Any Electricians here?

[Hawkeye OG]

Good for you. There is a severe construction labor shortage in the country right now. Chicago is a good construction market. In 2010-2012 (construction market lags a bit behind the overall economy), a ton of contractors went out of business as construction slowed and people in trades left the industry and it has never recovered. Large GC's backlogs are bigger than they ever have been and specialty trade contractors can't keep up because they don't have the labor causing major delays on a ton of work. I don't know how apt you are to starting your own company, but some of my Electrical contractors I write have the highest profit margins I've seen in the industry. Solid trade to get in to.

 

[Fatman LOU]

I've heard. I sort of do. I know someone that knows some people, but my goal is to simply get through the apprenticeship. Quite frankly, Once I have the training, I can figure out my own path. Quite frankly, I'm pretty fucking good at playing the game. I'm using the union as a means to an end. All I want is the (paid) training. After that, maybe I stay in the union, maybe I don't.

 

[MDB111™]

I was a union electrician for almost 20 years (IBEW 134). I won't get too stressed over the test.
But having a couple friends still in it, I (and they) wouldn't recommend it. Unless you have commections in the union or a company, work can be spotty. The pay and benefits are good though.

Move to DC and you will be forever employed until retirement. All my friends are union. Fitters and Tricians

 

[Omeletpants]

I could teach you to be a world class negotiator and work on $500 million dollar projects?

 

[Omeletpants]

 

[number51]

I could teach you to be a world class negotiator

Like your hero? Because it turns out his claims were total bullshit, just like yours.

 

[Burque]

Ever thought about being a lineman?

 

[Omeletpants]

Like your hero? Because it turns out his claims were total bullshit, just like yours.

NOPE, BASKING IN THE RETIREMENT FRUITS OF MY LABOR. IT'S SWEET. KEEP BEING A WAGE SLAVE, CUBICLE BOY

 

[number51]

NOPE, BASKING IN THE RETIREMENT FRUITS OF MY LABOR. IT'S SWEET. KEEP BEING A WAGE SLAVE, CUBICLE BOY

I work from home 90% of the time. You live in squalor, below the poverty line in Elgin.

You are Willy Loman, no one believes your bizarre little fantasies, you, like your hero are compulsive liars, and everybody knows it.

 

[Omeletpants]

I work from home 90% of the time. You live in squalor, below the poverty line in Elgin.

You are Willy Loman, no one believes your bizarre little fantasies, you, like your hero are compulsive liars, and everybody knows it.

In my 5100 sqft home? I have to take a bus to get from one side of the house to the other

 

[Burque]

In my 1500 sqft home? I have to take a bus to get from one side of town to the other

Fify

 

[Crystallas]

I apprenticed one summer with a family member and then extended those skills to get a job as a cable and telecom tech. In all fairness, that was back when home computer adoption was still around 11% and I'm mostly certain I landed that job because even BSE/BCS's were obsolete unless they were genuinely interested in the field and not just picking a degree they thought would pay well. To answer your first question, the math is basic trigonometry.

Unless you have a path into something long-term, you will basically wind up with boxes of wire, brackets, random parts in general that will sit somewhere until you need it, with a good possibility that a lot of it goes obsolete in some form or fashion. Just going to echo what was said, not worth it without having the right people to guide you in and get you somewhere. And if you're seeking information here, the odds are your IRL resource is already failing you a bit to start off.

 

[botfly10]

If you need to brush up on math real quick, get a MSAT review book and do the whole thing. I skipped 2 years of math in college doing that.

 

[ijustposthere]

Ever thought about being a lineman?

A little too adventurous for me.

 

[Urblock]

Don't know your age but better be in shape. Kind of work that will kill you

 

[Tater]

Move to DC and you will be forever employed until retirement. All my friends are union. Fitters and Tricians

I've been out of the trades for years.

 

[ijustposthere]

@Crystallas I'm aware of what I've got going against me, but I don't like leaving what ifs on the table. I'd rather go for it and fail than not try at all.

Don't know your age but better be in shape. Kind of work that will kill you

Not where I want to be personally, but getting there. Dropped 20lbs since Memorial weekend and hitting the gym six days a week in preparation. Dropping another 15ish at least is what I'm going for.

 

[Crystallas]

@Crystallas I'm aware of what I've got going against me, but I don't like leaving what ifs on the table. I'd rather go for it and fail than not try at all.

By all means. I didn't mean what I said as a discouragement in any way. Just saying if you apply the same logic I did, you can't fail. Spin it into something if you have a hard time finding steady work, like become one of these guys that installs garbage IoT smarthome devices because it's 80% the same skill-set and a lot of electricians simply don't understand the final 20%. I'm pretty sure you would have no issue covering that last 20%. Obviously, you're going to know what opportunities are best fit for you, that is just one example. If you don't set up a pathway, you will exponentially increase your odds of failing.

I wired my whole house when it was built, but I also did a lot of other things. But recently? Just off the top of my head, and partly because I just grabbed a drink my house has a retro/restomod 30's-40's style kitchen with little exception. And because of it, wanting to preserve appliances as well, I did the wiring myself, hid all the blue/uv lights(for surface sanitation), sourced specific bakelite components (which is a hell of a lot easier when you know some old electricians with odd shit laying around). I did that last spring because the way I wanted recessed cabinets, the kind of fan, the in wall oven, just too many little details to name. I would have come close to paying an electrician $1000-1500 in labor alone. Also did my plumbing too, using the same general overlap concept as before, because plumbing is roughly 70% the same skills, 85% the same formulas and concepts are used, so you can always fill in the rest of those skills and do plumbing, offer your employer the option of having someone on site that can move any utility in the wall, if need be.
Not skills I use all the time, but when I do use them, I save thousands on paying someone else. Especially knowing how many licensed professionals out there that cut corners and do shoddy work. Don't be one of those assholes that

 

[Urblock]

Ever thought about being a lineman?

My uncle was one back in the 60s and 70s. He had a horse farm in the country and when it snowed hard the only way to go to work was hike a couple of miles with his gear and flag down a train to go to work. **** that

 

[Fatman LOU]