Skilled Trades

Surprising Skills That Can Help You Become a Construction Electrician

April 03, 2018

What does it take to be a great electrician? Being good with spatial work and mechanics can certainly help, and having an ability to work well in groups is valuable as well. There are other skills though, which you might not immediately associate with electrical work, that nonetheless deliver tremendous value in the right hands.

Curious about which surprising skills might prove useful to you in a future career as a construction electrician? Here are a few that can make a real difference.

Being Good at Basic Math is a Big Asset When You Become a Construction Electrician

You won’t be doing calculus as an electrician, but being good at basic math can give you a big leg up in your work. Measuring, addition and subtraction, working with basic formulas, and a number of other kinds of math may be required in the course of electrical work. There’s no rule against using calculators, of course, but having a good understanding of the math being done – or even being able to do some of it in your head for a quick estimate – could help you work more quickly.

Having a head for numbers can be an asset for electricians

Not normally a big fan of math? Unlike much of the math work you might have done growing up in school, the math you do when you become a construction electricianalmost always translates into something you can see – a length of wire, a particular angle in a layout, etc. This sort of practical problem solving can be far more satisfying than math as most people know it, and might even be a bit of fun once you’ve learned the ropes.

Skills in Reading and Interpretation Are Important Assets for Electricians

There are a number of technical documents, measurement tools, blueprints, and other things you will need to able to read and understand in electrical work. It takes a little practice to be able to interpret these correctly, but having a natural knack for reading can be a big help.

As with math, the kind of reading you’re doing here won’t be like what you did growing up. No dull novels or academic essays, just concise and instructional material that will inform your electrical work. You can learn everything you need to know about working from these sources of information at electrical schoolso there’s no need to worry about being unfamiliar with them heading in to your career.

Developing the Ability to Seek Out Learning Can be a Great Asset in Electrician School and Beyond

Learning might seem like an unconscious phenomenon, but it can also be a skill. To be able to learn on an ongoing basis means being open to new ideas and willing to experiment with new tools and concepts, and not just assume you know what you need to know because of prior experience and education.

This is important to electrical work because the industry has changed before and will change again, and adaptable professionals will be better able to roll with the challenges and opportunities posed by these changes.

Develop a skill for lifelong learning for a great chance at career success

Partly, you can develop this skill by just keeping the same open attitude toward learning that you’ll have during school. You might also check in with your instructors to see if they have their own advice about how to go on learning throughout your career, since they’ll have many years of professional experience to draw advice from. However you approach it, finding a way to develop a skill for continual learning can be a secret weapon for success in electrician careers.

Think you have what it takes to become a maintenance electrician?

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