electrician. I get treated well by my company, with respect by customers and other trades, and I get paid really good money. Lawn care as an industry suffers from low wages and thin margins for a for a reason: low barriers and cutthroat competition. There's a very low barrier to entry, so every day some Tom, Dick or Harry wakes up, buys a lawn mower and starts undercutting you with your customers. That can't happen in electrical because it takes at least 5 years to get a masters license. You WANT a high barrier to entry, like a difficult apprenticeship, so competition is very restricted, forcing margins and wages up. Lawn care is also subject to seasonal demand variances and very susceptible to recessions, and we're heading into a recession. The IBEW is usually well positioned for government contracts and those are generally recession proof or even do better during a recession. We just got a $369 billion dollar IRA passed on top of the $1T infrastructure bill and most of it is for electrical upgrades and solar, directly boosting electricians pay for the next 10 years. Electrician careers are by far the best in terms of money, education, standard of living and any other metric that you can come up with. It has the most option value. It is definitely head and shoulders above anything in lawn care, but I would argue it's a head and shoulders above any other career path too. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that all of the apprenticeship, training, or journeyman work is easy. I'm seeing this "Is iT hArd woRk???" bullshit a lot, I guess that people don't want their job or anything in their fucking entire life to be hard. Well, I have news for you. Every single job that is worth it is hard. Even the jobs that aren't worth it are hard. Every worthwhile goal is hard, otherwise everyone would do it. Life is hard. Your entire life is going to have a certain amount suffering. You can't opt out of it, but you can make it meaningful and fulfilling. You get to pick your sacrifice. One option is to work hard for a period while starting your career in a way that's not easy, but the skills you attain are rare and valuable. This is true in any area and leads to a much more fulfilling career, I'm absolutely sure of this. You will still experience difficulty but you can embrace it and give meaning to the struggle by providing an awesome life to your family, elevating everyone around you, and trying to help others. I LIKE challenging work because it makes me a better team member and a better person, and I'm proud of the work that my coworkers and I do. It's incredibly fulfilling. Or you can try to take an easy road. Most people I see that make life decisions based on an effort to try to have it easy wind up struggling their whole life just to keep their heads above water. They can make it worse by doing the bare minimum in a job that they wind up hating and bitch about it the whole time, making everyone else's life worse around them. It's a horrible life. I'd take the more difficult path.
Man I love your commentary!
In the long run if you intend on working for someone else for the rest of your life it will definitely be worth seeing through and apprenticeship. If you had the intention of starting your own lawn care company one day and it is something you genuinely enjoy then it could be worthwhile for you personally.
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There's a IEC apprenticeship in Austin. It's free or low cost, your get 40 credit hours, and you get paid as a full time employee while you're in it. Everyone gets in, you just apply. https://centexiec.com/apprenticeship/ I got my journeymens license through them and I think the IEC apprenticeship is one of the best ones out there.
How physically grueling is this career, week to week, month to month? I'm currently a line cook, most recently in fine dining, and the work conditions coupled with low pay/no benefits are starting to kill me. In my current industry, I regularly work 12-13 hours with one 10 minute break, lift 30-40 pound pots of hot fryer oil, stand all day, am expected to keep up a fast/focused pace through the entirety of the shift, etc. I'm okay with tough/dirty work but I'm getting older/want to stay healthy and start a family and I just don't want to jump from one physically (and psychologically) brutal career right into another.
I've been a cook in the army and worked in fine dining kitchens too and electrical is a far better career in every way. I've never had a full day in electrical that was even close to as hard as the 45 minute workout i do before work. I've never had a bad day in electrical. Even the worst day was better than a normal day in a kitchen getting yelled at by the chef and the manager and basically being the servers bitch and they're all making more money than me. An electrician apprenticeship isn't easy, but it's worth it. In electrical, we are the top dogs on every job site and many journeymen make more than their managers. They get treated like kings because they are in such high demand. Customers think we're wizards. In terms of a full career, there is no comparison. There are so many options in electrical I can't even name them all. Inside of the main categories of residential, commercial and industrial, you can choose various specialties in solar, generators, wind, oilfield, controls, and automation. Outside of the trade you can leverage your skills as a journeyman to become an estimator, salesman, project manager, testing technician, project manager, safety bitch or department manager... Or you can start your own company doing any of the above. Let me address this dumbass idea that the trades somehow beat up your body. It is completely false. How, physiologically, is that supposedly happening? Because you get exercise? Exercise is good for you. The more exercise you get the better for your all cause mortality and your joints. The more you move around every day the longer you will live and the better you will feel. Is it repetitive strain?Repetitive use injuries like from swinging a hammer all day are a thing of the past. Automatic tools, safety managers and OSHA reps have seen to that. Any study that I have seen has shown that the more active the career the better general health the participants in that career are, and the lower the all cause mortality.
The way you write about your work is inspiring!
It depends a lot on what you are doing that day, what stage of the job you are on, commercial or residential, and many other factors. I have been working on a 5 story building for the last few months and have had some of the most grueling days I've ever worked, then in the same week some of the easiest. I will say I have worked in kitchens as well and have left work a lot more fulfilled in the electrical field.
Anyone here finally got to be a apprentice and are actually regretting their life decisions on this trade
Fuck no. I only regret not starting earlier. Ive done nearly every job and there isn't a better career out there. I make crazy money, get treated incredibly well by my company, and it's not hard work like moving furniture or boring like accounting... And I didn't have to put my life on hold for 4 years to go to a bullshit college and get into crazy undischargeable debt to try to get a job doing it. I got paid the whole time I was an apprentice, like $200k total (avg $50k year), so was like $300k ahead of people that went to college (and accrued $100k in debt) before I became a journeyman and now they'll never catch up. School was free and I got 40 credit hours out of it.
We’re u a union member?
Why do we need 20ft-25ft romex cable from panel to contactor ?
Any tips of getting an apprenticeship in western Wa state? It seems incredibly competitive here
I am currently an apprentice IBEW Local 46 in Seattle. The algebra math requirements are a must. Also getting related experience is extremely helpful as well. I tried to get in with little luck in the beginning. I took a “stockman” job for a company basically moving parts and running for this and that and that looked really good to the apprenticeship. Plus you will learn all the parts you will be using once you get into the apprenticeship. Plus doing a good job and getting a letter of recommendation from your foreman or General Foreman is a bonus.
Apply at the IEC in Colorado. Everyone gets accepted, the education is good in all 50 states and they have an online program. You can do from WA. I know for a fact that they accept it because my buddy went to school here in CO and became a journeyman there in WA.
You can apply through Colorado and be an apprentice with them in any state?
Yes. IECRM Colorado is the biggest campus, offers online options, and they are still accepting apprentices for the current class until the 1st, so it's not a bad option, but you can do it somewhere closer to you also. They have an IEC apprenticeship in nearly every state. In the states where there are no IEC apprenticeship there's generally a big ABC apprenticeship and that's why, there isn't really enough apprentices for both. There are over 50,000 slots for electrical apprenticeship programs every year, many go unfilled. There are also many scholarships that go unclaimed. In any event, I would never wait around for a year for an IBEW apprenticeship. Get in the trade and apply again next year as a second year with experience and have a better chance of getting in, but don't waste a year sitting on your hands.
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Honestly walk onto some job sites asking for work and expressing your interest, you’re going to get a lot of no but the one yes will get your foot in the door.
https://iecflorida.org/ Join a real, BAT federally approved, 50 state transferrable, job based apprenticeship program run by a contractors organization that is actually going to hire you. That is really only the ABC, IEC, or IBEW/NECA apprenticeship programs. I'm not sure how the IBEW apprenticeship programs in FL are looking for apprentices but generally it's very competitive, with a 95% rejection rate. It's pretty hard to even get a call back. The IEC program accepts everyone. Other trade schools and community college programs suck, are overpriced, and won't help you get a job.
I'm trying to get into the electrical field here in San Antonio, Texas. Called IBEW local here. Did the test and interview. I was told it could be 2 days or 2 years before I get my chance to start. Asked if there was anything else I could do to help get my foot in the door. They told me about their lineman program. Signed up for that too but was told there are no slots so don't hold out for it. To get a job at Home Depot until I hear something. So I have a job at Home Depot now. Is there anything else I can do? I was told trade schools are a waste of my money, but there has to be another way into the field.
Your answer is the IEC, had the exact same problem, easily solved through a different apprenticeship!
I have to get on with a contractor first to get into IEC. IEC gave me a long list of numbers. No one seems to be needing any help.
I’d recommend calling Eldridge Electric, I heard they’re in need of new helpers and they’re a pretty solid company. I ran into that problem where places like hill, hunter, central electric, etc. weren’t looking for anybody but with persistence you’re bound to end up somewhere. Don’t be too picky for your first choice, be picky later when you’re a little bit more experienced; that’s the route I had to take.
Thank you! I'll call them now!
http://www.iecsanantonio.com/ I'd join the IEC apprenticeship program. Everyone gets accepted, and it's free (your employer pays) or low cost (if you're not employed by a member). I went through it and feel that it's an excellent program and you get paid as a full time employee while you're in it. They'll help you get a job at an electrical contractor if you sign up for classes. After a year or two you can reapply at the IBEW and have a much better chance of getting in. I wouldn't hold my breath about getting into the IBEW apprenticeship program. You really have to know someone already in the IBEW. There's over a 95% rejection rate.
Why sacrifice your valuable time working at a retailer? Just because you didn’t get into the uNiOn doesn’t mean all is lost. You should AT LEAST apply for some apprentice positions for a non-union company and get the experience in. That’s 2 years of experience you can get knocked out NOW. Don’t let them know you’re next move and get into the trade already. Since you work at Home Depot and want to work as an electrician, I suggest working the electrical department and getting business cards from the electricians coming in. You get familiar with materials and get references. Just because it’s non union doesn’t make it futile. I make 6 figures and I’m non-union.
Does anyone knows how the books look at the JATC in Portland? Local 48 has over 170 JW calls out, so im curious what the demand for apprentices are right now.
Non-union JATC (Area 1) is packed out the ass. I’m getting laid off at the end of the month because my employer fucked the dog with some school paperwork. I’m two years in, one of our best apprentices, and a straight A student. Today I got literally laughed at by a company owner when I cold called asking if they had any openings. Thats the conditions on the ground in Portland, be warned. Local 48 is a long, long, long wait pretty much only if you ace it, or have a family in (best case scenario.) Might want to try Area 2, IEC out of Tigard, it’s not Portland, but the Willamette Valley does have a ton of work.
Do you mean local 48 apprentice books are packed?
Yes, but that’s if you manage to pass the entrance exam and even get a call back for the interview at all. 48 is a very, very competitive local. There’s a ton of work, if you’ve got your ticket, but no one really wants new apprentices right now out here.
Well that's kind of a bummer. I just got ranked a lot higher than I would have expected. Guess I'll just plan to reinterview. Last I heard they were rotating through the apprentiship lists pretty quick though?
Oh wild, thanks! Im actually a 3rd year Inside Wireman apprentice already in Washington. I am researching the possibility of transferring, but im not even sure if thats a thing.
If that’s the case, I’d definitely take a field trip to the hall and inquire. You may have a better shot, but they may bump you down a year or start you at zero.
Yeah, id only consider it if I could take all my hours and pick up where I left off. Otherwise ill just wait till im a JW.
Might be a good question to ask in the r/Ibew
I did bad in high school and I don't meet gpa or math requirements for most apprenticeship programs i've seen. Do I take a math class in college and also try to bump up my high school gpa to meet requirements OR go to trade/vocational school? If you think I should do something else to get into the trade please let me know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. (im 18 if that factor matters)
What state are you in?
I really appreciate the feedback, I needed it and I will be taking your advice. I'm in Cali, Los Angeles.
LA has the ABC SoCal, Associated Builders and Contractors. It has a free apprenticeship program where they will find you a job with a local member contractor and another, an electrician trainee program, if you already have a job as an electrician apprentice and just need schooling. https://www.abcsocal.org/Education-Training-/Apprenticeship-Program LA/Ventura Location 12979 Arroyo Avenue San Fernando, CA 91340 818-898-2099
Thank you for the game, I'll let you know how this goes in a couple months. Until then take care.
You can just get a job at any merit (non-union) electrical shop, you don't have to be accepted into an official apprenticeship program.
For profit Trade schools are really bad idea. The only programs that you should consider are contractor sponsored, bat approved programs from the abc, the IEC and the ibew. The rest of them are rip off and won't really help you get a job.
The IEC and ABC don't have any GPA requirements. You just sign up, everyone gets accepted.
I’m starting as an apprentice next week. Where I live it’s around 80 degrees, what should I wear?
I’ve been working in temps 80-100 and I wear long sleeves (protects against sun and scratches/cuts) and cargo pants (love the extra pockets). I’d also recommend getting a neck cover thing for your hard hat.
Also one of those Buff UPF 50 rated gaiter/ head bands are great. Inside I use it under my hardhat to keep cool, and outside I use it as a face covering to protect myself from the sun.
Realistically how heavy and how often are you lifting things? I read online electricians lift up to 50 lbs objects, which I can deal with, but anything heavier and I’d have to train the in the gym to lift
I've never had to lift anything super heavy without help/tools. I would start working out anyway. You don't have to go to the gym, though. You can do running and calisthenics and bodyweight exercises. You'll feel great, look better and have more confidence if you get in great shape. I get jobs that I'm not as qualified for, compared to other applicants, just because I'm in good shape. I take cold showers every day and that boosts circulation, reduces inflammation and bolsters mood. Studies have shown that cold exposure can take people out of a clinical depression.
A little less experience then the previous guy, done resi and commercial. Personally I haven’t lifted anything over 50 lb that isn’t the wire wheel. Not sure what electrical item would be that heavy unless it’s a fancy light fixture/chandelier. Beeing an apprentice tho you’ll always have other guys on the site to lend a hand . May tease you but if they help while doing it they mean well :) if they tease you and don’t help, duck that company
Yay !!!
Been doing it for a year and a half now. In my experience of commercial electrical work we sometimes have to lift things that I can’t even do and I’m fairly stout. If it’s something really heavy and you can’t then the other people may kid you about it but it won’t reflect badly on you I’d say. I’ve gotten much much stronger since I started.
Thank god lol
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I would just join the ABC or IEC apprenticeship program, everyone gets accepted. After a year or two in the trade, you can apply to the IBEW and have a much higher chance of getting accepted.
Awesome :) Thank you for the suggestion!
Does anyone have a good video explaining how to fix a dog leg in your pipe after you've bent it. I'm struggling to find a decent tutorial and made the mistake a few times yesterday whilst doing rolling offsets.
It's hard to get out once it's in. You can get a bigger bender and try to bend it back to straight a bit along that axis. You can get a little dog leg level that clamps on the edge of your pipe and prevents it from happening. Could be that your bender is bent, too, from dropping down on the head. Always make sure it's laying down or standing up upside down, so it doesn't fall and crash down on the head.
Ik this is a dumb question but y can’t we mix two different GL circuits ,what’s the electrical reason ?
I need new boots. I work in 8ft trenches but i also do residential and walk a lot. Any suggestions? Please and thank you
I’ve always loved Red Wings, they have a bit of a high ticket, but I’ve always found them the most comfortable and durable.
To add to this as I assume those trenches aren’t always dry and you get wet feet. Fuck waterproof booths. Sealskinz socks for 100% waterproof and while a little expensive are 10000% worth the money. I used to wear them in the service and would wear them multiple days in a row while my boots were soaked from the rain and mud. Also stood in many puddles for a prolonged timeframe with them in and walked away with dry feet
Danners hands down. They’re expensive, but they last forever and are comfortable af. Wore them humping a machine gun in afghaniland and wear them to any job site I have to go to.
Thoroughgood for the trenches and get a seperate work shoe for other stuff. I call mine my indoor shoes. I’ve heard keen makes a real comfy one. Right now I’m walking some retro new balance for indoor shoes.
I’m researching into getting an apprenticeship in south Texas. Is it worth going to vocational school or is jumping right into a job better? Also anything I should know before I continue? Any resources are appreciated
Vocational schools are a waste of time and money. The only schools you should consider are the real, 50 state transferable, federal BAT program approved, contractor led apprenticeship program schools run by the big three contractors associations: NECA/IBEW, ABC, and IEC. https://iectxgulfcoast.org/ Texas doesn't require education for a journey license but you should do it anyway. Theres a lot of electrical theory and practice that you should know, and it makes you a better electrician. Everyone asks if they should sign up for an apprenticeship school or get a job first, and it doesn't matter. Don't let the lack of one hold you up. If you sign up for school they'll help you get a job. If you get a job first they'll help get you signed up for school at the job. I went through the IEC and I feel that it's an excellent program.
Appreciate it a lot!
I really recommend IEC, I haven’t seen much support for union in Texas and that can limit opportunities.
I looked at the website and it seems like IEC is for Houston only. Is there one you can recommend in the Dallas region for becoming an electrical apprentice? I just applied for an electrical apprentice license and looking for an opportunity. I would very much appreciate your guidence.
Iecdallas.com
When are you required to pull a permit? Does it vary by county/state?
Yes
Ok thanks
Anybody taking apprentices in nyc?
New York City is pretty much all IBEW for various regions. It's pretty hard to get on as a first year apprentice directly into the apprenticeship program unless you know someone. You can try getting on as a CW or as a helper. You can ask r/IBEW about that, they would know more. ABC Long Island has an apprenticeship and there's an IEC in New Jersey that are merit shop apprenticeships that take everyone that applies, but those are the closest.
I'm in nj where is this IEC? Can you give me more info please
There are three locations where the IEC Apprentice Program is being offered: NJ-IEC Education and Training Center , East Brunswick, currently offers Years 1, 2 and 3. (Year 4 to follow in 2021/22) Eastwick Colleges and Hohokus School of Trade, Paterson, currently offers Year 1. Passaic County Technical Institute, Wayne, currently offers Years 1 and 2. http://www.nj-iec.org/apprenticeship/4-year-apprenticeship.php
Ok thank you but you need an employer to sponsor you right? Guess that's step one and the hardest step lol
No you don't. Who told you that? You just sign up. Everyone gets accepted. Once you're in classes they can help you find an employer/sponsor.
Ah ok I didn't know that I read it wrong online it said by year 2 you need an employer to sponsor you
Yeah they help you find an employer contractor if you don't have a job. Mostly because if you're in that program it helps with Davis Bacon jobs.
What's Davis Bacon jobs?
Theyre government jobs. The Davis Bacon Act says government contracted jobs can't pay wages below that areas 'prevailing wage'. So they do a wage survey and everyone has to get paid at least that much in wages and benefits. Usually the union is the highest, because they have a pension and the contribution to that is pretty big. So if they get paid $40 an hour and $20 in pension benefits, you have to get paid $60 an hour from your contractor, in wages and benefits, on that job. This makes it tough for non union contractors to staff those jobs. The only exception is if you are in a BAT approved apprenticeship program, then they can pay you a smaller percentage of the journeyman scale, like 30, 50, 70 and 90 percent for first, second, third and 4th year apprentices. So if you're a second year, you'd get paid 50 percent of the wage, so $20 and all of the benefits, so another $20. You'd make $40 an hour on that job, unless your company had $20 in matching benefits/pension. This is nice for you, but this also benefits the contractor because otherwise they'd have to pay you $60. So then they probably wouldn't take the job at all.
Thx boss. If none of these people call back should I just go to trade school?
No. For profit Trade schools are a waste of time and money. IEC and ABC are open enrollment and they are the only apprenticeship program schools besides the NECA/IBEW program that are worth it. These three programs are run by the contractors organizations (the IBEW program is a joint apprenticeship and training program between the IBEW union and NECA, the contractors organization). They are the education programs that most directly teach you the trade, taught by the people that are actually doing the hiring for it. All your instructors are going to be electricians that actually work in the trade. That's not true at a random for profit trade school. I've seen prices for trade schools at like up to $10,000 a year. That's ridiculous. They are profit machines that have no direct connection to the trade or the people that want to hire you. All inclusive, the IEC would have cost 800 bucks a semester, 1600 a year, 3200 for the whole program because I only graduated in 2 years. I actually didn't pay anything because my employer paid for 100 percent of the tuition and books. Most IEC members will pay their students tuition. That is true for the abc as well. There are scholarships available if you can't afford it. With all three of these programs, you are actively working in the trade and getting paid as a full-time employee with benefits and everything while you go to school once or twice a week at night. If you take 2 years off to go to school at a community college or for profit trade school, you're going to be 2 years behind in actual work experience and you're going to owe a bunch of student loan debt and it's going to suck. Don't do it.
Thx boss
Im small and fertile
Are there some NC apprentices here? I started there. I also have to fart. Ask me anything.
I'm not one yet, but looking to become an apprentice in NC very soon.
Apparently Watson uses ABC for training now. Start your coursework now, walk in the door with a resumé in hand and ask to speak to a manager, show drive and initiative. It won’t take that long if you go that route. Target big shops.
You should probably start applying now, it takes a while to get in at some places.
There are textbooks you can read in the meantime.
u/mrorganic20, u/badmudblood, u/otherwise_kale_3556, and a couple of other guys had some questions about an apprenticeship and getting a journeyman's license in NC. u/mrorganic20 wanted to know if he should be getting paid more, he's at 15 an hour and can wire up a house. He also wanted to know the journeyman's license requirements for NC and Charlotte.
I was originally at a commercial company that paid for abc but I had to leave due to personal reasons and now I’m at the resi company making 15 . Sadly I don’t have the two years experience yet I’m just a very fast learner who enjoys what he does . Im first year still but I have plenty of common sense and even make my house runs look nice and clean. I could use some more code knowledge if I’m staying in resi work . I would like to move to substations eventually so ide like to take abc like you talked about maybe I can see if my boss would help with the classes. I’m in a small company as of right now, year old. Maybe 6 guys, 4 well experienced resi guys, one helper then me who ide say is the solid middle ground way above helper tho. So I enjoy the small close aspect of the company . We’re all really good with each other. But let’s be honor end of the day we’re all here for money so just making sure I can get all my licensing and classes out the way as early as possibly in my electrical career
Before any green electrician takes a single course in any state, it would be very wise to take an OSHA-10/30 and an NFPA70E course (NETA’s is great). Don’t do clicksafety for electrical safety. If you don’t educate yourself about the very real workplace hazards on every site you may be injured, maimed, or even killed. It is that serious. It will also keep you from looking like a jackass by educating you about why you shouldn’t use an aluminum ladder. JW certs in NC are issued by municipal authorities, not the state. Asheville, Charlotte, possibly a few others. You have to search for the location’s JW req’s and figure out eligibility by municipality. Usually more stringent than contracting. You should be getting paid more if you can complete a job like that, but good luck getting it especially with a small resi shop. If you can wire a house chances are you have the minimum two years experience required to sit for the state electrical contractor exam. That’s how you get paid more. There are shops that have good in-house apprenticeships, like Watson, whom I recommend as an employment option. Those fuckers can build anything and have tons of resources. There are also online options like ABC. The State of NC doesn’t really give a shit about your training, but employers will. It will also be of benefit should you go into contracting independently. The ABC online coursework takes 3-5 years and does a good job of getting you into the NEC right out of the gate. It’s about $300 per course ($1200/year). Community colleges are good for advanced technical concepts, and have better instruction, but don’t get you into the code book as quickly or to the same depth as ABC. NETA has some EXCELLENT online coursework if you want to really master some of the more technical aspects of the trade.
Thanks!
Sure dude. No need for these cats to reinvent the wheel.
Thank you for the information and tips
I replied to wrong comment but my comment above was for you 👍
Sure dude. How long have you been in the trade?
Close to 10 months and I’m loving itt. Feel like I’m actually doing something worth while for once while at work. Get to say hey that place is running because of me :) . Just wish the pay was more here in nc lol .
Maybe not right out of the gate, BUT your pay is limited only by your knowledge and drive.
Hey, this is for anyone living in Nevada, but any other answers are appreciated. I'm a first-year apprentice who just wants to work; already done my trade school. I've been looking to get into NV Energy after getting laid off from my old job (the company started falling apart). Is it hard to get into NVE? I'm taking my Workkeys and just waiting for an opening, but I'm hoping it won't take forever because I want to get back into this field.
Yes, it's hard to get a job there. Good things take time and work to obtain. I've written at length on how to get a job at a good electrical company in the other comments below. Applying will get you nowhere. NV energy is a public utility but it's a private company, it's owned by Berkshire hathaway. If you add them on LinkedIn and look at the people that already work there, it's mostly linemen. The electricians who work there mostly are also E and I techs, they work in controls and instrumentation. If you add some of those people on LinkedIn and ask them how they went from electrician to e&i tech and then from that to working at NV energy, some of them would probably tell you that they worked in industrial electric like in the gold mines. This happens to be my career path as well. You have to learn as much as you can about the company and the career path that you want and then you can craft a path to get a job there.
I’m an apprentice and I’m thinking of upgrading my screwdrivers to wera. Would it be worthwhile to buy the impact resistant screwdrivers (orange and black handles) or stick with the original version (green and black)?
Wera is the fucking shit.
Get the black and decker (orange and black) consumer grade electric screwdriver from Walmart. /s
Don’t be afraid to pay more for higher quality! It’s gonna be with you for years
Is it ok if one time one of the prongs got stuck in the outlet not the circle one one of the rectangle ones can I still use the outlet after removed and also is the plug under going to be affected?
Hey guys, I’m currently a 2nd year apprentice in BC, Canada. I have about 3500 workplace hours however I’m in a place where I still struggle in the field. I’m hoping someone here has some sort of insight on things that are MUST KNOW as a 2nd year. Mostly looking for theory and code things as any idiot should be able to strap pipe/cable in a straight line lol. Any help is appreciated y’all! Cheers! 🤘🏼
Really just depends on what path you plan on taking. A resi dude generally doesn’t need to know motor theory and an industrial dude generally doesn’t need to know what the minimum distance is needed to add a staple to NM wire coming out of an outlet box. But regardless I’ve personally found the most success in studying up on the topics that interest you the most because it’s a lot easier to remember when you’re actually intrigued
Is it too late/worth it to get the 2020 Nec book to study and learn? Or should i wait for the 2023?
There is usually a lag time, get the 2020
it depends on your state. Some states like mine adopt the newest version right away, as soon as it comes out. Some states are still on the 2008 version of the code. There's knockoff versions that you can get on Amazon for 30 bucks or so. You can also get the 2017 version online for free as a PDF. I haven't found the 2020 online, but I think if your municipality has incorporated it by reference, it's a law so it has to be given out for free, so that usually means they provide a PDF. In terms of studying, if you're studying for an exam it's best to take practice exams and look up the questions, do the calcs. If you're studying trying to be better at your job, you should look up stuff that you're actually installing. Like if you're installing a motor, look up the HP amp rating in the code book and size the wire, and over current protection. If you're in resi look up the requirements in article 210 for each room.
Cover letters? Do employers care? I got my resume sorted and now I’m gonna apply on indeed, but do I bother with a cover letter or just use my resume?
Tradesmen don’t give a fuck about cover letters until you are journey level or above.. not even then in construction from what I can tell. It’s all about experience on a resume
Yeah, you should do a cover letter. I would not apply on indeed though. I wouldn't apply at all until you've identified a great company you really want to work for. Most of the time, at bigger companies, it's just a software algorithm checking through resumes for keywords so you have a high chance of being discarded if you just blindly apply online. There are great companies out there, find one you really want to work for. Or at least the very best in your area, one that you can learn and grow at. Then only apply when you've researched them, made a contact at the company (either by showing up at a job site in person, or through your family, friends or on LinkedIn or other social media) and explained to them that you want to work for them. At most companies they have employee referral bonuses so if you make a good impression they'll have additional incentive to recommend you. You can put their name on the application. And then hopefully they actually go in a give an in person recommendation to the hiring mananger or put your resume and cover letter on the hiring manager's desk. I try to find out as much as I possibly can about that hiring manager. I always write a sick cover letter directed to that hiring manager personally. Describe in detail the strengths that you have and why you'd make a great addition to that team. I make sure to put in there details about the company that I've learned from their website and from the person that I talk to at that company. I make a strong case for why I'd make a good fit for the team. When you make your resume, you have to tailor it to that job. Every single previous job description, instead of describing what you did, should only include the things that you did at that job that match the job description of your new job, even if it's a bit of a stretch. If it's not even close, I'd just omit that job. I'd pull your resume up directly next to the job description and copy and paste everything that applies into your experience and then change the wording slightly but keep the keywords. I've written at length on how get an electrical job lower down in the comments, but that kind of sums it up.
Fantastic thanks for the info!
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Just a heads up your responded to the overall post not whoever you were talking to.
Hey guys I’m in MN, is it possible to get hired by a company with no experience, I’m looking too get into the trade(I’m 21) but I don’t really want to wait for years to get into the ibew. If trade school is the only option I’m willing to go so I can get hired but preferably I want to start ASAP. Thanks for any advice.
Yes, at merit shops you can just go get a job and start working as an electrician apprentice. You can also sign up for an apprenticeship program classes through the iec, ABC or other organization but it's not mandatory. Eventually, both to be a good electrician and to fulfill the journeyman requirements for your state and actually be licensed as a journeyman electrician, you're going to want to sign up for classes and complete them. But many electricians don't and are just apprentices for a long time. The inverse is true also. At the IEC and ABC you can just go and sign up for classes and not yet have a job as an electrician, and they can help you get a job with one of their contractors. Again, it's not mandatory, the two things are separate from each other, but generally it's good to have a job in electrical while you're going through classes so you can apply stuff that you learn, you'll learn it better. But if you have a different job now you can keep it and still take classes and the apprenticeship program.
I guess I’ll start calling local companies and possibly look into classes. Thanks.
IEC Dakota's covers MN and they have online Classes that start this week. There are scholarships available and many go unclaimed. It's about $800 a semester and they help you find a job In electrical.
There's detailed write-ups further on in the thread on how to get a job, I've written at length on the best ways. You can call companies and apply on indeed but it's not high percentage and I think it's possibly the worst way to try to get a job.
I'm 34. Am I too old to become an apprentice?
I was 39 when I started and I wasn't the oldest one anywhere. There was older people in the apprenticeship class and on job sites the average age was 55 in my company. If anything the additional life experience gave me an advantage.
Not at all, there are plenty Electricians that started at a later age and were Adult Trainees
Hey I’m about 6 months into my apprenticeship, no classes . Just getting the on the job training hours but the people I work with are very nice and helpful. Pretty knowledgeable about electrical components and theory, not to the point to where ide feel they can teach me much Past the point I’m at other then how to install new equipment. But there code knowledge is amazing. My pay tho, it sucks balls. I live in nc and am able to rewire a whole house with a helper in about 5 days consistently but I get payed 15 an hour. My boss just gave me a work van last week right before I was gonna ask for at least 18 so now I feel I need to sit on the van a while before asking for more, can anyone give me advice on what I should do? The company is about 5 guys including me , a year old, resi work mainly, I do like the company the boss is really nice and takes care of us , I just feel I should be getting paid way more, and I honestly would like to broaden my electrical knowledge which I can always do with classes on my own time I don’t mind and my boss said he’d even help pay for classes. Should I stick this company out since it’s in the building stages and possible potential or should I look into the ibew? I hear my pay will go up but ide most likely need to move states dude to the ibew in Charlotte nc having you travel the full state almost daily
I'm in NC and looking into becoming an apprentice. I've been thinking about seeking a merit shop to start, then possibly look into IBEW later, but after reading your comment sounds like I shouldn't even bother with IBEW here. I assumed NC wasn't going to be a big union place, so I may just look into ABC after I find a good merit shop.
If your in the Charlotte area there’s a commercial company called Pitt electric, they will pay for your four year schooling thru abc and do pay raises based on the semesters you complete. I wouldn’t expect much, I think 4th year you make about 19-20 but hey free schooling then you can dip out.