What is my first Step to becomming an Electrician?

[plate]

I think you'll make more (and work less) in the HVAC line of work.

 

[GUNNING]

Become a plumber, its more financially rewarding and you don't have to argue with someone that its broken, they can see it for themselves.

 

[hardworkingstiff]

Man this is a tough room.

 

[celtic]

Man this is a tough room.

It's like we never even left the job site LOL

 

[haskindm]

There are many careers that fall under the title of "electrician". The work that is done by someone who is an "electrician" at an industrial plant or an office complex, is much different from the "electrician" that only wires tract houses, which is diferent form the "electrician" that only does service calls. All of these are different from the "electrician" that tries to do it all, new construction, service, maintenance, residential and commercial. The thing that they have in common is that you must start at the bottom. You will need to put in your time as a "helper" or "apprentice" before you may advance to the relatively good-paying jobs as a "journeyman" or "master" electrician. It would be hard for someone with a college degree and financial obligations to work at these low-paying positions while they get their experience. With your degree there are probably much better career choices that you could make at this point.

 

[kingpb]

If your interested in the construction, go back to school and get a Construction Management degree. With that, along with your finance degree, you can get a pretty decent job with a Developer, or property Management Company.

I was an electrician, now I am an engineer. Every time I go to a job site it reminds me why I am not in the field anymore. Field work is hard work, and it never pays enough. Everybody always wants the BBD (Bigger, Better, Deal). No matter what your charge, the customer always thinks they are getting ripped off.

Ahh, is it beer-thirty yet!

 

[ramsy]

..why are you guys trying to scare the guy off the trade, don't like competion?

Discouraging rookies, who may possess other marketable skills, may be commonplace in the trades. Some of the worst treatment I ever received on job sites, came after my BA degree in business was discovered.

Crews and formen alike expressed well intentioned rebuke, animated and cajoling body language that provided both entertainment and sincerety against my foolish persuit of the relative missery they perceived me getting into.

No one really articulates themselves specifically, they just appear disturbed. It was my responsibility to read these cue's and acknollege them, before people settled down. I eventually learned to read and act on this body language better.

At break-times, opening my mouth and disclosing I had a military background before college was another mistake, probably perceived as career-strike No. 2.

People may have seen me as some sort of idiot, so late in my career, bashing my education and perhaps income potential by voluntarily picking up trash, digging ditches, and subjecting myself to wretched smelling outhouses, often without hand washing, or drinking water, adverse reactions to strange food, periodically fatal safety hazards, and perhaps the only legal workplace where both non / felons are equally hired and fired on a handshake.

Construction work did parallel my military experience; it is hazardous duty absent of commensorate reward or escape, and paralelles the worst attributes of the military "all boys club." No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, and no jury trial.

I seemed misguided by others, and they would not believe 5 years of professional resume pounding at monsterjobs.com only amounted to harvesting my personal information for mailing list revenue.

Nobody would believe internet-job-board clients priceshoped & got the most overqualified people for the job, and by the time I realized entry levels & non-technical undergrads don't get hired this way, the trades seemed beautiful to me.

--
Try to be the best of whatever you are, even if what you are is no good.
--

 

[ramsy]

Compared to other work environments the relative absence of women on jobsites is another oportunity cost, even if its only the initial visual clue for men at the most primal level, there should be an alarm sounding that this can be a lonely place for a very long time.

Some of the attitude I felt as a jobsite rookie was clearly a genuine expression that this work wasn't worth it. Perhaps the worst distinction of the trades, is relationships and loved ones may fail to understand the demands of job-site restrictions on cell phones.

Unless a loved one is understanding enough to pack your lunch, your lack of availability for personal emergencies, or casual communication is often compounded with personal trajedy and losses that deteriorate into disturbing mental cases, which are not sent home.

I realize now, the reaction to me as a rookie entering the electral trade was appropriate. Unless you are related to the contractor/owner acting as your direct mentor, people should consider those who have quit the trade, after their first job-site experience, who preferred a teaching credential to these hideous conditions.

--
The Church endeared spirit, but forced coming of age into shame. Military service endeared tuition assistance, but broke all spirit and thoroughly corrupted comming of age. College forced debt and made no promises, but was the only place a well adjusted comming of age was possible.
-- Roger R. at CSU Fullerton, 1994

 

[ShockedOneinAZsun]

How to become an electrician?

How to become an electrician?

SERIOUS ADVICE!!!!

If you have a business background, you find your unlicensed electrician, partner up with him, get a license, and then go into business with him. He does the electrical work and you run the office. 95% of electrical contractors fail because they are excellent electricians with a dream, but can't manage an office, and the paperwork kills them. It is the uncollected accounts payable, the unfiled tax returns, the employee mismanagement, and p***poor record keeping that destroys them. Use your head to build a future and not your back. You can always work as a parttime helper for him in a pinch to learn something about the trade, but concentrate on management.

 

[ShockedOneinAZsun]

If your interested in the construction, go back to school and get a Construction Management degree. With that, along with your finance degree, you can get a pretty decent job with a Developer, or property Management Company.

I was an electrician, now I am an engineer. Every time I go to a job site it reminds me why I am not in the field anymore. Field work is hard work, and it never pays enough. Everybody always wants the BBD (Bigger, Better, Deal). No matter what your charge, the customer always thinks they are getting ripped off.

Ahh, is it beer-thirty yet!

I agree whole-heartedly with your advice!

 

[ramsy]

If you have a business background, ..partner up with (an electrician) ..95% of electrical contractors fail because they ..can't manage ..accounts payable, ..tax returns, the employee(s)

Now this gets interesting.

Before a skilled tradesman --who sells & bids well-- ultimately fails on their own, because they won't pay for book-keeping services, are they more likely to surrender their client-base revenue to a book-keeping partner?

After a few bankruptcies, they still may not want to surrender their business to partners, when they can pay a lot less for book-keeper services if neccessary.

OTOH, if a business-ignorant tradesman and a trade-ignorant graduate can not effectively sell, estimate, and bid, nor collectively raise enough capital to buy a proven-franchise template, competing against low-balling hacks for T&M jobs may not support the partnership overhead.

I'm thinking, a business-school grad may do well in the trades, and avoid occupational hazards, more with commercial estimating & bidding experience (bring me more business), than by getting tradesman to pay for business-consultant services or partnerships (blood-sucking leaches).

 

[glene77is]

I work in the electrical trade.
Am an educated, journeyman electrician with 3 college degrees.
Find electrical science interesting, and the trade fits my hand.
Since I am not a good plumber, carpenter, etc., I do what interests me.

Find these electrical forums interesting, but am confused when I see tradesmen advising a candidate to do something 'else'.

 

[dingokangaroo]

you guys are hard.....i love my job and it can be a real SHOCKING experience sometimes............put a 9v battery on your tounge...if you still want to be an electrician then your cut out for the job.