How To Become An Electrician In 2025

Most states require electricians to pass a test and get a license to practice. You necessarily don’t need to enroll in a community college or have a college degree to be a licensed electrician. All you need is proper and extensive electrician training to level up in this field and showcase your expertise in the practical world with real-life experiences.

To get started, you need to glide through the apprentice phase first.

Preparing To Be An Apprentice Electrician

If you want to start your career in electricals, you need first to gain experience as an apprentice in the field. Gaining solid skills in the field with hands-on training in practical areas can help you boost the initial years of your career.

Working as an apprentice electrician signifies that you will be mostly shadowing a senior electrician (journeyman or master) in the field while attending classroom instruction, which is a necessity for jumping to the next level: journeyman electrician.

The electrician apprenticeship program lasts four to five years, with around 800 classroom training hours and 8,000 hours of on-field experience guided by a journeyman electrician or a master electrician. Upon completion, you will be eligible to sit for the journeyman electrician examination, followed by getting a journeyman electrician license that you can use to take on more jobs as an intermediate-level electrician.

Trade School or Apprenticeship Programs? Choosing the best option for you.

To work as an apprentice electrician, you need to enroll yourself in apprenticeship programs or attend trade schools, which are requirements for the position. Enrolling in a technical school might be easier than getting into an electrician apprenticeship program, such as the one offered by the International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers (IBEW). They also entail pre-apprenticeship programs designed to help individuals understand their future jobs and decide on the right career path.

Getting into IBEW apprenticeship programs can be difficult as it is a renowned institution with limited availability of seats. Hence, you always have the chance to get yourself trained at a trade school.

Apprentice Electrician To Journeyman Electrician

Taking the journeyman electrician examination requires you to be thorough with various complex and crucial topics, such as electrical wiring, electrical systems, electrical theory, and most importantly, the national electrical code. You should have valid experience working on electrical projects and a thorough knowledge of safety protocols.

Transcending to a journeyman electrician means you will now be working on more complex projects and preparing yourself all along to aim for the master electrician level. A journeyman license allows you to take on projects and work independently. However, there may be certain situations where you might need to shadow or work with master electricians to get some further on-the-job training.

To become an electrician, it’s imperative to always be on the go and take as much knowledge as you can to broaden your experience level. The best way is to work on more complex projects that will give you deeper insights into the challenges that lie ahead for a senior technician.

Subsequent to working as a journeyman electrician for the required years, which is a minimum of one year amounting to 4000 hours of additional work, you are eligible to sit for the master electrician license exam.

The Final Step: Master Electrician License

Getting a master’s electrician license is the last step to prove your proficiency in this field. Being a master electrician means you are proficient at not just interpreting but also creating blueprints, which is the case for a journeyman electrician (blueprint reading).

At this advanced level, you are the master of your own. You don’t need to shadow anybody or need any kind of supervision. In fact, your job role will include providing adequate training to other electricians, such as apprentice or journeyman electrical workers.