On becoming an electrician

Hatorade

Hatorade

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Some shit went down today, 10 hours to get 4 walls up and together, partially because they had to cut off the brackets and weld two
of them together. Hard part done though have the very limited access walls up and bolted. The welder had apprentice cleaning up the welds and it clearly got away from him a few times.
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BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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To quote AvE, the secret to beautiful welds? Thick paint.
 
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Borzak

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A "welder" that is making $48k a year is known as a "tacker", not a welder. I know a pipeline welder that paid off his house in 5 years then got married and had kids. Note, married after he paid off the house lol. I know the placed I worked a decade ago their welders that could do high nickel alloy stuff worked 5 days a week in a shop that was partially air conditioned made abov $100k a year. But that's not starting work with 6 months of training. Of course they are drug tested and have near 100% x-ray testing on their welds. Cream to the top kind of a deal.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Yeah I thought quite a few of the salaries he listed were a bit low. Maybe they include apprentices. I talked to a guy who had a mobile welding rig during the bakken oil boom and he said they were so concerned with not having to wait for anyone that they would pay him $200 an hour to sleep in his truck half the day and then jump out and weld for an hour when they were ready for him. Sometimes he would be there for hours just to make one weld and charging his full rate the whole time.

The part about how the drywall and concrete guys love drugs matches my experience. The only reason to do drywall is if you can't pass a drug test and the only reason to do concrete is if you were so drunk on a daily basis that you got fired from doing drywall.
 
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Kajiimagi

Kajiimagi

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BrutulTM said:
Yeah I thought quite a few of the salaries he listed were a bit low. Maybe they include apprentices. I talked to a guy who had a mobile welding rig during the bakken oil boom and he said they were so concerned with not having to wait for anyone that they would pay him $200 an hour to sleep in his truck half the day and then jump out and weld for an hour when they were ready for him. Sometimes he would be there for hours just to make one weld and charging his full rate the whole time.

The part about how the drywall and concrete guys love drugs matches my experience. The only reason to do drywall is if you can't pass a drug test and the only reason to do concrete is if you were so drunk on a daily basis that you got fired from doing drywall.
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The electrical outfit I worked for requires a drug test now. Even Pot is a no-hire and it's legal here. They do a lot of federal work where they still consider it bad.
 
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moonarchia

moonarchia

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Kajiimagi said:
The electrical outfit I worked for requires a drug test now. Even Pot is a no-hire and it's legal here. They do a lot of federal work where they still consider it bad.
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That will probably change with the reclassification.
 
Furry

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moonarchia said:
That will probably change with the reclassification.
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Almost certainly not. Fed bans tons of perfectly legal drugs for employees/contractors that do physical labor or security even if you have a prescription.

My uncle used to be a pipe fitter with a top security clearance that worked in nuclear submarines. I never knew exactly what he made, but his house is 5m dollars and he retired mid 50s, so it had to be something truly obscene. Trades can definitely make crazy money if you find a good niche.
 
Goatface

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My cousin's husband (23) makes $48ish hour as a welder. The company he works for does out of town onsite jobs. He will be on a job for week to a month. If they don't have job, he just stays home and still gets paid.
He seems mildly retarded and is terrible with money, but apparently has a gift welding.
 
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Borzak

Borzak

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Guys that work in the maintenance shop at Exxon are all blue collar workers. Welding, fitting, burning, etc...It's air conditioned and you have a job for life if you don't fail a drug test or punch out a coworker. My friend in school his dad was a boiler maker there and he sent his kid to private school and lived in a nice house. Went to work for Exxon right out of high school, retired from there having worked at the same location. Not bad for blue collar. His son is a welder that has his own truck doing power plant work.

Huge difference in some peoples view of blue collar and others view. Where I was working for a short time 10 years ago when I got sick, the average number of years retention was 30. That included the office and the shop. Shop, welders, fitters, helpers etc...
 
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Hatorade

Hatorade

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Roof done, doors on, squared everything up nicely. Got to do some actual electrical work as well putting the lights in the ceiling. Though they are using high bays which are going to melt as they are surrounded by metal and flush with the glass on top.
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Hatorade

Hatorade

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End of year my boss said he couldn’t afford another raise, sucks but I understood. Yesterday he shows up with a brand new van with 12k in options showing it off with glee.
Old van had zero issues far as I could tell.

IMO I am still being paid less than I deserve(since starting so that has compounded). Boss even said I deserve more during the conversation. Little annoyed.
 
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moonarchia

moonarchia

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Hatorade said:
End of year my boss said he couldn’t afford another raise, sucks but I understood. Yesterday he shows up with a brand new van with 12k in options showing it off with glee.
Old van had zero issues far as I could tell.

IMO I am still being paid less than I deserve(since starting so that has compounded). Boss even said I deserve more during the conversation. Little annoyed.
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Look around at other companies. A boss like that isn't going to make you a priority, so you have to make you the priority.
 
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Kajiimagi

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Hatorade said:
Gonna stick and get my journeyman and then reevaluate. He did give me, a completely green guy a chance to learn.
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Bro. I started green and went on to become one of the qualifiers on the companies electrical license in multiple states. Ran offices in other states , ran jobs in other states and was the guy they called when shit needed to get finished.

Then we moved to Nevada where I had another perspective. I was completely underpaid. Part of the problem was being in the south , which historically didn't pay shit, and the other was not realizing I had a skill set that was a very high commodity.

Are you in a union that requires X number of years to become a journeyman? Because if not that will not magically make you an electrical god. I got a whole $.75 raise when I got my limited electrical license, I went and did it on my own with no one asking me to. Should have realized right then and there it was time to split but oh well.

If you are hemmed in by a trade union I cannot offer any advice as I am not familiar with their rules, and what little I did see didn't make any sense to me. But we all did tell you that if you show up every day you are 100x more valuable than anyone else. You don't owe your boss or your company shit.
 
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Hatorade

Hatorade

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Kajiimagi said:
Bro. I started green and went on to become one of the qualifiers on the companies electrical license in multiple states. Ran offices in other states , ran jobs in other states and was the guy they called when shit needed to get finished.

Then we moved to Nevada where I had another perspective. I was completely underpaid. Part of the problem was being in the south , which historically didn't pay shit, and the other was not realizing I had a skill set that was a very high commodity.

Are you in a union that requires X number of years to become a journeyman? Because if not that will not magically make you an electrical god. I got a whole $.75 raise when I got my limited electrical license, I went and did it on my own with no one asking me to. Should have realized right then and there it was time to split but oh well.

If you are hemmed in by a trade union I cannot offer any advice as I am not familiar with their rules, and what little I did see didn't make any sense to me. But we all did tell you that if you show up every day you are 100x more valuable than anyone else. You don't owe your boss or your company shit.
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Not union no but journeyman will open a bunch of doors vs 3 year apprentice.
 
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