Career advice/options/ What am I doing with my life?

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senoirbubbles

Member
Location
Clearwater, Florida
Hello all and any who will listen. I'm a long time creeper and lurker on this website, mostly to find the odd answers to questions I have on a daily basis from working in the field doing residential service calls, new home construction, light commercial etc etc. I have reached a point in my career where I long for more. I run a van in Florida at a small residential service company( 8 employees)and know enough to seem pretty smart doing troubleshooting and wiring houses.
MY question is what is the next step for those who really want to learn more, beyond your normal learn on the job, ask the oldschool coworker how to do it stuff. Where do you go if you want to learn more and be more than just a run of the mill" I can wire a house better then you electrician"? What are the career paths for electricians that want to be the best and make a ton of money and just possibly have fun doing it?
 
brian john

brian john

Senior Member
Location
Leesburg, VA
Look for a company that does a variety of work. I was fortunate in my 2nd year I went to work for a company that did gas stations, hospitals, schools, commercial and industrial. Great range of work and for a while there I did residential service. I learned more about repairing and trouble shooting doing residential service than all the other work.
 
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senoirbubbles

Member
Location
Clearwater, Florida
Thanks guys! I was definitely leaning towards getting in the office and working at a more diverse company,this confirms what i was thinking. What about education? Anyone pick up and go to school mid career to be an engineer or the like? Are there schools that will at least teach you motor controls,motors, transformers, etc?
 
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cdslotz

Senior Member
I take it you are a Journeyman since you run a van. I assume you have a goal to pass a Masters exam.
I would say to start dropping hints and express your interest with the boss to move into the office as a Jr. Estimator and/or Project Engineer (assistant to PM). If that won't happen at this company, keep you eyes and ears open for such an opportunity and make the move.
Once you have a beginning position, the work you will be doing will be quite an education by immersion of the business. If you land at a large reputable contractor, you will find tons of learning opportunities through seminars on lighting, controls, switchgear, systems, etc, as these will be encouraged for you to attend. Also your suppliers will put on seminars and training for the constant stream of new products to the industry.
Then throw in your eventual study gauntlet for the Masters exam.
Any other classes are good, but you will have so much info that's free to learn once you jump in.

Good luck
 
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hydeisland

Member
Location
San Diego,CA
senoirbubbles said:
Thanks guys! I was definitely leaning towards getting in the office and working at a more diverse company,this confirms what i was thinking. What about education? Anyone pick up and go to school mid career to be an engineer or the like? Are there schools that will at least teach you motor controls,motors, transformers, etc?
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It would be cool if there were more specialty training classes on those types of things. I feel like manufacturers hold training seminars and you could probably find some classes at regional and national conferences. I too would like to know so if you find anything keep us posted!

I have always thought about going back to college to get an engineering degree. That part of the trade has always been the most fascinating and interesting to me. The thing is when you start looking at classes you realize its a 5-6 year commitment full-time. Anybody else go from regular sparky to engineer? I would love to hear your story.
 
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cdslotz

Senior Member
I went back to college for my EE after being in the trade for 10-12 years. I was working as a Jr Estimator/Proj Mgr at the time. I was expressing to my boss about quitting work to concentrate on school. He was a PE and he said if he had to do it over, he would not have gone through the difficult and expensive rout just to ultimately become an Electrical Contractor. He recommended I don't go through all of that either. He basically said, EE's don't make any more than good estimators, PM's or EC business owners.
I still think that is true and I'm glad I heeded his advice.
 
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senoirbubbles

Member
Location
Clearwater, Florida
cdslotz said:
I went back to college for my EE after being in the trade for 10-12 years. I was working as a Jr Estimator/Proj Mgr at the time. I was expressing to my boss about quitting work to concentrate on school. He was a PE and he said if he had to do it over, he would not have gone through the difficult and expensive rout just to ultimately become an Electrical Contractor. He recommended I don't go through all of that either. He basically said, EE's don't make any more than good estimators, PM's or EC business owners.
I still think that is true and I'm glad I heeded his advice.
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Thanks for the advice cdslotz. I have thought about going the EE route as well but realized the time and money would be better spent on starting my own company eventually. A part of me actually doesn't even care about the money, I actually just wanna be more knowledgeable about the field I'm in. I get more knowledge on the forum than I do from anybody at my work which is pretty sad. Anyway google is my friend and I'm sending out resumes as we speak! Thanks again I appreciate all your help
 
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cdslotz

Senior Member
senoirbubbles said:
I'm interested as well in anyone who has parlayed being a regular grunt electrician into something bigger and better. Anyone?
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Just one quick thought. All of what I shared about my life after working with my tools, does not negate the fact that you should still strive and become the best electrician you can, and learn as much as you can about all installations.
You may change jobs to get say, medical experience.
There is plenty of training available out there for you to do that right now.
 
mtfallsmikey

mtfallsmikey

Senior Member
Musiings from the house plumber...

Musiings from the house plumber...

senoirbubbles said:
I'm interested as well in anyone who has parlayed being a regular grunt electrician into something bigger and better. Anyone?
Click to expand...

I grew up working in my Dad's mech. contracting biz, ran my own for 11 yrs. Became a Chief Building engineer 7 yrs. ago. Look at commercial property management companies for this.
 
cowboyjwc

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
So why would you strive to be the best electrician that you can be simply to leave it behind and go into the office?

Yes I'm a very good electrician and I was a very good touble shooter, more than once I fixed a problem in 10 minutes that three other guys couldn't find in three days. I was good enought that word of mouth alone kept me busy and I worked the hours too. But I had a medical issue (bad back) that I had before I ever got into the trades and I just worked through the pain and then it was the knees and the finger joints and some days it was all I could do to unclench a fist or get up off the floor.

So I went into inspection, I'm still in pain all the time, but I can't even imagine what it would be like if I was still in the field.

Now though you said that you wanted to make money, well no one ever went to work for a jurisdiction hoping to get rich, but I have a lot of fun and have met a lot of great people and become good friends with many of the electricians or contractors I work with. The good thing is I get paid every two weeks whether it's raining or work is slow or the stock market crashed, plus I have pretty good benefits and I'm home every night before 5:00.

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, it's not always about the money, it's about the quality of life.
 
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