I got my rank for inside wireman and I believe it's competitive enough, but I'm not sure that necessarily means I'll start with the next group. Anyone know how big the class sizes have been lately and how often they take in new apprentices?
I'm a store manager making pretty shit pay ($20 an hour) relative to other hourly wages for retail store managers in the LA area. I'm living paycheck to paycheck and have so much anxiety, hoping that I worked hard enough to make it into an apprenticeship this year so that I can change my situation. It feels demoralizing being a warehouse worker, content manager, event planner AND store manager all wrapped into one while maintaining fantastic reviews of my particular location....all to barely survive because my employer does not give a fuck about me. We're all expendable to him. I'm trying desperately to feel some dignity. Do you feel like you were able to gain dignity and some sense of hope through the IBEW apprenticeship?
UPDATE: Something about posting this last night gave me the courage to negotiate a raise today on the spot. I basically said I wouldn't go in unless it was worth my time and lo and behold I'm an asset they want to keep so they raised me to $22 effective immediately. We'll see next week when we talk again if I can negotiate for more. Thank you everyone for your feedback and stories. Now I wait to see where I ranked on POE...