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Earn While You Learn

Take the first step on your way to a rewarding career in the electrical trades by applying for a union electrician apprenticeship. Our 3- and 5-year programs combine practical work with structured training to give you both a nationally recognized qualification and the experience you need for many different careers in the electrical industry.

MVNECA member contractors support the residential and commercial electrician apprentice programs run by the Youngstown Area Electrical JATC and Warren Electrical JATC. Applications are taken year-round, and we're always looking for qualified candidates.

Visit ATradeThatPays.com to see video testimonials from some of the most recent classes, and learn more about the career opportunities an apprenticeship affords - and how to apply - by visiting the Youngstown JATC or Warren JATCs websites.

Youngstown JATC
Warren JATC

Getting In

Getting into a union apprenticeship program will usually require you to meet the following qualifications:

  • A high school diploma or GED
  • Completion of an algebra class
  • A driver’s license or state-issued identification
  • Passing a drug test
  • Being able to work in a physically demanding environment
  • Passing an admittance exam
  • Being at least 18 – some programs accept younger applicants if the JATC is included in a high school job training program
Wiring Action Shot | Mahoning Valley NECA

How Does It Work?

Every jurisdiction establishes its own requirements for electrician training in accordance with local laws and licensing regulations, and local JATCs develop their programs specifically to meet these requirements. Depending on the journeyman licensing requirements in your jurisdiction, these programs can take between four and six years to complete and incorporate:

  • Between 576 and 1,000 hours of classroom-based instruction
  • Between 8,000 and 10,000 hours of on-the-job experience and training

Depending on the rules in place in your jurisdiction, you may be expected to complete required classroom hours related to safety and electrical theory prior to being admitted into an apprentice program. JATC apprenticeship programs will include the classroom hours as part of the program, with classes usually held at the local JATC office.

 

What Will I Learn?

The wide range of skills you learn on the job as part of your apprenticeship and training program will include:

  • Installing residential, commercial, and industrial wiring systems
  • Reading and understanding blueprints and schematics
  • Working with systems that involve differing voltages
  • Repairing and installing electrical machinery
  • Using voltmeters, ammeters, harmonics testers, and ohmmeters
  • Installing fuses and circuit breakers
  • Learning how to inspect a completed electrical system
  • Replacing new circuit breaker boxes

On-the-job training will take place in a wide variety of settings, which will have a significant bearing on what you learn. Examples of different locations include:

  • City utility companies
  • Aviation companies
  • Military contractors
  • Manufacturing factories
  • Arenas and coliseums
  • Construction companies
  • Internet and telephone companies
  • Power plants, including solar
  • Hospitals, schools, and prisons
  • Government offices

As you progress in the program, you’ll learn skills that become increasingly more complex and technical in nature, building on what you have already mastered. Your classroom-based and on-the-job training is divided into relevant segments that will eventually cover all of the important knowledge and skills you need to pass the journeyman examination.

 

 

Benefits

One of the best parts about becoming an electrician is that paid on-the-job training is typically included through an apprenticeship. As apprentice electricians develop their skills and gain experience over the course of a 4-6 year program, their wages steadily increase.

When looking for an apprenticeship program, a decision every aspiring electrician faces is whether to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and become part of the long-standing tradition of unionized tradesmen, or to try to find a non-union shop looking to take on a trainee.

Apprenticeship programs with unionized electrical contracting companies are coordinated through Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees (JATCs), which have multiple offices in every state to cover virtually every major city and surrounding area in the nation. JATCs are sponsored through a partnership between local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). This partnership is known as the Electrical Training Alliance.

Participating in an apprenticeship through the Electrical Training Alliance means becoming a life-long, card-carrying, dues-paying member of the IBEW union and getting all the benefits and collective bargaining rights that come along with that.