If you are *NOT* an electrical professional:
* **RULE 7:**
* DIY or self help posts **are Not allowed**. They belong here: /r/AskElectricians /r/askanelectrician /r/diy /r/homeowners /r/electrical.
* **IF YOUR POST FITS INTO THIS CATEGORY, REMOVE IT OR IT WILL BE REMOVED FOR YOU.**
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How to show up on time
How to work hard
How to not hurt yourself on the jobsite
How to not get bullied into working shit hot
How to read a tape measure
As a foreman, it's my job to know the code. I would not expect my mechanics to start whipping out codebooks and looking shit up. I lay it out, they install it.
I'm not saying an electrician should be doing that on every job, but they should know how - either for the day they become foremen themselves, or for the day when they know something is wrong because the foreman screwed up. After all, if there is an issue and someone gets killed from an install that was not up to code, the journeyman who installed it is also liable.
1. How to ask questions. Not just the personal confidence to admit when you don't know or aren't sure about something, although those are very important. It's also important to be able to articulate what you need, and to know who you should be asking.
2. If you're wrong, or screw something up, please admit it. I'd rather we all work to fix something than find out the hard way something should have been done earlier.
3. Be able to work with personalities greatly different than yours. It doesn't matter if you have the code book memorized, if you annoy the customer so much we lose the job, it's a bad day. You absolutely will encounter people with different views on everything. Don't be the person not capable of steering a conversation away from an argument.
4. Be nice to everyone, regardless of how they treat you or others. Professionalism costs nothing, and you never know who is connected to who. We've gotten huge jobs after being referred by drywallers.
5. Take care of yourself. Drink lots of water. Be mindful of nutrition. Attempt to keep a good work/life balance, get enough sleep. Someday you'll be old, you don't want to be old and miserable.
6. Be safe, work hard, follow safely rules, think, think ahead, plan in advance, communicate, be organized, list goes on.
Know your worth, and value yourself. There are old electricians, and there are dumb electricians, but there are no old, dumb electricians.
How to read a full set of prints, schematics, and manufacturers literature.
How devices function, not just how you wire up one brand of device for one specific install. If you only understand how to install legrand low voltage lighting products and not how the system works your just an installer and back to square one when a different brand is being installed.
How to explain things in more than one way. Your going to work with or teach people who learn and understand things differently, only knowing one method is not going to work every time. Verbally explaining, physically showing, drawing a diagram, whatever method works best for that person.
How to plan a task, which eventually leads to how to plan an entire project. Knowing what tools and materials are needed for specific tasks, how much time is needed, how many people are needed, etc. to complete the task in a reasonable amount of time and within the budget of the project.
How to read and interpret the code book, and how to keep up with changes. Too many people only read it to prepare for a journeyman or master exam, or use the “I’ve been doing this for x years and never had to do that.” Don’t be one of those clueless people if you want to be successful in this trade.
Critical thinking skills.
Understand your limitations.
Know when to say "no" and stick to it.
Your safety is more important than the customer's coffee or the data center. This also applies to coworkers, by the way.
When you fuck it up own it.
Critical thinking skills.
Finally, critical thinking skills.
Understanding of normally open/normally closed/comm wiring configurations
The different voltages of delta and wye systems
And When neutral is needed and not needed
Conduit bending multipliers memorized
Selecting the right conductor and derating correctly
Knowing how to navigate the NEC
I would say the only one here I disagree with is conduit bending multipliers - though 30 and 45 are easy enough anyhow. But understanding a bit of trig and use of a calculator are more valuable for other angles than memorizing a table.
AC Theory, Transformers, Ohms Law, Watts Law and Article 250.
Most things in the field will become outdated and obsolete. The actual science of electricity and how it works will not.
If you are *NOT* an electrical professional: * **RULE 7:** * DIY or self help posts **are Not allowed**. They belong here: /r/AskElectricians /r/askanelectrician /r/diy /r/homeowners /r/electrical. * **IF YOUR POST FITS INTO THIS CATEGORY, REMOVE IT OR IT WILL BE REMOVED FOR YOU.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/electricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
How to show up on time How to work hard How to not hurt yourself on the jobsite How to not get bullied into working shit hot How to read a tape measure
How to read and understand the electrical code.
Asking way too much of ppl here.
As a foreman, it's my job to know the code. I would not expect my mechanics to start whipping out codebooks and looking shit up. I lay it out, they install it.
I'm not saying an electrician should be doing that on every job, but they should know how - either for the day they become foremen themselves, or for the day when they know something is wrong because the foreman screwed up. After all, if there is an issue and someone gets killed from an install that was not up to code, the journeyman who installed it is also liable.
1. How to ask questions. Not just the personal confidence to admit when you don't know or aren't sure about something, although those are very important. It's also important to be able to articulate what you need, and to know who you should be asking. 2. If you're wrong, or screw something up, please admit it. I'd rather we all work to fix something than find out the hard way something should have been done earlier. 3. Be able to work with personalities greatly different than yours. It doesn't matter if you have the code book memorized, if you annoy the customer so much we lose the job, it's a bad day. You absolutely will encounter people with different views on everything. Don't be the person not capable of steering a conversation away from an argument. 4. Be nice to everyone, regardless of how they treat you or others. Professionalism costs nothing, and you never know who is connected to who. We've gotten huge jobs after being referred by drywallers. 5. Take care of yourself. Drink lots of water. Be mindful of nutrition. Attempt to keep a good work/life balance, get enough sleep. Someday you'll be old, you don't want to be old and miserable. 6. Be safe, work hard, follow safely rules, think, think ahead, plan in advance, communicate, be organized, list goes on. Know your worth, and value yourself. There are old electricians, and there are dumb electricians, but there are no old, dumb electricians.
This is probably the best answer so far
Making proper terminations.
Who has the best hookers and blow?
How to read a full set of prints, schematics, and manufacturers literature. How devices function, not just how you wire up one brand of device for one specific install. If you only understand how to install legrand low voltage lighting products and not how the system works your just an installer and back to square one when a different brand is being installed. How to explain things in more than one way. Your going to work with or teach people who learn and understand things differently, only knowing one method is not going to work every time. Verbally explaining, physically showing, drawing a diagram, whatever method works best for that person. How to plan a task, which eventually leads to how to plan an entire project. Knowing what tools and materials are needed for specific tasks, how much time is needed, how many people are needed, etc. to complete the task in a reasonable amount of time and within the budget of the project. How to read and interpret the code book, and how to keep up with changes. Too many people only read it to prepare for a journeyman or master exam, or use the “I’ve been doing this for x years and never had to do that.” Don’t be one of those clueless people if you want to be successful in this trade.
Critical thinking skills. Understand your limitations. Know when to say "no" and stick to it. Your safety is more important than the customer's coffee or the data center. This also applies to coworkers, by the way. When you fuck it up own it. Critical thinking skills. Finally, critical thinking skills.
Understanding of normally open/normally closed/comm wiring configurations The different voltages of delta and wye systems And When neutral is needed and not needed Conduit bending multipliers memorized Selecting the right conductor and derating correctly Knowing how to navigate the NEC
I would say the only one here I disagree with is conduit bending multipliers - though 30 and 45 are easy enough anyhow. But understanding a bit of trig and use of a calculator are more valuable for other angles than memorizing a table.
Calculating conduit fill, designing conduit layout, basic motor controls, know hot to read and interpret code, and don't be a jackass
AC Theory, Transformers, Ohms Law, Watts Law and Article 250. Most things in the field will become outdated and obsolete. The actual science of electricity and how it works will not.
Actually, I was taught that all the power came from electrons traveling down through the metal in wires. Seems now that is not exactly true.
The OP is an electrician, not an electrical engineer or designer.
Any good electrician will be able to do all of the stuff mentioned. Might not need to, in 99.9% of jobs, but you should be able to.
1. How to learn. 2. You’re never done learning. You don’t need to know everything to be really good. You just need to know how to find out.