Someguy,
I have a bachelors in EE. While in school for the degree, I worked summers for an electrical contractor. My intention was to augment my book learning with exposure to some real world hardware.
Over the next five years, I figured out that electrical contracting and hands-on-the-tools as a working Master Electrician had the mix that makes me a happy person.
Note: being licensed as an electrician (journeyman or master) is a completely seperate thing from being licensed as an electrical contractor.
In Minnesota, a 4-year degree (or more), in EE is an automatic pass card to get permission to take the Master License exam. The "permission to take the test" is the hard thing to get, as a rule. The more common route is through 8000 hours of apprenticeship, and a minimum of 2000 hours as a journeyman, all hours certified by notarized statements from employers. The test is 1/3 theory, 1/3 code, 1/3 practical experience. This is not a trivial test. You will probably do fine with the theory, it's the other two sections that provide the challenge.
Here's the core. In Minnesota, the Master is the one who is licensed to plan and layout. The electrical contractor license, by itself, does not allow the holder to work as a Master, or a journeyman, or an apprentice.
Editted for this PS:
If you purchase the Electrical Contractors license, and, in the process, set up a company where you hire a Master Electrician to satisfy the requirement for being an Electrical Contractor, you can apprentice in your own company, under your employed Master.
[This message has been edited by ElectricAL (edited 12-30-2002).]
