# What avenues are there for growth?



## u2slow (Jan 2, 2014)

In my experience, service guys working on their own get foreman rate too. Running a crew wasn't really pushed on me, nor did I have an interest in. I did whatever was served up for me for the first 3 years.

Add something like a first aid ticket and you could suddenly get dropped into a jobsite of stuff you've never seen before. For me, that was substation work. Was really cool, but by then I was a journeyman and the itch to set out on my own as a contractor was too great. 

Lots of paths and different work. This trade is not all pulling wire and splicing receptacles.


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## aidonius (Jul 10, 2018)

I would focus on doing your hours as an apprentice and try and get a variety of experiences under your belt. Some companies will try and get you to do the thing you are best at because it's most efficient for them so sometimes you need to move on. In my experience it's also good to move around companies because each company has a somewhat different way of doing things for better or for worse. When I was in school they told us that you will learn from each person/place and figure out what you like/dislike about each and find out how you like to do things. This is something you only learn with experience.

Before I became a journeyman I also wondered about what I would do once I passed the exam and I looked and asked around but personally it's best to figure things out once you get there. The trade can take you places you never would have imagined. I know it's not what you are asking and I do think there is a lot of great info to be found on this site but I think one of the best ways to figure out what you can do later on is to take it day by day. There are so many doors that open once you get your ticket that you will only be able to see or access once you have it or that only make sense with the experience you have gained along the way.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

I don't care much for construction. I get bored easily, so troubleshooting and service work suit me better. Everyone has their likes and dislikes. In order to be good at either troubleshooting or service, knowing how something is put together is important too. There is so much out there to choose from. If you aren't happy with this, maybe talk with the plumbers or hvac people on jobsites. There are other trades too and some of this crosses over to ours, heating and air conditioning for instance. Some of these systems get quite complicated and the controls portion can be elaborate. Communications and networking cabling and systems as well as fire alarm and security are two more. Don't be afraid to ask people if they have time to talk to ask about what they do and how did they end up there.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Not everyone has the aptitude or the interest for service work. I can surely tell you that working service as a young journeyman kept me busy when the construction side was dead. It also catapulted my exposure to facets of the trade most electricians don't know about or would never have exposure to.


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## SWDweller (Dec 9, 2020)

3 months and you want to know whats next? After 50 years in the trade I find your attitude disturbing. I am reasonably certain you do not know much at all right now.
I stumbled around in construction for a couple of decades honing my skills and making a living.
In time I found motor controls and communication. I was fortunate to be in controls when there were 8-10 communication protocols before Ethernet took over the lions share of the communication work.

You are only limited by the time and effort you invest in yourself and your career. The galaxy is your play ground if you choose to learn.


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## stamaster21 (7 mo ago)

nrp3 said:


> I don't care much for construction. I get bored easily, so troubleshooting and service work suit me better. Everyone has their likes and dislikes. In order to be good at either troubleshooting or service, knowing how something is put together is important too. There is so much out there to choose from. If you aren't happy with this, maybe talk with the plumbers or hvac people on jobsites. There are other trades too and some of this crosses over to ours, heating and air conditioning for instance. Some of these systems get quite complicated and the controls portion can be elaborate. Communications and networking cabling and systems as well as fire alarm and security are two more. Don't be afraid to ask people if they have time to talk to ask about what they do and how did they end up there.


I agree 100 percent alot of difference choices.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

At that age, having a completely defined plan of how your life will be laid out is a lot to ask. We don't all end up where we thought we'd be. Not necessarily a bad thing.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

nrp3 said:


> At that age, having a completely defined plan of how your life will be laid out is a lot to ask. We don't all end up where we thought we'd be. Not necessarily a bad thing.


Best advice I got was at 20. My best friends mom told me the average adult would make at least 3-4 career changes over the course of their life. She said, go with something that interests you and see where it takes you.


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## wiz1997 (Mar 30, 2021)

Don't get in too much of a hurry.

If you do manage to get into a local, you'll have four or five years of apprenticeship to work through.

During that time, hopefully, you'll get to see a few different aspect of electrical work.

I had the opportunity to see every aspect of high rise office buildings.

Found what I really liked was installing fire alarm systems and motor controls.

At that time most journeyman wanted nothing to do with either of those system, they were content to run conduit, pull wire, hang light fixtures and jerk bx in lease spaces.

I was a forth year apprentice doing all the wire terminations after someone else ran the conduit and pulled the wires I asked for.

I eventually got out of construction, went into maintenance, went back to school, received an Associates Degree in Electrical Technology, focusing on motor controls, estimating and PLC programming, during ten years of that time I was teaching classes electrical continuing education night classes at a local college.

I've worked in different types of bottling plants, automotive products, household cleaning products and water bottling.

Now I'm a Electro-mechanical Technician in a food processing plant.

Get your apprenticeship done and your journeyman's license then decide what's next.

The journeyman's license opens a bunch of doors.

22 months until retirement at 66.5 years old.

The electrical trade has been very good to me.


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