Finding the right field to be in may be hard in these harsh times. You want a field that provides job security, good benefits and is expanding; According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics the electrician field will grow 12 percent from 2008 to 2018 which is an average growth rate.
There are two types of electricians. A maintenance electrician maintains electrical power systems. A construction electrician installs electrical wiring systems in all types of buildings.
How to become an electrician? The majority of the electricians are trained through apprentice programs. An apprentice program provides both on the job training, OJT, and formal classroom instruction. There are a variety of apprentice programs available. The nationally recognized National Joint Apprentice Training Committee, NJATC, is one of the largest apprentice electrician programs in the U.S. It combines the electrical union the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, IBEW, with the National Electrical Contractors Association, NECA.
This apprenticeship program has been around for over 68 years. According to Richard Williams, a professionally trained electrician through the NJATC and a retired electrician and now instructor, “There is no better education to become an electrician than through the NJATC.” Williams adds, “The IBEW program is very competitive. They go through great lengths to choose their candidates. Just like a university chooses their candidates. After the entire program in most cases is five years long.”
Williams said the selection process has changed over the years. It no longer is a family affair where the only people selected to the union is relatives of other union members. He said the selection process incorporates an extensive interview, back ground checks and an aptitude test. He recommends that applicants that have weak math scores in high school algebra and trigonometry go to their local community college to take some math classes.
The NJATC is one road to go down but it is not the only one. There are contractor associations, community colleges and private vocational schools that offer similar programs. The hardest program to get into is the NJATC program. Community college programs tend to be easier to gain entrance to. Private vocational programs are in the middle but tend to come with high cost of tuition and books. The national standard for apprenticeship programs tends to be 2,000 hours per year of OJT with 8,000 hours total. In addition, students need 144 hours of classroom time per year which totals 575 hours.
Apprenticeships offer full time employment and training at the same time. They allow students to work and learn within their trade without having to pay tuition costs. Students start off at $13 per hour and by their fifth year could be getting $26 per hour. At the end of each year completed of the apprenticeship means a higher pay. In the end, a great advantage is that a student has no student loan to pay off. The only cost is basically books.
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