ntk398,
My suggestions would be to consider using BOTH SKILL SETS in your new Career endeavors.
There is a huge benefit to have an Employee, which possesses the abilities to work in the Field, _AND_ understands the Design / Engineering aspects of Projects.
With a few years experience "under your belt", there are greater possibilities of advancement for an Employee with multiple skill sets.
For example, if you are Employed by a "Design - Build" Contractor, having applicable advanced skill sets may offer positions as Project Management, Design Engineering, Project Engineer, and Field Superintendent.
In any Company, advanced skill sets assist one in being an Effective Journeyman / Foreman, as knowledge of the Engineering approaches is understood.
Additionally, Employees with the abilities to interpret & address changes to the preliminary Electrical Designs -vs- As-Built situations / Change Orders / SK's, so as to work cooperatively with "The Office Staff", are Positive assets to the Company.
Abilities to work and consult with the General Contractors' staff, Vendors, Utilities, Building Department staff, and the Client's Representatives (Architect, M,P&S Engineers, Property Management, etc.) on a "Professional" level, add to an Employee's value.
There are many opportunities available within an Electrical Construction firm, so take advantage of any & all education you can get!
Always keep up with education - in any area related (even semi-related) to your Career.
Eventually you will live by this concept:
"The More I Learn, The Less I Know"
This comes from reviewing what your knowledge base was exactly one year prior, then 5 years prior, as compared to knowledge + abilities at present.
With that in mind, forecasting knowledge + abilities in 1 years time, and in 5 years time will make your current base just as minimal as the past 1 & 5 years!
So it becomes appear that the more one learns, one also becomes aware of the vast amount of unknown "stuff" that exists!
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*** Anyhow, back to the Work Experience suggestions. ***
As soon as possible, get yourself out in the Construction realm.
Obtain possible Employment leads from any relevant sources:
i.e. Newspaper Classified Ads, Internet Employment sites, Job Recruiters, IBEW Recruiters, etc.
Also obtain leads for "Cold-Call" to Electrical Contractors.
This means submitting your Resume directly to Contractors whom are not advertising for Employment opportunities.
Compile a Resume, which outlines your Education, and points out the fact that you are newly entering the Construction Electrical Fields.
Submit that Resume to ANY prospective lead possible.
Hopefully you will find work with a Company which will not only Employ you, but give you "Positive Learning Experiences" too.
"Positive Learning Experiences" = learning the _RIGHT_ way to do things in the Trade, as opposed to having to experience the wrong ways to do anything!
Continue with Education on _BOTH_ fronts: Engineering, and Trade-Related.
In addition, if your Computer-Related Applications skills are minimal, plan to improve these skills by either Hands-On work, College courses, or both.
The Applications to gain experience with include:
1: CAD Applications (normally, AutoCAD is a "default" for Construction / Design-Build Companies, whereas Micrstation and SolidWorks are "defaults" for MEP / Arch. Firms).
For AutoCAD, practice using R 2004 or greater (R 2008 if possible).
Become fluent with the basics of the Application, like Scaling, View Ports, XREFs, Blocks, Text manipulation, layers, plotting, etc., then move to the Advanced usage, such as Custom Menus, Scripts, Routines (VBA & AutoLISP), integration with external Apps', etc.
2: Excel:
This Application will rapidly become used >50% of your Design Engineering time.
Become fluent with the entire App' (Application).
3: MS Word:
This App' will be used often for RFIs, and other Texts.
Become fluent with this App's basic + "mid-advanced" features.
4: PDF Generating & Viewing App's (default = Adobe):
Many Specifications, Cut-Sheets, and similar documents will be available as .PDFs.
Plan Sets will normally be "Plotted as PDFs", for submission to Design Team Members.
5: The Operating System: Typically Windows XP; learn the more advance operations and usage of the Operating System.
6: File / Server + E-mail Applications:
Ability to use the Client Application + resources, per the LAN of an Office, is very important.
Also, knowledge of a Client E-mail Application is necessary for inter-Office E-mail, and for submissions + retrieval of outer-Office E-mail messages (typically to/from Clients) .
The two most common Client Apps' would be:
* MS Outlook,
* Novell Groupwise
7: Browsers:
"More Than Basic" usage is necessary, as there will be needs to access files from many online resources.
Understanding how to perform these techniques is necessary:
*Accessing FTP Sites, for Downloads & Uploads.
* Obtaining, Verifying and Downloading of Specifications, Cut-Sheets, etc.
8: Aux. Engineering Apps:
A Lighting Design Application, called "Visual" (Freeware produced by Lithonia Lighting), is one example.
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For the In-Field related studies, Code knowledge is an absolute requirement.
You do not have to memorize the Code Book verbatim, but how to navigate it and apply an Article is of most importance.
Additional Field knowledge would include:
* Material usage, applications, nomenclature, etc.,
* Systems identification and standards,
* Common Trade terms,
* Basic Circuitry,
* Typical mounting heights,
* Capacity limitations of Boxes, Conduits, etc.,
* Conduit Bending,
* Plan Set interpretation (understanding how to read and follow a Plan Set),
* Safety,
* Records of As-Built conditions,
* Whom has Authority & how to deal with everyone on a Jobsite,
* Inspections: Building Department, Design Teams, Q.C. staff, and by the Foreman,
* Tools: Usage, nomenclature, etc.
I should stop here, as the message is running extra long!
Feel free to reply as needed.
Good luck!
Scott
