how does one become an electrician?

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa
Call the union office & local colleges would be a start.

There are a few questions that you may want to ask yourself before you head into the trades.

Do you enjoy working with others (often rude mannerism), physical work, dirty/loud environment, travel, willing to move, and type of work?

Give the local trade business that you are interested in a call, and ask them what is their day to day tasks in the field; to have a clearer picture of what to expect in that trade.

Top of the list for me would be, instrumentation/control mechanic, aviation mechanic, refrigeration/HVAC mechanic, elevator mechanic, power engineer/powerline tech, electrician, pipe/steam fitter, plumber, tool & die maker.

Your welcome.

I am not gonna go this route. I was just wondering. It seems kind of dumb to go backwards now (get EE to become electrician? no way!). I just got kind of sad....because if you do the math, man, it sucks:

out of high school to start: 20/hr......

after 5 years: around: 30/hr

College route:

out of college (with BSEE from 4 or 5 year program): atleast 55K, but with some loans attached to it....

SO after 5 years, I could have made atleast 100K (before taxes) if I chose the eletrician route as opppsed spending money for college.


I mean....geesh....college seems pointless during that point. The only thing that I could see as a high point is that I get to sit at a desk.....it's not really a high point if you ask me.

 

[edro]

1. Get yourself a copy of the 2008 NEC.
2. Read for the next year.
3. ...
4. Profit.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa
Call the union office & local colleges would be a start.

There are a few questions that you may want to ask yourself before you head into the trades.

Do you enjoy working with others (often rude mannerism), physical work, dirty/loud environment, travel, willing to move, and type of work?

Give the local trade business that you are interested in a call, and ask them what is their day to day tasks in the field; to have a clearer picture of what to expect in that trade.

Top of the list for me would be, instrumentation/control mechanic, aviation mechanic, refrigeration/HVAC mechanic, elevator mechanic, power engineer/powerline tech, electrician, pipe/steam fitter, plumber, tool & die maker.

Your welcome.

I am not gonna go this route. I was just wondering. It seems kind of dumb to go backwards now (get EE to become electrician? no way!). I just got kind of sad....because if you do the math, man, it sucks:

out of high school to start: 20/hr......

after 5 years: around: 30/hr

College route:

out of college (with BSEE from 4 or 5 year program): atleast 55K, but with some loans attached to it....

SO after 5 years, I could have made atleast 100K (before taxes) if I chose the eletrician route as opppsed spending money for college.


I mean....geesh....college seems pointless during that point. The only thing that I could see as a high point is that I get to sit at a desk.....it's not really a high point if you ask me.

It all depends on what you want to do with your life, and often it takes a long time to find out what you really want to do.

<-- former industrial designer, network/database admin with 9 years of postsecondary education, I'm now a happier plumber/hvac mechanic.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

You have to decide what kind of person you are. I used to think, 'Why can't I get one of those jobs where you sit around and not do anything?' Then, after a brief exposure to those kind of jobs, I realized I'd go crazy doing nothing all day.

College is not pointless nor, is it the Golden Key to success. I always recommend people work, experience the real world and, take vocational classes before attending college to determine what matters to them.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: Gibson486
I thought you had to go to school to be one (get a certificate or something...)......I guess not though. My gf's sister's husband just got a job as an electrician.....but all he has is a diploma. I am kind of impressed, actually. $20.hr with just a diploma while living in Kentucky.

that doesn't make him an electrician. That makes him a labourer.

to be an electrician here you must go to school first for the background, like I did. I got my Electrical Technologist diploma. Then you must find a company to hire you as an apprentice. That's a 5 year deal here. Each year you must go to school and pass a test to continue on. Not many companies want to hire someone for 5 years to train them. They would prefer cheap labourers instead. 1st year apprentice starts out at 50% journeyman's wage and goes up 10% every successful year after.

we generally hire laborers and if they choose to do it, they start the classes on their own to get the apprenticeship. they have to pass our tests as well as the schooling or they dont get the raises involved. we had a rash of people hire on, get free schooling and their journeyman status and leave us for the union. we are a nonunion shop, and while the union pays a bit better (like 2 bucks more an hour) we have 40 a week all year, and the union runs out of work all the time. our journeymen here can make up to 30ish an hour i think, and the new hires are over 20 bucks. apprentices dont make 20 usually, at least not in the first year or so. we just had a guy busted down to 15 bucks an hour because he couldnt prove his schooling and failed our test. he still works here too.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Gibson486


I am not gonna go this route. I was just wondering. It seems kind of dumb to go backwards now (get EE to become electrician? no way!). I just got kind of sad....because if you do the math, man, it sucks:

two of our project managers started as electricians, both had EE before they were electricians. both make more than the EE we have on staff, as well as more than the journeymen. both still do electrical work as well. that degree doesnt exempt you from hand-on work unless you want to limit yourself.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486


I am not gonna go this route. I was just wondering. It seems kind of dumb to go backwards now (get EE to become electrician? no way!). I just got kind of sad....because if you do the math, man, it sucks:

two of our project managers started as electricians, both had EE before they were electricians. both make more than the EE we have on staff, as well as more than the journeymen. both still do electrical work as well. that degree doesnt exempt you from hand-on work unless you want to limit yourself.

Hmmm....perhaps I should give it a shot then....but I am currently on the consulting side of things....I hate it so far. The job is boring and I don't know if it will be any different by going to the non-consultign side. All in all...I miss doing the microE stuff.

 

[zinfamous]

Fork + electrical socket = electrician.

it's really that easy.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486


I am not gonna go this route. I was just wondering. It seems kind of dumb to go backwards now (get EE to become electrician? no way!). I just got kind of sad....because if you do the math, man, it sucks:

two of our project managers started as electricians, both had EE before they were electricians. both make more than the EE we have on staff, as well as more than the journeymen. both still do electrical work as well. that degree doesnt exempt you from hand-on work unless you want to limit yourself.

Hmmm....perhaps I should give it a shot then....but I am currently on the consulting side of things....I hate it so far. The job is boring and I don't know if it will be any different by going to the non-consultign side. All in all...I miss doing the microE stuff.

Same here, the project managers make more than MEs that we have. Side jobs also bring in another good chunk beside the overtime.

 

[TheSiege]

I'm an apprentice right now. For decent wages go throught the IBEW. Starting wage for an apprentice here is 15 bucks an hour plus free health and dental and kick ass retirement.

here is a little blog i did http://thesiege.wordpress.com/

 

[Gothgar]

overpriced school are not the way to go.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: JohnCU
well a BSEE won't help. i have one and people always ask me stuff like can you wire up my house for me?

u can take the state license for electrician w/bsee w/o any other schooling.

else u gota be an apprentice for 4 yrs (8000 hrs) b4 being allowed to take the license. apprentice = work as an electricans helper during the day, and free (usually) electrician school during the nite

really? i might look into that.

Around here, if you have a BSEE, you still need a few years of approved work experience to sit for the exam. I don't know what state he's in, because a BSEE definitely does not give you the information or training required to do commercial or residential electrical work.

 

[lightstar]

vo-tech school, work under someone with experience or fly a kite during a severe thunderstorm

 

[I4AT]

In some areas all you need is a work ethic if you're gonna be working under somebody. I started off green making $8/hour in northern FL, but worked for a real small company with a team of about 5 electricians. One of the guys I worked with started up in NJ working commercial and they had him doing nothing but receptacles for years before he even moved up to switches. In my case we would rough out or finish entire houses in a matter of 1-2 days, I'm sure in some union areas with larger projects things might move a lot slower, it really depends on where you are and who you work for.

If he landed a job for $20/hr with no experience and just a diploma, and they aren't working his ass, I'd say he got pretty lucky.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
Fork + electrical socket = electrician.

it's really that easy.

You'll fit right in.

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486


I am not gonna go this route. I was just wondering. It seems kind of dumb to go backwards now (get EE to become electrician? no way!). I just got kind of sad....because if you do the math, man, it sucks:

two of our project managers started as electricians, both had EE before they were electricians. both make more than the EE we have on staff, as well as more than the journeymen. both still do electrical work as well. that degree doesnt exempt you from hand-on work unless you want to limit yourself.

Hmmm....perhaps I should give it a shot then....but I am currently on the consulting side of things....I hate it so far. The job is boring and I don't know if it will be any different by going to the non-consultign side. All in all...I miss doing the microE stuff.

Maybe, maybe not. Two of my friends from school were electricians (one was a master's, the other I don't know), and both quit that work to get their EE bachelor's degree. Both got good jobs right after school. So it can go both ways. I know one of them went back because he said being an electrician was actually pretty tough work, physically anyway, and it just wasn't very rewarding to him and he couldn't see doing it many more years, even if it paid not much less than he makes with the degree.