How do I become an electrician?

[Irving]

So I've gotten the idea to see if I can become an electrician. I have zero formal education in this industry, but know that I'm plenty smart enough to learn it.

So....
1) Where is a good place to get some formal education?
2) I need a job in the mean time of course. Is there anyway I can do an apprenticeship or something before I go through a trade school or something?
3) I've already got a Bachelors in Economics. If I find some where to take classes, am I going to be forced to waste my money on a bunch of core classes that I don't need?
4) I'm doing some research about this right now, but thought I'd ask here at the same time. Please don't think I'm expecting to be spoon fed and am not looking for myself at the same time.

[llostwolf]

Usually you have to start as an apprentice and any good company will put you though the classes to get licensed. I may know some folks hiring but starting wage for an apprentice is something like $12 an hour and you would have to log alot of hours to get a wiremans or journeyman's.

[Irving]

Yeah, that's what Marlin was saying earlier. Right now I'm doing okay on $15 an hour, but don't usually even work a 40 hour work week. I might be able to pull off starting at $12/hr depending on how many hours that means and how fast I can move up in pay. I'd also consider a trying to pick up a part time job, but that might be pretty tough if I'm already working 50-60 hours or something at the main job.

If you've got more information or someone I can talk to, I'd gladly take it. Thanks for the response.

[llostwolf]

Taken from Colorados web page

its looks like at least two years before a raise but i can ask tomorrow if your serious

RESIDENTIAL WIREMAN
Applicants for a Colorado residential wireman's license are required to provide verification of two years of electrical construction wiring experience, for lights, heat, and power; of one, two, three, and four family dwellings.
JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN
Applicants for a Colorado journeyman electrician's license are required to provide verification of four years of electrical construction wiring experience, for lights, heat, and power; with a minimum of two years of that time being commercial and/or industrial work. Verification of experience must state the percentage of your time spent performing commercial/industrial wiring, and the percentage of your time spent performing residential wiring.
MASTER ELECTRICIANApplicants for a Colorado master electrician's license are required to provide verification of five years of electrical experience; four years of that time must be electrical construction wiring, for lights, heat, and power; with a minimum of two years of that time being commercial and/or industrial work. One additional year must be in planning, lay-out, supervising, and installing wiring, apparatus, and equipment for electrical light, heat, and power.
Applicants who hold a Colorado journeyman electrician's license are required to provide verification of one full year of planning and lay-out experience, in addition to the time previously verified.

[Irving]

Well, some quick math tells me that I only need to work an extra 10 hours a week to make the same as the $15/hr I've been surviving on for the last two years (got laid off from a $40k job before that. OUCH). So yes, I guess I am serious. I'll call them and feel them out a bit, see just how likely it will be that I can get the hours (or overtime) required to get enough pay to keep supporting my family. I really appreciate your help.

[Irving]

I've found these two websites. Is this the kind of place I need to be looking?

http://www.ibew111.com/

http://www.djeatc68.com/

This second one looks like I could start out working at the wage I earn now, and taking classes at the same time. Seems promising. Also, in the first link, it looks like you can register at the end of March and start in April, which would be about as perfect timing as I could ever hope for.

[Mtn.man]

My son in law, all his brothers and dad are master electricians. They went to trade school, and now some work out of the Union Hall. But work has been real slow.

[gnihcraes]

nice thing about the electrician career, many I know have become other things with that knowledge - working for companies on computers and phone systems etc later on in life.

[Irving]

I just got off the phone with the Denver Union (second link). I got some more information and it was a mix of positive and negative stuff. The process takes a little longer than I'd like (can't apply until April 7th) and the director did mention that there could be periods of no work for up to 3 months. He did say though, that for the most part apprentices are gainfully employed. I plan on going down to the office to apply on the 7th though. I just need to find something stable to do in the mean time.

[GreenScoutII]

Irv, now is probably not the best time to get into one of the trades. Contrary to what some might tell you, electricians and plumbers are not recession proof occupations. New construction is all but dead right now, not a lot of remodel work is being done, and service work sucks too much to contemplate.

If you do want to start into the electrical trade, you will have to start as an apprentice. Virtually all of your training will be on the job because, outside of the union, there is no formal classroom education beyond manufacturer's product training. It is incumbent upon you to seek the knowledge required to grow in your profession. I will warn you, they will try to kill you with every hard, labor intensive job in the shop for at least your first year. Accept it and embrace it.

I don't know how strong the union is in the Denver area. If they have a strong presence, you are better off working for a union shop as the pay, benefits, and working conditions are generally much better than non-union. Unfortunately, most places in Colorado don't have a strong union presence and so the few union guys I know spend a lot of time "on the books" waiting for work.

If I haven't scared you off, you will probably find that after the initial year or so of hard physical work you will start to learn a lot and really enjoy your work. Before I was a plumber, I had a desk job. I can't tell you how much better it is to be out in the field working with my hands than pecking at a computer or talking on the phone all day. You will have real satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment that one simply cannot get from sitting in an office.

As for licensing, the state of Colorado only licenses two construction trades. Plumbers and electricians. Everybody else is licensed by the county (or building department) where they live and work. The upside to this is that these two trades have not become dominated by cheap immigrant labor in the way that framing, concrete, roofing, and HVAC have. Generally speaking, strating wages for a green apprentice plumber or electrician are in the 8-12 dollar per hour range depending on where you live. In the Denver area, it might be a little higher.

I would say if you survive your first two years scraping by and get your residential wireman's license, you can probably be making 18-20 per hour. Get your Journeyman's license (after four years) and you will probably see 20 - 25 per hour (sometimes more) depending on demand and more importantly, where you live.

There you go, thats my take on the subject.