So You Want to Become An Electrician?
During these difficult economic times, many people are looking to pick up new trades and skills to give themselves more options within the marketplace. While some people are simply expanding on what they are already able to do, many people are going back to school full time to learn an entirely new trade. One great trade, that seems to always be in demand, is that of electrical work. While it does take a good amount of education, if you want to have a steady job, then you might want to become an electrician.
There almost always seems to be work for electricians. Consider the fact that just about everything we use requires electricity, that they can be employed across a wide variety of sectors, and that you can either work for yourself or for others, and it becomes clear that electrical work is a great profession to pursue. While you can go to a vocational school to become an electrician, most people pick up the craft by completing a long term as an apprentice, a term that tends to last for about 3 to 5 years.
As an apprentice, you will gain knowledge and experience with all aspects of the job and profession, and you will build valuable networking connections and real world experience. Of course, you should note that a formal apprenticeship isn't the only way to learn the trade. Plenty of people still pick up the skills and know-how on the job, informally. Others, especially residential electricians, often learn through a certificate program at a technical school. Still, apprenticeship is one of the best ways to become an electrician.
Typically, an electricians' apprenticeship will cover about 2000 hours of training in the field, and about 144 hours of learning within a classroom. The classroom is used to learn the more theoretical and bureaucratic aspects of the job, such as electrical theory, blueprint reading, mathematics, electrical code requirements, safety and first aid practices and electronics. In this classroom training period, students are also apt to learn trades and skills that they wouldn't necessarily pick up on the job- like how to weld, complex systems like fire alarms and communications, and large scale devices like elevators or construction vehicles like cranes.
Still, as is obvious from the numbers quotes above, most of an electricians' apprenticeship occurs in the field, under the supervision of a licensed and experienced electrician. At first the apprentice will probably do mostly low-level work that doesn't take a lot of skill or training, but is still useful to know how to do properly. This can encompass work like setting anchors, putting together conduits and drilling holes. As they improve in skill and trust builds between them and their master, they will be able to start doing more complex work like installing, connecting and testing wires, outlets, switches and conduits.
During this time they will build their skills, and get better at the planning stages, slowly learning how to draw and set up the diagrams used to construct whole electrical systems. Learning continues at this slow, progressive rate, until the apprentice is fully qualified and ready to strike out on their own.
There almost always seems to be work for electricians. Consider the fact that just about everything we use requires electricity, that they can be employed across a wide variety of sectors, and that you can either work for yourself or for others, and it becomes clear that electrical work is a great profession to pursue. While you can go to a vocational school to become an electrician, most people pick up the craft by completing a long term as an apprentice, a term that tends to last for about 3 to 5 years.
As an apprentice, you will gain knowledge and experience with all aspects of the job and profession, and you will build valuable networking connections and real world experience. Of course, you should note that a formal apprenticeship isn't the only way to learn the trade. Plenty of people still pick up the skills and know-how on the job, informally. Others, especially residential electricians, often learn through a certificate program at a technical school. Still, apprenticeship is one of the best ways to become an electrician.
Typically, an electricians' apprenticeship will cover about 2000 hours of training in the field, and about 144 hours of learning within a classroom. The classroom is used to learn the more theoretical and bureaucratic aspects of the job, such as electrical theory, blueprint reading, mathematics, electrical code requirements, safety and first aid practices and electronics. In this classroom training period, students are also apt to learn trades and skills that they wouldn't necessarily pick up on the job- like how to weld, complex systems like fire alarms and communications, and large scale devices like elevators or construction vehicles like cranes.
Still, as is obvious from the numbers quotes above, most of an electricians' apprenticeship occurs in the field, under the supervision of a licensed and experienced electrician. At first the apprentice will probably do mostly low-level work that doesn't take a lot of skill or training, but is still useful to know how to do properly. This can encompass work like setting anchors, putting together conduits and drilling holes. As they improve in skill and trust builds between them and their master, they will be able to start doing more complex work like installing, connecting and testing wires, outlets, switches and conduits.
During this time they will build their skills, and get better at the planning stages, slowly learning how to draw and set up the diagrams used to construct whole electrical systems. Learning continues at this slow, progressive rate, until the apprentice is fully qualified and ready to strike out on their own.
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