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Also, an electrician just doesn't pop into existence. You have to go through years of apprenticeship and union dues payments.
by chasd00 3mo ago
Also, an electrician just doesn't pop into existence. You have to go through years of apprenticeship and union dues payments.
- ceroxylon 3mo agoVery true, it is difficult to even find an opening for the training to start the process, the schools are limited and have short enrollment windows that are fiercely competitive (at least in California).
- bespokedevelopr 3mo agoI applied for an apprenticeship several years ago when I was testing the waters to rotate out of tech after covid. Tested into the highest percentile, had previous high voltage experience with OEMs, a mech eng degree, still ended up like 200 people deep in the queue. That was the end of that interest. You basically have to be friends or family with someone to get into IBEW.
- tedmiston 3mo agothis is a bizarre timeline of reality where an ME degree gets you waitlisted for an electrician apprenticeship
- bespokedevelopr 3mo agoIn the end I'm happy it turned out the way it did. I've had some great experiences since and stayed in tech. Plus that freed up a slot for one of the many early 20s kids that were trying to get in.
- axus 3mo ago"A Soviet engineer needs some plumbing done in his apartment..." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487885 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487885
- 8note 3mo agomechanical is pretty famously bad at things that dont include gears
- nekooooo 3mo agoyeah. it's like a guild. hired someone to install my ev charger on an app who had lots of horror stories about apprenticeship.
- astura 3mo agoWhen my (very smart) brother applied to be an apprentice electrician the waiting list was more than a decade long, lol. He ended up going to college instead (this was like ~15 years ago).
- bandrami 3mo agoI mean, go to an IBEW hall in a busy area and talk to the shop steward; he can probably start you tomorrow
- mike_bob 3mo agoI was in the IBEW when I was doing basic tech support for HawaiianTel 15 years ago... making $15/hr, union dues were nothing even at that wage and they rarely ever go up. This cry of "OMG dues suck" is so stupid for what you get in return. But go ahead and buy more into republican propaganda.
- SirHackalot 3mo ago[flagged]
- nekusar 3mo agoI wish I could follow people on HN. Because this is worth a follow: "For the Epsteinth time, class unity is only for the upper classes"
- asats 3mo ago[flagged]
- SirHackalot 3mo agoHarrumph I haven’t been on Reddit in ages, if that helps :)
- therein 3mo agoReddit: Come because we made sure you can't see the comments without logging in, leave because it sucks.
- Cthulhu_ 3mo agoI bet someone can hack up a browser addon to generate predictable comments to circumvent this. e.g. "this", "I also choose this guy's wife", movie quote chains, etc. Extend to Youtube with fake sob stories and born in the wrong generation comments.
- cucumber3732842 3mo ago[flagged]
- akersten 3mo agoYeah, who needs practical experience anyway? Dang gubment
- cucumber3732842 3mo ago[flagged]
- bdangubic 3mo agoalways damn government getting in the way of random stranger being able to come to your house and do some electrity…
- icehawk 3mo agoAs a guy who does HVAC as a hobby, this post is hilarious, nobody should take it seriously. I can see exactly where the practical experience would be invaluable.
- Moto7451 3mo agoPrecisely. As someone who has done work in my home that has passed inspection, there’s a lot more to it than just taking a test. It’s the “how things are supposed to work” meets “how am I going to actually make this work” X factor that takes time and ultimately what people pay for.
- AnthonyMouse 3mo agoIt's not a matter of practical experience, it's a matter of gatekeeping. The way an apprenticeship works is that the apprentice does the work, then the contractor signs off on it, then the government inspector signs off on it. This obviously makes no sense, right? If the apprentice does work that won't pass inspection then it won't pass inspection regardless of whether an existing contractor looks at it first, so no one is being protected from anything by that. If they do work that will pass inspection then what non-protectionist purpose is there in forcing them to have a competing existing contractor sign off on it before they can have it inspected for real? In theory the competing contractor could be supervising the apprentice while they're doing the work instead of giving them some work to do and then leaving them to it while they do some other work themselves or take a long lunch, but there is nothing to enforce that happening and therefore the expectation that it reliably does is a fictional academic reality inconsistent with real incentives.