Are you an electrician or have you gone through the IBEW Apprenticeship?

[plaid star]

I'm thinking of becoming an electrician, and I am wondering if any of you are in the trade.

Do have any advice for me?

I need to find a career. I want something where I can work with my hands (not office work) and I am willing to spend the five years it takes to got through the apprenticeship.

I know, I sound needy...I'm not (well maybe just a little )

plaid star

 

[medjay]

I applied for the IBEW apprenticeship but got rejected (I suspect it is because I already had a college degree because I aced all the tests).

Becoming a jounryman is cool but remember, no matter how much you make an hour (it's about $30+ these days depending on where you live) you will always just be a wireman and the licenced electrician will always be your boss. If the construction trade is what you're after I say go for the apprenticeship but don't stop with the journyman card. Get your licence.

Another option is trade school. It takes a lot less time but you have to pay, of course. The quality of the education is about the same. Also consider other possibilities once you get your card. In many cities IBEW workers have juristiction over stage lighting, telephone and cable installation, video and radio engineering (this is the local I work for, a fluke since I never was an apprentice). If you want to take it easy you can work at a hotel. I wouldn't go for the factory jobs.

Whatever you decide, Good luck!

 

[plaid star]

Medjay, thanks for the input

I checked out the IBEW web site Chapter 9 Local 11 ...I'm in Los Angeles, they stated that all journeymen will need to become licensed by the years end.

I'm not too sure where I want to end up.

I plan on going back to school to brush up on my math skills and perhaps take a basic electrical course to see how I like it.

The pay doesn't matter too terribly much, we currently get by on my husband's pay. I just need some kind of skill--for my own sanity.

palid star

 

[Weird Harold]

I'm not too sure where I want to end up.

I plan on going back to school to brush up on my math skills and perhaps take a basic electrical course to see how I like it.

I'm not a big fan of unions so I'll withhold comments about the archaic practice of using students as "gophers."

School is a good choice as a starting point. Look into other aspects of working with electricity: Electronics (radio, radar, telecommunications,) Computer assembly/repair, etc.

 

[medjay]

I plan on going back to school to brush up on my math skills and perhaps take a basic electrical course to see how I like it.

Algebra is of the utmost importance and physics plays a huge part. When you get into engineering calculus and trig will become your friends.

I tend to echo Weird Harold's sentiments about union apprenticeships but I do believe you should want to be a union electrician as opposed to a non-union one. Take it from me, bending pipe and running wire all day without a break is not fun, nor is making $15/ hour when you could be making $30.

 

[Hot4Heels]

If you are considering going into ANY construction trade I would highly recomend going the Union route. There are more benifits to it than the obvious ones. I know with my Union SMWIA (Sheet Metal) I can click on one web site and find all Union jobs that need help in North America. I would also say that the Union apprenticeship programs are far better than trade school. Where as trade school will teach you whatever trade you are in, an apprenticeship will teach you other aspects the math included. Plus you have 4 or 5 years depending on the program of OJT. Very valuable stuff. Only so much of ANY construction field can be taught in a class room. So much more has to be learned hands on. Yes you will start out as gopher. If you go non-Union you will still start out as gopher, although a lot less paid gopher.

 

[koalabear]

If you are considering going into ANY construction trade I would highly recomend going the Union route. There are more benifits to it than the obvious ones. I know with my Union SMWIA (Sheet Metal) I can click on one web site and find all Union jobs that need help in North America. I would also say that the Union apprenticeship programs are far better than trade school. Where as trade school will teach you whatever trade you are in, an apprenticeship will teach you other aspects the math included. Plus you have 4 or 5 years depending on the program of OJT. Very valuable stuff. Only so much of ANY construction field can be taught in a class room. So much more has to be learned hands on. Yes you will start out as gopher. If you go non-Union you will still start out as gopher, although a lot less paid gopher.

A "tinknocker"! Noisy fuckers!

 

[koalabear]

I'm thinking of becoming an electrician, and I am wondering if any of you are in the trade.

Do have any advice for me?

I need to find a career. I want something where I can work with my hands (not office work) and I am willing to spend the five years it takes to got through the apprenticeship.

I know, I sound needy...I'm not (well maybe just a little )

plaid star

If you live in one of the larger cities Union is the way to go. They have control of most of the bigger construction jobs. There are many job classifications withion the I.B.E.W., the highest is usually Inside Journeyman Wireman. All Unions now-a-days are not what they use to be. All have massive organization campaigns going and if you can prove 8 years experience they will give you a Union Ticket.

 

[medjay]

Re: Re: Are you an electrician or have you gone through the IBEW Apprenticeship?

All have massive organization campaigns going and if you can prove 8 years experience they will give you a Union Ticket.

That's how I got my card. I've been working as a stagehand for several years and I just happened to work at a television station whose techs were all IBEW. Since I had the experience they gave me my journyman card that week.

 

[plaid star]

My husband is a Union HVAC guy...my dad was a Teamster...I know the pros and cons of union affiliations, but only as an outsider not as the one actually doing the work.

The way I see my marriage heading blah blah blah...i need to be able to stand on my own two feet...sometime in the future perhaps.

Thanks for the input.

Medjay...do you like being an electrician?

plaid star

 

[#1tankcomander]

Use care when joining a union. Ask them when there is a strike, do they pay your mortage, food, and utilitiy bills. Ask them if they pay your insurance while on strike and the doctor bills if one of your kids get deathly sick. Ask them if while on strike that they will make your truck payment and insurance payments on home and vehicle.

Sure the money is good, but for how long? Can they guarantee no lost wages during strikes?

These aer important questions to ask! You may not get a straight answer, if any answer!

Yes I was union, card carrying, untill I was left to ration food shelter and water with 25 other people. Most of which were bigger than me by 150 pounds or more.

When you get a bunch of roughneck that are hungry and thirsty, rationing life necessities goes out the window! Sorry I'm not starving or losing everything for a union on strike for 6 months!

So do your research well plaid star! There are a lot of independants that will pay well. You might check the local college for the electrical trade schooling. A college here offers a 3 year course with testing to get you ready for the Journeymans test!

It's a matter of chioce to go unoin or non-union. But don't go in blind!

I enjoy the trade as an electrician. I could be doing electrical engineering, but hate the office and love being outside working with mind and hands!

Like any other trade, it's cut throat and you gotta know your shit! I'm qualified to work in several trades and licensed in most of them, but electrical is a gas sometimes. I do service work and like meeting people! When service is slow I work in the commercial and industrial end with in the same company. Like I said it pays to know your shit!

Research the local colleges and talk to the unions. Make your own decision based on research!

Good luck!

#1

 

[medjay]

Medjay...do you like being an electrician?

I've been a stage hand for ten years, doing lighting mostly. The work was up and down and I got sick of being broke. Since I had basic electrical training, I went back to trade school to learn how to become an actual electrician.

I did construction work for two years but I was non-union and the pay sucked. I did like doing the work though. If I had been union I might have stuck with it. But what really happened is the old thearte and TV contacts kept calling and deep down I knew I just couldn't leave the entertainment industry. I went back to the lighting and stage work. It's what I was born to do I guess.

As luck would have it, I wound up in an IBEW local that has juristiction over stage hands, grips and camera operators. So now I get to do what I love and make a decent wage. Would I do construction again? Yes I would. But only if the pay was right.

 

[plaid star]

#1tankcomander ...thanks for the advice, I'm in the research part right now. I think I could really enjoy the trade. I hadn't thought of going non-union, I will see what my local college has to offer...just to way my options.



medjay...I checked out the pay scale last night on the IBEW web page, nice. Glad you have a union job (pay scale & benifits) doing what you want to do!

Plaid star

 

[koalabear]

The I.B.E.W. in this area has a no strike clause, as it does in many other parts of the country. ( This applies to inside J.W.)
I went thru an IBEW apprenticeship then started my own business. In the 30 years I worked around the IBEW there was never a strike on any project that I was involed with. Work can get slow in the winter months, depending on the size of your Unions territory. Many women are now in the IBEW and are well accepted by their male counterparts. Very few other places would a woman be able to make as much money.

 

[Saint Peter]

I'm not a big fan of unions so I'll withhold comments about the archaic practice of using students as "gophers."

School is a good choice as a starting point. Look into other aspects of working with electricity: Electronics (radio, radar, telecommunications,) Computer assembly/repair, etc.

The 'archaic' practice of apprenticeship has turned out the most skilled workers in the construction industry. An apprentice learns every part of the trade from the ground up. With more knowledge comes more responsibility. Count on running a broom and unloading a truck during your first year. Also count on Weird Harold's school costing you money out of pocket where an apprenticship program in given to you in exchange for years of service. Add that cost to the wages you will make as a journeyman and see where the time and money are better spent.

SaintPeter
SMWIA Journeyman



ps tin knocker's dont make noise, they make music

 

[HeavyStick]

bump for a higher purpose

 

[Saint Peter]

bump for the good of mankind

 

[ronde]

Medjay recommended against factory jobs, but just in case your career might take you there, I would offer a suggestion.

"Electricians" are nearly obsolete in today's industrial job market unless they have training or experience in robotics, computer control systems, and servo motor drive systems. Computer control system skills are required in much electrical construction work today. I would believe the same is true for electricians working in the entertainment industry. By all means, get some formal education in these areas. It is difficult to learn anything but a "cookbook" approach to a particular manufacturer's equipment by OJT. Formal training in the theory of how these systems work is essential if the electrician is to have job flexibility.

I know very little about the IBEW apprenticeships, although I have heard the program is very good. The gopher role of an apprentice serves to add practical application to classroom training, and would put you about 1-2 years ahead of electricians with only classroom experience. I employ people with these skills. Guess which I would pick if hiring a person fresh from school?

Another potential is a co-op or company administered apprenticeship program if you can find one. In these programs you go to school and work at the same time (and get paid while you are at work). They take longer than a traditional classroom education, but you get the OJT portion that you would otherwise miss, and are therefore more marketable.

Union or non-union depends mostly on the area in which you would like to work. It would be difficult to find steady employment in the construction industry without union affiliation. The same is not true of industry, and the wage difference not so great. I currently work in a non-union plant and our electricians make the equivalent of their union counterparts. It is simple competition between the various industries because experienced individuals are in short supply.

 

[medjay]

Medjay recommended against factory jobs, but just in case your career might take you there, I would offer a suggestion.

I frowned upon the factory jobs because I just don't like the idea of working in the same place every day. I kind of a free spirit that way. I'm sure it works for other folks though. Plus the factory would be way more steady. Never mind what I said earlier. I just wouldn't want to work at a factory.