I am interested in becoming an electrician, whats the best route for this?

TankAbbott4Eva said:
In Australia the best way to get an apprenticeship is at your local footy club I reckon, heaps of tradies down there, someone will know someone looking and they can usually vouch for you.

You can do pre-app courses and go to the union but your best bet is to find a tradesman directly looking to put someone on.

Fun fact: I'm an electrical engineer, electricians hate me ha ha
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And everybody on site hates electricians
 
C0NCH3TO said:
I SAID that apprenticeship programs pay good and have great benefits, that’s why it is so hard to get in. Idk about your state but there is no such thing as easy direct entry program for “normal” people in NYC. If it was that easy , everybody would be there without camping out.

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Dude what I was referring to was specifically NYC. You have Pathways to Apprenticeship, Nontraditional Employment for Women, Helmets to Hardhats, Construction Skills and a few other programs that'll get you an interview when the union you're interested in is taking their next class of apprentices. I know more than a handful of guys who got in 580 like two months after they finished their program while there were still people on the waiting list from up to 2 years ago who waited on line for applications.

Go ask your apprenticeship coordinator in Local 3 how many people they take in from each of these programs a year because funnily enough most direct entry programs aim to place you specifically in Local 3.

Not every apprenticeship program pays well either, I've turned down multiple opportunities for Local 3's apprenticeship program because I don't want make near minimum wage for the first 3 out 5.5 years of the program.
 
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Sounds like the trades are a lot like the military where guys are just looking for reasons to shit on each other.

Guess that's about the same at any job. We get bored and just start making fun of each other to pass the time.
 
west42 said:
You can get a good understanding of how electricity works by licking a 9 volt battery.
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LOL. I used to do that.

BTW... @TheOneAboveAll3 I have an electrician degree from highschool. Barely did any of that after I finished but it's not rocket science. I would suggest TS that he goes to school. At least here most electrician don't follow the norms.
 
SalvadorAllende said:
LOL. I used to do that.

BTW... @TheOneAboveAll3 I have an electrician degree from highschool. Barely did any of that after I finished but it's not rocket science. I would suggest TS that he goes to school. At least here most electrician don't follow the norms.
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Why didnt you become an electrician? Didnt feel comfortable dealing with the risk? or the pay?
 
Rented Gucci Mink said:
Dude what I was referring to was specifically NYC. You have Pathways to Apprenticeship, Nontraditional Employment for Women, Helmets to Hardhats, Construction Skills and a few other programs that'll get you an interview when the union you're interested in is taking their next class of apprentices. I know more than a handful of guys who got in 580 like two months after they finished their program while there were still people on the waiting list from up to 2 years ago who waited on line for applications.

Go ask your apprenticeship coordinator in Local 3 how many people they take in from each of these programs a year because funnily enough most direct entry programs aim to place you specifically in Local 3.

Not every apprenticeship program pays well either, I've turned down multiple opportunities for Local 3's apprenticeship program because I don't want make near minimum wage for the first 3 out 5.5 years of the program.
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It’s been many years since I left that job and any union for that matter. I was part of local 6 as well ( hotels ). They all got ravaged by rona. I have so many friends on the unemployment line. At least they have unemployment benefits.

My only point is that if you don’t know jackshit about electricity, you don’t have any contacts and you get off the couch one day and decide to become a union member electrician, it is not like going to seven eleven to buy a chocolate bar.

Helmet to Hardhat is designed to help transitioning military personnel, not quite for “ anyone”. The construction skills program , non traditional employment for women are ok programs.. I’ll give you that. But those are PRE apprenticeship programs. I tried to join one of these programs for a while without success. Too many applicants. But hey, I just speak from personal experience....maybe it isn’t like that. Bye.
 
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TheOneAboveAll3 said:
Why didnt you become an electrician? Didnt feel comfortable dealing with the risk? or the pay?
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At least in here it didn't paid well at the time.

After school I took office jobs and studied logistics and went to work in international logistics.

If I had to change career now I would have no problem being an electrician.

I would have to re-learn most of stuff but that is a field where if you are good at (only need to not half ass your work and basically follow the rulse) you will have a lot of work. At least in here.. since most are pretty mediocre.
 
SalvadorAllende said:
At least in here it didn't paid well at the time.

After school I took office jobs and studied logistics and went to work in international logistics.

If I had to change career now I would have no problem being an electrician.

I would have to re-learn most of stuff but that is a field where if you are good at (only need to not half ass your work and basically follow the rulse) you will have a lot of work. At least in here.. since most are pretty mediocre.
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Did you learn how to wire a whole house? I am learning right now and what I've gotten so far is the power plant sends energy to substations, they send it to transformers and the transformers send it to the service mast so it can enter the homes. What will you tell me I should know before being an electrician? Like whats important to know?
 
C0NCH3TO said:
It’s been many years since I left that job and any union for that matter. I was part of local 6 as well ( hotels ). They all got ravaged by rona. I have so many friends on the unemployment line. At least they have unemployment benefits.

My only point is that if you don’t know jackshit about electricity, you don’t have any contacts and you get off the couch one day and decide to become a union member electrician, it is not like going to seven eleven to buy a chocolate bar.

Helmet to Hardhat is designed to help transitioning military personnel, not quite for “ anyone”. The construction skills program , non traditional employment for women are ok programs.. I’ll give you that. But those are PRE apprenticeship programs. I tried to join one of these programs for a white without success. Too many applicants. But hey, I just speak from personal experience....maybe it isn’t like that. Bye.
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Yes Helmets to Hardhats is for vets only, NEW for women, NRTA for housing, etc. but nonetheless there's a program for everyone, and it sure beats waiting in line because the general recruitment process is a lottery on top of general recruitment only happening once every few years depending on the union. Imagine if you only wanted to be in Local 40 which they were suppose to give out applications back in April this year but postponed due to Covid, the last time they did applications was back in 2014...2018? can't remember but imagine missing it in 2014 and having to wait years for the next general recruitment, then possibly another 2 on the waiting list to get called for an interview and still not get in. You could've applied 10+ times to multiple direct entry programs in that time and just lol at you trying to use race as an excuse as to why you couldn't get in.

At the end of the day you have to do something, trade school, general recruitment, direct entry, fuck it you can do all 3 but my point is if you want to guarantee your interview then direct entry is the best and quickest way.

@TheOneAboveAll3 apprenticeships don't require any experience, you go to school and learn on the job while getting paid. To spend money on trade school and then getting into a union which they'll make you go through their apprenticeship program anyway, you're basically wasting time and money and then relearning everything.
 
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TheOneAboveAll3 said:
Did you learn how to wire a whole house? I am learning right now and what I've gotten so far is the power plant sends energy to substations, they send it to transformers and the transformers send it to the service mast so it can enter the homes. What will you tell me I should know before being an electrician? Like whats important to know?
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Yeah... pretty much all I learned was about domestic electrical installations. We blew up the circuit breakers more than once.

You should know about the diameters of the wires you should use, the legal safety requirements (here you need differential circuit breakers, ground wire, etc), how to splice cable accordingly, etc. Basically everything that makes the installation safe and most importantly.. legal.

So I think you should try to go to a place where they actually teach you all of that.
 
He had a hookup, but.. I have a friend who had just gotten out of the military, and hired in with a local company with zero experience. They gave him on the job training, and have paid for his schooling as well. Sure it "sucked" at first, he was a gopher and hole digger while gaining experience. This time next year though he should have his journeyman's license/certification, and a paid for degree from Michigan State. Plus pay wise, in 3 years he's gone from $14 hr to like $25.
 
TheOneAboveAll3 said:
Why didnt you become an electrician? Didnt feel comfortable dealing with the risk? or the pay?
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Risk isn’t something you’ll be worrying about in the beginning, because you’ll be supervised and educated. Once you know what you’re doing, and you have the proper tools, getting shocked is kind of a matter of being lazy. If you follow the proper safety precautions, you’ll be fine.
 
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