# Want to Become Apprentice in NYC Area



## slickvic277 (Feb 5, 2009)

> DonaldHi everyone,
> 
> I have bene thinking about becoming an electrician for some time, but never gave it much serious thought after hearing stories about how hard it is to get into the union. * Is it indeed difficult to get into the union in NYC if you do not know anyone in it?*


Some locals, yes others not so much. Not sure about NYC.



> Here is my profile: I have a BS degree in an unrelated field, and don't have any formal education or work experience in electrical. Is this a problem?


The degree won't hurt ya, should help. They won't care if you have any experience since your applying for an "apprenticeship".



> Also, what union in the NYC metro area is the easiest to join?


NYC is local 3 for the Inside Wireman apprenticeship. That's the local you want to apply for. Since your in Jersey why not apply to one of there locals?

I'm not from NY so maybe a Local 3 guy can give you a better answer.


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## Chris21 (Nov 25, 2009)

Donald11 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I have bene thinking about becoming an electrician for some time, but never gave it much serious thought after hearing stories about how hard it is to get into the union. Is it indeed difficult to get into the union in NYC if you do not know anyone in it?
> 
> ...



LU3 is tough to get into because whenever a test is given a lot of people take it. You're college degree will help you a great deal. 

I think they just had a test about a year or so ago. So there won't be another for a while. The will have to exhaust the people that were accepted before a new test is given. 

Call them at 718-591-2000 ext. 1480. Ask when when they
will be accepting applications for the next exam.


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## Donald11 (Jul 4, 2010)

Thanks for the answers so far. Local 164 in Paramus, NJ hands out apprenticeship applications every month according to their website. Any reason why they do it continously while Local 3 only does it once every few years? Would the Paramus local be less competitive to get into the the NYC one?


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## Chris21 (Nov 25, 2009)

Donald11 said:


> Thanks for the answers so far. Local 164 in Paramus, NJ hands out apprenticeship applications every month according to their website. Any reason why they do it continously while Local 3 only does it once every few years? Would the Paramus local be less competitive to get into the the NYC one?



Local 3 brings in 250 - 300 apprentices a year. So with each test that is given they take around 1200 people that passed the exam, physical ect... So that's roughly every. So they only give the test ever 3 years I believe to not have a backlog of people.


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## CrossThreaded (Jun 27, 2010)

Donald11 said:


> Thanks for the answers so far. Local 164 in Paramus, NJ hands out apprenticeship applications every month according to their website. Any reason why they do it continously while Local 3 only does it once every few years? Would the Paramus local be less competitive to get into the the NYC one?


Local 164 is also hard to get into. Any local in the area will be hard to get into, especially at this time when work is slow.


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