As of now, and things do change, but very, very slowly. There is only Apprenticeship through any JATC (Union), and a handfull of other (Merit) Apprenticeships, and these "Approved Shools".
http://www.dir.ca.gov/das/listofapprovedschools.html Dare I say it, if your school is not on the list, or actively persuring getting on it, you may be wasting your time. You had better check with them about thier status on that.
To actually work: You need to be "Enrolled" in either an approved Appprenticeship Program. Or in an Approved School. And "Registered" with the state DIR/DAS as an "Electrician Trainee".
http://www.dir.ca.gov/DAS/ElectricalTrainee.htm This law has been a personal pet peev of mine, and a few other members here at ECN for the last few years. IMO it has been mis-managed from the get go, and dont expect it to get any better in the near future.
For those of you who don't know this law was only implemented at the beginning of this year. And has eleiminated the "Casual Apprenticeship" of the past, where you could just get a job and work. (Which might have been a good thing...) Now, only "Approved Programs" of State mandated training are allowed, and I'm not sure they will be able to meet the demand in the near future. Classes are turning people away and closed enrolements. And Contractors are having people leave the trade, with fewer replacemnts
available to them down the road in site.
For that matter, many of us don't know how we will maintain our own Certifications with the mandated "Continuing Edjucation" from "Approved" sources. They don't seem to exist yet....
So to answer your questions kojunho, you need to make sure you are in an "approved" program, then you can get a job, and then you can gain experiance. You may be able to do all of them at the same time if you play your cards right, but be advised you are entering the Trade in a very turbulent State right now....
