A successful career as a certified electrician begins by completing an electrician apprenticeship. Through apprenticeship, you get a chance to learn on the job and earn some bucks. Essentially, you start your career immediately after you embark on the program.
The Experience of an Electrician Apprenticeship
Electricians need at least four years of experience before getting approval to sit for an exam. The idea may sound daunting, but the process is crucial in supplementing formal education. An apprenticeship gives you the confidence you require to tackle challenging tasks. So what is an apprenticeship like?
Apprenticeship is Interactive and Guided
The electrical industry is a competitive niche. Beginners are likely to apply to as many companies as possible, and eventually, they go for the best offer. However, it’s essential to remember that your success depends on how well you get along with your supervisors.
As an apprentice, you get a mentor, not just a supervisor. A constructive apprenticeship program focuses on inspiring and mentoring. There is room to speak up, to interrogate, and to learn. Initially, the process may feel awkward, but it soon becomes enjoyable with good company, mentorship, and leadership. You shortly earn respect as a newcomer.
It’s a Paid Practice
Are you a little worried that you might end up doing grunt work with no pay? Relax. Apprenticeship is a paid opportunity. But as a beginner, you get entry-level pay, which is enough to keep you going. In addition, you will have the leverage to negotiate for a higher salary once you get the required experience and certification.
The upside of the apprenticeship process is that you get paid to learn. If you were in a college, the opposite would happen-you’d pay to learn. Moreover, apprenticeship does not last forever, and it’s only four years, and then you qualify to be a journeyman electrician.
You Get a Great learning Opportunity.
Apprenticeship offers you an opportunity to learn new skills that are impossible to learn through textbooks. While schooling can teach you the specific procedures and concepts, field experience equips you with skills to handle an entire project. Such skills include workspace safety, site cleaning, customer relationships, and meeting deadlines.
Other skills learned through apprenticeship include reading plans, marking out electrical installations, and conducting quality-control tests.
Allows a Few hours in a Trade School
Apart from the on-the-job training you get, you are allowed some hours of formal schooling per week. Enrolling in a trade school offers you a chance to learn the mathematics and science of electrical jobs. Some states may shorten your apprenticeship period depending on the amount of schooling you complete during the period.
However, juggling between schooling and apprenticeship work is a no-mean feat, and it involves working a full-time job and studying simultaneously. In most cases, trade schools collaborate with electrical companies to ease the scheduling burden on trainees.
In conclusion, an electrician apprenticeship is a great learning opportunity for aspiring electricians. At first, trainee duties include simple tasks like cleaning and passing tools to the journeyman, and the lessons gradually become more relevant. Eventually, you’ll be required to participate in more challenging jobs like installations, testing kits, and repairing equipment.