25+ Pros And Cons Of Being An Electrician (Explained)

An electrician is a person who specialized in the electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment.

They are employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure.

He is a person who installs, operates, maintains, or repairs electric devices or electrical wiring.

Advantages of being an Electrician	Disadvantages of being an Electrician
No compulsory educational requirement	Hazardous
Work and Earn While Train	Physically Demanding
Varied and Challenging	Teleworking is not possible
Scope of self-employment	Be liable for mistakes
Benefits of union workplace	Not learn many digital skills
Different career paths to follow	Annoying
A lot of respect	Low social standing
Low workload	Always have to improve skills

Advantages of being an Electrician

No compulsory educational requirement

As of now, there is no requirement for an educational degree for working as an electrician. One may join an Apprenticeship or some training and get the basics of an electrician. One must be aware of safety protocols though.

Work and Earn While Train

Apprenticeships take years to complete, it allows earning a stipend while learning. It includes hands-on training for which one gets paid.

They usually start their work by reading blueprints – technical diagrams that show the locations of circuits, outlets, load centers, panel boards, and other equipment.

And after determining where all the wires and components will go, electricians install and connect the wires to circuit breakers, transformers, outlets, or other components and systems.

Varied and Challenging

Electricians are skilled workers. The electricians who fall into the inside wireman category focus almost solely on the wiring of buildings. They install and maintain the wiring and control equipment through which electricity flows.

They also install and maintain electrical equipment and machines in factories and a wide range of other businesses. They do problem-solving, troubleshooting and face new situations and challenges at every job site. It is not a job that will become boring.

Scope of self-employment

Electricians easily become entrepreneurs. Like other trades such as plumbers, electricians are often self-employed, working as contractors or owners of small electrical contracting companies that employ other people.

Benefits of union workplace

An electrician usually has an option to join the local union. Some apprenticeships need compulsory membership before they begin to start working in the first place.

One has sovereign or company-based representation from organizations. Its advantage gives higher levels of employment security, salary protection, and better access to benefits.

Different career paths to follow

Apprenticeships have an attractive advantage. Many programs are separated into two types to choose from.

One can become an industrial electrician or one that focuses on construction. An Industrial electrician works in technical, support, and administrative services, while a construction electrician focuses on service and installation needs.

A lot of respect

While repairing a light fixture or installing a ceiling fan, there are potential dangers that one must manage to keep self and those around safe. Therefore one will receive a lot of respect in this career, even as an apprentice.

Low workload

An electrician has a relaxed life. While many other people have to work long hours every day; electricians have short workdays. They can make nice weekend trips or enjoy leisure with the things they like.

Disadvantages of being an Electrician

Hazardous

Electricity is a safety hazard. An electrician has to face electricity daily multiple times a day. The chances of electrocution are always high irrespective of the experience one has or the gear one wears.

One must learn the electrical codes during training and be very careful when doing repairs. One gets cuts, burns, and scrapes that happen easily when working with heavy equipment and specialty tools.

Physically Demanding

During installing light fixtures or outlets there are times when one needs to climb ladders with tools or crawl into tight dark spaces. This may become tough if one age. Regular moving around will start taking its toll on the body, especially the back, neck, and joints.

While working for an electric company one has to be prepared to go out into a rainstorm in the middle of the night to turn a neighborhood’s power back on.

Often reputed electricians are called upon to help overwhelmed local electricians. He needs to be prepared to perform repairs at a moment’s notice.

Teleworking is not possible

Electricians cannot work from home. They have to be present at their clients’ buildings in person and often have to commute for quite a long time.

Consequently, they will have to waste plenty of time that other people who are able to work remotely can use for doing their household chores. In turn, they will not be able to use your time as efficiently as someone who can work from home as an electrician.

Be liable for mistakes

Electricians are often liable for mistakes. Many mistakes can be quite costly. One has to spend plenty of time fixing those issues. Therefore one may also cause serious financial damages to homeowners. One may even lose their lives in the worst case.

Not learn many digital skills

A disadvantage of working as an electrician is that one will also not learn that many digital skills.

Often, one will do their work in a rather manual manner and even though one becomes an expert in how to fix electrical devices, he will still not learn many digital skills that are of high value in the job market right now.

Since you will not learn those important digital skills as an electrician, you may also have a hard time getting out of this field.

Annoying

Being an electricity expert one will always have someone who needs help. Though it can be nice to help others, it can also become really annoying if one has to spend all their leisure solving those issues.

Often he will do the same job for decades without ever getting into a higher position. Therefore salary will not increase that much and it will be really frustrating to put in the hard work without seeing any progress in this regard.

Low social standing

An electrician will have a low social standing. Most people will also be little what one is doing. Even friends may not understand why one wants to go for an electrician career instead of going to college and getting a fancy degree.

Always have to improve skills

Work as an electrician will change due to rapid technological development. One will have to refresh their knowledge at a rather quick pace since what has been the gold standard for many years may be outdated just a few years from now.

Therefore one should also have the drive to keep up with the latest technologies and best practices otherwise he may become obsolete