When not inspecting electrical equipment, installing them is a major job of an industrial electrician in a factory or industrial setting. It is a tough job choosing the path of an industrial electrician. Not only does it mean that you get to be exposed to more hazards than others, it also demands a lot from the body in terms of work, like doing heavy lifting and some other strenuous activities. But, on the other side of the spectrum, it is so with some perks meant for its troubles.
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Let us take a look at the pros and cons that comes with being an electrician who plays critical role in the completion of factories and other industrial spaces:
Pros of Being an Industrial Electrician
• Paid training
The job of an electrician is serious business. For something that cannot be cheated with, to be called a journeyman electrician—one specifically being an industrial electrician—requires years and years of training or apprenticeship. Fortunately, choosing to become an apprentice is not like your typical college or university course which pits many students to debt—to be an apprentice towards becoming a fledged electrician is a paid learning experience.
However, it is worth noting that “payment” in this case comes from actual work, which is essentially an application of what was learned in the classroom. This level of experience is good as it gives the apprentice an early insight about work while also acting as a good motivator towards a fruitful career in the future.
Like being in a corporate setting, the more experienced the apprentice is, the greater the pay that he receives. Meaning, those trainees who are already beyond their first year in training nets bigger pay than those who are still in their freshman year.
• Good employment prospect
As many established businesses are seeking to expand and many others themselves venturing to enterprises which require a large physical asset like a factory, the demand for workers who will build such infrastructure from the ground-up remains high. For the years 2012 up to 2022, the demand for industrial electricians—and all electricians in general—is expected to rose by as much as 20%.
This prospect is very good, especially when you consider graduates from other fields of study who find it hard to get employed soon after leaving school with their diplomas.
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• Freedom of choice in making a certain career option
We may be hard-pressed to think that electricians in general work as a group and not as an individual unit. In reality, unless you are not a member of a union, then that might indeed be the case.
Although being a union member by itself has its perks, such membership comes with a hefty cost—typically, either as a one-time big membership expense or as a cut to one’s salary. Intuitively, not many are okay with this route and, hence, why some would opt to go solo as in an individual contractor or as an employee.
According to statistics, 9% of the overall workforce in 2012 are themselves not union members. While the number itself may be small, it only reflects a small margin of people who are willing to risk freedom over security which comes with plenty of compromises.
• Amazing pay
The job of an industrial electrician is no simple feat. For something that requires a specific kind of specialty that takes several years to learn, the role of an industrial electrician in the field is invaluable. Therefore, for a role that is so valued, the average salary of an industrial electrician is set above the average US worker.
For instance, in 2014 alone, the median yearly salary of an industrial electrician is $51,000, whereas the highest paid worker of the same job received $86,000 as an annual pay. But as how the industry traditionally works, a worker’s pay may oftentimes be correlated to his experience at work which likely suggests that those who do get bigger pays are some of the most experienced in the trade.
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Cons of Being an Industrial Electrician
• High risk for injuries
When you work in an industrial setting, you deal with large materials, particularly electrical, that may put a test to one’s strength or a group’s camaraderie, and an environment that is prone to causing injuries. While all electricians in general are susceptible to harm given the nature of their profession, more so is this true for an electrician whose workplace is a work-in-progress industrial space. Some of the most common causes of injury among industrial electricians include: falls, burns, and shocks.
• Long, irregular working hours
The job of an industrial electrician is one not easily finished. Although this notion is nuanced by the magnitude of the project at hand, the idea is generally true. This is partly made true for the reason that an industrial electrician’s work, like his peers from another branch, is made piece by piece, oftentimes starting off from scratch.
Therefore, this infers that an industrial electrician’s working hours may either be extended by overtime, having to work on a weekend or even during holidays. To be an industrial electrician is also thereby about compromising on what an average worker in another field would consider as “days off from work.”
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• Employment may be subject to the current state of the economy
Although the demand for someone skilled enough to do electrical jobs for an industry is ever-present, there are conditions which you will find yourself at a difficult spot in the career you took as influenced by the economy. When the economy is bad, the competition among peers gets significantly higher.
Even among union members, the issue of getting laid off from work is not altogether removed. When good opportunities are tight, oftentimes cutting losses makes for a logical option which means cutting off members in the process. However, one major perk of being a union member is that the older you are in the group the least you are to be the likely person to let go off, regardless of skill.