# Areas most in need?



## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Washington DC needs help, we have durn needed help for years and looks good for another few years. (OR DAYS depending on the economy)


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

brian john said:


> Washington DC needs help,


That really strikes my funny bone for several reasons.

To the OP, I have several acquaintances who made their way to Nebraska some years back and have been successful. It's the modern day gold rush, I'd assume. I'd want to evaluate how near the end of this rush we might be before I gave that serious thought. 

In my own area, the local's contractors have been using travelers for seemingly ordinary work for years. I guess people don't have much interest in working for a living these days.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDM6v1XhWEg&frags=pl%2Cwn


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

djvandebrake said:


> Hello! I'm trying to get into the electrician field - I was formerly a high school teacher, and an analyst before that, so I have done mostly desk work. I'm not afraid to work hard and get my hands dirty, though.
> 
> One problem I have faced here in Houston, TX is the apparent lack of need. I tried applying with the IBEW, but they only pulled in six apprentices the month I was interviewed.I applied with the IEC for months and got no calls. All the jobs I see on job boards want apprentices with several years experience already. One thing I was told was that after the 2016 flooding, the local market was saturated with apprentices and consequently there isn't much need around Houston. By now my apprentice electrician license has expired and since I wasn't in an apprentice program I couldn't renew.
> 
> ...


What area are you looking to join the electrical field?

I know of at least 6 people who have left the company i work for in florida heading to your area to become electricians in the power plant and oil industry (none of them had any electrical background).
It a rough way into the field but 3 are now apprenticing in electrical and 1 is being trained in instrumentation. 
Im not sure a desk jockey would be able to handle the first few years but its a way to join the old boys network and it gives you a little experience in the field. If you impress the bosses and show intelligence then there willing to send you to school for training.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

10 years ago during the crash many tradesworkers in Florida left the region and/ or left the industry. For several years we have had shortages of new workers coming into the trades and even being able to find capable tradesworkers for today's jobs. Many companies are starting up programs to bring people into the trades and they'll give anyone a chance who shows up, has a pulse and is sober enough to not fall over on the job. Fair warning though, we don't have anywhere near the highest wages you'll find in the country. As they like to say down here "You're paid in sunshine".


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## ralpha494 (Oct 29, 2008)

Southeastern Wisconsin is hurting. They just broke ground for Foxxconn, a TV screen manufacturing plant. It should be a three or more year project. I think it will require more electricians than are in the entire local. It's not even up for bids yet, they're still moving dirt and relocating people that live on the site. A google search would help you if that sounds doable.


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

I have friends in the Freeport TX area and they tell me that there is a unbelievable amount of work in that area. It might be worth your wile to take a trip down 288.

LC


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

I would stick with teaching. Guaranteed work and summers off. Who could ask for better working conditions.
To leave your profession for this trade and all the unknown roadblocks you would be stupid.


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## WorcesterSavage (Jul 16, 2018)

I would also recommend finding a state that requires being a licensed electrician, as well as not having multiple types like Texas. I'm not totally sure how it works there, but here in Massachusetts you have either a journeyman or master, and they are basically the same.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome aboard @djvandebrake!

If you really want to give up teaching which I could see as a bad move I'd head to the DC area.

Never really seen that area with nothing being built.


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## John M. (Oct 29, 2016)

Do stuff that nobody else wants to do. Around here, we need electricians in the agricultural field. Work in pig barns on stepladders with the pigs moving your ladder around, chicken barns ( you will need boots and a respirator), or cow barns wading through the manure to fix the farmer's problem. Its great fun. Pays good too.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

brian john said:


> Washington DC needs help..


I wouldn't work in DC for 250K a year or more. Some things just can't be quantified with money and quality of life is one of them.


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## StriickeN (Sep 11, 2017)

Nebraska


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## active1 (Dec 29, 2009)

If you think TX is bad, you should try Vegas.
Before moving look up the wages.
Try IBEW job board for union.
Don't think AZ has that great of a pay rate.

Another thing to conciser if going to a different union is there a requirement for you to have lived in that area any amount of time.

As said, the harder it is to become licensed, & harder it is to transfer a license from another state, the higher the pay.

Don't know if you tried the non-union apprentice or helper route in your area.
Years ago I waited a good part of a year trying to join IBEW.
I got tired of waiting. Home studied enough to do well at an interview & got the 1st non-union job. It was one of those states that didn't require apprentices to be licensed. In fact many just called themselves journeymen because they have been working for a while. Not as good for pay & harder to transfer that experience to another state. 

A good beginner place to start in residential.
Don't they have a lot of repairs or replacement homes going up after last years storm?


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## djvandebrake (Jul 30, 2018)

gpop said:


> What area are you looking to join the electrical field?


I'd prefer a residential or commercial wireman, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at a lineman position.


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## djvandebrake (Jul 30, 2018)

John Valdes said:


> I would stick with teaching. Guaranteed work and summers off. Who could ask for better working conditions.
> To leave your profession for this trade and all the unknown roadblocks you would be stupid.


The conditions for work might seem nice, but at this point I would literally rather be homeless and starving on the street than keep teaching.

Imagine you got a contract to work a job, and you go to the site. You are in charge of 200 apprentices. The apprentices spend all their time on their phones or talking to each other, rather than working. None of them brought tools, either - in theory your boss provides tools but usually there aren't enough. You find other ways to make do or you loan out your own tools - which come back broken. So now the boss is getting angry at you for the job being way behind schedule. But you can't fire the apprentices - their job (and paycheck) is considered guaranteed. The only thing you can do is give them poor job reviews. The problem is, if you give poor reviews to more than a few workers, your boss decides it is your fault and wants to see documentation for every instance of coaching you gave these apprentices. You can either spend your weekends doing paperwork, or just go ahead and give them good reviews, declare the job finished on time, and claim innocence when the lights don't turn on.

Two months off isn't worth 55-70 hour weeks for the other ten months and all the stress that comes with it. There is a reason most new teachers don't make it three years and it has nothing to do with laziness.


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## djvandebrake (Jul 30, 2018)

I appreciate all the help! I will look into some of the areas mentioned!


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## Mulder (Sep 11, 2010)

ralpha494 said:


> Southeastern Wisconsin is hurting. They just broke ground for Foxxconn, a TV screen manufacturing plant. It should be a three or more year project. I think it will require more electricians than are in the entire local. It's not even up for bids yet, they're still moving dirt and relocating people that live on the site. A google search would help you if that sounds doable.


I heard that at the peak of construction there could be up to 1800 electricians there. Pieper Power got the first building at the site.


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## djvandebrake (Jul 30, 2018)

I want to thank everyone again for the help... but just before I was about to move (literally a week after giving a two week notice at my part-time job so I could do so) I was accepted into the apprentice program at the local JATC! Excited to start my training!


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## just the cowboy (Sep 4, 2013)

I have been looking in the Denver Co. area and see plenty of apprentice positions open.


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## Chops146 (Aug 26, 2018)

djvandebrake said:


> I want to thank everyone again for the help... but just before I was about to move (literally a week after giving a two week notice at my part-time job so I could do so) I was accepted into the apprentice program at the local JATC! Excited to start my training!


Congratulations! Once you get your golden ticket, you'll know you made the right decision. For anyone thinking about moving for apprenticeship, most locals require a year of residency to qualify for apprenticeship. Not always strictly enforced, but worth checking into before uprooting.


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## Switchgear277 (Mar 18, 2017)

djvandebrake said:


> I want to thank everyone again for the help... but just before I was about to move (literally a week after giving a two week notice at my part-time job so I could do so) I was accepted into the apprentice program at the local JATC! Excited to start my training!


Wow congratulations brother glad you got in


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## Switchgear277 (Mar 18, 2017)

363 Hudson valley is a strong local 
Our books are always on good shape


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