/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.1370570]

I'm seeing to become an electrician and I'm looking for some advice from people who are already electricians. One of the question I hear I'll be asked during the interview is "what do you think it is that electricians do?" Apparently people get this wrong a lot. Also, in the training center I went to, they have these old training books on display for decoration; I opened one up while I was waiting there and started reading through it. For the little that I read, it was very succinct and wasted no time; in the first few pages it explains volts, amps, ohms and coulombs. I'm wondering if I could get recommendations on any necessary/useful/similar reading I could do that would help me as a future electrician? Also, and this is perhaps the most important component of this post: what should I expect and prepare myself for during my education?

Any advice is appreciated. I'll take it all to heart as long as it's genuine.

>pic related is the book I was talking about

[Anonymous No.1370623]

why would you be interviewed to become an electrician? You don't need to get a license through a union apprenticeship you know. Not that going union is bad, but going through their pipeline is not the only method (though if they are even open to interviews it means they have significant interest in admitting you as a member, ditto for contractors who want interviews as well).

>what should I expect and prepare myself for during my education?

sticking your arm into a wall and cutting code compliant holes through studs to run conduit through, then installing switches and patching the drill-sized piece of drywall you ripped out to get the drill into position. Pic related, you're going to need a quality flex drill bit because that is what you're going to be doing. Also:

https://www.homedepot.com/c/running_electrical_wire_through_walls_HT_PG_EL

[Anonymous No.1370648]

>>1370623
Thanks for the input, even if it is a little on the ironic side. As useful (and specific) as that is, I could really do with knowing if reading books could help me be prepared for some of the things I'll learn, and perhaps not make me look like an idiot. I know jack shit about being an electrician and I won't be going in knowing any of the terms. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Also, yes, there is going to be an interview; again, one of the more important questions (apparently) was "what do you think it is an electrician does (,exactly)?", and people fuck up the answer. What does /diy/ think is an appropriate/impressive answer?

[Anonymous No.1370652]

This is OP. I should also probably add that IBEW is the union I'm joining, if that changes anything.

[Anonymous No.1370654]

Avoid domestic at all costs. Pick a thing git good at thing. Find a company that specialises in thing. Git real good at thing. Quit and become a consultant. Your time is worth whatever you think it is. If you are that good sombody will pay whatever you ask

[Anonymous No.1370688]

"a person who installs and maintains electrical equipment"
source:dictionary

[Anonymous No.1370690]

>>1370688
Yeah, this is the answer that I assume most people give, and it comes off as ignorant and unprepared. It has to be more than that. I'm sure they're looking for an answer that communicates that you know what you're getting yourself into. I assume that a person who asks me this is looking for more than just a dictionary term. The idea that is begged from such a question is that electrical workers do more than just "installs and maintains electrical equipment". This could be an opportunity to hit them with some unexpected knowledge. Something that you only learn about the job once you've been working it for a few years.

[Anonymous No.1370695]

>One of the question I hear I'll be asked during the interview is "what do you think it is that electricians do?"

Deal with customers.

[Anonymous No.1372520]

>>1370690
>It has to be more than that.
It isn't.

[Anonymous No.1372700]

You spend 1/4 of your day defending you fee, another 1/4 running around for supplies another 1/4 waiting around on an inspector and trying not to punch him in the face because he doesn't know his ass from a hole in the wall, you split the remains 1/4 of day between bitching about other contractors work on the site and actually doing some work.

[Anonymous No.1372702]

>>1372700
This...But hey you get to walk around with a massive tool belt loaded with shit you don't need and wear some faggoty gloves AND you can put a union sticker on your raised dually Ford F-350 dually

[Anonymous No.1372831]

>>1370652
>what do you think electricians do

dig trenches, run pvc underground, and pull wire.

its only true for the first year but, it will make you look more like you know what you're getting into.

so people become electricians thinking that they'll be replacing switches in an air conditioned highrise.

local 11 hand here