Frasbee

So I've heard "certified" electrician get thrown around here, and I figure it's similar to getting a journeyman license in Louisiana.

Is it similar, where you need to log your hours and take codebook test?

Or is the certification specific to each city, or county?

MDShunk

Must be a local thing. Nothing at the state level. There are guys promoting themselves as a "registered" electrician, but that involves nothing more than registering for the home improvement contractor "license", which is little more than a tax you pay and get a number. You need an HIC registration to do work on your own for pay in owner-occupied houses.

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/hic.aspx

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

MDShunk

Here's the process for the City of Philadelphia:

What are the requirements for obtaining an Electrical Contractor License?
Successful completion of the Standard Master Electrician examination administered by the Contractor Examination Program of the International Code Council (www.iccsafe.org/contractor)
Employment or equivalent practical experience in the electrical field for not less than four years.
Satisfactory completion of two years of education in the electrical field will be considered equivalent to one year of practical experience, but not more than four years of education may count towards the required four years of practical experience.
Public liability insurance and workers compensation insurance
Business Privilege License
Payment of an Electrical Contractor License application fee of $50. (Annual fee is $100.)
Contact the L&I Mechanical Services Unit with any questions at 215-686-2454.

http://business.phila.gov/Pages/Elec...l%20Contractor

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

Frasbee

This ICC test (which I never heard of until now), is there a class for it? Or do they provide you with the material that you need to know to take the test? I did a broad search on the ICC site, for the NEC and all it came up with was this:

Performing Residential Electrical Inspections0.8National Electric Code (NEC)RequestPerforming Commercial Electrical Inspections0.8National Electric Code (NEC)Request2006 NEC Analysis of Changes
In Louisiana, a lot of the guys would take an NEC class that would lead up to a test.

Boy this $hit is such a headache.

I've been gettin the impression that the trades industry is more informal than I used to think.

MDShunk

Must I do everything for you?

Here's the link to the test that Philly wants you to take.
http://www.iccsafe.org/Accreditation...iladelphia.pdf

Tom Henry has a prep package for that test on his site.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

qckrun

Why not go through an apprenticeship and stop taking the easy road to everything. What is with people wanting the easy road to everything and not putting in the effort to complete an apprenticeship.

wildleg

easy road ? I thought the apprenticeship was the easyroad.

__________________
As President Roosevelt said: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself. And Chuck Norris. And 滿口胡言. And Grabthar's hammer. And Gort. and 江南 Style. and rotting in the street and Zombies . . . and Wayne Griffen "

Frasbee

A union apprenticeship would be the easy road, but don't get me started on that. Trust me, if I could be in there right now, I would.

MD: I appreciate the help. My brain feels fried between looking for jobs, figuring out school, and everything else in my personal life.

The way this trade operates in this state/city is different from NOLA, I knew this when I made the jump, but it's still a challenge.

NolaTigaBait

Huh? He's been doing this trade for like 4 years already.

MDShunk

If such a thing was available to everyone, you might actually have a point. Lacking an apprenticeship program to get into, anything else is certainly not the easy road. What Frasbee is about to embark on is absolutely the more difficult road.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

gold

Jump river. Come to the dark side. If your not union in philly work is hard to find, when you do find it often you end up just outside of philly where anyone with a gc license is an electrician. The fact that there is no education requirements for a license over there (outside the city and a few towns)... lets say there are alot of hacks AROUND the city. NOT ALL OF THEM but ... anyhow Jump river. Or go to Delaware.

bobelectric

Tom Corbett,our next govenor, was in the Canonsburg parade, today also Bobby Vinton!

MDShunk

Frasbee, you stick around in PA long enough, and you'll have a collection of licenses as long as your arm. Some guys razz us PA guys for not having a state licenses. I normally respond by telling them about the 17 I do have, and ask them if that counts for anything. Certainly, it does. The main way we're still behind the times is that I'm not aware of any jurisdictions in PA that have a CE requirement as part of keeping your license up. Once you have one, as long as you keep paying the bill (that's really all it is, is another bill), you're good forever. Miss a year or two, and you test all over again, normally.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

NolaTigaBait

Same here..I have a state license and there is no requirement to go to update classes.

slickvic277

Did you check into any of those E.C's I told you about? Also did you go back to Orleans Tech and see if they could help you out? Back when I went there they had job placement.

slickvic277

I'm pretty sure Philly has a continuous education policy, although I don't think it's enforced.

Frasbee

I looked up the ones that weren't too far out west.

Dropped them a cold call, but of course they had me e-mail them my resume.

I also talked to a guy here who had a card to a growing residential company that operates in Philly, but avoids commercial work because of the union. Dropped them a resume, too. Otherwise I browse craigslist almost hourly, and I registered on a site that caters to electrician jobs, only one I qualified to apply for was a low voltage apprenticeship, but I'm not holding my breath on it.

To be honest, I've only been back for a week. I'm just anxious because I have a lot to do and having a job helps make everything else fall into place.

I am however, keeping my options open, I can always get a job, and jump ship once the opportunity presents itself. Afterall, I started off New Orleans washing windows that lead to helping a carpenter, which lead to me starting my electrical career.

Who knows?

EDIT: Oh, and I did call Orleans Tech 2 days ago, and left a message. They never called back, and I forgot to follow up, thanks for reminding me.

qckrun

Whats the site for future job seekers?

I have a friend who had been out of work for 10months... decided to go get a temp. job doing fire sprinkler installations... about 4months into it, he got a call out to a big electrical contractor. Job is about 4years long and he is impressing alot of people so dont lose fate.

Good things happen to those who wait .

Good luck in your journeys.

slickvic277

Don't let the location of the shop discourage you. Those companies that I told you about do work everywhere and frankly there the best non union jobs in the area.

A just a heads up, lots and lots of unemployed electricians looking for work right now. Those resumes that you emailed probably didn't even get looked at. You might have to go knocking on doors, show up at the shop(s), the job sites with a resume in hand and show these guy's your serious about work, make yourself stand out from the other bazillion unemployed electricians.

Did you try posting your resume on career builder? When I had a resume on there I had a lot of calls for jobs, although very few were worth the time of day.

What ever you do, good luck.

slickvic277

YOU said it, not me.......But if I had I could only imagine the grief I'd be getting.



Not entirely true, there is some non union work in Philly.