Is this a good job?

[Erwin_]

Hello, I’ve been considering maybe looking into becoming an electrician, I have always preferred doing manual work with my hands rather than something else. But I am unsure if this would be a good job, I wanna do something with as small people interactions as possible as I have anxiety about big groups.


I also have a keen interest in photography & video editing, but I am unsure which one to focus on and try gain traction on.


But I am curious on what your opinions & thoughts are.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

The electrician career will give you the income and lifestyle to travel and enjoy your photography and video editing interest. Electricians are in very high demand right now.

 

[chincey_james]

I have a relative that is training to be an electrician. At least initially, his biggest complaint is that it involves a lot of sitting around doing small talk with more seasoned electricians. I would assume that this is temporary though and that once he is more experienced, it will have even less of that. It's a great career and in high demand like Neonatal RRT said above.

 

[Rodafina]

I agree with @Neonatal RRT. A job as an electrician seems like a good idea to learn a valuable trade and secure a steady income. Making an income from art can be difficult and draining - one of the key elements that artists sometimes struggle with is marketing themselves. It is sometimes best to keep creative interests as a hobby and a passion instead of a career.

 

[Misty Avich]

If that's what you feel you want to do then go for it.

 

[Judge]

Do Electricians Work Mostly Alone or With Others? (Introvert vs Extrovert) - ELECTRICIANPAL.COM

As an electrician, I’ve spent long stretches of time working both alone and in relation to different groups of people. Although, I would say mostly alone. And I see why you might be curious about this. The question is asked for totally justifiable reasons, that vary from person to person....

electricianpal.com

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/pros-and-cons-of-being-electrician

I once had the dubious observation of watching an electrician get electrocuted, having touched the wrong wire in the course of renovating the office I was working in. Luckily one of our employers closest to him simply knocked him away, preventing a prolonged electrical shock from happening.

True enough, it isn't any safer than a number of jobs in construction. But it's always in demand, and pays well.

 

[tazz]

I'd echo all above - I have a relative who's an electrician. It's a reliable income. She's also gone on to do some sort of degree related to physics and electronics I think, and that'll open up more doors for her too.

Also, you're young. Learning a trade like this early means you'll have options later in life - to start your own company maybe, have a team of electricians working for you or something like that. Or just stay in the trade doing it on your own. Good options.

 

[Forest Cat]

I would say yes, electricians are always needed. But I don't know how much they earn where you live. Another good one is welder. High demand for welders and high pay. Or maybe that's just here, I'm not sure. Welders in the oil industry make a good living.

 

[tazz]

Years ago I had a friend who had an autistic brother and he loved welding. Got himself trained up and enjoyed it a lot.

 

[Judge]

I would say yes, electricians are always needed. But I don't know how much they earn where you live. Another good one is welder. High demand for welders and high pay. Or maybe that's just here, I'm not sure. Welders in the oil industry live like kings.

Welders...electricians. Types of employment indicative of "inelastic demand".

An economic term reflecting that which is perpetually indispensable in an economy.

Something that even the high-tech industry cannot quite claim. Often because it moves at too fast a pace for real and indefinite job security.

 

[The Pandector]

Everything has already been said, but I will add my voice.

As the computer systems guy, I worked closely with both low and high voltage systems. I’ve only known of two serious shocks, but was never involved. I gleefully explained to technicians that I trained and supervised that I am scared to death of electricity. My step dad was an electrician who claimed he was never shocked because he never worked with more than one hand. Safety should be a top concern, but should in no way deter your career choice.

Don’t know your state, but the two West Coast states I worked mandated a lengthy period of legal slavery before paying out the big bucks. This Is A Serious Consideration! Your resume will become very important, so you can’t bounce around during your apprenticeship. This makes it important to be cautious about where you take work because some of the people you will work with will really enjoy having a legal slave. You seem very likable and levelheaded, but I suspect that this could be extra challenging for an autistic person. But there are plenty of great shops and crews out there that will gladly help you over the hump. But they all require you pay your obeisance to the system.

If you like working with your hands in constantly changing places, you’ll like being an electrician. In my computer career, a few times I disappeared into a wiring project because I loved the quiet time alone with an engrossing goal. But, even later in management, I had great benefits but wasn’t hauling home the hourly $ their journeymen were getting. If you can handle the early years, you’ll have a stability factor most jobs can never provide, most especially those in the creative world.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Your local IBEW will train you as a journeyman while you earn. Good electricians are needed and I am discouraged at the people who think such is below them. It is a good occupation. Were I to have gone into the skilled trades I would probably have been a machinist, a tool and die maker.

 

[AspieChris]

I have more than 3 decades at the biggest telephone and internet provider in the world. If you like to work alone….. any if the trades is a good choice. Electrician, welder, plumbing, etc. There’s plenty of work that most folks avoid because it’s monotonous to them, but it’s peaceful to us.

 

[MC1Rcat]

My roommate is in the local 3 Electricial Workers Union (IBEW) here in NYC. He loves his job and makes 100k a year easy, more if he does overtime. He also has excellent health insurance, benefits and retirement package. I would say, if you can get into a local union, it is definitely worthwhile. He had to work about 4 years before he became an A rate technician and got paid the big bucks...but now, he makes a lot of money and can work as much overtime as he wants. He works at a lot of different types of job sites, some are construction sites, and some are service calls... so the level of dealing with people varies.

 

[Aspychata]

You obviously will get a charge out of this line of work. In Florida, that is a highly regulated industry, and for good reason, because it's shocking how fast a fire can damage. Hawaiian Electric didn't replace the electric lines, nobody trimmed trees with these very old lines running thru in Maui, and the town was gone. The other thing people don't understand about Lahaina, was it had a lot of wooden buildings that housed the touristy stores. I saw plenty of electrical lines running thru trees in Hawaii.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

You obviously will get a charge out of this line of work. In Florida, that is a highly regulated industry, and for good reason, because it's shocking how fast a fire can damage. Hawaiian Electric didn't replace the electric lines, nobody trimmed trees with these very old lines running thru in Maui, and the town was gone. The other thing people don't understand about Lahaina, was it had a lot of wooden buildings that housed the touristy stores. I saw plenty of electrical lines running thru trees in Hawaii.

I just remember one Scrimshander who had legal ivory in Lahaina. His work was elegant and he had so much significant to lose should he have been unable to evacuate his store. I have a pendant from him. We did not like the commercial dive operators and he connected us with a couple of dive guides who we used for shore diving . . . and they were amazed that we would have 60 minute dives when beginners burn through a tank in less than half the time. I will cherish that pendant.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I was an electrician years (decades actually) ago. As others said, it's stable work. Most of my work was done alone, or in a home or office setting with few others around. Most of it was on new construction sites, wiring buildings before the walls were enclosed. So others were around, but everyone had their own thing going, and I hardly ever interacted with anyone doing those jobs.
I didn't know I was autistic then, but I knew I didn't do well at all with crowds and noise, or interacting with strangers. I didn't have much stress with that job.
Of course, your mileage may vary. Different electrical companies and types of jobs will have varying degrees of social interaction, but unless you are making the contacts and arranging for the jobs, it should be manageable

 

[Shevek]

There are varying degrees of social interaction depending on where you work. You have to deal with whoever is responsible for hiring at each building, and that usually means frequent changes, but it can be fairly brief and businesslike. You can free-lance for homeowners, possibly turning down the Karens, or work for a contracting company where you get to deal with the same people. The actual work is usually done solo. It is not as hard on the body as most construction work.

 

[Shevek]

BTW, there are licensed electricians who have completely forgotten their theory, if they ever even knew it. They do fine just repeating the approved patterns and formulas, but are completely baffled by a novel situation. I had one of them arguing with me that my monitor could not be on.
Habit can be enough. I worked as a volunteer on some big buildings, so I didn't need a license, just inspections. At first, I used to draw a circuit diagram showing every wire. Then I simplified the sketches, using one line between the connection boxes. Then, one day I was asked to demolish six small offices under a suspended ceiling to make a conference room. It needed the lights changed, some new outlets, and an exhaust fan. I did the whole job, and then went back to the breaker panel to turn it all on. It was my habit to then use the diagram as a check list before the test. I reached in my pocket for the diagram, and realized I'd never made one. Everything worked.

 

[Erwin_]

Thank you for all your feedback, I will sit and read carefully through it and try and come up with a plan and see if this line of work is for me after reading all the comments and taking in the information.

I greatly appreciate all this!