Any Electricians here?

[400exrules]

Well Im still trying to figure out what i want to do with my life, and i really dont have much of an idea. The only thing ive really actually considered is goin through apprenticeship and becoming an electrician. My dad does home repairs and ive dont alittle electrical work with him and i like it, plus my neighbor is a journeymen and i love talkin with him about it, idk why but its just interesting to me.

What made me post this is, in my english class i have to write a research paper about a career(s) that we might be interested in, and i took this quiz over wut career i might enjoy. And the results showed that i would probably like something in agriculture, traveling, or architecture & construction.

Im not trying to get help with the paper or anything, ima do it on my own. i just posted this cuz i wanted to know if their are any electricians here that could tell me if you enjoy, wuts envolved, how many hours a week do u work, is the pay good, do you get tired of doing it, are u satisfied with it, etc.

and how do u go about the apprenticeship program? is it straight out of high school, or do u need some college?
thanks

[sampleez]

i'm going to school now for an associates in industrial electricity. last semester i was at a big college going for electrical engineering, but i got out of it b/c it's all going towards electrinics, and i don't really want to do that. and i've done a lot of residential wiring. i like it a lot. i also had two years of high school/trade school electricity. last spring/summer i made 7 an hour, but didn't get a lot of hours b/c i was in school. i'm hoping to get on at a power company or get in the IBEW. a good way to find out if you want to go in this field is to try and get on with a local electrical contractor.

[400exdad]

No college is required, but I know you will have to go to school to become a journeyman. I would think that it would most likely help to have an electrician or electrical company sponsor you and get you in the door, as I imagine they do not take just anyone, as the seating is limited. A good way to find out is to ask your friend and see if you can hang with him for a day and maybe get with the owner for an interview. You could say it was for research but really you could be testing the waters and you could even tell him that.

While I think residential (I wire some... what can I say, I live in Mississippi :) and I'm an electrical engineer for the utility) is prolly the most fun because you can work it alone and at your own pace, industrial and commercial is where the $$ is. Bottomline: Housing goes to the lowest bid unless you can get in the limited custom market... but industrial is more about doing it right, first and costs come second.

I'll PM ya with some more info since you live nearby.

[kevin00]

I would recomend going to college and graduate. you'll never regret it. a lot of colleges have a open house day whare you can walk around and check things out.
find a place that has a well rounded program. If you see what the field has to offer you might find something else your even more interested in. Programmable controlers, home/industrial security systems, or even drafting or CAD, are a couple of things that come to mind. Plus if you go get a degree you will make more $$$, thats a fact. when I graduated my electrical tech program a couple of years ago there were over 100 companies from six states looking to hire 20 graduates, and that was a down year:eek2:

I usally work about 45 hrs a week. and i enjoy what i do because i'm good at it. It does get old at times but i think that everybody has that, its just part of having a jod. In addition to my regular paying job, there are also small jobs on the side that earn me extra cash to spend on my quad.:devil:

[cool 300ex]

I am thinking about going to vo tech for this. Any of you who do this do you like your job? Does it get old after awhile?

[Aceman]

I'm currently in an inside electrician apprenticeship program. I don't know how it is way over where you live but here non-union is a 4 year-8000 work hours-576 class hours program. Union is a 5 year-8000 work hours and I'm not sure how many class hours for that. I tried for both non-union and union apprenticeships. Non-union, I just went to a local college and filled out an application. Then they rank you against the other applicants and place you on a list. The better you application looks(more job experience, higher grades, etc.) the better you are ranked and the higher your placed on the list. When an electrical company calls up the apprenticeship program and asks for an apprentice they take the first one on the list. The next electrical company to call gets the second one and so on. So basically it turns into a waiting game. They accept new applicants every year or two, I can't remember exactly but your name will stay on the list for 2 years if you aren't picked. At that time you must reapply to be put on the next list if you choose. The differences with union applications are they make you take an aptitude test(math, reading, comprehension) and they interview you in front of a committee made up of IBEW committee and some local electricians. The union program is harder to get into and it seems like they apprentices are layed off more than non-union but it pays better. If you are layed off you go right to the top of the existing list so the next company needing an apprentice will pick you. I personally chose Inside Electrician because they do pretty much everything. The company I work for does mostly industrial and commercial with just a little residential. It seems to me that residential doesn't have a whole lot to it unless your doing a custom home. The few service calls and home remodels I've helped wire were pretty basic. But industrial and commercial you learn a lot. Just like 400exdad said, it's harder to make money in residential because everyone can do it. But industrial/commercial is more specialized and also have more money making service calls. My advise is to keep your grades up and apply for an inside electrical apprenticeship and learn a little about everything.

[bulkdriverlp]

Originally posted by 400exdad
No college is required, but I know you will have to go to school to become a journeyman. I would think that it would most likely help to have an electrician or electrical company sponsor you and get you in the door, as I imagine they do not take just anyone, as the seating is limited. A good way to find out is to ask your friend and see if you can hang with him for a day and maybe get with the owner for an interview. You could say it was for research but really you could be testing the waters and you could even tell him that.

While I think residential (I wire some... what can I say, I live in Mississippi :) and I'm an electrical engineer for the utility) is prolly the most fun because you can work it alone and at your own pace, industrial and commercial is where the $$ is. Bottomline: Housing goes to the lowest bid unless you can get in the limited custom market... but industrial is more about doing it right, first and costs come second.

I'll PM ya with some more info since you live nearby. i agree, get into industrial wiring, lots of money. there is never an overabundance of electricians, you shouldnt have a problem making good money, may take you couple years thou, good luck

[Got nads?]

I'm a Commercial Electrician up here in Alberta Canada. Up here you still have to go to college (actually a tech college)Once a year for two months, for four years. (hope that makes sense) Right now I am a fourth year apprentice, and I probably make more money then the average person, and I will be going for my journeyman ticket in september of this year. As far as the job goes it is like any other job, there are good parts and bad parts. Most of the time you have to use your head a lot, and believe it or not but mathematics are a key part to alot of the things you have to do. Bad parts are some of the crappy hours you work, and having to deal with other trades people. I have two uncles who are electricians and both of them are doing pretty well for themselves with big houses, nice vehicles and a bunch of toys. Believe it or not, but I was a honour student in High School, and I took a year of University ( Bachelor of Commerce) but I couldn't really decide what I wanted to do, and I didn't want to waste my parents money on a dead end career choice, so I started electrical. There are quite a few people that have numerous University of degrees that couldn't find a decent paying job in their field and they now work for our company. I however don't plan on donig it forever, but I am going to get my ticket, so I have something to fall back on in the future. As long as there is a booming economy there will always be a need for electricians, and your are garanteed a job, unless your useless. This is ho it is here where I live, but it could be different in the states.

[Got nads?]

Oh yeah I usually work 40hrs a week, but sometimes like now I work about 48hrs a week.:D And just because I don't plan on sticking to it after I get my ticket does not mean that is not a good career. I have different plans!!!

[AshYFZ450]

I'm an Aviation Electrician in the Navy. No Apprenticeship required:D Lots of travel:D I only make around $69,000 a year after doing it for 16 years but in 4 years I will be retiring (@37)
I love fixing jets and watching them fly off the pointy end of a ship. Knowing it is flying because I fixed it is rewarding for me.

[catch22blaster]

no but i know one

[02Yellow400]

local 269 (trenton nj) journeymans rate is 40.52 an hour. Getting in the program is hard but once your in your set for life. Same thing around here 5 years 8000 hours. But well worth it

[JBjoeEX]

Plumber here:blah:

[deathman53]

I tried to get into 163 out of elizabeth, I didn't get in, they told me to go to more school, but its funny the questions they asked me only a electrician in the field 6 or years would know and I answered them correctly too. Also I got a 80 on the written test(the better 10% of the class) and on top of it I know somebody who has a contact. I was told that the union likes green guys, not expierenced people. This just reassured me of this.

[400exrules]

My dad said that electricians can get up to $18-20/hr. is that true?

in this career book we got at school, they had electricians marked as making $8/hr. and like $21/hr, idk i guess the $8/hr. was starting out, and 21 is average i guess.

[deathman53]

$21 is about average for most. Where I work helpers start at $8-10, mechanics $15-20, yes,its kinda cheap, but there is ALWAYS lots of work and overtime every week.

[Got nads?]

Originally posted by 400exrules
My dad said that electricians can get up to $18-20/hr. is that true?

in this career book we got at school, they had electricians marked as making $8/hr. and like $21/hr, idk i guess the $8/hr. was starting out, and 21 is average i guess.

That seems pretty low! Is that journeyman rate?

[400exrules]

Originally posted by Got nads?
That seems pretty low! Is that journeyman rate?

idk it was some retard career book, one page had $8/hr and another page had $21/hr.

not sure

[JBjoeEX]

wow!!plumbers get 60-70$/hr!!!if your the boss man like my pops!!

[Aceman]

Non-union apprentice electricians here in Oregon start at 40% of journeyman rate which is $21.85/hr right now, so that means you make $8.75/hr. Every 1000 work hours and 72 class hours you get bumped up or rerated. It goes 40 percent, 50 percent, 55 percent and so on until you reach journeyman. It is a 5-10% jump each time you go up a period. The four year program is split into a 8 periods.

Now if your union that a different story, I think apprentices start around 13-14ish. They also have 8 periods to their apprenticeship program. I'm not sure how much union journeymen make per hour.

Something else to think about is if your electrical company does some state prevailing wage jobs. When I was making 8.75/hr it jumped up to 23/hr for a state job. Luckily our shop does state jobs every once in a while so that helps make up for making only 8.75/hr when you are first starting out as an apprentice.

[clutt225]

Cody if you want to work with your hands then go for it before you waste the money on some party trip for four years in university. My step father went four years and got a degree in accounting, and now owns a kitchen business and pays some one to do his books,but it is what he wants to do.
My brother in law just finish an engineering degree has a good job, but can't stand it. he wants to work with his hands and is now looking to start an aprenticeship but is over qualified to get in the door. Not to mention 60g's in debt. My self I've been a carpenter for 10 years, started my own company last year and couldn't be happier. I work when I want and for how long I want, or when the bank says so. HAHA
I work with electricians every day some like it some don't.
It's up to you, but do what you want the $$ will follow.

Just my 2 cents.


Its winter thats all I can afford!

[400exrules]

k thanks everyone.

could someone please explain the whole union thing, cuz i asked my dad about it, but it just confused me when he was trying to explain wut a union electrician is to me.

he said it was somethin about ppl bargain for your raises and benefits and stuff, but could someone simplify it for me plz