Career Guides
Plain-language guides for the electrical trade: what each role involves, the training and licensing it takes, pay, and where it can lead.
How the electrical trade works: the apprentice-journeyman-master ladder, what each licence lets you do, how licensing varies by state, and where the work is.
The route in is a paid job, not a course. How apprenticeship actually works, who sponsors it, what you are paid while you learn, and what it leads to.
A journeyman electrician has completed an apprenticeship and can work on their own, subject to state or local licensing. See the duties, pay and career steps.
A master electrician is the license tier above journeyman. What the tier adds, who hires masters, and whether you need one to run an electrical business.
Service calls, remodels, panel upgrades and EV chargers — and the part people underestimate: you are in someone's home, and that changes the job.
Conduit, three-phase distribution and switchgear, worked from prints in a building full of other trades — and on a schedule that you do not control.
Two different jobs share this title — plant construction and plant maintenance. Motor controls, drives, shift rotation, and the economics of shutdowns.
What a maintenance electrician does: preventive maintenance, breakdowns, motors and drives, lighting and power quality. Employers, shifts, licensing and pay.
What a service electrician does: troubleshooting calls from dispatch to invoice, solo truck work, customer pricing, and how service differs from construction.
What the electrician helper job involves — duties, May 2025 pay, tools — and how helper work can lead into a registered apprenticeship.
An inside wireman is the IBEW-NECA classification for electricians who install and maintain electrical systems in commercial and industrial facilities.
What an electrical foreman does: supervising the crew's work, layout and material, safety and spec checks, reports, and who the role answers to.
What an electrical superintendent does: running crews across jobs, GC coordination, schedule, safety and field quality — plus pay data and how to move up.
Electrical estimators turn plans and specs into labor and material costs, run takeoffs and bid day. The duties, skills, software, employers, pay and routes in.
An electrical project manager runs the contract, budget, buyout, submittals, change orders and billing on electrical jobs. See the duties, pay and open PM jobs.
Controls technicians install, program and maintain PLCs and building automation systems. The duties, the two sides of the role, training routes and pay.
What instrumentation technicians do: install, calibrate and troubleshoot transmitters, valves and control loops in plants. Duties, industries, training, pay.
What does a solar installer do? PV installer duties on residential, commercial and utility crews, NABCEP credentials, training routes, pay and job outlook.
What electrical inspectors do: rough-in, service and final inspections, plan review, employers, certifications, pay — and how electricians move into inspection.
What is an electrical contractor? A business that contracts for electrical work, solo or with crews — qualifier rules, owner duties, income.
Structured cabling, fire alarm, access control and AV — a trade defined by what it is not, with a shorter path in and a genuine specialism at the serious end.
What a security system technician does, the alarm, CCTV and access systems you install, licensing and background-check realities, and how to start.
What a fire alarm technician does on installs, service calls and inspections, how NICET certification and state licensing work, and how to get into the trade.
What an access control technician does, the systems you'll install, how the role differs from alarm and locksmith work, and how to get hired.
What a structured cabling technician does: copper and fiber installation, termination, testing and certification, plus licensing, BICSI certs and employers.
What an audio visual technician does, integration vs event AV, low voltage licensing questions, CTS certification, and how to find AV technician jobs.
Not a specialisation of electrical work — a separate trade with its own apprenticeship, employers, and hazards. What line workers actually do, stated honestly.
A journeyman lineman has finished a line apprenticeship and works unsupervised on most tasks. What the classification means, what it unlocks, and what it pays.
A groundman is the entry-level job on an electrical line crew: non-climbing ground work on the crew, and the on-ramp to line-work careers.
What a substation technician does, who hires them, apprenticeship routes and pay (BLS SOC 49-2095) — plus where to find substation technician jobs.
Relay techs test and commission protective relays, control wiring and SCADA in substations. See the work, the NETA credential, pay and open relay tech jobs.
What a cable splicer does on underground power cable, ALBAT's 7,000-hour apprenticeship route in, and how the job differs from telecom fiber splicing.