Need Career Advice Please!

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janutolo

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so, this is my situation. I just finished college but decided i don't wanna be a teacher anymore . . . so, I took an electrician's course and passed it in 1998 . . . quite some time ago and I'm not confident I could pass the journeyman anytime soon . . . Should I work as an APRENTICE or try for the journeymen . . . I know real world experience cannot replace studying from a book.

Any help is appreciated

THanks

Jon
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

correction . . . I Know studying from a book is not as valuable as getting hands-on experience. . .

what should i do?
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

To: janutolo, you did not mention what field of degree that you graduated from college with.
But, it seems that you aspire to go into the electrical field.
What part of the electrical field? My strong advice is as follows:
Take all of the certified courses of the NEC that are available. Learn all that you can about the NEC. For example, if you wanted to find employment with a Design Company, understanding the Code and how to use the Code would be a great selling point to being hired.
You mention taking an apprenticeship course to get hands-on-training. That is great if you have the time and the ambition. You could find employment with an electrical contracting firm to get the hands-on training that you desire. I have always advocated that a person going for their EE degree should work in the summer months with an electrical contractor. This certainly makes for a well-rounded EE.
Stay active with the Mike Holt web site. Get a Code Book, and I would recommend the NEC Handbook.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

I'm not sure how it works everywhere but generally you cannot just take a test to become a journeyman electrician. You usually have to have a combintaion of work experience and schooling.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

I Know studying from a book is not as valuable as getting hands-on experience ... what should i do?
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If you were eligible for the Journeyman test and could use the NEC to pass the test, you could go that route. But under those circumstances you had better make dang sure that you fully informed any employer of your total lack of experience. There are uses for people like that, but they are few and questionable, i.e. the master needs a license on a job that an apprentice is running, and you would fit the bill. I've heard of it happening. :(

I'd get a job as an apprentice first, continue studying and determine if that time spent in school can be put towards a license. But I would get a healthy portion of experience before declaring that you have a license.

I've seen guys that dig ditches and bend pipe for four years, take a class and pass the test, and get thrust into a role they can't fill. It's a painful, embarrassing and unfortunate position to be in. I wouldn't advise it.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

Everything is based on where you live.Some states and county have no license and many don't require you to have any license if your working for a master.With no experience you will likely get starting helpers pay.Here in Tampa FL that is about $8 to $9 hour.I would urge you to be a teacher if you already did the schooling.It is a far cleaner job and better pay.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

Teacher or electrician you'll never be out of work. A good thing you might want to aim for is electrical trades instructor.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

Originally posted by ken987:
Teacher or electrician you'll never be out of work. A good thing you might want to aim for is electrical trades instructor.
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That's what I plan to do someday, after I get worn out from trade. :D
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

A good thing you might want to aim for is electrical trades instructor.
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That is what I did for 36 years, after 14 years as an electrician, about half of those as a foreman.

An excellent career choice, if you know how to access information, and enjoy explaining it to others. You will learn more than your students during the process.

The trade desperately needs people who want to help improve the general level of knowledge.

Ed
smiley1.gif
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

Originally posted by Ed MacLaren:
The trade desperately needs people who want to help improve the general level of knowledge.

Ed
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Ed, that can't be said enough. :) I'm looking forward to the day that I start teaching.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

I like doing "Stupid Question of the Day" at lunch. Gets everybody looking in the codebook, and they seem to tolerate it, if not enjoy it. This forum has been a goldmine for that, it was starting to stale out!

I just don't explain things well enough to be a teacher-type. :)
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

I'll tell you what I'd never forget my first trade instructor Mr. J. He was willing to teach if you were willing to learn. Met others that had gone through his class and said they didn't learn squat. My thoughts you must have a open mind, and a closed mouth.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

It's unusual for person with no hands-on experience to be able to test for a journeyman license. I'm thinking that perhaps the course in question offers tests that come with a "journeyman" certificate that doesn't carry any legal weight, kind of like those college degrees people get from schools that aren't accredited.

In some places it is possible to obtain a license without any hands-on experience or with very little (about a year), but this usually requires an accredited bachelor's degree in EE.

My advice to janutolo is to get some hands-on experience. You need the book work AND the hands-on experience to succeed as an electrician.

[ December 25, 2004, 01:44 AM: Message edited by: jeff43222 ]
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

Thanks guys for all your input . . . I'm not sure there are any aprenticeship programs where I live (Southern, West Virginia) nor would I want to committ to one place for 3 - 5 years . . .

What exactly do I need to do to become an aprentice with an electrical contractor? I plan to go to the local contractors at the first of the week with my resume . . . not sure if I need any type of license to be an aprentice.

thanks again,

Jon
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

It all depends on where you live. In some places you must register with the authorities and get an apprentice card to work for a contractor, sometimes "apprentice" means that you are enrolled in an approved training program, and sometimes you can just get hired without any fuss and can just call yourself an apprentice. The laws about this vary widely from state to state, and sometimes from locality to locality.

You might want to contact the local IBEW and ask about training/hiring opportunities, and also see if a contractor is willing to take you on and let you learn the trade from the ground up. Two-year colleges usually also have programs, often listed as something like "construction electricity" (that's what they call it in my area).
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

The terms "Journeyman" and "apprentice" are two of the most abused and misunderstood words in the english language. They mean something different to everyone that uses them. In most areas that offer a "Journeyman" electrical license there is an experience requirement as well as passing a test. In Maryland, for example there is no state-wide Journeyman license. Of the 26 counties in Maryland, 4 have a Journeymans license. These all require four years experience "under the direct supervision of a Master Electrician" before attempting the exam. I see schools advertising training to get your "Journeyman Electrician". I wonder what they mean? How do you get four years experience in an on-line course? The reality is, after spending a great deal of money on a school, without experience you qualify for the exact same job as you would without the school. The bottom ine is, you will need both traininig and experience. The problem is that many people are not willing to work for "apprenticeship wages" while they get their experience.
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

Originally posted by haskindm:
I see schools advertising training to get your "Journeyman Electrician". I wonder what they mean? How do you get four years experience in an on-line course?
Click to expand...
I've have seen it on Matchbooks in the past.---Be a Electrician---
 
Re: Need Career Advice Please!

jan,

I wanted to chime in on this. I have been a VA electrician since 1988.

Today in most states I am aware of you need to be in an apprentice program which takes 3-5 years and so on and in VA you have to have 2 years of schooling and/or 10 years of experience in the trade and so on....so you can't just go and take the exam in most cases...not sure other places but in VA it is that way.

Now you can take the exam in VA if you also have 240 hours of formal electrical training and 4 year of experience and so on..( ie: helper )

So I love it when I see these shows or infomercials on TV from home study courses on being a electrician....when NONE of it counts as far as the state is concerned...now sure how they can still run those ads...not that they harm you just a but miss leading.

My concern is always...having someone take a exam and pass it because they know how to use a NEC book versus actual experience is frightening to me to the client...But the state boards check these things out very well...trust me !!!

Their is no get great pay FAST approach and electricity KILLS....so I suggest you start out as a helper with a electrical contractor and learn from their and get experience...now we ALL do not know everything..in fact I know very little about industrial wiring...I know the basics in theory..but put me in a building like that with a plan and pipe.....I would be lost...lol...not because I dont know electricity...but because I dont know Industrial concepts which come from actually DOING it...so I dont deal in it...I know it code wise and how to find things but do not physically know how to properly install a CT cabinet of large sizes...that is a example...

In the end......how about trying it as a helper and get a feel for it...you will see we get muddy, dirty...stinky and I have been in more crawl spaces I would prefer to forget...but all part of being a electrician....good thing I own it now and also instruct....silver lining at the end of a fun journey !
 
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