Question for you "Young" guys

[Mule]

Well I am 27, went ASU for a while had some white collar jobs in data entry, and customer service, even worked as 411 operator once. Really polished my typing skills sorry about bad spelling never picked that up, but my dream was law enforcement. I got into federal law enforcement, got called up by military reserves, did a year in Baghdad, came home to nasty divorce. Became single father with custody, parents had purchased an electrical business mom and pop from the neighbor who wanted out as he got a job with the city of Phoenix as a commerical inspector. He sold company cheap, my parents wanted it for my brother who showed no direction in life, but he is uncapable of running anything. Therefor, I needed a job where I could make my own schedule to care for my children, picked uo the trade fast. Honestly though I put in 60+ hrs a week have including myself 10 employees, I can see why my parents neighbor wanted the commerical inspector job, he can go home and not think about work, I on leash called a cell phone. You guys back east who are union, that is a foreign concept to me has AZ is non-union state.

So, did you serve any kind of apprenticeship before becoming a EC?

 

[Aledrell]

Can't learn it overnight.

Can't learn it overnight.

Yes, my father stucking with a guy who had 20+ years experience and I became his tool fetcher/attic rat for about a year. He then left the company and I started working with an old union guy out of Ohio that moved here. Learned as I went, each inspector/journeyman taught me something new and I am still learning every day. The good thing about our company is that we don't specialize in just commerical or residential we do it all which broadened my experience. I get calls from guys wanting a job that only know one or the other, gotta go where the work is.

 

[brantmacga]

i turned 26 last sunday. i had no intentions of being an electrician growing up. i came up on a farm, just like every male member of my family since the beginning of time, and was pretty set on doing that. my dad started his own farming operation at age 16 and i figured i'd do the same thing; i was trained to do it from birth. i started driving tractors at age 6 and running combines and other more advanced equipment by age 12. as soon as i could walk i was doing some type of chore on the farm. usually it was mechanical type work. anyway, my dad quit farming full time when i was about 13 and encouraged me to find another line of work. he started a real estate company; although to this day i still work on the farm as my grandfather still operates it full time.

when i got to high school they had an 'agricultural electrical systems' class so i took that to fill a spot in my schedule. i picked it up extremely quick. emc & ffa put on a statewide electrical competition and i finished #8 in georgia, so i thought it may be something i could do full time. i graduated h.s. a year early and went to college as an ee major, but eventually changed to computer programming. i had a couple of management jobs at a department store and another at a call center while i was in school and came to the realization i could never be forced to work in an office for someone else all day long, so i found a job w/ an ex-union EC with the sole intention of doing the required 4yr apprenticeship and then starting my own company. i put in my 4yrs, got the license and here i am today.

 

[MikeGee]

I feel into this trade. I knew I wanted to be a blue color worker like my father but I was not going to be a truck driver. So after high so I went to a lincoln tech type studying hvac. Got a job told I was too slow. (even though I was faster then there 2 year apprentice). I was fired then got a job in an electric shop at a hospital. about 6 months after that I regreted not presuing electric right out of high shcool.

 

[mark32]

Indecision magnified

Indecision magnified

I got into the trade after high school because I would hear good things from "Grown ups" about how electricians make good money and it seemed interesting to me, especially after pumping gas and stocking shoes at JCPenneys. After three years I tired of the work environment, low pay and the negative comments I would hear from guys that had been in the trade longer than I had. I got into copier repair but that went nowhere, got back into the trade because I really missed it.

After three more years I tired again of the trade for the same reasons (Especially the negative comments. The most damaging one was when I would ask guys if they'd want their sons, or daughters, to join the trade and not one said yes.) and went to a tech school in '99 when companies were throwing money at people that knew anything about computers. Two years later when I graduated (9/01), the tech field was in the toilet and I couldn't even get an interview much less a starting salary of $60,000 which was streamed into my head when I started. Back into the trade I went for another two years then tried real estate, that too went nowhere so I decided to stick with the trade and got my journeyman's now my master's license. I now work at a Home Depot as their electrical specialist, overall it works for me, heat in the winter, a/c in the summer, refrigerator, microwave and a bathroom, items one normally doesn't have access to in the field. Descent benefits and a 401k are nice too.

Mark

 

[walkerj]

I turn 24 in two weeks. I had a job at a large local medical research facility as a computer technician. That was absolutely no fun. I gave up a free ride through college to do this work and I haven't regretted it once. College just wasn't my cup of tea, but then again neither was high school.

I grew up around mechanical stuff. My dad is a plumber, an electrician, an HVAC tech, and a jack of all trades. It was hard for me to not learn all about pipes and wires and motors and things. It all worked out well for me.

If I would have stayed in college I wouldn't have met Angela, I wouldn't have owned my own home at 22, I wouldn't drive home a free vehicle with free gas, and I damn sure wouldn't have the benefits and savings I do now.

It is all thanks to this wonderful trade!

 

[sgeers]

Just turned 25 myself. My father and his brother starting working at a large organized shop here in NJ back in 1979 as truck drivers. After a while they got the opportunity to be organized into the IBEW. When i turned 18 i had dreams of being an accountant but decided to give this job a whirl. I ended up falling in love with it, followed through the whole 5 year apprenticeship and a month later passed my EC exam. Now im just thinking of what to get certified/licensed for next in this wonderful trade.

 

[William1978]

You mean there is something else that I could have done other than electricial work.

 

[growler]

After three years I tired of the work environment, low pay and the negative comments I would hear from guys that had been in the trade longer than I had.

After three more years I tired again of the trade for the same reasons (Especially the negative comments. The most damaging one was when I would ask guys if they'd want their sons, or daughters, to join the trade and not one said yes.) .Back into the trade I went for another two years then tried real estate, that too went nowhere so I decided to stick with the trade and got my journeyman's now my master's license. I now work at a Home Depot as their electrical specialist.

This is the story of many of the guys that I have run into. It's not so much that young guys don't get into the trade it that they get disillusioned if they don't find a good job with a good company in the first few years. The odds of finding a good job with good pay and benefits is often quite slim. It really depends on the area of the country and need for electricians at the time.

I see many people saying that they started out at say $7 and hour in the early 80s well that $7 and hour in 82 is now over $15 and hour because of inflation in 2008. So a journeyman is now making litttle more than a helper did less than 30 years ago. Any guy with any experience making less than $20 an hour anywhere in the country is really getting screwed.

I started out only making $2 an hour in a very depressed area but when I put this figure in the inflation calculator it still comes up to over $14 an hour in todays money. Think about it.

 

[peter d]

I started out only making $2 an hour in a very depressed area but when I put this figure in the inflation calculator it still comes up to over $14 an hour in todays money. Think about it.

Wage stagnation is the primary reason why young people are turned off by the trades IMO.

If you present the charts that show the additional earning power of a 2 or 4 year degree to a high school student, then show them the money they will make in the trades, why on earth would a student be compelled to work a trade? It seems like the trades and the military are the "last resorts" for high school graduates.

 

[iwire]

Heres the thing.

Wages will be whatever they have to be to fill the needs of the ECs. If there is a shortage of applicants the wages rise, if there are many applicants the wages will go down.

There is nothing tricky about it, simple supply and demand.

 

[peter d]

There is nothing tricky about it, simple supply and demand.

Ahhh...surely you know there is nothing simple about economics.

 

[iwire]

Ahhh...surely you know there is nothing simple about economics.

Well the issue of wages is certainly simple, if your needed the wage goes up, if your not needed the wage goes down.

 

[Mule]

Yes, my father stucking with a guy who had 20+ years experience and I became his tool fetcher/attic rat for about a year. He then left the company and I started working with an old union guy out of Ohio that moved here. Learned as I went, each inspector/journeyman taught me something new and I am still learning every day. The good thing about our company is that we don't specialize in just commerical or residential we do it all which broadened my experience. I get calls from guys wanting a job that only know one or the other, gotta go where the work is.

Certainly nothing personal to you, only speaking of your local laws. You having only one year of experience, then becoming not only a journeyman, but a EC, is in sharp contrast to the IBEW's requirements, and also our state of Oklahoma's requirements to become a Journeyman, and/or a Contractor.

 

[76nemo]

How many of you young guys choose this trade over punching on a computer, or something in the digital trade world? and if so, why did you do it?....lets say if your 30 or less in age

Wow , this will sure to be as good as the,..... "What do you look like now?" thread.

Great question Mule, great question. All growing up my Father would tell me,...."Son, I'll show you how to fix something a couple of times, and you better watch and ask any questions you have because I am going to fix this for you now and a couple of times after this." He showed me how and why things worked. I was fascinated by electrical work because it can be manipulated so many ways. My Father was a shop steward at a large facility. He learned it all,..... construction, pneumatics, hydraulics, and our juice.

He taught me safety, he taught me the know how's. I love electrical work, CAT IV or CATI. It fascinates me to this day. I have so much to learn, so MUCH, but I look forward to studying it:wink:

Every time I tend to get bored with what I am doing, I remember Dad saying,....."You haven't even scratched the surface yet son, there's always more to learn."

What got me interested in this field Mule?,...... my Pop, that's who!!!!


Rest easy old man:grin:

 

[Mule]

Wow , this will sure to be as good as the,..... "What do you look like now?" thread.

Great question Mule, great question. All growing up my Father would tell me,...."Son, I'll show you how to fix something a couple of times, and you better watch and ask any questions you have because I am going to fix this for you now and a couple of times after this." He showed me how and why things worked. I was fascinated by electrical work because it can be manipulated so many ways. My Father was a shop steward at a large facility. He learned it all,..... construction, pneumatics, hydraulics, and our juice.

He taught me safety, he taught me the know how's. I love electrical work, CAT IV or CATI. It fascinates me to this day. I have so much to learn, so MUCH, but I look forward to studying it:wink:

Every time I tend to get bored with what I am doing, I remember Dad saying,....."You haven't even scratched the surface yet son, there's always more to learn."

What got me interested in this field Mule?,...... my Pop, that's who!!!!


Rest easy old man:grin:

Now that's heart felt passion......I'd hire you to build my service over the next guy, even if you were a pinch higher

 

[djcrzysounds@yahoo.com]

First, I'm just shy of 24. I got into the trade for the same reason as a lot of the guys who posted before me. I went to College to study to be an Electrical/Mechanical Engineer. I went through an internship between Sophomore & Junior year and found out that it wasn't as hands on as I thought, therefore I choose to be an electrician and work with the tools.

So I guess the true question would be...

Is there really a shortage of young people coming into the trade?

Yes and no is my answer to your question. There isn't a shortage as the past 2 apprenticeship classes in my local(#81) have taken in a very high number of guys. However, it is a matter of how many of them are really there to learn and actually work and how many are there just to be there.

This year they took in 27 students, last year 38. As of today, they are down to 22 and 18 respectively. I am sure by the end of this year the numbers will even be lower. I mean it's about a 50% drop out rate after the first year, so how many will actually complete their apprenticeship and be decent mechanics we will have to wait and see. Personally I am disgusted with the Local's JATC and can't do anything about it but think that they should be more stringent as to who they allow into the program.

Sorry for the rant, it's a very touchy subject to me.

 

[76nemo]

Now that's heart felt passion......I'd hire you to build my service over the next guy, even if you were a pinch higher

Thanks for that response. Really miss the old man. I am attracted to this site because of you all. The only construction I do is a branch here, a branch there. I don't do the work you all do. I don't like construction. I like fixing problems, that's what I learned from Dad. I'd rather fix it, than install it. You guys/gals are the professionals there. Construction seems too repetitive for me.

I got the itch from Dad, he'd walk right in and tell you,......."Your problem is right here." He had a nose for it.

That's my Pop

 

[Mule]

In truth Ive been sorta shocked at all of the youger guys in the trade with passion....ITS GREAT

 

[djcrzysounds@yahoo.com]

In truth Ive been sorta shocked at all of the youger guys in the trade with passion....ITS GREAT

Does it outnumber the ones who don't give a care?