At a career crossroads - become an electrician in mid-life?

I worked for over a decade in a tech-adjacent field, UX/human factors. But I was laid off nearly a year ago, and despite doing all the stuff one is supposed to do ("upskill", make my resume amazing, update my website, network, apply for hundreds and hundreds of jobs, etc.), I haven't gotten hired again in that industry. I am beginning to suspect I never will.

Taking advantage of my free time, I got certified as a home inspector in February, licensed in March, and have been inspecting houses professionally since April. I love being a home inspector, but it has only been part-time for me and is unlikely to become full-time soon.

So at almost 40 years old, I am looking at beginning a new career. It's the third time in my adult life I've done this; it seems my pattern is one career per decade.

This time I am focusing on the trades because of the ubiquitous demand, low barrier to entry, and the fact that I prefer working with my hands so much more than in front of a computer. (I am also aware that having experience in the trades will make it that much easier/cheaper one day when I fulfill my dream of building my own house.)

I called an electrician who's done work on my house and who I always had fun talking to, and he's agreed to have me out to apprentice under him if he needs any extra help in the coming weeks. A few full days of that should give me a sense of whether it's something I enjoy and can do well. I chose "electrician" because it seems to pay better than most other trades, and it's something even many DIYers won't touch.

This potential career change is an exciting but daunting prospect. I have a mortgage to pay, a family to feed and clothe, and a retirement to save for, so it sucks to be starting again now at the bottom, but I think I have what it takes to do really well in the trades in the long term. I wish I had started earlier, but I suppose better late than never.

If anyone thinks I should consider a different trade (or even career path) I'm open to input. If anyone has particular advice regarding becoming an electrician or making it a more lucrative career, I welcome that too. Thanks!

Ned,

As an older fella who has had a few careers (yeah, one a decade is about right on average) the trades are the way to go at present.  Electrician is a good one.  Let me add this to your database.  Apprenticeship is typically hours based but last about 4 years.  Add another 4 years to journeyman to complete that stage.  Different states have different rules, but you will be 8 year into this new career before you can be out on your own, as you typically have to test for a Master's certificate to be a licensed contractor.  (some places may allow journeymen to work as GC's or pull permits.)

The upside is you can work anywhere in the world and electricity is not going away.  It pays well and the specialization is unlimited.  There are other trades that will get you into the earning zone faster and are in high demand.  HVAC pays well and can get credentials in about 2 years.  Stationary Engineer (running industrial steam boilers) pays well but the jobs are usually concentrated in urban areas.  If you live in an area that has a community college with a Voc Tech department go spend an afternoon with an advisor to see what is available and appeals to you.  Maybe it is electrical.  Maybe something you have not considered.  (you might not believe what a weld inspector gets paid in certain parts of the country or industries.)

Good luck on the new career!  

In my opinion you can't have too much knowledge or too many skills.  Your fourth paragraph answered your own question.  It's not a bad thing to get paid while you learn.  I've jumped back and forth between jobs using my degree and welding pipe and then oilfield.  I made more money and enjoyed life more while working outside in less than perfect conditions than I did inside.  It might be a curse!

I went back to school at age 50 and became an RN at age 55. It's been good.

Hi,
Everything I can think of to say about becoming an electrician has already been said. Another comment spurred this thought. A welder does not need nearly the training that an electrician does. It generally pays very well, and jobs can also be found all over the place.

Rather than working with a guy who ` if he needs any extra help in the coming weeks` why not go to work for a big company that will give you 8 hours of work a day?

I like Matt`s suggestion about working as a welder, then there are other good profession such as a plumber, a carpenter, or even a janitor.

Anne Miller wrote:Rather than working with a guy who ` if he needs any extra help in the coming weeks` why not go to work for a big company that will give you 8 hours of work a day?

Because 1) I can start immediately and 2) it's a great way to get my feet wet and see if it's something I like. Then if it is I can try and work for a big company, if it makes sense to go that route. It could be that the big companies only hire union guys who've got credentials or something. I don't really have a feel for the "landscape" yet at this point, and first I have to get a feel for the work itself.

I have heard that electrical pays better than plumbing, HVAC, and carpentry, and it seems like there's less competition, though those interest me as well and I'd like to get more skills in those areas too. Concrete also!

I have a friend who has been interested in welding for a long time but hasn't made much progress...there was some relatively high barrier to entry there, I can't remember exactly what he told me it was.

Hi Ned;
The only thing no one has mentioned is joining a labor union.
Electricians,  operators (I have 25 years as a union crane operator) Pipe fitters, ironworkers, carpenters, and even laborers. (+ many others)
All will give you great pay, health coverage, and a retirement package beyond S.S.
The catch depending on your location is travel. Because I choose to live very rural, I generally work 4 hrs drive one way, I live in motels or rented rooms.
I was 40 when I joined the union, our kids were grown and out of the house.
My wife had to step up and take care of the ranch while I was working, but I was home every weekend to help out.
It was hard at times but well worth it in the long run.
I am 65 now and semi-retired, my crane license is good for 5 more years, and I'll be working a few days a month to bring in mad money.

Hi Ned,

If the offer is real, it may be worth it.  I would have a serious talk with the electrician you will be working with. Make sure you understand the career path. Make sure you get an accurate estimate of the number of hours you will be working and at what pay. Check with both state regulations and, as Thomas said, the electricians union.  Being an occasional helper may be much different than being an apprentice. That said, how long must you be an apprentice before you move up?  Does the person you will be working under have credentials?

When I was much younger, I had a wise person tell me to never turn down a piece of paper.  He meant that I should get my hands on every certification, license, degree I could. More often than not, I followed that advice.

Like Thom, I grabbed onto my RN later in my career. I did this solely to boost my retirement. As a retiree, I can still walk into any hospital in the area and grab onto a job for mad money.

Ned Harr wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:Rather than working with a guy who ` if he needs any extra help in the coming weeks` why not go to work for a big company that will give you 8 hours of work a day?

Because 1) I can start immediately and 2) it's a great way to get my feet wet and see if it's something I like. Then if it is I can try and work for a big company, if it makes sense to go that route. It could be that the big companies only hire union guys who've got credentials or something. I don't really have a feel for the "landscape" yet at this point, and first I have to get a feel for the work itself.

I have heard that electrical pays better than plumbing, HVAC, and carpentry, and it seems like there's less competition, though those interest me as well and I'd like to get more skills in those areas too. Concrete also!

I have a friend who has been interested in welding for a long time but hasn't made much progress...there was some relatively high barrier to entry there, I can't remember exactly what he told me it was.

Ned, Perhaps I should have gone back and read a few more, but.............

1) At any age and on most any job, the fact that you want to get up and go to work seems to me to be the most important thing.  I don't know if things are different there, but with your talents from past years, I would suspect you can get any job.  Might as well be WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

2) Deciding between pay as a electrician, plumber, or carpenter, or thinking you will enjoy one or the other because the pay is higher, doesn't warrant much value in my book. At 55, it is doubtful, you will ever go out on your own, so you might as well do what you think you will enjoy most.

3) Working for someone that is super interested in teaching you is worth multiples of your pay per hour.  Working for someone that doesn't want you to know to much is a big roadblock (if you truly want to learn the trade)    A perfect example of this might be your friend that is learning welding.  You can learn to weld, one thing- one way for the next 10 years, or you can learn 100 different things, about all aspects of the trade. A huge difference, but both are about welding.  
    The same can be said about electrician work.  You can be told/taught to do light switches and door bells for years, or you can learn to do service boxes to the final end.  The difference is large.

4)  only $0.02 worth, but as you can see, I feel it is far more important about the teacher than it is about the trade type.

My sister went to University for 4 years and couldn't find work in her field. So she went and did a part-time Certified General Accountant course in the evenings.

After a year, she found a job at a relatively small company. She knew fellow students who worked at large companies. The courses required that she have specific experience in areas of accounting and she never had any trouble getting that experience - even if it was only 2 weeks of experience when her co-worker was off on holidays. The fellow students in large companies were expected to work in the same small area of accounting and there was always someone in the way of changing jobs.

So I see great advantages in finding a small company that does a wide variety of jobs.

My son's friend got his welding ticket. He promptly started working on upgrading his math for future alternatives. His comment, "welding's a young person's job, and too much of it takes a great toll on your lungs. It's a great skill to have, but I won't be doing it forever!" I've heard similar said about the painting industry, although I think we've got much better respirators for painters now that 20 years ago. Painters get paid well, but it's a rare painter that's doing it for decades.

Yes, the demand for nurses is huge and not going to get smaller any time soon! Some nursing areas are more physically demanding than others. A friend recently retired from home-care nursing and she loved it. Shift work can be hard with young families, but children don't stay young for that long!

I'm 100% behind you on this. Excellent idea, excellent plan with the local guy.
You CAN do this!!!   :D

We have a friend who is part of a family of electricians. One thing I remember him noting was that getting a professional electrician truck is an investment. He said he bought the oldest one he could find that was still in working order. Good luck!

I know the local electrician would grab you and make you into an apprentice... they never have enough people.

Every professional started somewhere.  Where do people advertise for jobs nowadays ....

Not all big companies are union.  Do a little research as they are out there.

Just had a great interview and landed a job (starting in a week or two) as an electrician's assistant! Thanks to all who gave advice and encouragement.

Mondo! Congrats!!

Not only a new career, but essential work that keeps the lights on. What could be better?

Congratulations Ned! We need more permies inoculating minds about how to do wiring/electrical work with sustainability and efficiency in mind!

Congratulations, Ned!

Jay Angler wrote:Congratulations Ned! We need more permies inoculating minds about how to do wiring/electrical work with sustainability and efficiency in mind!

Say more? Aside from "use less energy" what else is there I might learn?

Ned Harr wrote:

Jay Angler wrote:Congratulations Ned! We need more permies inoculating minds about how to do wiring/electrical work with sustainability and efficiency in mind!

Say more? Aside from "use less energy" what else is there I might learn?

First off, I think more and more people will be looking to supplement their electricity with "home produced power". Being able to advise people on the current best methods from the environmental, cost, and effectiveness perspectives would be very useful. Many adverts are all about cost and effectiveness, but few of them admit the cradle to grave environmental costs.

Second, as Paul Wheaton says with respect to lightbulbs, lighting is a lot of noise with little real benefit. Incandescent bulbs in the winter simply help to heat the part of the house the human is in! LED's save electricity in the home, but many LED fixtures are not repairable if anything breaks. You can't just "change the bulb". Again, most people are oblivious to that fact - it's cheap and it will last for 10 years (maybe) so who cares how much the environment was hurt producing it and how much space in the landfill it will consume.

Third: this may be harder because codes require certain things. However, to use the example of my friend's plumbing.... they waste over a gallon of water every time they want to get hot water at the kitchen sink! In comparison, the house design I live in, has both bathrooms and the kitchen as a core with non-water requiring rooms to the south, eat and west of this core. It takes about 4 cups of water to get "hot" in my kitchen sink (which in summer, I trap in a juice jug so I can give it to some plants.) So where possible, think of electrical wiring from the same perspective. What is the shortest routes that can be run to meet code, but conserve copper? Efficient wires might seem like nothing, but if you add it up over the lifetime of 50 houses, it might surprise you.

Jay Angler wrote:

Ned Harr wrote:

Jay Angler wrote:Congratulations Ned! We need more permies inoculating minds about how to do wiring/electrical work with sustainability and efficiency in mind!

Say more? Aside from "use less energy" what else is there I might learn?

First off, I think more and more people will be looking to supplement their electricity with "home produced power". Being able to advise people on the current best methods from the environmental, cost, and effectiveness perspectives would be very useful. Many adverts are all about cost and effectiveness, but few of them admit the cradle to grave environmental costs.

Second, as Paul Wheaton says with respect to lightbulbs, lighting is a lot of noise with little real benefit. Incandescent bulbs in the winter simply help to heat the part of the house the human is in! LED's save electricity in the home, but many LED fixtures are not repairable if anything breaks. You can't just "change the bulb". Again, most people are oblivious to that fact - it's cheap and it will last for 10 years (maybe) so who cares how much the environment was hurt producing it and how much space in the landfill it will consume.

Third: this may be harder because codes require certain things. However, to use the example of my friend's plumbing.... they waste over a gallon of water every time they want to get hot water at the kitchen sink! In comparison, the house design I live in, has both bathrooms and the kitchen as a core with non-water requiring rooms to the south, eat and west of this core. It takes about 4 cups of water to get "hot" in my kitchen sink (which in summer, I trap in a juice jug so I can give it to some plants.) So where possible, think of electrical wiring from the same perspective. What is the shortest routes that can be run to meet code, but conserve copper? Efficient wires might seem like nothing, but if you add it up over the lifetime of 50 houses, it might surprise you.

Okay, that's what I guessed you might be getting at. Yeah, this is great. I hope I do get an opportunity eventually to impart that kind of thinking. And to learn how to do things in a more environmentally-friendly way!

Update: I've been an electrician's apprentice for 3 weeks now. I enjoy the work and, if my youngest has graced me with a full night's sleep, I wake up looking forward to it. I can't believe how much I've learned in just these three weeks, and how much more there is to learn. Really excited for what's down the road.

Also, by sheer serendipity I suppose, all the other electricians I've met/worked with so far (i.e. my boss and a couple other guys) are into homesteading/off-grid living. I assume this is some combination of coincidence and network effects, but it's fascinating nonetheless. I do not yet get the sense that any of them impart little ideas to their customers, but we'll see how it goes.

Congratulations on pursuing this trade. I can't speak to your location, but I wanted to encourage you with an email I received when I passed one of my state tests.

"Congratulations on your recent passing of the electrical exam. Be proud of your accomplishment as only about 35% pass the exam.

The average age of our electrical contractors is 56 years old. We have around 13,503 licensees in the state and out of those, only 264 are 30 years old or younger while there are 332 who are 80 years and older. Only 10% of our licensees are 40 years old and younger. You can see that our industry not only needs you in the future but now as well.


May you have success in our industry and again congratulations!"

I sold lighting products for 13 years and I can tell you that an electrician can make good money and a great electrician is impossible to find. Your knowledge from home inspection will pay off. While you're doing inspections, pay attention to how things are wired, what breakers they're on, etc. When you see something above and beyond, incorporate it into your work. When you see fire-risks, report it and never do that.

If you focus on residential, get ready for some weird requests. You don't realize how disconnected people are from reality until you get into their homes.

I'm a web and iOS app developer and can't find work in either of those, so don't feel bad. The industry is in the midst of a major reshuffling that started during covid and hasn't quit since.

Congrats to the OP.

For others interested in permaculture friendly careers, I can suggest teaching and law enforcement. Both fields are as desperate for people as trades and both are present in even very remote locations. They can take surprisingly little time to qualify for - with a bachelor's degree you can teach right away under an emergency credential in a lot of places and all you need to be police is make it through a 3-6 month academy.

I've done both after a long stint of office work and they both provide for much more flexibility to work the land in your off time while providing very stable income and benefits.

My new career has interrupted one important aspect of my life, at a most inopportune time:

I used to lift weights 21-24 times per month. I no longer have time in the morning to do that, and in the evening either I don't have time or I don't have energy. This month for the first time in what seems like years I am on track to fall short of my minimum 21 workouts without having gotten sick.

This is a bad time for it to happen because the more I age, the more important regular weightlifting is (to my longevity, to my general health and acuity, to my self-esteem, to my eye-catching figure, etc.) and the harder it is to recover from hiatuses.

I will really need to find a workaround.

Thanks for the update.

Yes, those workouts are important.  Can you do them on the weekends?

Anne Miller wrote:Thanks for the update.

Yes, those workouts are important.  Can you do them on the weekends?

I can and do do them on weekends, but I'm accustomed to working out 5-6 days a week. I am facing the prospect of only working out 3-4 times a week and that is bad enough; working out only on weekends would be devastating!

You'll be lifting toolbags and climbing around in odd spaces. That counts too.

Also, consider that any time you're not doing something else, you can be flexing an arm with a dumbbell.

I am sure the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but here is my take on it.

I wanted to be a heavy equipment mechanic but ended up being a welder by this odd twist in life. It worked well for me I guess because I was able to retire at age 42, but it was brutal work. One out of three welders blow out their knees because of all the kneeling that has to be done. I was NOT one of the two who did not need my knee rebuilt. Not operated on, a knee replacement at 42 years old. I have also had my eyes drilled 7 times from debris getting into them, and had issues with heavy metals (lead, copper and iron).

So after sitting idle for four years, I decided retirement at 46 years old was not for me, and decided to get my high pressure steam license and get into stationary boiler operations. I liked it, and it was the best job I ever had, but steam plants where I live are closing down, and the one I worked at did.

So I transitioned from using high pressure steam to make electricity into using hydro power to make electricity. It is a very interesting job because we start with DC power, make AC from it, work with both three phase power and single phase, and work with both low voltage and ultra high voltage. Throw in power factors, phase angles, and lead and lag parameters and learning of it is life-long.  The bad side is; the grid is powered 24/7 so I am on-call 24/7/365. As I type this, I am on call and if a generator was to go down, I'm going in to work and its 2 AM on a Monday right now.

The good of it is that I am 15 minutes away from home and not a construction electrician constantly working myself out of a job. Those types of electricians also never know where their next job will be. Now that solar and wind power have been de-subsidized, all those electrician jobs are drying up. However, those types of electricians get paid more than I do just for that very reason: those jobs are here today and gone tomorrow.

A residential electrician has a more stable workload, decent pay, and travel away from home is not an issue, but the work is god-awful boring.  By design the national electrical code is the same to ensure the same standards are done, so it really does not matter what the house is, its going to be doing the same thing. Then there are the same jobs, like switching out from 100 amp service to 200 amps. How many of those is a person going to do before they hang themselves out of boredom?

So I definitely do not have the answer. For now I will stick with being a hydro-power electrician, but who knows what the future will bring.

Rez Zircon wrote:You'll be lifting toolbags and climbing around in odd spaces. That counts too.

Also, consider that any time you're not doing something else, you can be flexing an arm with a dumbbell.

Actually a lot of the "art" of this work seems to be getting into habits to make it minimally physically taxing. E.g. make the fewest possible trips up and down a ladder or to and from the work truck; I bought a tool belt with suspenders so the load I'm carrying is comfortably distributed over my upper body. I suppose there's an implied philosophy that the work should be easier because you exercise on your own time, or in some instances be possible because you exercise on your own time, rather than be the exercise itself.

Once, about five years ago, I was waiting for a train in the Bay Area. I was the only guy on the platform except for one other man, who had a backpack with a pair of boxing gloves dangling from them, indicating he'd just left the gym. I noticed he was doing pushups and stuff the whole time. He reminded me of David Goggins. I found it kind of inspiring and jumped up and did a few sets of pullups from a small tree. Eventually he and I got to talking and he said he always did that, fitting in pushups and dips and other bodyweight exercises any time he had even a few moments to spare. I still find it rather inspiring, and I suppose I could be doing that too, keeping a set of dumbbells or silicone bands in my car and doing resistance training every spare minute...

...but realistically it also just seems like a way to tire myself out faster and possibly get injured, so that at a critical moment when I need my full strength at work I don't have it. But maybe it also goes to show that I should be readily able to sustain my 6 workouts a week if I'd just be 10% less lazy or something. Hm... Thanks for the reminder!

By the way, if at the end of the work day I find that I'm sweaty and tired, I do count that as having exercised. But it really doesn't happen a majority of days.

Thom Bri wrote:I went back to school at age 50 and became an RN at age 55. It's been good.

My son has been doing nursing for the last decade -- he fast tracked emergency,/ICU and trauma, then moved up north. (Nurses are treated really well where he is.)

He has been able to save fast (something mentioned) and even though it won't help build a house, from what I understand about health care, knowing a lot might help cut future costs from triage to rudimentary husbandry

And of course, we need nurses everywhere!
I am also noticing attitudes change about nurses and doctors (in a good way for nurses)

Thanks for being a nurse Thom

Ned Harr wrote:By the way, if at the end of the work day I find that I'm sweaty and tired, I do count that as having exercised. But it really doesn't happen a majority of days.

You can always find workouts at work.

I know I do. I am an electrician too but to the bottom of our powerhouse is 94 feet, or 103 steps. Run that from top to bottom and it’s a workout… and I get paid to work out!!

We don’t have an elevator.

Well I'm a big believer in fate/destiny/God's purpose

I wouldn't sweat the low points too much

Do what you can, don't give up trying, and keep your eyes open for any possible opportunities

Perhaps you are meant to be something else now, and an electrician another decade away

Then there's teaching
It doesn't pay well at the high school level, but there's also college, although often only part time, private collegs being possible (I did that between geek contracts),, but why not keep up the inspections, take any opportunities to learn electrical from your friend, and juggle and find out where things settle? It sounds like you aren't doing the child care too (I was) so you may have the opportunity to spread your hours and do inspections evenings weekends when 9-5 people dearly would like to schedule you?

See about online learning (The HVAC suggestion was my initial thought) but imagine where the jobs will be in 2-4 years, or ask locally -- get some advice from someone respected and successful in your community in some of the ideas you have.

I have a friend going through this career "crisis" currently. Think: opportunity. A change is as good as a break.

If physically you think you need to upgrade, think on that, and, is there a way you can bicycle to some places you need to go? You also need to keep up a healthy heart. Stack your functions, think about careers where some of your current skills may be valued (running fibre optics cable?) try to meet people for breakfast and keep getting advice

You may want a career change because you are ultimately unhappy. That's not a bad thing. It's an opportunity to improve your life.

Going from a decent salary to not much might be hard on your family, but maybe this is a time to start looking at the whole mortgage-squirrel cage thing as well

Definitely keep working on your fitness: it will never be something you regret  There are many ways to stay in shape! All the best.

BTW I did not mean to give the impression that I am no longer working out at all; just that this month, at current rates, I will work out 19-20 times instead of my more normal 21-24. That's still a lot more than the typical person, and also more than the 12-16 recommended by doctors. It's just less than I've become accustomed to. I have no plans to accept this decrease either, I'm just thinking out loud here while I figure out a way to keep my rates stable.

Steve Zoma, somehow I missed your response earlier. Fascinating! One of the things I love about this new career is all the cool electrician specialties I am still learning about. I have one eye open to finding such a niche for myself eventually, in which I am not climbing ladders and fighting with tools: I will eventually accept the tradeoff in satisfaction at having done stuff with my hands for a specialty that's less physical, because I expect that in 10, 15, 20 years when I'm 50, 55, or 60, the aches and pains of a hard day's work won't be as tolerable as they are now.

And actually one of the first areas of concern is my hands and fingers: a day of gripping tools does actually leave those extremities sore for a few days afterwards, which is not cool when I'm trying to play guitar.

Ra Kenworth, I don't know if you caught it but since writing the OP I have dove (dived?) in and am a full-fledged electrician now. (I'm even being sworn in at my local next week.) So, whatever "career crisis" I felt I was facing when I wrote that is behind me now.

And yes, I am doing childcare (before/after my kids' school that is) and yes, I am still doing home inspections on weekends.

Re. bicycling: frustratingly, the place where I live is horrible for cycling. I'm in a quiet suburb hemmed in on 4 sides by busy 2-lane roads/stroads where drivers are totally unaccustomed to bikes. So, I can ride peacefully in circles on my neighborhood streets (zzzzz) but I can't get anywhere useful without taking my life into my hands. This is maddening, as simply adding bike/pedestrian trails along the side of the stroads would solve the problem--but of course civil engineers don't think that way here.

Re. the "mortage-squirrel cage", I assume you are referring to downsizing/getting out of debt/etc.? One of the things that happened over the past year while I was (mostly) unemployed was my wife and I discovered both how to pare down our expenses and how to live with less, without changing where we live or all that much about our lifestyle. And I would say we're even happier now in terms of material comfort. So that's been very beneficial too, and whereas before transitioning to our current household income would have seemed terrifying, now it feels comfortable and each little anticipated raise is exciting and celebratory. We're in good shape, I'd say.

That's awesome news, all around!
Congrats at been sworn in too!