# How to swich companies?



## Alec thenice (May 31, 2019)

Im at a company right now as an "electrician" where I am being put in situations I am uncomfortable with regularly. I have worked here a month. I dont mind doing "helper" things, I am young and in good shape. I do mind doing dangerous things for low pay and no company health insurance when I do not feel that I can count on my inebriated co-worker for first aide attention. While on the job another work crew suggested I go to a more reputable contractor as he noticed what I was describing also. My interview on friday after work was positive and set contractor seems to be interested in taking on more helpers and apprentices. In this economy I know there is no reason to be at a bad company at such an entry level position, in addition to knowing I have been accepted into the IBEW (I dont know when work will begin). In summary I want to leave my current company because I feel the risk to my personal saftey and personal freedom are put at risk. How should I proceed in order to maintain my reputation as a professional and good tradesman? (Rip on me if you think im young and dont know what I've got, im really just looking for advice)


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

If you are definitely accepted into the union, who cares how you leave.

If what you are doing is truly unsafe, just tell them that you won't be back. The union or union contractors aren't going to know anything about it, or care if they do.

While I think giving 2 weeks notice is a good thing, if you are in danger then it is best not to. And remember, that contractor most likely wouldn't give you 2 weeks notice, he would lay you off the exact day that it suits him best.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Step out the back Jack,
Make a new plan Stan, 
Hop on the bus Gus,
Don't need to be coy Roy just get yourself free, 
Don't need to discuss much,
Just get your self free.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

If somebody doesn’t hire you simply because you quit a previous job over safety concerns, you don’t want to work for him anyway.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Just be creative on how you word the reason you left the current company.

Nobody wants to hire someone who says they quit their last job because the boss was an asshole. There's a 50/50 chance the boss was not the problem.

How you word "Dangerous working conditions with drunk oversight" is up to you. I"m not saying I have your answer. 

Good luck.


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

macmikeman said:


> Step out the back Jack,
> Make a new plan Stan,
> Hop on the bus Gus,
> Don't need to be coy Roy just get yourself free,
> ...


WOW! You should write a song!


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

LARMGUY said:


> WOW! You should write a song!



I can muck up anything there is if I put my mind to it.............:biggrin:


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

Alec thenice said:


> In summary I want to leave my current company because I feel the risk to my personal saftey and personal freedom are put at risk. How should I proceed in order to maintain my reputation as a professional and good tradesman? (Rip on me if you think im young and dont know what I've got, im really just looking for advice)


I wouldn't say that in a interview. 

Anytime you use the word personal that is a red flag.
You could be implying that voltage higher than 24vdc would be a risk to your personal safety and working Sundays goes against your personal freedoms. Also admitting that you worked at a un-safe company can also come back to bite you as they will consider that you may have picked up bad habits. 

Try to keep to the positives. Bitching about the company you use to work for is never a good idea. Remember the person you are replacing may have said some nasty things on the way out and that's still fresh in there memory. 

As for handing in your notice just keep it short and sweet. They may ask you for a exit interview where you can vent your grievances but don't expect nothing to come from it. 

If you have any friends of friends who do HR now is the time to pull favors and get some practice.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Alec thenice said:


> I do mind doing dangerous things for low pay and no company health insurance )



So what is your Dollar amount required for doing dangerous things?


Asking for a friend..lain:


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

I have burned more bridges that I can count on one hand. It has never hurt any new employment.
Sometimes I felt like they never even checked my previous employers or references.


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## HertzHound (Jan 22, 2019)

I remember the first time I quit. Kinda felt obligated to him for awhile because he gave me a start. It was a great company to start with, just no real future. Father and son’s that really cared about their reputation, so they did real quality work. One son was fantastic. Had me looking up code questions while driving to the jobs. Always teaching me. 

They always had one other mechanic working for them. That person changed a few times while I was there. The last one really opened my eyes. He eventually got me a job with my second employer. 

I hadn’t had a raise for the two years I worked for them. I was making minimum wage. $3.35 an hour. Had a night job also. I guess I was developing a bit of an attitude. The boss gave me a twenty five cents raise. Said he would give me another twenty five cents if I lost the attitude that Jay had given me. Jay had already quit and went back to an industrial contractor he’d had previously worked for. Jay came to my night job and offered me a job with his employer. I went in on Monday and talked to my boss. He saw the look on my face when I asked to talk to him as I closed the door. He told me to sit. Told him I was quitting. He asked me when. I told him as soon as I get back up from my chair.

I didn’t go fo my license fo quite a while even though I was eligible. I knew he would never sign off on my time. I didn’t use the first two employers as proof of my experience for my license.


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## TGGT (Oct 28, 2012)

2 weeks notice in construction? Why bother? Just quit.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

If you want to hedge about the two weeks notice. 

Tell them you got another offer that you could not refuse. As an apprentice it's unlikely they will counter. If they insist on countering, ask for a ridiculous raise to stay. They will shut up. 

Tell them you'd like to leave immediately and ask if they can do without the usual two week notice. As an apprentice you are not likely indispensible, they'll likely let you go. If they can't, tell them you're going to need some time to take calls, fill out paperwork, and possibly come in late a couple days. They will probably tell you to get lost. If they don't, call in sick every day for two weeks. 

Employers will find this infuriating to hear but really, this is the way of the world, employers lay you off on the spot most of the time, they know if they told you two weeks in advance you'd be gone before they were done with you. Employers must not run their businesses that people are indispensable.


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## FishinElectrcian (Jul 18, 2019)

A lot of times if you give two weeks notice they will tell you just to leave. No sense having a guy around who's already leaving, possibly dissatisfied, running around lowering morale, stealing stuff or maliciously damaging equipment. Not that you might do that.... Just saying


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## FishinElectrcian (Jul 18, 2019)

HertzHound said:


> I remember the first time I quit. Kinda felt obligated to him for awhile because he gave me a start. It was a great company to start with, just no real future.
> ....
> 
> I hadnâ€™️t had a raise for the two years I worked for them. I was making minimum wage. $3.35 an hour. Had a night job also. I guess I was developing a bit of an attitude. The boss gave me a twenty five cents raise. Said he would give me another twenty five cents if I lost the attitude that Jay had given me.


First hard quit I had, I got hired by a friend of the family to be their controls guy, PLC's and conventional I had just about finished my 2 year controls course and already had an active apprenticeship with 1.5 yrs+ experience. Lived with the boss's parents when I moved to Alberta. Nice folks I was plenty loyal but there was an attitude that the tradesmen were somewhat replaceable. 

I was the cheapest guy in the Fab shop, besides my control work, I'd do anything, sharpen drill bits, cut/ grind, fabricate, hot shot delivery, plumbing, testing and commissioning, forklift driving on the tough loads... I was even a field guy, I'd go out and fix our skids, replace or rebuild water pumps and compressors, pneumatic or electric. I started spending a lot of time outta town for $14.77 an hour, field rate no OT, ($13 in shop) they charged me out at $95/hr, I booked over 50hrs a week easy, I think my record was 135 in two weeks..Believing I was irreplaceable (haha) I asked for a raise, they said I was still just a first year (with a 20 month diploma). 

So I says fine, they let me write my way from a first to fourth year, took me 3 weeks. After I got done they offered me another 50 cents, maybe a buck... I warned them I could make $16 anywhere else.. So I gave em two weeks notice and worked like a bastard to try and get them ahead. 

Point to the long story is, that's the last time I cared that much or had that good a relationship with my employer. Been a few I've worked for as a subcontractor and come back occasionally.


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## Martine (Jan 26, 2018)

really confused as to how you were hired on as an electrician with absolutely no training


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Martine said:


> really confused as to how you were hired on as an electrician with absolutely no training


'merica!


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

Martine said:


> really confused as to how you were hired on as an electrician with absolutely no training


They could pay me enough as a mechanic so they gave me electricians pay. Then the SOB's expected me to do electrical work. 25 years later im still trying to deiced what i want to do when i grow up. Plumbing looks like fun.


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## HertzHound (Jan 22, 2019)

Martine said:


> really confused as to how you were hired on as an electrician with absolutely no training


That’s why I still like to use the term mechanic and helpers. The help wanted adds usually ask for helpers with with X amount years experience and mechanics with 5+ years experience. To refer to someone as an apprentice or journeyman they would have to have been enrolled in an apprenticeship or finished apprenticeship and passed a test. Those are not a requirement in the state I live in. 

In NJ it used to be if you said you were a journeyman, you were in the Union and did an apprenticeship . In NJ the term Journeyman is unheard of in the Non-Union sector. I guess that’s changing. Maybe not because of enrollment in apprenticeships, but because it sounds better? The term Electrician would be more appropriate. 

I do not have a state journeyman license. I have a state electrical contractors license and I have a journeyman card through my local.


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## FishinElectrcian (Jul 18, 2019)

America **** yeah!!!

And I do way too much plumbing these days too.... It's kinda fun to help people out but plumbers get $15+ hr more than sparky here.. But if someones got a problem like a busted pressure tank I tell em "I'm smart enough to put it together the way it was, but not smart enough to know if it was wrong in the first place"


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## Martine (Jan 26, 2018)

America is a complicated place hahaha


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## Rora (Jan 31, 2017)

Companies who step on safety for the sake of getting somewhere are likely to have deeper issues with their business practices, people leaving is just a symptom. It sucks if you have to be an example of such consequences, but you should not have to suffer any responsibility as long as your safety concerns are reasonable.

It does seem like it would be tricky to avoid drama if you are going to admit the real reason for leaving to either old or new company. If you must, don't discuss the issue emotionally, be as calm and impersonal as you can about it. It needs to be clear this is about differences over business, not personal issues... despite the fact that it becomes a very personal issue to employees of these companies, leaving is a result of their decisions, not yours.

If you must take a personal bent to it, you want to express that a professional such as yourself can't execute the work correctly considering safety is a requirement in the definition of "work executed correctly". When talking with the new employer, it would help if you knew of any other examples of people leaving or expressing concerns.

Ultimately, I would try to avoid the whole subject. For you it's about greener pastures... no reason to fall on your sword over something you have no stake in.


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## Wardenclyffe (Jan 11, 2019)

https://statelaws.findlaw.com/employment-laws/whistleblower-laws.html

A "whistleblower" is an employee who reports a violation of the law by his or her employer. Most states (and the federal government) have laws protecting whistleblowers from retaliation for filing a claim or reporting a violation. Choose a link from the list below for state-specific whistleblower laws, including prohibited employer activities and remedies for violations.


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## Alec thenice (May 31, 2019)

MikeFL said:


> Martine said:
> 
> 
> > really confused as to how you were hired on as an electrician with absolutely no training
> ...


 you can say that again lol. I now have an apprenticeship with a company I like.


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## Alec thenice (May 31, 2019)

Alec thenice said:


> MikeFL said:
> 
> 
> > Martine said:
> ...


 In case anyone was curious as to how things went down, I just found an apprenticeship oppertunity and told them thank you for giving me work but I am interested in getting certified.


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## Fist of lightning (Aug 15, 2019)

John Valdes said:


> I have burned more bridges that I can count on one hand. It has never hurt any new employment.
> Sometimes I felt like they never even checked my previous employers or references.


Deff my experience aswell when I was Non union I used to jump ship after a year or so ,and tell my next employer I had more experience and was getting paid a few bucks more than I was and I would ask if the new contractor could match that amount this worked for years .

No one ever checked my previous employers and most of them I just left with no notice or I got into disputes over business practices and deff burned brides but didn’t really care , their is plenty of work out their and if your good you have your pickings .

No one ever checked


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## Fist of lightning (Aug 15, 2019)

HertzHound said:


> I remember the first time I quit. Kinda felt obligated to him for awhile because he gave me a start. It was a great company to start with, just no real future. Father and sonâ€™️s that really cared about their reputation, so they did real quality work. One son was fantastic. Had me looking up code questions while driving to the jobs. Always teaching me.
> 
> They always had one other mechanic working for them. That person changed a few times while I was there. The last one really opened my eyes. He eventually got me a job with my second employer.
> 
> ...


When I was working in the non union sector in north nj , it was like the Wild Wild West their is no mandatory resisterd apprentiship for the non union “ helpers “ . With loged hours and training .

So you had guys calling them selves 
Journey men after 3 years Bc they could bend pipe and work on their own .

Or guys runing wrk as Forman after 4 years . And the pay scale was so night and day some guys runing wrk for 20 bucks while some “ journeyman” were at 30 ph their was no 
Set structure or criteria to go of off .

And no real way on telling how much training or experience a guy had .

I think the states that have the non union sector has to be registered with hours documented and training benefits all
Workers . 

One of the reasons why I like the Union Bc of the structural training and wages


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