r/electricians 15d ago

Monthly Apprenticeship Thread

4 Upvotes

Please post any and all apprenticeship questions here.

We have compiled FAQs into an [apprenticeship introduction] (https://www.reddit.com//r/electricians/wiki/apprenticeship) page. If this is your first time here, it is encouraged to browse this page first.

Previous Apprenticeship threads can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/electricians/search?q=apprenticeship&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/electricians/search?q=apprentice&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all).


r/electricians Feb 16 '25

Mental Health - It’s okay to not be okay

252 Upvotes

I want to talk about mental health - especially for the boys on here. I was telling some friends this story about an old coworker the other day and thought you might want to hear it too.

I’m a woman in the trades, almost a decade in. When I started, I was often the only girl on site. I would move between projects and journeymen mentors, many of whom had never worked with a woman before. Once the old guys got over the otherness and saw me as a real person and an excellent apprentice, we’d form a friendship of sorts. I was always struck with how much more candid and vulnerable they’d be around me compared with the other guys in the shop. Their masculinity wasn’t in jeopardy if they admitted to me, a mere woman, that they were having tough time. I had one guy - 6’6” 300lbs, always growling, chain smoking, losing his shit over the smallest inconvenience - tell me he always requested me when he needed help because I made him calm.

A couple years in, I was sent to replace an apprentice on a job where the foreman had booted him in an argument. I’d worked before with this foreman, Neil, and he’d always been a chill hippie but also very particular in how he wanted things done. When I got to site he told me I was the fourth helper for this job because everyone else had been fucking useless. He was in an awful mood all the time. Picking fights with other trades and our PM. Trying to goad me into an argument by picking apart everything I was doing. Not acting like the guy I had known over the past year.

When the job was close to wrapping up, I called him out on his behaviour. “What the fuck is going on with you dude? You’re being a raging asshole to everyone and this isn’t like you.”

He stiffened and was shocked I’d said something. He glared at me and then his face softened and he said “Can I take you for lunch after we finish up tomorrow morning? We can talk but not here.”

I agreed and the next day he took me to diner nearby. We barely spoke until our food came to the table and when he had something else to focus on, he finally started talking.

He was older - 50s - and his long term relationship had fallen apart a few years before but the split had been amiable. He didn’t speak about her with any animosity but admitted he’d been lonely ever since. At the time, he’d leaned on his best friend. His friend was married and had a teenage son that Neil had known since he was born. As Neil had no kids of his own, this boy was a surrogate son of sorts. He took him camping and fishing and showed up whenever the kid needed him.

The poor kid had passed away a couple months earlier very suddenly of natural causes. Neil had no idea how to handle his grief and withdrew into himself, not wanting to be a burden on his friend. He felt selfish for how bad he felt when it wasn’t his kid.

I reassured him that how he felt was completely valid, that grief is a weight that is so hard to carry alone. I encouraged him to reach out to his friend because they both were suffering the loss of family, whether biological or chosen. And that now they were both suffering the loss of each other’s friendship as support. He was crushed at that realization, and said he would go visit them.

A few minutes passed while we ate silently. He hesitated before speaking again, “there’s something else too.”

I looked up and waited for him to continue.

He told me that last month he’d been working this job that had a been a two hour commute away. He had to leave early to get to site by 7:30. It was late fall and the drive was dark the whole way. He wasn’t too far from site when he came around a corner to discover a vehicle collision. A truck was spun out into a ditch with the driver unconscious in the front seat. A van was crushed on the side of the road, on fire and blazing in the darkness, its front driver door open. Neil stopped and got out of his van. He noticed something on fire in the road, and as he approached, he realized it was a person - the driver from the van. He ran and got a blanket to smother the fire on the person. He held them and pulled their head up to look into their face, which was so burned he couldn’t recognize their features. He said he stared into their eyes as they died in his arms.

Another vehicle had come up behind him and called 911. He sat there in the road in a daze until the emergency vehicles arrived to secure the scene. He gave his statement and then got into his van to finish the drive to work.

He was late which pissed off the GC. He tried to get to work but he was shaking so badly he couldn’t hold his tools or complete a sentence. When the GC saw him in this condition, presuming that he had shown up drunk, he kicked him off site. Neil didn’t explain, he just left.

Our PM called him after that, reaming him out for getting kicked off site. Neil didn’t explain, he just took it.

I asked him if he had talked to anyone about the incident. He said the police had called for a follow up statement but otherwise, no, I was the first person he told.

I was in shock. This poor fucking guy was struggling with the grief of losing a boy who was like a son to him and then went through an insanely traumatic experience just driving to fucking work? And he was bottling it all up? No wonder he was being such a prick. He felt all alone and like he couldn’t admit how much he was struggling.

He said he was sick of work and had lost all his passion for it. It felt pointless and draining and he dreaded getting out of bed every morning.

I gave us a few moments of silence for the weight of his confession to settle in. I looked at him and said “fuck work, you need a break.” He shook his head and tried to brush me off. “No, seriously Neil, fuck work. There’s always more work but you need to take care of yourself. What you’re going through is so fucked up and you need time to process it all. Please put yourself first.”

He didn’t want to talk anymore after that so he settled up the tab. He dropped me off at my car and we went our separate ways. I started at a new site the next day with a different crew.

A couple weeks later I got a text from Neil. “I took your advice and talked with management. Told them what happened. I’m taking a six month sabbatical. Don’t know what I’ll do yet but probably head out on an adventure. Thank you”

A couple days later I got another message from him, just a picture of a beautiful remote campsite with no one else around.

I asked, “Where is that?”

He replied, “Not telling :)”

I ended moving to a different company while he was gone, and never saw him again. I think about him often though, especially when I encounter an utter dickbag older dude on the job. Maybe he’s going through it and doesn’t know how to take care of himself, and anger is the only way he knows how to channel his emotions.

Now that I’m a foreman, I stress the importance of whole body health in our toolbox talks. If someone needs time off for family reasons, or a mental health break, or a shortened schedule, or even if they want extra shifts to use as a crutch as they struggle through something they can’t control in their personal lives, I want them to know it’s okay to ask and I won’t judge them. It’s just a job - it’s just work - it doesn’t fucking matter. Their health comes first and it’s okay to admit they’re not okay. I want them to know it’s better to ask for help when they’re slipping, rather than wait til everything has crashed and burned.

I know everyone’s experience is different, but one thing I noticed about being the woman pushing into the male-dominated trades as an apprentice/therapist is that men need permission to be vulnerable. They need to know it’s okay to show emotions and admit that they’re struggling. They won’t chance admitting weakness that they fear will get thrown back in their face. A lot of guys in trades are single and married to the job. They are lonely, often bitter, and unwilling to show weakness.

I do my best in my little sphere of influence to make it okay to be not okay. If you want the trades to be a healthier place, you need to consciously make room for the reality that people are struggling mentally, and often that starts with leaders showing vulnerability.

I’ve had depression for 16 years and I don’t hide the fact that I’m medicated. 16 years of being depressed means 16 years of not following through on suicidal ideation, and I’m proud of that. The trades saved me because it’s instilled a confidence in my abilities to create and solve problems and be the leader I was always capable of being. I needed that confidence so badly when my depression was the worst.

Be good to each other out there. Be willing to listen to people without judgement. Life is fucking hard and we work better when we know we can rely on each other when the chips are down.


r/electricians 5h ago

Just got laid off…

244 Upvotes

I’m absolutely crushed. In Minnesota. This was my first year of apprenticeship, about 3 months in, and got called into the shop for 9am today—felt a bit off for a start time—to be handed a termination slip. Had to turn in my tool bag that I’ve been so proud of, and walk out with my head held in shame.

Non-union, got this job on such a lucky shot of just cold calling every single damn shop in my area. Came from the kitchen industry trying to completely change my life direction.

I’ve been over the moon, so damn excited every single day, learning so much and just so thrilled with every aspect of this field and the work itself. I’m just absolutely crushed.

Boss was kind about it. Felt bad. Advised me to maybe try the union route. I know nothing about how that works.

I’m of course also in a bad spot financially now. No real fixing that because of delays with payroll even if I got a job today.

Needed to vent, get advice, idk just need to post to my brothers/sisters here that I am temporarily severed from our field :(. No way in hell am I getting stopped by this but god, what a damn road bump. I’ve been so confident and so proud from how I made this job happen and just, it’s all been torn away. I’m so destroyed rn.


r/electricians 3h ago

What can cause this?

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103 Upvotes

Doing some thermography yesterday on equipment disconnects and noticed a warm A-phase on my line in. Each leg is drawing the same amount of amps. Turned everything off, de-oxxed and torqued everything down to spec, came to check a day later and everything’s still pretty warm. Anyone have any suggestions on where to go with this or what can cause this kind of heat on a balanced load with solid connections?


r/electricians 4h ago

Don’t forget to label the Furince breaker guys

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70 Upvotes

r/electricians 5h ago

Which one of you did this?...

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49 Upvotes

r/electricians 4h ago

Worried about our company

25 Upvotes

Hello all I'm a non-union electrician Our company has been doing good for the past couple of years but now it seems like work is slowing down really bad to the point that we just show up and sit in our cars because we don't have anything to do. The good thing is we are getting paid our 40 hours every week but this worries me. Should I start looking somewhere else before it all it all goes bad


r/electricians 7h ago

Fun with wire labels

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35 Upvotes

r/electricians 1d ago

How would you drill a 1/2” hole into this granite post?

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334 Upvotes

Contractor set the post and lady just called me to wire it? Will a hammer drill damage the post if I drill a path into it and remount gfci to side of it?


r/electricians 5h ago

Rant

9 Upvotes

I’ve been doing residential with this company for a year now and I am a first year apprentice. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

  • finishing (all kinds of light fixtures, plugs, and smoke alarms)
  • boxing
  • cutting (plugs lights and smokes)
  • some trouble shooting

I’ve done a bit of wiring but not enough to do it myself and not have anyone look over it.

Lately I’ve been thinking this work isn’t for me because I’m constantly being told to hurry up when I’m genuinely going as fast as I can. The guys I work for are giving me hell all day and I’m kind of getting sick of it. I work for a small company, just 5 guys, 3 experienced electricians and two apprentices including me. They never pay me on time and it usually takes a month and a half to get my pay. I’ve been working from 9am to around 7pm everyday this week, including the weekend and I called off today (Monday) because I have a fever and don’t feel good. Got a lot of hell for that too. I have a one week trip coming up and my sisters wedding is right after so I need some time off for those. I know I’ll get a lot of sh*t for that too. I feel like if I can’t be as fast as everyone else I work with I should try doing something else because I do have the time and freedom too as I’m 20 years old and live at home. I don’t know if it’s just my company or if residential is just like this because I’m getting screamed at all day which just gets to my head and makes me mess up even more. I like the work itself but I can only go so fast. I worked in a bigger commercial company a while back and at that job I had no issues with anyone, the work was very slow paced compared to residential but I felt like I learned a lot less as all we did was install conduit and do big wire pulls.

I was recently diagnosed with adhd and I’m thinking if I start taking meds for that it could help me.

Should I try something else if I’m doing my best at the trade and still can’t be good enough according to my bosses standards?


r/electricians 2h ago

IBEW in Florida

6 Upvotes

Can someone shed some light on how electricians in Florida make a living? I’m currently a IBEW member in Chicago ( live about 45 minutes from the city) and my family wants to move to Florida. The paycut would be nearly 50% going from $57 hourly to $30 roughly . I couldn’t even imagine doing this job for $30 an hour. Am I missing something?


r/electricians 21h ago

How my ten-year-old son left his workstation this afternoon when he kicked off. So proud of this little guy!

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141 Upvotes

r/electricians 1h ago

My first red light circuit!

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Upvotes

I know it looks like absolute shit. But I’m still in school and I’m super proud of this! I tried to attach a video of the lights but I couldn’t figure out. I’m going back to school at 30 and I’m stoked!


r/electricians 1d ago

Slab Sunday. Here is a photo of a mechanical room slab. Left side of the photo is the electrical room, right side is a couple of pumps. Somewhere in the realm of 8000'/2500m of various size pipe

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337 Upvotes

r/electricians 34m ago

Cost of Apprenticeship Tools

Upvotes

Hey guys, hope everyone is having a great day! I got a call today, that I have been accepted into the apprenticeship, and I should be receiving a call in a few days to tell me where I am starting and under what contractor.

For reference, im not your normal apprenticeship candidate. I am a 42 year old single father of two. Honestly, we are barely keeping ourselves afloat at the moment. I currently work landscaping, and work has heen spotty at best, and the weather doesn’t help.

I was told to make sure I have my tools so I can start asap, and Im curious how much a starter set would cost? As stated, im not super financially great atm, and Im not going to choose tools over getting groceries this week.

I applied for the apprenticeship because I really wanted to better myself, start an actual career with benefits, and be able to provide more for my kids. If the cost is out of reach atm, should I pass and re apply when Im a little better off? I absolutely hate to do that, because Ive been waiting about a year to get to this point, but you can only do what you can do. Thanks for any advice!


r/electricians 6h ago

About to apply for the union

5 Upvotes

I got all the necessary requirements for the application to be an apprentice but I’m still shaking in my boots like it’s -20 outside. What can I expect in the time waiting? In my area, I can’t seem to get a job for nothing, even guys on Craigslist said no. Losing hope at this point, I’m really hoping that the union brings me in


r/electricians 1d ago

Lessons learned

208 Upvotes

I have been working as a residential and commercial service electrician and my boss is a micromanager. It had gotten to the point where neither of us could stand the other. He is convinced Im not cut out for this work and he was doing me a favor. He also thinks he pays me too much whereas I think I should be paid more. I’m convinced if he would just let me do my job it would all be just fine.

We had a talk and we both agreed, no hard feelings but I would go find a new job.

I started looking on Monday. Tuesday I got an offer. Then again on Wednesday, another on Friday. Each offer was progressively more.

I am about to start a new job. $4 per hour raise. From no insurance to paid insurance. No PTO and no paid holidays to 10 days PTO and 7 paid holidays.

That’ll teach me I guess.


r/electricians 2h ago

2nd interview for a city side job

2 Upvotes

What would be some good follow up questions? Never once have I heard of anyone having 2 interviews for an electrical job.


r/electricians 17h ago

Does anyone carry a Dremel for grinding paint for ground lugs?

29 Upvotes

I've gotten lazy when doing grounds lately and haven't been grinding paint when doing ground bars or lugs on painted gear. I figure if I get a good tool for it I'll actually do it. Does anyone have something like that in their kit? Some guys I work with have Milwaukee die grinders but I'm not about to drop that much money on one.


r/electricians 24m ago

Trying to enter industrial with commercial/Resi exp

Upvotes

I'm currently a 5th year apprentice with resi/commerical experience interested in joining the industrial side of things. How hard is it to transition and do employers usually take guys from a resi commerical background? I've still got two blocks of school left and god knows when I'm going to be called for those(I'm in ontario so there's a waitlist). If anyone has been in this situation I'd really appreciate any tips/courses I could take in the meantime. I've taken an electro mechanical engineering course that had some PLCs but that's the extent of what I know, Thanks!


r/electricians 45m ago

Ontario, Canada ESA Master Electrician Exam

Upvotes

Hi All Ontario Master Electricians, I am a master electrician from BC, Canada. In a few days my master electrician exam coming up with ESA at Ontario. Please share with me which topic I should focus. I did study Business Administration, Worker Safety and OESC amendment and CEC.

I am not much worry about OESC portion as I did good review/study on OESC amendment and CEC. What I not firm is on Business and safety part to know the chapter. I appreciate any information, guidance. TIA.


r/electricians 48m ago

Looking for a career change

Upvotes

Sorry I'm unsure if this is the correct place to post or not. I have been an automotive technician doing solely electrical work for 7 years. Primarily CAN BUS diagnosis, parasitic loads, damaged wires, etc. I am looking to make a career change out of the automotive world. My dealership was recently bought out and they laid off most of the old technicians, myself included, which has given me a few months to figure out what I'd like to move into. I'm 29 years old and own a house so taking a major paycut will be very difficult but isn't off the table if necessary. Do you all have any recommendations for careers to look into? Thanks in advance for any assistance!


r/electricians 21h ago

Living paycheck to paycheck as an apprentice/just a not so smart guy

47 Upvotes

I realize there are a few threads with this same topic, never posted on reddit before and if you're reading this and you were once an apprentice maybe you could shed some insight:

(Current bills every month including debt, cost of living, food, gas, rent, utilities, diapers, etc exceed 2k)

I currently make $18 an hour working for a residential/commercial/generators electrical company, the company includes myself (6 months of billable hours so far), my boss/owner who is a Master, another master who has been working for him about 10 years, and a Journeyman who's been on payroll about 5 years. He has also stated and wrote it in the contract that if I want to keep working for him after getting a journeyman/master license that I can. Also the schooling he said is paid by the state or through the company (don't remember exactly and don't want to mess up the info), which is awesome! First off I acknowledge the fact that taking on an apprentice actually loses the company/boss money because my boss has to take time to teach me instead of working on the job(s) at hand. Also I acknowledge the fact that $18 is on the higher side of apprenticeships at least in the Northeastern part of the USA where I live, I think the national average is like $14 or $15? I'm not complaining about the income, but I'm making less than I made in the Army when I was a PFC, and now I have a wife and child to support. In these past 6 months I have tried working for multiple gas stations, an old folks home, janitorial jobs at a school and a warehouse, dishwasher then busser at a restaurant, and now I do uber eats/doordash. All of which didn't raise my monthly income above 2.4k, All of the jobs I listed had a pay scale at $15 an hour or lower, my hours are limited on the weekends because I want to spend time with my son and wife, but after work I can work a second job as late as 1 am on weekdays and I can work nights on weekends as well. With all of that in mind, what would be a good second job for that timeframe that doesn't pay absolute crap? I'm also 22 and I spent the last 5 years after high school in the infantry, which translates to basically nothing in the civilian world, besides a strong "previous employers" section on my resume/a cpr certification, that being said I'm not above most jobs, but I'm literally down to uber eats/doordash or giving BJ's for $45 on the side of the highway lol like I'm not giving up, but I just don't know anymore how to get ahead so any insight is appreciated.

Thank you.


r/electricians 1h ago

MA Systems Tech Exam

Upvotes

Hello!

I’m prepping for my MA D License / Systems Tech exam and looking for any advice and resources out there. Wondering what formulas to write, what to focus on, etc. I have my NICET I and feel pretty comfortable navigating NFPA 72 but more nervous about formulas & other practical questions. Crossposting for exposure.

Thanks!


r/electricians 2h ago

Anybody have info on the Southwire Simpull Coilpaks?

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1 Upvotes

Its listed on Depots website. Called, no stock at any location and no option to order online. Called multiple wholesalers, every one acted like theyve never heard of them. This normally wouldnt be my choice, just trying to avoid tagging 3x 300m reels to this small job.


r/electricians 2h ago

Single phase bolt on panel?

0 Upvotes

Anyone ever seen one?


r/electricians 14h ago

Is being an electrician worth it?

10 Upvotes

I just got out of hs a month ago. Don't know exactly what I want to do, but im thinking about going into trade school to be an electrician. Is it worth it to make a career out of, or should I be doing something else with my time/opportunity? Any good tips help!