ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area What motivated you to be an Electrician

Started with my Dad at a young age.

Went full time after High School.

Things like this forum, studying theories, new types of systems and equipment, designing / engineering, and building stuff, are what makes it an interesting career.

Scott. s.e.t.

I'm also one of those kids who wanted to know how everything works. i found out that most things could be dismantled and then discover how they work.
Electricity, however was a different story. You just can't see electricity. You have to understand it. That's what intrigued me most about electricity.
I used to repair the blown fuses at the age of 7, since nobody else wanted to touch it. There were different wires for different amperage which had to be twisted around a "fuse".
Later on in life I worked in many different domeins (not electricity). I was still always THE repair man at home, family and friends. I repaired washing machines, hifi's, videos. Well, I don't know yet of a machine which I did not repaire (or try).

Anyway, finally I decide to work with what I like most. So I enrolled for a course of 3 years. The 1st year I skipped by doing a test. I , therefore did 2 years and out of 25 students I was the only one that passed. The reason for that being that for the 2nd year I had a Engineer as a teacher and he insisted on teaching us Engineer studies on top of the second year! All the other students were completely lost and I loved it!
Now I'm a qualified electrician which loves his job. I try to learn each day more. Knowing different type of systems, material, tools. It's all fascinating. Staying up to date, and of course chatting with you all!

My Dad was probably my biggest influence. I remember looking at a brochure that listed many of the jobs in the Navy. My Dad said, "If I had a choice, I would do this (as he pointed to a description of Electrician's Mate)." I shot back, "Why would you do that?" He spouted, "Because I have a good job, but I don't have a trade, and if I lost my job, I couldn't find another one that would pay what this one does." He continued, "My Dad was a heavy equipment operator, and when he took me out on his jobs, I noticed the electricians." I replied, "Yes sir, you noticed the electricians?!" He resounded, "It's the most respected trade on the job. They're the first to arrive, and the last to leave every project."
Well, he was right. I did my 4 in the Navy, and went through the union aprenticeship when I got out. I've noticed over the short 12 years that I've been in the trade, that everybody gives the electricians a hard time, but nobody really wants to do what we do. I can't count the number of times I've heard, "Man, I'm deathly afraid of electricity." I sit there and grin. The GC's are scared of us because they don't know what the heck we do.
One thing is for sure. When something goes wrong, or a piece of equipment breaks, who do they call? Darn right.....an electrician.
I'm not always happy with my choice to be an electrician, but I know I made a good choice. I will tell anyone. If you don't know what you want with your life, become an electrician. There are so many directions that can be taken from this trade. The sky is the limit.

Sprouting my wings,
Doc

You all have some inspired stories. Mine was a simple choice. I hated university and anything to do with it. I only started to enjoy anything involved with studying when I hit my apprenticeship. Best friends dad was manager of huge electrical company. He gave me the chance and I loved it. I was making a fist full of money while my other friends farted around in university. Now I run huge commercial jobs and love the responsibility. Could never picture myself sitting in a chair in a suit. Man I hate f*&^^N suits. Love puttin on the jeans and t shirt and going to work with the boys. Thank god my friends dad didn't work for a plumbing company.

Well, I started it all, I suppose that I better,state my case.
I started my Electrical Training rather late,as I left High School at the age of 18,and went straight into the New Zealand Fire Service as a Paid Fire-Fighter, I got the Bug, when I found myself disconnecting various circuits for the Crews at fire-calls,as no-one was willing to do this.
Reality hit home, a few years later, when I recieved 3rd Degree burns in a Fish and Chip Shop fire, when the vat of oil exploded, I was in hospital for months, but I thought, it would be good to use some of my experience,as an apprentice Electrician,
I got a hold of the local firms, and only the local Power Board, would hire me, because of my injuires.
But, they trained me up to the person that I am now,an Electrical Technician, which encompasses Electrical wiring, Faults Work,
a certain amount of Line work and Sub- Station Work.
So all in all, I won in the end, how many Electrician's have this range of work?,
and I would also agree with Elektrikguy, I love working outdoors, cannot stand being cooped up.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 10-24-2002).]

I guess I was hungry. Yup I was motivated by the lure of the breakfast sandwich. I was a young 9th grader on the road to nowhere. I had a friend that started trade school and he told me how you would get break time and go to the coffe shop across the street. Sounded good to me. I wanted to enroll in carpentry but it was more furniture making than house building so I figured I'd go hang out with my friend in the electrical shop. And the rest is history. Out of the 25 budding electricians only four of us stuck with it. My friend was not one of them, he is now a plumber!

I was always interested in things electric - TV, radio, tubes, insulators, fuse boxes, etc.
Electricians were people that I was impressed with - not doctors,lawyers or Indian chiefs. I couldn't picture myself doing those types of things. I was and still am interested in other careers but this is the one I ended up with and I like it. I just wish that I had gone on my own sooner.
I also loved to watch Barney (Greg Morris) on "Mission Impossible". He was always making these mysterious black-box type devices that always worked as he had planned. He was probably my biggest influence.
Don

Indian Chief????

Looking in my Fathers "Ham Shack"when I was 7 years old,thinking that it would be something if I knew how this stuff worked.
Got my BSEE,and my PE ,electronics flight officer for 2 years in the Army ,designed and built microwave/millimeterwave receivers and transmitters for 36 years then decided to work on the power end ,got my electrical contractors license.This has been a fun ride.
Chris

I lived in an area that didn't even have power until I was 15 yrs old, but we had a battery powered radio from the time I was about 5.
Once I realized that there wasn't a guy inside it, I was obsessed with learning how it worked. Started by getting books at the village library and fooling around with the radio batteries after they were too run down to operate the radio.
I remember trying out series and parallel hookups and winding magnet coils before the age of 10.
Wish I knew how to get my students that interested.

Took a one year electrical wiring course at the community college and went to work with an electrical contractor at the age of 16, and was looking after commercial/industrial jobs at 20.

Started teaching apprenticeship program in 1966 and will retire next year.

Ed