If I Had to Do It All Over Again

Posted on March 22nd, 2024

My goal is to help the present generation make better choices. When it comes to being in the electrical trade, I had no guidance to help me get to where I am now. This was one of the hardest things to deal with. There are many paths to get where you would like to be in the electrical trade. You have to figure out what phase of the trade that you can see yourself doing as a career.

I ended up going to a technical school to start my career. I met a bestfriend there. I met other nice people there. If I had to do it all over again, I would've skipped going to that school. It did not help me in any way to progress as a skilled electrician. I ended up taking student loans to go there. When I started working out in the field, I was just as skilled as someone who had just gotten their first set of electrical tools. The only real benefit to going there was that I was trained how to do multiple electrical calculations. This knowledge helped me in preparation for the master electrician exam. I would've saved my money and gone straight to a contractor.

The next thing that I would've done was to find the largest electrical contractor that I could've found. There can be differing opinions on this one. The bigger contractor will likely keep someone new in the trade working. They are cheap labor. That makes them more valuable than a more experienced person. You will have to do the grunt work starting off. You may not learn as much as you would like to for the first few years. The key is to find a contractor who will help you pay your way through the electrical apprenticeship. As someone who is just starting in the trade, you don't need the added pressure of needing to learn too fast. You don't need to be in situations where you aren't prepared for them. That adds danger to your job. A bigger contractor will have the other experienced people there who can help you learn. You are less likely to lose your job as long as you can show up on time. When work slows down, you won't have to worry about anything if they're paying for your schooling. The bigger contractor has to keep you busy.

If I could've done it all over again I would've stayed at one contractor for my entire time until I got my master electrician licenses. This was not a path for me.