So, do you think you have the fundamental skillset to become an electrician someday? Or at least has the passion towards what electricians do in general?
If either of these two criteria fits you, there is a good chance that becoming an electrician may indeed be a calling for you.
However, while having the right skills or the passion towards something is a strong driving force to attaining it, choosing to become an electrician will take you time and hands-on learning experience.
There is no easier way about it and there is no shortcut—everybody who is now considered a journeyman electrician (or licensed electrician) all went through it, fair and square.
Electrician Requirements and Qualifications
But before you go and take a leap at the electrician bandwagon, know that you are making a decision that cannot be reversed. It is a lifetime choice that you will have to commit throughout the rest of your work life, considering you will pursue on the trade indefinitely. Simply, you are trading off your precious time by choosing it, which is not something you could get back once invested.
So, did you make some pondering and still find yourself committed to pushing for the trade which you will invest much of your life with as a profession?
If so, then you had best prepare for it as early as now by knowing the requirements and qualifications that are required to become a licensed electrician and even earn the merits towards boosting your chances of success.
Must Undertake an Apprenticeship
College has a way of teaching you a thing or two about the work entailed for an electrician, but nothing provides a more perky experience towards learning the trade than being a dedicated apprentice.
An apprenticeship may seem like an alternative way of getting a tertiary education. But unlike those other courses, an apprenticeship also embodies the nature of an on-the-job training . As an apprentice, you do not only learn the concepts of electricity and circuits in the classroom, you also get to apply your knowledge in an actual work and even get paid for doing it.
So, when most people tell you that becoming an apprentice is an advantage, they mean it in the context that you get paid as you learn the trade. If anything, that is akin to getting an early working experience compared to others who dabble on text book learning and are burying themselves in student debt in the process.
But, importantly, how do you become an apprentice?
To be qualified as an apprentice, it is important that you meet certain criteria which includes:
• Being at least 18 years of age
• Must have a high school diploma
• Must have passed high school algebra with a grade of at least C (some find this not necessary)
• Must have a driver’s license (some find this not important as well)
• Must pass mandatory drug test
• Must be free from any criminal history; otherwise, you must discuss this carefully with the apprenticeship organizer
• Must be physically fit to carry on the job of an electrician which can be demanding
Applying for an Apprenticeship
You might be compelled to think that becoming an apprentice should be relatively easy once you have met the basic requirements for its admission. In reality, that only covers the initial requirement.
Like getting admitted into a reputable school, apprenticeship programs select the people who could enter their tutelage. Most often than not, these people who do are the best among available applicants. It is not called a “screening process” if it does not filter out the worst from the best.
So, you could expect that applying for an apprenticeship has to be a difficult process for any applicant. This is likely more so towards applicants who only met the basic requirements for the application, sans the merit.
But like any worthwhile endeavor, there is a way to augment your likelihood of becoming an apprentice.
(In one of our articles, we discussed on how you could increase your chances of getting an apprenticeship.)
What makes the “ideal” candidate for apprenticeship?
Even the best of electricians is made, not born. But even before these electricians are made to become the best version of themselves for their chosen profession, they at least possessed something that led them to that height.
If you consider an applicant as a whole person, you would realize that every individual has many facets that work interdependently with one another.
For example, it is one thing for an applicant to be truly knowledgeable in everything about the trade. But it is also as important to consider the other aspects which the job might demand from, like having the soft skills to relate with other people and the constitution required for physical work.
In fact, to be precise, the ideal candidate must have the following traits:
• People skills
• Physical ability
• Problem-solving skills
At least ask yourself the question—Should “Stephen Hawking” at his most frail and incapable, but not cognitively, focused on the concepts of electricity, possibly with the intent of becoming an electrician someday, do you think he will pass as an applicant for an apprenticeship?
It’s a “no,” right?
While he may have two out of the three skills marked with flying colors, if he is physically incapable of delivering the practice of the trade, then he is no better than a textbook learner.
In the trade of electricians, that is no good.
What happens in an apprenticeship?
Previously, we have mentioned how an “apprenticeship” is a hands-on learning experience where you get paid. Basically, that is indeed what it is in a nutshell.
It is not any different from a technical school, but it offers so much more than conceptual learning as it also focuses on actual work experience. Ever heard the saying, “Experience is your best teacher?”
All apprenticeship programs capitalize on that idea and with very positive results which speak volumes on how critical a hands-on experience is in teaching a technical trade.
By being an apprentice, you can expect to invest your precious time in its endeavor for roughly 4 to 6 years.