Becoming an Electrician
Lighting a Path to Success

Electricity fuels the U.S. economy while increasing the productivity and comfort of our homes, businesses, and schools. The electrician contributes to this process by installing, replacing, or repairing electrical wires, circuits, panel boards, and other equipment that provides the power, light, and cooling of the places we live and work. Electricians take great pride working with the elite special trade contractor, a branch of the construction industry.

Do you have what it takes?
The men and women of the electrical trade experience a mentally and physically challenging work environment. Many issues require the electrician to think clearly and make good decisions. Labor-intensive work demands that an electrician be in good physical condition and tolerant of working in extreme climatic conditions such as heat, cold, rain, and snow. Other environmental factors include exposure to heights using ladders and scaffolds, risk of electrical shock, and lifting and moving heavy objects.

The next assessment to make is your skill sets. Electrical contractors need people that are dedicated to their personal and professional development. Most electricians learn electrical skills by registering in an authorized apprenticeship program, such as those offered by the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) or International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), while working alongside an experienced journeyperson. Most apprenticeship programs require you to go to school to learn the theory of electricity while practicing the trade in the field. This means you have to be dedicated to learning new techniques each day. Other skills that help you succeed in the electrical industry include knowledge of basic mathematics, electronics, mechanical drawing, and good vision in order to clearly identify wires by color or type.

Many electricians rarely go to an office to start their day. Diverse jobsites require the electrician to travel to different areas of town to complete electrical work. Some electrical workers may commute up to 100 miles to get to a jobsite. The nature of electrical work requires you to work with many different people and new jobsites on a regular basis.

The road to certified electrician?
Only one road leads you to becoming a certified electrician in the U.S. The Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS), a division of the Department of Labor, approves programs to offer authorized apprenticeship programs such as those offered by IEC Chapters or IBEW. Once DOL approves these programs, these entities work hard to keep their certifications.

Becoming an electrician requires you to be willing to learn on the job and in a classroom setting. Most people start their electrical careers as a helper. The helper is a person that sets up job sites for the experienced electrician. The helper delivers conduit to various places at the job site, drills holes, sets anchors, and completes other physical portions of the electrical job. As you gain experience and join an approved apprenticeship program, you become an apprentice and your job duties change. You begin running conduit and start wiring switches, receptacles, and luminaries (light fixtures). Experienced apprentices gain more skills through hands on experience and begin working certain aspects of the electrical job by themselves with direct supervision from a journeyperson electrician. Once you graduate from the apprenticeship program and reach journeyperson status, you begin to complete jobs from beginning to end and you may contribute to the cycle again by teaching an apprentice the skills of the trade.

The Learning Light
Many of the skills mastered by an electrician are taught in the classroom, then reinforced and practiced in the field. In general, many apprenticeship programs cover:
1st year—safety orientation and practices, hand tool identification and uses, first aid and CPR certification, math skills, electrical symbols and circuit theory, lighting and appliance circuitry, grounding and bonding, outlet installation, knot tying, and rigging.
2nd year—safety orientation and practices, trigonometry, AC electricity and circuits, capacitance, series and parallel circuits, three phase AC, transformers, motors, sizing motors for the job, DC generators and motors, and industrial and commercial wiring.
3rd year—safety orientation and practices, understanding and reading blue prints, grounding, advanced motor controls, fire alarm installation, and voice and data cabling.
4th year—safety orientation and practices, first aid and CPR certification, understanding and installation of electronic control devices, uses of starters and motors, troubleshooting fire alarms, transformers, and load calculations.

Each year of the apprenticeship program builds on the skills learned from the previous year of study. As you progress through the course of study and complete on the job training, most contractors reward your hard work and efforts with increased pay and responsibility.

Life After Apprenticeship
Once you complete an apprenticeship program and become a certified electrician (journeyperson), your future depends on you and your ambition.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly earnings of a certified electrician for 2002 was $19.29 with the top 10% earning more than $31.71 per hour. Apprentices usually start at between 30 and 50 percent of the rate paid to experienced electricians. Most apprenticeship programs guarantee wage increases at certain intervals making it possible for the apprentice to double their earnings during their training.
The electrical field offers a diverse and rewarding career path. In general, you start as a helper and progress to apprentice, then certified electrician to possibly owner of your own contracting company. In between, you may work as a job foreman, estimator, project manager, or any combination or specialty of these areas.

Finally, many electricians take pride in knowing that they contributed to the productivity and comfort of people in numerous buildings. Imagine driving by a prestigious building many years in the future and saying, “I helped wire that building”. Furthermore, the number of job opportunities for certified electricians is expected to grow each year through at least the year 2010. Choosing a career in the electrical industry gives you a rewarding career and skills that allow you to engage in life long learning opportunities that can light your path to success.

Editorial provided by Todd J. Hawkins, Training Director, Independent Electrical Contractors, Atlanta Chapter.