IBEW Local 134 is the Chicago local, and it doesn’t run its apprenticeship the way most locals do. If you’re used to reading about online application windows and a straightforward test-then-interview path, set that aside. Local 134 has its own process, its own training trust, and a few requirements that catch first-time applicants off guard. […]
You passed the aptitude test. The interview is what stands between you and an apprenticeship offer, and here’s the part most applicants don’t realize until they’re sitting down: at most locals, your interview score is what ranks you. Applicants are brought into the program in the order of their scores, so a strong interview doesn’t
If you’re already working as an electrician, you don’t have to start over. You don’t sit through another five-year apprenticeship, and you don’t take a first-year’s pay to learn things you already know. Experienced electricians can come into the IBEW as journeymen, a route the trade calls “organizing in.” The catch, and it’s the thing
IBEW Local 11 is the Los Angeles local, one of the largest in the country, and for most people the way in is the inside wireman apprenticeship. It’s a five-year, earn-while-you-learn program run through the local’s training arm, and it turns people with no trade experience into journeyman electricians on some of the biggest jobs
