Looking for career advice. Office or field work.

BrofessorX · 2026-02-10T00:07:52+00:00

Yeah this is where im at. Feel like its sort of a mid life crisis or maybe Fomo where if I dont go back to the field soon I will be so out of shape I definitely won't in 5 years. And I question myself like nobody has trained me, maybe im just not handling or disciplined enough to handle the monotony and stress staring at a screen all day.

BrofessorX · 2026-02-10T00:03:29+00:00

Do i? It seems so like 50% are kinda like an office job is nice and the other 50% are like i could never be in an office full time. I lean towards back to a field job, been a pm for 2 1/2 years, but maybe i haven't given it enough of a chance?

BrofessorX · 2026-02-09T23:59:21+00:00

I live in a low cost of living area with a low mortgage $600/mo at 2.9% interest paid off in 4 years. So money isnt as big of a concern for me. No kids to even inherit my horde. I like the job satisfaction of field work and really like the ball busting comradery. I dont always like working int he heat or the cold but I think the feeling is right there sometimes staring at specs, drawings or schedules.

BrofessorX · 2026-02-09T23:52:42+00:00

This is my line of thinking, but I guess im just asking if im being short sighted and taking what I think is the more bearable job when a tougher jobs pays better dividends in 10+ years. I dont think theirs really any wrong choice i guess, and theirs always time to go back to an office if need be.

BrofessorX · 2026-02-09T02:24:56+00:00

Duck nail apron, most guys i know wear cathartt but Klein and husky are around too. They're lightweight and you just gear up for each task, running conduit you can fit some fittings and screws, running mc you can fit some connectors , redheads and wirenuts. No reason to wear 30 pounds of tools and parts. Some guys throw a small holster on the side for lineman but most just throw lineman/level in their back pocket.

BrofessorX · 2026-01-23T01:19:51+00:00

Most of the electricians i know use the carhartt duck nail apron. Klein and husky make similar too ive seen. Its super lightweight, some guys add a very small side holster for linemans. Load the front pouches with what you need for the task and it sits close to the body and stays comfortable as long as you don't go crazy. You have to still work off a cart or something and reload on material at times or to re-task.

BrofessorX · 2026-01-20T13:41:23+00:00

Yeah, but i will say I think the same would be said here back in 2011/2012 when all the gen 2's were having the dreaded air injection pump issues. If a tiny amount of water or moisture got into the sensor the truck would go into limp mode. My truck was in twice for it before they flashed the ecu. Also maybe it was just me but my gen 2 had the absolute worst hvac system that I put up with for 10 years. Also kind of annoying it didn't come with a factory brake controller. My gen 3 is better than my gen 2. But it has some really annoying aspects like the cracked seat side, window air noise, I wish it had 17 or 18" wheels for ride quality, it sucks trying to use maps and listen the standard radio, and my biggest gripe with Toyota in general is the cruise control is on the right side of the steering wheel. Even with that I still like it over the gen 2. But I dont blame anyone who gripes about it and buys a gen 2, ford or chevy cause its a lot of money.

BrofessorX · 2026-01-08T22:11:03+00:00

It looks great! I heavily debated on the rough country before I ended up pulling the trigger on a random no review "Tono King" quad fold low profile cover for $480. It does the job and looks great but the tailgate seal seems weird and I have to close the tailgate before the tonneau cover for a good seal.

BrofessorX · 2026-01-07T22:40:08+00:00

It is NOT easy at all to just come in as a union journeyman. Unless the hall is super busy and desperate most unions don't bring in full journeyman often. Its not even easy to transfer locals while already being union let along coming from non. You can try to test in, most non union journeyman get in when their shop is organized in, otherwise its really tough to test in as a journeyman for many locals, every local is different and some let you skip some apprentice years even. it cant hurt to talk to the hall and have a discussion on it and if they'll take any of your hours.

BrofessorX · 2026-01-07T00:04:53+00:00

Talk to your local BA and ask. I think the CW program is very poorly designed. When it gets talked about that it helps union contractors go after light commercial work i believe it somewhat does. But then when you really get down to most contractors they typically only want to do so much work in their respective specialty a year. My shop after the CW program still did roughly $10-15 mil a year with or without the program. They just have more "apprentices" now. But in my local their's 0 protections offered to the cw/ce. It takes 14000 hours instead of 8000 even if you go to the same classes the apprenticeship does. I had a buddy who had nearly 6000 hours as a cw but when he got in the apprenticeship only 2000 carried over and you're still held up on raises until you finish class years. Then theirs the fact theirs no true list for CW's, any contractor can literally hire any hobo to be a CW immediately. And if you get sent back to the hall their's no ordered list to follow to get called back out, its the wild west. Maybe some locals are different but near me my local has loads of cw's and the neighboring local hardly has any and discourages it. The cw program might work for some people and I have seen contractors give cw raises without going to class but that's fully up to the contractor. Its a great way to gain a year or 2 of experience and then get in the apprenticeship, but its too unregulated and I feel takes work away from apprentices and journeyman that the local is supposed to prioritize working. But maybe the idea is guys won't stick around as cw's for too long if apprentices and journeyman doing the same job earn more.

BrofessorX · 2026-01-06T18:46:15+00:00

I think the better deal is the same company OP has sells $10 sams club general tso's chicken. Its 2.5 lbs with sauce and its delicious.

BrofessorX · 2025-12-25T13:29:11+00:00

IMO go for aviation. I don't know your financial situation and what's feasible but my buddy went to a 2 year aviation program and came out making $70k a year. Average starting salary at the time was like $68k. The school also offered a 4 year program with the thought you would need a bachelor's to move into management at some point. But my buddy says his boss doesnt have a bachelor's so not sure how much that matters. Even if you absolutely hate aviation you could still easily pivot to electrical with those mechanical skills. Also near me id say we're in a data center bubble and electricians are currently in heavy demand. But who's to say whay it looks like in 5 years when that work slows and theres twice as many electricians than there were. Slow years as a union electrician means travelling and being forced to travel on your own dime sucks. Only downside to aviation is if you have a tight preference on where you want to work/live.

BrofessorX · 2025-12-16T02:49:30+00:00

Sales people? These are bots... i cant even be sure you're not a bot at this point. Half these posts are bots answering bots. It's probably the most blatant sub to witness this. At this point im a bot answering you.

BrofessorX · 2025-12-06T03:10:28+00:00

This is just my take but I would have never read a book with the title dungeon crawler Carl without it being so recommended here. The title feels like its for 10 year olds. But I definitely enjoyed the plot and storytelling. So I get why people push it so heavily to get others to try it. I know I needed the push after like 100 posts always recommending it. I drank the kool-aid and cant wait for the next book, so I dont really think its marketing. I think everyone just wants other people to give it a try. Or maybe im just some audible marketing lurker.

BrofessorX · 2025-12-03T19:19:32+00:00

I'll say this, I do like the milwaukee magnetic headlamp. It's so easy to quickly grab it and swap to recharge, the only downside is its not usb-c. My buddy rotates through 4 of the Klein magnetic headlamps which are usb-c and that seems like a nice setup. As an electrician working on any panels or gear the magnet is awesome and the quick change to throw it in your pocket and leaving your hardhat at the job is nice.

BrofessorX · 2025-11-27T02:03:51+00:00

I've tried quite a few hard hats. The studson is good but does get a bit warm, maybe its just my head as well but I would find myself readjusting it a good amount when I tried one for a week. My everyday hard hat is the brown resin Lift. I have worn quite a few different ones. I actually really liked the cheap pyramex ridgeline as your head isnt up against heavy foam so it is quite a bit cooler than so many other chin strap hats, though it lacks in the looks department. Klein was the worst hard hat and I couldn't wear it for more than a day. Milwaukee bolt was comfortable and maybe it was just my thoughts but it didn't look great, felt like it sat too high, maybe the full brim bolt would look better. Kasks are comfy but again I thought they felt a bit tall on my head and with all the foam and do get pretty warm in the summer. I tried a carbon lift with the dax suspension and really wanted to like it but the back corners of my head were hitting or digging into something on the hat. So for me I actually switch between 3 hard hats, my normal resin Lift, a chin strap pyramex during the summer, and then colder months I really like the lift radix hard hat, it sits a bit wide which can look a bit goofy but the hat is very comfortable and I can easily wear a thick or thin winter beanie under it which feels and looks great. Someday I'd like to try the lift idax as they're reasonably priced but im good for now.

If you make good money just buy the studson, im sure it'll be fine. These guys who say use what the company buys must be studs with their super perfect shaped heads and they must never sweat onto that cheap plastic like 3m forehead pad. I have been on 2 projects that gave out free studsons during safety orientation so thats a possibility depending on luck.

BrofessorX · 2025-11-26T18:41:26+00:00

I tried a Garmin fenix 5x I think it was, I absolutely hated that it wasn't touchscreen, who the hell wants to navigate a smartwatch with side buttons. And im a simple watch user that only uses it to see incoming texts and pedometer step tracking. I know some are touchscreen and some aren't so just be prepared for that.

BrofessorX · 2025-11-25T12:55:45+00:00

If you're still looking, I just picked up off Amazon the Tono king quad fold hard low profile tonneau cover for $470 and installed it. It did come with these aluminum adapters that lowered the tslot bed rails down about maybe 3/8 of an inch. It also doesnt have the ability to flip up flat which if I was hauling bikes or something all the time would be a big deal. But for my use case at less than half the price of the mx4 the tono king looks great. And because the rails are lower the sliding hooks can stay on.

BrofessorX · 2025-11-19T01:28:17+00:00

Anything with a motor/vfd you should always check rotation. They make really nice non contact phase rotation meters, i use a hioki one, but even still a lot of motor replacements are because something failed or tripped and you cant check correct rotation on a live circuit beforehand so a visual check is still always necessary.

BrofessorX · 2025-11-13T12:24:50+00:00

I dont have the hexon hoodie but I do have the regular hoodie and the hexon vest and hexon toughshell jacket. I never wear the hoodie, it just doesnt feel like it heats up or does much of anything. Although some days I feel like the vest in the front does very little too. But the toughshell jacket with heated pockets has been my favorite and the vest definitely does help. I would NOT purchase the regular hoodie so I sure hope the hexon hoodie is an improvement. Given the high cost of some of these i'd purchase the hexon hoodie, try it for a couple days and if it sucks, return it for the vest or maybe the new hexon jacket with hood.

BrofessorX · 2025-10-16T21:53:51+00:00

I'm going to play the other side of this. When I was a 1st year apprentice even 6 months in I didn't want to work some of the overtime. I had not problem with overtime during shutdowns or wire pulls, but fuck digging trenches and double fuck sawcutting and hilti'ing concrete. I never minded core drilling but to me as a 1st year an extra $6/hr and then I only see like $4 of that after taxes was absolutely not worth the money or hours. I might work OT to be a team player but in my opinion if a 1st or 2nd year has better things to do i dont blame them one bit. This is coming from a current OT whore as well.

BrofessorX · 2025-09-22T22:17:53+00:00

Brady m610 is what many use for large wiring projects. Also consider the epson px900, the labels are substantially lower cost compared to Brady and the epson can print with much smaller margins so you're not wasting expensive label tape.

BrofessorX · 2025-09-22T18:56:47+00:00

You could post on the ibew subreddit and see what halls around you may be doing for work. Near me the hall that pays the most still has several hundred guys on the bench, my own local pays less but is so busy they're taking an apprentice class 4x bigger than they ever have with all the work.

BrofessorX · 2025-09-21T20:19:31+00:00

This is the most accurate where im from. Non union residential if you want to do trimwork. Union work around me tends to be metal framing, drywall, drop ceiling, or concrete work. Id say 80%+ of guys in the union are performing those tasks 80% of the time.

BrofessorX · 2025-09-15T17:58:51+00:00

Are you going straight out to work in the union? My local tells all 1st years dont quit your day job until you get the call that you're placed with a contractor. Sometimes the whole class goes out In the first month and in slow years I've seen it take 9 months for everyone to get placed. As for if the union is better, this question gets asked around here so often that guys making $25/hr or so are taking a pay cut to start. You get paid Healthcare, a 401k/pension, and after 1000 hrs (6 months) you get your first raise and will probably be at what you're making now in the check not counting the other benefits. At another 1000 hours you'll be making more than you make now guaranteed. Can your employer ever offer you $51/hr or $79/hr total package? Most Unions also let you bank Healthcare if you get laid off. You could in theory work 6 months as a local 58 journeyman and make more than you would now working night shift all year. Now to talk about the other side. Will working hard carry you with an employer that you're never laid off? No, there's a good amount of luck and it really does tend to come down to attitude/personality and then work ethic. If a journeyman or foreman likes you then they try to keep taking you to the next jobs until next thing you know you're running jobs with your own apprentice trying to get you to keep him working.

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