# Electrician apprentice



## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome aboard @Joshboi!

Your questions are really going to vary a great deal based on area.

I'd think Atlanta is going to be pretty busy for a good length of time as long as we don't get a Democrat in the white house.

Overtime is too variable to give a real answer on.

Go union, become an inside wireman and don't stress the small stuff brother.

There are plenty retired electricians on this forum tht had great career success.


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## Joshboi (Jun 3, 2019)

Thank you sir. Is the money good. I’ve heard the average is about 50k a year. Is that decent money?


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

No need to worry about OT or anything else other than getting into the apprenticeship.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Joshboi said:


> So today I went down to give my paperwork to the electrician school going into the ibew local 613. I have many concerns after doing this. 1) many people are telling me that i can make 100k a year if I work the over time. How much overtime would I need to work is it even realistic? 2) what’s the job demand like with the IBEW? some people have told me that most electricians cant keep a job. Is this true or just bs. I don’t want to have to be unemployed for months and not take care of my family. Should I just go to school to be an engineer? I don’t wanna mess myself up in life. Thank y’all for yalls feedback!


During a lifetime there are good economic times and there are bad economic times. During the good times wages are rising, everyone has a job and OT is offered. During the bad times wages are stagnant or declining, not everyone has a job and OT may be hard to come by. Overall a union electrician does well, in fact much better in many respects than a non-union electrician. Good luck with that apprenticeship and congrats on getting in; not everyone does.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

52 years in the trade missed one week of work during the Carter recession and then I had another job but wanted the week off.


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## u2slow (Jan 2, 2014)

Overtime proved elusive for me at my ibew local. Seems to be the nature of competitive-bid jobs. I did manage to avoid any layoffs or work shortages though; largely because I had a good work-ethic.

Also, not everyone is cut out for university degree programs. I excelled at my electrical apprenticeship, but only lasted 6mos in a related degree program before burning out and withdrawing.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

u2slow said:


> Overtime proved elusive for me at my ibew local. Seems to be the nature of competitive-bid jobs. I did manage to avoid any layoffs or work shortages though; largely because I had a good work-ethic.
> 
> Also, not everyone is cut out for university degree programs. I excelled at my electrical apprenticeship, but only lasted 6mos in a related degree program before burning out and withdrawing.


Once again 52 years in the trade 44 of which I worked OT almost every week.


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