I am always telling guys: you need to know more than just the NEC!
For that matter, I also tell newbies that electrician work has precious little to do with electricity. We're a CONSTRUCTION trade. We BUILD things. So, we need to know how things are built - and the NEC won't help you there!
We need to know where we can make holes, and how big they can be. We need to know what structural members do. We need to know the energy codes, the fire codes for exit lighting, the mechanical codes for required dedicated circuits, and what power requirements appliances have. We need to know BICSI rules for the 'smart house' wiring. We need to know how many wires the thermostat needs.