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Need A New Career And Like Working With Your Hands? 3 Reasons You Should Consider Becoming An Electrician

13 September 2016

Côme Arnaud

More and more adults today are waving good-bye to careers that they don't find fulfilling and enrolling in a college or trade school to learn the skills needed to land a job that they enjoy. Entering a new line of work is always exciting, but it often also comes with a feeling of uncertainty, especially if the career you are leaving behind offered a good wage and benefits. However, you can feel more confident about your future when you enter a field that pays well and is growing in demand. If you like working with your hands, then consider becoming an electrician. Here are three reasons why you should consider a new career as an electrician if you enjoy working with your hands. 

1. The Demand for Electricians Continues to Grow

When deciding what new career field to enter, the projected increase in the demand for professionals in the industry gives you a good idea how easily you will be able to find a job once you complete the necessary training to learn the trade. The need for new electricians in the workforce is growing at a "much faster than average" pace, which means that it is a great field to enter if you want to be secure that you will be able to put your new skill to good use after you learn it. The median hourly wage of almost 25 dollars an hour is also very respectable. 

2. You Can Choose How You Use Your New Skill

Once you complete the necessary training to become an electrician and become licensed, you don't have to worry about being "stuck" performing a specific type of electrical job that you may not like. Many people think of an electrician and immediately think of someone who installs and repairs electrical wiring in a home or business, but the truth is there are four distinct types of electricians: inside wireman (installs and maintains wiring inside business and factories), outside lineman (maintains electrical lines and wiring that run from power plants to homes and businesses), residential wireman (installs and maintains electrical wiring in homes), and installer technician (installs and maintains low-voltage cabling for internet/computers, telephones, and home theaters).

However, you can also choose to specialize in performing just one or two electrical tasks instead of many. That means that if you decide that you really enjoy one aspect of your new job, such as installing wiring for home theaters, you can choose to only perform that task while on the job and still earn a great living. In fact, electricians who specialize in just one or two electrical tasks often demand an even higher wage due to the advanced expertise that comes along with their extensive experience performing the task. 

3. You Don't Need a Bachelor's Degree to Enter the Field

One obstacle many adults find so challenging to tackle when they are tired of their current careers is the task of going back to college to earn a four-year degree while still working to cover household expenses. Since going to college full time is virtually impossible while working full time, four-year degrees can easily take eight years or longer for working adults to earn. However, no four-year degree is needed to become an electrician; instead, you can attend a short electrician's training program at a trade school like HVAC Technical Institute and then further train on the job (while being paid!) by becoming an electrician's apprentice.

Have you heard that there is a lot of competition to become an apprentice electrician? That is true, but don't let that scare you into thinking you won't be able to obtain an apprenticeship after you complete your electrical training courses and earn your electrician's certificate. The truth is that many electrician's apprenticeship job openings receive many, many applications from people who only have their high school diplomas or Bachelor's degrees in completely unrelated fields; having an electrician certification from a trade school is typically not stated as a requirement of those recruiting the apprentices. However,  recruiters typically strongly prefer candidates who do have this certificate, because it not only shows that you have experience in the field, but also that you have already shown a great commitment to doing everything it takes to begin your new career. In addition, many electrician's trade schools even assist graduates of their programs in finding apprenticeships. 

Leaving behind a job that you dislike, yet is relatively stable, can feel scary, even when you know it is the right decision to make in your life. If you enjoy working with your hands, then becoming an electrician can help you get back to doing what you enjoy on an everyday basis while earning a great income, without you having to set almost a decade's worth of your free time aside to earn a four-year degree by going to college part time. 

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