MikeDewan

Hi there, I'm new here.

I finished pre-trade school and I'm applying for apprenticeships now in the Toronto/GTA area. Part of me wants to do Construction and Maintenance (ie: residential/commercial) and I'm definately applying in those areas. I'm also interested in Industrial 442A though.

Does anyone work in Industrial, and if so, how did you get started? I'm also curious about the process involved in getting both Industrial Electrician AND Millwright licenses, because so many jobs I look at want people to have both. Would you complete one apprenticeship, then begin the second? Would you reset your payscale back to level 1? Can you do both apprenticeships together?

Part of me wants to be Construction/Maintenance electrician... part of me wants to be Industrial Electrician and possibly Millwright too while learning PLC along the way.

Just looking for any inside advice/knowledge, particularly about where you got started in the business. It's easier for me to look up Construction/Maintenance companies in the phone book and simply call them. As for Industrial its a little harder to find out who needs electricians, particularly green apprentices because almost every job posting I've ever seen for industrial wants 5+ years experience, most of them want dual electrician/millwright tickets, etc.


Thanks for your time, I'm new here, my name is Mike. Glad to meet you guys and gals

Dennis Alwon

Welcome to the show

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Goodyear

I went industrial and ended up at Goodyear in 4 year program, I wish I would have done construction now, been here almost 5 years. I know a lot of people that want side work done but I don't know that much about residential. Good luck which ever route you choose.

CanadianBrad

I started my apprenticeship(I never took any pre-apprenticeship training, I just knew a guy) that took me right into industrial work, primarily construction. I'll stick with industrial work for the rest of my time in the trade, although once I've got some experience and a j-man's ticket, I'll look for a maintenance job. I like the idea of understanding an existing system and fixing it more than building new systems(which can get repetitive).

It seems to me that the primary reason for the experience requirement is based on the complexity of some of the systems. A green journeyman, still getting comfortable with the info from his last year of school in the real world, would struggle more than an experienced guy who has it as second nature.

Once I finish and get my j-man ticket, I'll be pursuing a second ticket, potentially as a millwright, but more likely in instrumentation(being in Alberta, a dual-ticketed electrician/instrument mechanic is a pretty valuable person to the oilpatch). I'd like to pick up my electrical master's, and maybe do that extra full year of school after getting a red seal for an EET. With both of those things, I could look forward to perhaps teaching apprentices on the school side when I get older and driving screws beats me up too much.

I've found that just by hitting up local industrial websites(Cargill Foods, for example, being as I'm in southern Alberta), I found that they had a dire need for maintenance electricians. I know that out west, anyway, there's a serious demand for tradesmen of all flavours.

Nice to meet ya, Mike. Welcome.

HARRY304E

Welcome to the forum Mike.....

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Tempest

Welcome to the forum. My brother is a Millwright in Ontario and I'm an Electrician in Alberta. The two trades definitely overlap. If you're interested in a double ticket then you'll most likely end up working for hydro at one of the nuke plants which will pay EXTREMELY well. Check your Ontario union halls' websites for info and make a lot of phone calls.
You can also sign up directly with hydro, submit your resume online and receive notifications automatically that fit your qualifications when they have openings. They are always hiring green apprentices but have their own union separate from electrical and millwrights.
Good luck

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