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their managers and other higher-level employees at the company,
as there is an understanding in the industry that it is extremely
important to train the next generation and to “grow your own.”
Third, as you gain experience, you will make more money. Leveling
up to the higher tiers of certification in the electrical industry will
merit big pay increases, whether you stay with the same company
where you started or start looking for jobs elsewhere. Your skills,
as you build them, will become increasingly more valuable, which
will open up job prospects and increase the level of salary you can
command.
Fourth, and finally, by entering the electrical trade right out of
high school and learning through apprenticeships and on-the-job
training, you will avoid the investment of college—both in terms of
time (four years is a lot of time, especially when you consider how
much an electrician learns and advances in that time) and money
(college tuition costs, as we’ve already explored, are significant).
Bottom line, looking at the basic numbers, it might seem as if
college is the best path to a higher paying job. Based on recent
research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers
(NACE), the general average starting salary for college graduates,
across all industries and job types, is about $55,000. Because
$55,000 is more money than an entry-level electrical apprentice
is likely to make, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that someone
with a college degree will always make more money than someone
without one. When you consider the other factors, though—from
college cost to the growth potential of the trades—the scales start
to shift in favor of skilled trades jobs.
In fact, a more accurate way to compare salaries between four-year
college graduates and electrical workers would be to compare
the salary that a graduate is making right out of college to what
an electrician is making after four years on the job, since both
individuals are spending those four years building their knowledge
and skills and training for careers. And while requirements vary from
state to state, four years is often the minimum amount of time that