Current openings: Electrical trade makes its case to local educators
Representatives from the electrical trade recently joined other building trades at a presentation for school counselors hosted by Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades, The Builders Association and Western Reserve Building Trades.
The March 19 event, held at Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396’s training center in Boardman, was designed to give the region’s guidance counselors a clearer picture of what careers in the building trades actually look like.
Plug into real earning potential
For the electricians, it was a chance to reframe the conversation.
Cody Hilliard, business manager for IBEW Local 64 and Luke Gale, incoming training director for the Warren Electrical JATC, gave the group a clearer picture of what the trade offers and what it demands.
The opportunity is real for apprentices. They earn a paycheck from day one, with no student debt.
“They’re interviewing for potential six-figure jobs,” Hilliard said. “We have second-and third-year apprentices who made over $100,000 last year.”
Another part of the discussion focused on students being prepared for the application process and aptitude test. Gale noted the current widow is open and high school seniors are encouraged to apply online.
The spark for success
Testing includes math/mechanical and reading comprehension sections. Those who qualify then get an interview, which should also be taken seriously.
“If an applicant goes in and kills the interview, they can be put above everybody else,” Gale said.
Hilliard stressed that presentation matters.
“It’s not about whether someone already knows how to do electrical work,” he said, “it’s about how they carry themselves and how they answer questions.”
With an earn-and-learn model, raises built into the apprenticeship, and benefits and retirement plan, the electrical trade provides a long-term, stable career pathway for the next generation.
Helping counselors be better positioned to help students see it as a viable option plays into the workforce development necessary to build the future of the industry.
NECA-IBEW Electricians, an association of IBEW Local 64 in Youngstown, IBEW Local 573 in Warren and signatory electrical contractors throughout the Mahoning Valley.
