r/ibew_apprentices

Long but I tried to condense this as much as possible.

In application process for apprenticeship, ready to get to work so I wanted to do CW/CE program in meantime.
Applied for CW/CE via email, and office manager told me verbatim “Without experience, we would not be able to help you at this time. We will talk to you more about it at your oral interview.”
Called brother I know. He said, call the board. Board assured me experience not required, and he actually encouraged me to do CW/CE in meantime. I had to fess up and admit that I already did apply and got turned away due to no experience. He said “what who told you that?”. I obviously didn’t name them because I don’t want to get off on a bad foot.
Anyways, I emailed office manager back asking for clarification, because I’ve been assured experience was not required. She gives no further information and says “That is a correct description of the program, however we are not able to process you for employment at this time.”

Why? What is going on? I’m being told CW/CE will help my chances with the apprenticeship and I should absolutely do it, but then they’re not even accepting my resume due to no experience. I’m confused. Does anyone know what could be the reason? I’ve got my aptitude test Friday at the hall and considering just bringing printed resumes and talking to anyone I can but I don’t want to be seen as insubordinate for not listening to this office manager.

Hello, I’m a woman in her mid-forties, what would everyone think if I was apply for a union apprenticeship?

Not sure if all halls have this but we have monthly job evaluation we drop into a Dropbox. I turned mine in for this month and forgot my signature at the bottom. I just received a email that I have been carded and have to meet with my committee because of the no signature. Is this normal?

Hey guys, I’m just wrapping up high school now and have gotten myself a chance to take the aptitude test. My test is Friday but there’s a problem. I’ve tried an online test a good 4 times now and the highest score I was able to get without a calculator or any help was a 69.9%. Most of my missed questions are on the math part and I’m pretty confident in the English part. Is the actual test easier at all or the same as the online tests you can find and do you think I have even the slightest chance at getting an interview?

Feeling pretty damn burnt out, thinking of taking off 2 and 1/2 to 3 weeks off for a vacation. Been on this job a year now, school is now over is this a bad look for me? I know our job is sort of on a crunch time but would be done soon.

Been thinking about going to complain about my apprenticeship director because they wont do anything about a teacher that is giving me a hard time. Ive been looking for someone in the Electrical Training Alliance to email, but can't really find a solid place to contact. I dont think my hall will do anything about it either since they like to stay seperate from each other. Anyone have any input?
EDIT SINCE YALL ARE INSANE by giving a hard time i mean hes known to be a difficult teacher, and wont give us our final grades for his class. We have maybe 2 weeks left and we still dont know if we've passed our craft cert.

I went to my interview today and I left feeling confident. Unfortunately I scored not too great low 70s. So I know I'm not going to be getting an offer and will instead be put onto a wait list. I have another opportunity with a car shop doing automotive work that I may just take instead, cause I can't wait another year or two hoping I get picked, and if I start this other job I'm not going to drop it. I don't know just feeling really down about the whole situation.

Cupertino is slimy and the hall here is full of rats. Won’t pay apprentices incentive but are happy to hire a bunch of temps at $55 an hour base and $10 an hour incentive. So much for higher pay in the union

Ive been on a waste water site since december. Basically been pulling wire the whole time. The PMs and INC have changed their minds so many times, we have basically repulled every single wire pull atleast 3-4 times.

I have had issues with carpal tunnel from previous jobs working in bars/restaraunts, but it was pretty manageable and actually hasnt been an issue at all till maybe march. Now i have been waking up 3-4 times a night with both of my forearms and hands torally asleep and in agonizing pain. It is seeiously starting to effect my sleep. Also, at work, feeding/pulling wire, fiddling with strut straps, couplings, basically anything, my hands go numb withing 10 minutes. Now i seem to have permanent numbness in my middle, index fingers, and thumbs on both hands that has not subsided since thursday last week, only gets more pronounced with repitituous hand/wrist movements.

I am going to make an appointment with an orthopedic specialist, as this is really starying to concern me. It hurts, and interferes with my life and work.

Could this be grounds for workers comp? I am not trying to burm a bridge with the contractor i work for, but im afraid i may be out of commision for a few weeks if i end up having to have surgery. Also im not sure how even having a doctors request of "no heavy lifting/hand stuff" would go over. I cant afford to not work right now.

Never had to navigate an injury with work before, any insight/guidance is appreciated. Thanks.

https://preview.redd.it/de5ol1lqy52h1.png?width=1594&format=png&auto=webp&s=71431a65d68d8330dfa3b23cfba99391f3526b29

I went and took the test today, I was kind of dreading it. I don't think I did very well on the math, but I nailed the reading comprehension. And I received the email before I even left the building! I'm really happy to move onto the next step. I am a previous apprentice at a different local, and I ended up withdrawing due to some family circumstances. Unfortunately, I missed the deadline to rejoin my original local by like a week, so I applied to a different local nearby and had to redo everything.

Now I'm just waiting for the interview, and I'm not really sure how that's going to go. Hopefully having six months of experience doing apprenticeship work on site will benefit me.

Im so ready to get back to work. I have regretted leaving so much. I still have my tools, my OSHA 10 card, and I'm ready to work. The moment I get the notice, I'm on the road again.

Stay safe out there fellow apes!

I just want to know what I'm getting myself into, and what the starting pay is specifically. I'm getting multiple answers so.

i had my IBEW interview a couple weeks ago, it’s been a long process of applying, taking the aptitude test, and the interview almost 10 months.

For my interview process i prepped weeks for it with practice questions and working on speaking clearly. I have 5 years military experience and i did not think you needed electrical experience to be an apprentice. At the interview, the panel had said they have 500 applicants for 50 open spots, and have men applying that have years of electrical experience, isn’t the point of being an apprentice not having experience and learning as you go ?? Overall the Interview felt discouraging, they had asked me 2 questions and it lasted 4-5 minutes (it lasted that long for all applicators for the day). They ended it with in a strong applicant due to my military background and should check out the teledata trade ( i went for inside wiremen).

This post is really about do you need experience in the trade to be an apprentice?

I’ve been trying to figure out how the scoring/ranking system for IBEW Local 134 actually works and after looking through applicant packets, score examples people posted online, and acceptance trends, I have a theory.

From what I’ve seen, I don’t think the final score is just a raw aptitude test percentage. The decimals are what make me think that.

People post scores like:
- 71.25
- 73.43
- 72.83
- 77.88
- 79.86

If it was just a simple test percentage or pass/fail system, I’d expect whole numbers more often. The decimals make me think they’re using some kind of weighted composite/ranking formula.

My current theory is that applicants are ranked against each other rather than needing a fixed “passing score.”

Something like:
- aptitude test (largest weight)
- Jumpstart/recommendation section
- education/math background
- construction experience
- maybe other application categories

Then everything gets combined into one composite ranking score.

Another thing that supports this theory is that people with similar scores sometimes get different outcomes depending on the cycle. I’ve seen people get in around high 70s while others barely miss around similar ranges. Makes me think the cutoff changes depending on:
- strength of applicant pool
- amount of apprenticeship spots available
- how competitive that cycle is

Also, from the application packet, Jumpstart seems to max out the recommendation section entirely, which looks like a pretty significant advantage.

Curious what you guys think, especially anyone who’s gone through the process recently. Does this sound accurate or am I overanalyzing it?

Wondering if a union in the socal/los angeles area offers a advanced/accelerated inside wireman program?

I am curious if people actually ever get kicked out due to on the job performance. Not things like class grades, being late or tardy to work or drug tests. Things like lack of job knowledge, being a slow worker, stuff like that. Just curious because I’ve never seen it happen, I see people written up for it but never actually seem to be kicked out, not sure if the write ups are just a scare tactic or if they actually kick people out

Hey y’all. I’ve got orientation for Local 26 tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone might be able to give me a heads up on what to expect. There are some old posts on the subject but nothing up to date or local specific.

I’ve already been working with a contractor so I’m not looking for work.

Am I just gonna get a t-shirt, some history on the IBEW, get sworn in and leave? Can someone give me some current information on what I can expect?

Good afternoon y’all,

Just wanted to make a post here to see if anyone else in here is gonna be going to the VEEP SD07 Cohort from October 2026 to November 2026 in San Diego for the Inside Wireman program? Would love to talk with you and see how your on boarding progress is going and to see if we’re all in the same position. My receiving JATC is going to be the Local 280 in Oregon post VEEP graduation as well! If anyone in here has information on what being an electrician is like at the Local 280, please reach out to me, I would love to hear more from people there! Should be starting an electrician apprenticeship around late November and early December time if everything goes smoothly at the Local 280 JATC