# Will hours working as a Low Voltage Technician count as job experience to apply for &



## MikeD94 (Jul 8, 2018)

*Will hours working as a Low Voltage Technician count as job experience to apply for &*

I've been out of school for a few years & have begin going back to college to become an Electrician, I'm taking classes at a college that is authorized by the state to offer electrical trainee training, I've taken math for electricians, osha, residential wiring & basic electricity. My school was able to help me update my resume, I applied for a lot of trainee & apprenticeship jobs, some of them wanted experience, I don't have any experience. I got call backs for jobs, I've been to a few interviews, some of them asked for references, when can I start & I took a few drug test, I don't wanna get my hopes up. One employeer said since I don't have any experience they can teach me how to do low voltage work & place me with contractors for temporary work, they said I could get hired permanently with contractors & work fulltime. The company I had the interview at will place me with a recruiter that will find work I'm qualified for. My recruiter said the time I would spend working as a Low Voltage Technician will count as experience to apply for the exam to become a Electrician, he also said if I become a certified & licesened electrican I can continue working with them. I've been feeling a little discouraged about the amount of calls I received back for interviews considering all the jobs I applied to. I just don't want to waste time working as a technician if the hours don't count for the electrician exam, if they don't count should I decline the offer and keep looking for trainee or apprentice jobs? I have applied to several apprenticeship & have completed some aptitude test, I have 1 test starting in a few weeks, I even applied to some plumber apprenticeships, I havent gotten my test results yet, so I don't know where I could rank on the list & the interview probably won't begin for months, I live in Northern California in the Bay Area, I've heard that there's a strong demand in my area for trades people, but I heard that about almost every occupation & a lot of people have trouble finding employment, I know certification varies in every state.lain:


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Welcome to Electrician Talk. 
Thanks for taking the time to fill out your profile.


Have you tried getting into the local union? Stick around. We have several guys on here from your area.
Good Luck.


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## trentonmakes (Mar 21, 2017)

I started out with low voltage....mainly wiring up our control panel to operate our system. Messed with a few pumps as well, I figured this was an oppurtunity to gain real world experience either as an electrician or plumber.

I was in the same boat as you, everyone wanted experience but none willing to give it. I knew I could do it and have done it, but because I wasnt employed in that trade I was passed over many times.

I don't know that it counts towards hours, I doubt it, but it is good experience IMO, especially as industrial electrician and possibly commercial.

Dont be afraid to fudge your resume a bit, but be honest....
Proficient with pulling terminating wires...

Things like that will help get your foot in the door!

Best of luck

Sent from my LG-K550 using Tapatalk


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

I guess the red flags I see is a "recruiter" in a trade career. They exist but normally the only time I see something like this is if they're looking for say an electrician for a mine all by itself in a backwater corner of Nevada or Alaska, if you know what I mean...places where they're going to have to go out of state to even find someone willing and capable. I can see it more with local temp agencies but not what you are describing. Might be OK to try but here are three warnings about recruiters:
1. Do not pay them money! They charge finders fees, often quite steep. That's how they make their money. If you are paying them, its a scam.
2. Do not give them any information about other places you applied and vice versa, or to post/send out your resume without your permission, EVER. And don't get caught in "double agent" status. This means that if you applied to company X and they also sent your resume to company X, then when the HR department sees it do they interview you directly and skip out on paying the finder's fee or vice versa? It gets very ugly and can land them in a nasty and expensive court case so what they actually do is file both resumes in the trash can, if they catch it. So for that reason you need control over where your resume goes and vice versa. Second major problem is this is how dirty these people play...there was a guy who was in negotation with a company and the recruiter was trying to place the guy at another company. So the recruiter called the house in the middle of the day and told the wife that the only reason the guy wanted to go there was to follow his girl friend from work. Also heard a similar lie where the recruiter called the other employer and told them hey did you hear the guy you are trying to hire is on the witness relocation program or just recently got out of prison? More mundane is they pepper your lead with a bunch of resumes so you basically created your own competition. Beware and don't EVER trust these people. Finally going along with this same point, there are recruiters that will quite literally just shotgun your resume all over the internet and elsewhere hoping something will stick. The chance of success is extremely low, on par with using the government unemployment office. But think of the mess it creates for you in terms of double agency status, all kinds of scam artists getting your personal information, etc. NEVER let this happen and for the same reason don't post your resume on some public job board. Even if nothing comes of it this time think 6 months down the road when some scam artist that has nothing to do with jobs uses it against you. You might as well be posting all your personal information on Facebook.
3. Do not sign or agree to any kind of "exclusive" arrangement. If you find something on your own, even if it just fell in your lap, now they can force you to drop it, get involved (and tick off the employer), or sue you for all you have or ever will have. And...see point #2. It's ok to be exclusive if it's one way (see point #2)...if they find a lead and you don't, it's theirs...give them credit where they deserve it.

Recruiters are a 100% commission business. Many are hard working and honest people with great track records. Others are just plain ruthless to the extreme.


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## eric626 (Jan 5, 2015)

You can use up to 1500 hours of voice data and video wiring towards the CA general electrician certification.


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