Career change scenario
How to get into an electrician apprenticeship after another career
Quick answer
Most electricians learn the trade in a paid apprenticeship of four or five years, and you can start one in your 30s or later. Apply to more than one program, since many get several applicants for each opening, brush up your algebra for the aptitude test, and plan for an apprentice's lower starting pay.
Where you're starting from
This page is for one situation: you've spent years in warehouse or other hands-on work, you have a high school diploma or GED, and you want a trade with a license at the end. Here is what the electrical trade asks, from the sources.
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How electricians learn the trade
- Most electricians learn through an apprenticeship. Some start at a technical school, which usually earns credit toward one.
- Apprenticeships last 4 or 5 years, and each year typically brings 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training plus technical instruction.
- Unions and contractor associations both sponsor programs, and the requirements vary by state and locality.
- Most states require electricians to pass a test and be licensed.
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What programs ask of applicants
- The union programs run by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association typically ask for: age 18, a high school education, one year of high school algebra, a qualifying score on an aptitude test, and being drug free.
- Each local program may add requirements of its own, and you apply to the local program.
- Programs run by IEC chapters take about four years: at least 8,000 hours on the job and 576 hours of classes, held in the evening.
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The pay, before and after
- Apprentices are paid less than trained electricians, and their pay rises as they learn to do more.
- At IEC programs, starting wages are typically 50% of a journeyman's rate.
- The median pay for electricians was $63,190 a year in May 2025.
- About 72,700 openings are projected each year from 2025 to 2035.
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Find a program near you
- Union programs: the electrical training ALLIANCE's training center locator finds the IBEW and NECA training center that serves your area.
- Non-union programs: the chapter finder of the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) lists the chapters, which run apprenticeships of their own.
- Open apprentice jobs: the U.S. Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Finder searches employers' openings by occupation and by city, state or ZIP code.
- Union and non-union programs take applications separately, so you can apply to both.
Checked October 23, 2026. Program finders checked October 24, 2026. The Bureau of Labor Statistics pages were last updated on August 27, 2026. Requirements differ by program and by state: ask your local training center and your state's electrical licensing board, and ask a financial adviser about money.
What usually goes wrong
Most switches stall before the first day on a job site, in the months of applying. These are the common ways.
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You apply to one program and wait.
The electrical training ALLIANCE says many apprenticeship programs get four, five, six or more times as many applicants as they have openings. Apply to more than one: the union program at your local training center, a program run by a contractor association such as an IEC chapter, and any registered program the Apprenticeship Job Finder shows near you.
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Rusty algebra sinks the aptitude test.
Union programs ask for a year of high school algebra and a qualifying score on an aptitude test, which covers algebra and functions and reading comprehension. The test decides who is invited to an interview. The electrical training ALLIANCE publishes sample questions with an answer key: try them early, so you know what to review before the real thing.
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The first paycheck is smaller than the one you left.
Apprentices earn while they learn, but they start low. IEC says starting wages are typically 50% of a journeyman's rate, rising with experience, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that apprentice pay increases as they learn to do more. Compare an apprentice's starting pay in your area with your monthly costs before you give notice. What to do about any gap is a question for a financial adviser.
Sources checked October 23, 2026. Each local program sets its own dates and rules, so confirm them with the program.
How LeapSteps helps
LeapSteps puts the applications on the same list as your shifts. The goal gets a milestone months out, a next step for the coming weeks and a task for today.
Example goal
- Long-termLeave warehouse work and become an electrician
- Mid-termStart a paid electrical apprenticeship
- Short-termApply to a union and a non-union program
Today's taskDo 20 algebra practice problems
We wrote this example ourselves. In LeapSteps you write the long-term goal in your own words. Tap Generate on the mid-term or short-term step and AI drafts three options; keep one, edit it or write your own.
The screenshot is the app's draft for this goal, with its first option for each step kept as generated. It made one submitted application the April milestone and started with three programs' deadlines. Our example above goes a step further on each: the milestone is starting the apprenticeship, because that's when the pay begins, and the next step is two applications, because programs often have more applicants than places.
Then link this week's tasks to the short-term step. They sit on Today next to your shifts, and a task that ends in a weekday, like "Call the training center Tuesday", is due that day. Late tasks stay on Today and show how late they are, so a week of overtime doesn't lose the plan. When the applications are in, tap Done on the step: it moves to Steps achieved, and you can tap Generate for the next one, such as getting ready for the interview. Training for a certificate around a day job works the same way in our plan to become a personal trainer.
Your first week, in seven short tasks
Each takes 30 minutes or less, so they fit between shifts. None of them means giving notice yet.
- Find your nearest union training center15 min Union apprenticeships take applications through the local center, and the electrical training ALLIANCE's locator lists them.
- Find a non-union program near you as well20 min Programs often have more applicants than places, so one waiting list shouldn't decide your year.
- Write down each program's application dates and documents20 min Each local program can add its own requirements, so a list per program keeps you from missing one.
- Order your high school transcript or GED record10 min It shows the diploma and the year of algebra that union programs typically ask for.
- Try the sample aptitude test questions30 min They show the algebra and reading the test covers, so you know what to review first.
- Compare your monthly costs with an apprentice's starting pay30 min Starting wages are often about half a trained electrician's rate, so know the gap before you give notice.
- Ask an electrician you know for a 20-minute call10 min Ask what their first year was like and which local programs they'd apply to.
In LeapSteps, add each one in a few words and link it to the goal's short-term step, so the week's work shows under the goal it serves.
Questions, answered
How long does it take to become an electrician?
Usually four or five years of apprenticeship, then a license test in most states. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says most electricians learn in a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training each year plus technical instruction. Programs run through IEC chapters take about four years: at least 8,000 hours on the job and 576 hours of classes. A technical school course first can earn credit toward an apprenticeship, and people with electrical experience from the military or construction may qualify for a shorter one. After the apprenticeship you can work on your own, and most states then require a licensing test on the electrical code. Your state's licensing board sets the details.
Do electrician apprentices get paid?
Yes, from the start. Registered apprenticeships pay a wage from day one, with raises as your skills grow, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Apprenticeship.gov. The pay starts lower than a trained electrician's: IEC says starting wages are typically 50% of a journeyman's rate. For comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for electricians at $63,190 a year in May 2025, with the lowest tenth earning less than $42,640. The classes may cost you something. IEC says there are costs, that an employer may help with tuition and that apprentices often pay for their own books. Ask each program what it charges before you apply.
Am I too old to start an electrician apprenticeship?
There's no upper age limit at the programs we checked. IEC says the minimum age is typically 18 and that people of any age can start, provided they meet the qualifications and can do the physical work. The union programs' typical requirements list a minimum age of 18 and no maximum. The work itself is the part to weigh. The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes long periods of standing and kneeling, cramped spaces, work at heights and components that may weigh up to 50 pounds. Ask an electrician what a normal day involves, and try the work if you can, before you give notice.
Can LeapSteps plan my apprenticeship applications?
It keeps them moving; the choices stay yours. LeapSteps is our app. Write the trade you want as the long-term goal, then tap Generate on the mid-term or short-term step for three AI-drafted options, or write your own, and give it an area of focus like "applications" or "aptitude test". LeapSteps doesn't know your local program's dates, its requirements or your state's license rules, so check those with the sources on this page and with the programs themselves, and it doesn't pick a program for you. What it does is keep this week's applications, practice problems and calls on the same list as your shifts, and move each finished step to Steps achieved.
Plan your move into the trade in LeapSteps
LeapSteps keeps the applications moving between shifts, with the next step on the same list as the job you have now. LeapSteps is out now on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows.
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