Electrician Certificates, Trade Schools and More

Today in Illinois, the Department of Employment Security projects that there are 25,000 electricians, a number that will grow through 2024 with a job that offers excellent benefits. It is a great climate for up and coming professional electricians looking for an electrician certification chicago il. Electrician training starts at the apprenticeship level, increasing to the journeyman level, ending at the licensed electrician level. However, the State of Illinois does not have a general electrician licensing procedure, instead, they depend on each city where the electrician obtains a master license. Getting an electrician license in Illinois is not dependent on a state-wide licensing system as mentioned earlier in this piece. Each town in Illinois has a different requirement, some, for example, having four years of journeyman experience.

Chicago is the most difficult city to get an electrician license in. Schools such as the Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby offers a certificate, while Triton College offers an associate’s degree. Coyne College offers an AAS or Associate in Applied Science in electrical construction and planning. Whether you stay in one town or not, every town requires that you provide exam results and licensing from other communities. In order to be a contractor, you have to take the municipality’s electrical exam. The majority of exams conform to the National Electrical Code that covers electrical issues in a great deal of depth. There is a requirement of the previous apprenticeship or 8,000 hours of on the job training is enough to get a passing grade since a passing grade is 70% of the correct answers or a C-. You will be notified of the results from 10 days to two weeks out from taking the test. If you have military training, that is also good enough for some Illinois cities. Veterans may have a priority with regard to military experience merging with electrician experience.

Apprentice programs have to include both classroom time as well as on-the-job training along with living one year in Illinois just to qualify for a training course. Finishing high school is an advantage, as is having high school algebra with a C or better while being at least 18 years of age. You have to be 21 years old to be able to apply for an electrician’s license in Illinois. Becoming an electrician is a respected trade as you work with all types of electrical systems that power buildings.

The training process to become an electrician or electrical technician teaches how to install or provide maintenance for electrical system components such as transformers, fuses, circuit breakers, panel boards, switches, and outlets. You can also acquire the skills and knowledge of how to use tools or electrical equipment such as voltmeters and harmonic testers. You have to look at all the training options available to you. Electricians need to have some math in their class work as well as science. A master electrician has proven their competency in the field as they moved up through apprentice to journeyman and then to master electrician.