Feeling screen-weary lately? Been thinking how terrific it would be if you could bring tangible projects to life with just a flick of a switch? Well, you’d be in for a thrill if you chose a career as an electrician! Here are different career options for an electrician Sure, there are risks (which we’ll chat about), but there’s a colossal universe of opportunities for those inclined toward the electric! So, say goodbye to your desk job and get ready to amp up your future with these eight shockingly exciting career paths.
Now, when we speak of electricians, it’s not just a one-size-fits-all kind of job. There’s actually a lot more variety to it, but we can broadly group it into two categories – experience and specialization.
Speaking of experience levels, there are two rungs on this ladder:
Apprentice Electrician
This is where you start. As an apprentice, you’ll be shadowing a licensed electrician, learning and absorbing knowledge and skills through hands-on work and classroom sessions. Think of it as attending an electrician school while bagging a good internship that pays!
Licensed Electrician
Once you’ve aced your training as an apprentice and passed your exams, you graduate to the status of a licensed electrician. This means you can fly solo, take control, and handle a broader range of electrical projects. Then, we also have specializations. Although you can bag your electrician license and then pick a specialty, many prefer to focus on a particular area right from the start. Here’s a quick heads-up on a couple of sought-after specializations:
Residential Electrician
These are your knights in shining armor when you need anything from a quick fix of the light switch at your place to a complete rewiring of your kitchen.
Commercial Electrician
These lads handle electrical concerns in larger structures like offices, educational institutions, and factories, usually dealing with more intricate systems and stringent safety rules.
Types of Career Options for an Electrician
Puzzled about which route to take in your sparky career? Let’s dive into the various pathways for electricians, and maybe you’ll find something that just lights up your bulbs! Remember, there are two main areas: job experience and specialization. So, take a gander at these options and see what might jolt your interests:
AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICIAN
Fancy fast-moving, rumbling automobiles? Well, you could specialize in hammering out the wiring systems of these beautiful beasts!
You might be focusing on the vehicle’s lighting, fuel injection, anti-lock brakes, or the air conditioning system. To swerve into this field, you’ve got to become a pro at vehicle diagnostics first.
COMMERCIAL ELECTRICIAN
Are sky-touching high-rises and commercial spaces more your style? As a commercial electrician, you’ll be navigating bigger buildings like offices, hospitals, and retail stores, handling the installation, upkeep, and repairs of their wiring systems.
Just remember, everything has to be safely on point. To get your foot into this door, a commercial setup apprenticeship would be your best bet.
INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICIAN
Maybe you could be attracted to the heavy-lifting industrial scene. These sparkies handle the electrical needs of power plants, factories, or mines and their big-boy machinery. But before you hop on, remember to start with an apprenticeship tutelage from an experienced industrial veteran.
INSTALLATION ELECTRICIAN
If setting up electrical contraptions sounds like your cup of tea, how about becoming an installation electrician? Your gigs could range from residential spots to bustling commercial areas or even boomtown construction sites.
MAINTENANCE ELECTRICIAN
How about the savior-of-the-day job as a maintenance electrician? These superheroes troubleshoot and make sure safety is top notch in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. This one requires a license for you to work solo.
RESIDENTIAL ELECTRICIAN
Home is where the heart is, and as a residential electrician, your job could make plenty of hearts happy. You’ll install, troubleshoot, maintain, and upgrade electrical systems in homes. Formal classroom instruction, practical apprenticeship, and successful certification tests are the way to land this job.
SOLAR PANEL ELECTRICIAN
With the climate change buzz, solar panel electricians are becoming quite the hot property! Although solar panels are reliable, they do need some TLC in the form of maintenance and repair. If you pick this vibrant field, you’ll have to scout for the sunniest spots to place these panels.
WIND TURBINE ELECTRICIAN
Still not feeling the voltage? How about taking it to new heights as a wind turbine electrician? Assembling, maintaining, repairing, or replacing components of this clean energy source could be your calling. Brace yourself, though. This job might literally take you climbing hundreds of feet above the ground.
Certifications to Get an Electrician Career
Okay mates, let’s have a natter about the types of electrician licenses and certifications, eh? So Ontario has two big players; the Construction and Maintenance (C&M) 309A license and the Industrial Electrician 442A license. The C&M peeps have it cool ’cause they get their fingers in all the pies – residential, commercial, and industrial.
Getting an electrical certification ain’t just, boom, straightforward, you know? It’s all sorta tiered. Check this out:
APPRENTICE ELECTRICIAN
Wanna be a sparky, you got to sidle in as an apprentice. Got a high school diploma or something the same? If yes, great! We recommend nailing a pre-apprenticeship training program before you jump onto the ‘earn while you learn’ train. This program will help you get a hang of safety best practices, theory, prints, and installation methods actually doing it hands-on, you see?
Then follows hundreds of hours of classroom and on-the-job training. It’s around four years in total, depending on where you live in Canada. Once you’ve bumped up this hurdle, you’re cool to apply for an apprenticeship under a licensed electrician.
JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN
In Canada, all it takes is putting four years of your apprenticeship behind and clocking in about 6,000 hours of technical training to become a certified journeyman electrician. Oh, and don’t forget a neat score on all the required exams, of course! Once you’re a journeyman, you’re cooking with gas. You can work solo or get yourself hired by a firm or organization.
RED SEAL TICKETED (MASTER) ELECTRICIAN
Finally, the creme de la creme! Red Seal certification is like your VIP pass – a nod to your stellar skills and knowledge in the trade. It’s like the gold standard in Canada for electricians and gives you the freedom to work anywhere across the country. For this level, you’ve got to complete your four-year apprenticeship, ace your journeyman requirements, and pass the Red Seal Inter-Provincial (IP) Exam.
Now, while we’re on the topic of home repairs and all, let’s remind ourselves that getting our pipes and faucets fixed should be left to the pros too! For all electrical conundrums, look no further than 24/7 Emergency Electrician. We’re fast, professional, and always at your service anytime, anywhere.
