/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>19053912
controls systems or high voltage industrial stuff*

>>19053912
work towards renewable stuff, solar and wind
make a related post here in like 5 years and you can send me some eth

I have sone experience with electric in trade schools, it helps if you already have a basic understanding of electricity before you start classes, look up youtube videos and do skme hands on work with some wire, wire up a switch to a light bulb to see how it works and remember that every device is essentially a switch if some sort.

>>19053912

I'm an EE but work is putting me through my electricians trade, and work with a team of sparks in construction. Have built renewables, infrastructure etc... you are correct that control and HV pay well but they have different requirements and qualifications. Ideally find an employer that will put you through tickets. If you are smart and not a fuckhead to work with you can make some great cash.

>>19053968
Renewables are good but they are really just stock standard electrical work (fuckload of cabling) and they tend to be in the middle of nowhere and you have to follow the work. A lot of companies use unskilled labour x 10000 and have 1 electrician looking after them so be careful.

>>19054011

Should add that testing and commissioning makes bank, any monkey can run wires but the guys on the big bucks actually get the thing up and running.

>>19054006
Will do. I'm pretty rusty on academics so I have a lot to brush up on.

>>19054011
>>19054059
Good to know. If you could recommend a career path knowing what you know now, what would you say? Do you have experience working in camps (My tradie friends say that's where the money is and I like the sound of the lifestyle)

Also, do you have any experience with unions?

What state are you in? Be careful with trade schools, some of them are a rip off when it comes to getting into the trade.

For example, I’m in MA. MA requires 600 classroom hours and 8000 work hours to be able to sit for your journeyman’s test. Most vocational high schools around here do night courses to get people to that 600 hour
Classroom requirement, at a cost of like $500 per “Semester”. The out of pocket cost for someone going that route is only going to be about $2000 in the end. There are also trade schools and “technical institutes” that for some reason charge well over $10k, and get you no closer to your license.

Furthermore, it’s VERY common for electrical contractors to cover most or all of the cost of their employees schooling. I would make a call to electrical contractors in your area and tell them you’re interested in getting into the trade before your spend a penny on any trade school on your own.

Even if it’s some small time residential gig, take it to get your foot in the door and potentially get your school paid for. You’ve gotta learn the basics first no matter what before you get into a specialized part of the trade. There’s no shame in ripping Romex through houses for a couple years to get started.

>>19053912
Ex-sparky here.
>Did my apprenticeship
>got licensed
>got masters
>started own business
>hated chasing jewnigger customers to pay
>took job as industrial controls electrician
>hate lowlife mfg & resigned
>trade & shitpost now

>>19053912
Aerospace "electrician." I'm not even a real electrician, my job is easy and I'm paid enough to be comfy in a metro area. Some days I connect two wires to a light and that's it for the day. About to get laid off tho.

>>19054115

I've only been doing it for 5 years but yes I would recommend it, I like the variety and the problem solving aspects. The pay is sweet too. I have done FIFO and lived on camp for a year, you do get paid a lot more, just have to make sure that you can cope with the lifestyle (can vary wildly depending on roster). It was a good experience to try but I wouldnt do it again, I had better opporunities in the city for the tradeoffs.

You can usually get a start in that area working for a shutdown contractor or something and see if you like it, just dont get into it and take on a fat mortage or something and realise you hate it. Its how a lot of young guys end up necking themselves. As for unions im not in one (I get salary as an engineer) but our guys have an EBA (ausfag), not a lot of experience with them

Just finished my first year apprenticeship and I think it's great money and rewarding although hard on body

>>19054147
I'm up in BC, Canada. I'm getting jewed hard with trade school (24 weeks, $2800 USD for just my level 1) but no companies would hire me as a pre-apprentice with no experience. After I get a job it's normal here for school to be paid for by them, and it's 30 more weeks of school. However I am in the process of getting it all paid for in gibs because there arent enough electricians here.

Any experience with unions?

>>19054186
What was wrong with the people at your controls job? My tradie friends told me electricians were the smartest of the tradies so I would have assumed you would avoid most of the human scum in the trades.

>>19054011
lurker here. student EE in college and just finished up my general classes, i hope to get an apprenticeship but was wondering if there was anything i should keep in mind in the working world once i graduate.

>>19054350
>What was wrong with the people at your controls job?
I worked as the plant electrician at 2 mills, mgmt was generally ok - but everyone else in a mfg plant is a fucking septic tank.
Mgmt gets put together and they are buffered from the production mill-scum.
I would have to work in & amongst them, its depressing & demoralizing.
One told me how they put a can of turkey in their ramen casserole for Thanksgiving to make it "extra special".

>>19054350
Yeah I’m actually in the IBEW in my 3rd year of apprenticeship. Overall it’s been a good experience. The pay is good, the school is free, the benefits are great, and so on.

Only downside is when work slows down you’re a lot more likely to end up laid off than a non union guy. It just is what it is. It’s been a good few years for me until this Covid shit happened, but now I’m out of work along with almost everyone else in my local hall, and the way things are looking it could be a long time till I’m back out on a job. For what it’s worth I know a ton of non union guys and they’re all not working at the moment either, but we’ll see how this all plays out. I’d say if you have a solid path forward you should just stick with it for now, times are gonna be tough for a while. The union will always be there if you decide to make the jump over in the future.

>>19054252
Thanks for the insight. I'm going to try and make some good connections at school and see about getting on a shutdown quick to see what's what.

>>19054297
Is there much applied math in the day to day?

>>19054496
Yeah it can be sad. I've met guys pulling in well over $100K who are underwater in debt.

>>19054594
So you would say unions are better when things are going well, but since things aren't don't jump in yet? Once you're in a union you can't work outside of it right? Also, how much applied math do you use on the day to day? I'm pretty rusty and haven't done any academics in years.

>>19054439
Here are my tips, I could go on about this for hours but in my opinion these are the most important:

1. Be okay with not knowing anything when you start out, you are not expected to know anything, but you will be expected to make the effort to learn.

2. ASK QUESTIONS - this does a few things, teaches you what you need to know from people who know to do it, and flatters your superiors/coworkers in a non-gay way. Old guys love teaching youngins the ropes because they get to ramble on about how they used to kill it back in the day. They will also see that you are eager to learn and will invite you to tag along, see things, or do training which will benefit you. Company culture does play a big role here

3. Solutions not problems - When asking your boss for help or something instead of just asking for the answer try and come up with a solution for instance say "here's the issue this is what I am thinking am I on the right track" instead of "how do I do x". Shows you are keen to learn not just be spoonfed, and demonstrates critical thinking

4. Say Yes - If people offer to show you something or ask if you want to work on something just say yes, 9 times out of 10 you will learn something new, and will lead to more opportunities in the future. If you say no people will rarely offer you anything again.

5. Dont pretend to know anything, be comfortable saying you dont know. This ties in with number 1 but a lot of people struggle with this. Your coworkers know that you wont know anything straight from uni and will know when you are pretending. #1 Friction generator is when a new grad stomps in and tries to be the big dog when they dont know anything. Approach your work with humility.

6. Respect the guys on the tools, they can teach you a lot. Dont be afraid to get your hands dirty. They have an image of an office engineer who lives in fairyland that you will need to distance yourself from.

Hope that helps, I am where I am from people helping me along the way.

>>19054804
Thanks anon, ill keep all these in mind for the future. Keep up the good fight.

>>19054860

No worries, really want to drive home the point of asking questions and not pretending because in EE you can fry yourself or some other cunt if you dont know what you're doing. Stay safe!

>>19054770
Yeah pretty much. I worked non union for a while and it was shit pay, shit work environment, and shit benefits, I haven’t regretted making the switch. But like I said, I haven’t experienced bad times until now, so we’ll see how it goes.

Yeah you’re pretty much tied to the union once you join, at least officially. Meaning you can’t go pick up a job with some major non union contractor In your area if you find yourself laid off for a while. But in practice tons of union guys do side work outside the union either for themselves or for someone else to make extra money. Nobody really cares as long as it’s not competing with union contractors work. In my area we literally don’t have a single union contractor that does residential electrical, so union guys consider it “safe” and not fucking anyone over to go do residential work outside the union when they have the opportunity.

>>19054770
>Yeah it can be sad. I've met guys pulling in well over $100K who are
What the hell are you talking about?

I was at $115k but had to work with an army 48 y/o minimum wagies with wet cardboard for brains.
It becomes tiresome

>>19055132
leaf bux. So $70K~ USD