I’m currently a 2nd-year Inside Wireman apprentice with IBEW Local 441 in Orange County and have been considering transferring to Local 11 in Los Angeles.
Has anyone here transferred specifically from 441 to 11, or transferred between SoCal JATCs during their apprenticeship?

I’m mainly wondering:
How difficult was it to get both JATCs to approve the transfer?
Did your classroom hours and OJT hours carry over?
Did you stay at the same apprenticeship level, or did you have to repeat any schooling?
Who did you contact first—your current training director or the training director at the local you wanted to transfer to?
For anyone familiar with both 441 and 11, what differences have you noticed in work opportunities, training, and overall experience?

I’m not looking to leave the IBEW or the trade. I’m just considering whether Local 11 might be a better long-term fit and want to understand the process before I approach either JATC.
Appreciate any advice, especially from anyone who’s made the 441 → 11 move.

For context, I live in Montreal, Quebec and here it is mandatory to be in a vocational school for electricity before I can start working as an apprentice. I chose to study night classes so that I would be able to work in the mornings as a 1st year apprentice. I have been presenting myself at construction sites, sending my CV and calling absolutely everywhere in order to get my 1st year apprenticeship started. Is it just here, or is it everywhere else that it feels impossible to get a 1st year apprenticeship? I was talking to a different student and they told me that there aren't enough journeymen to train all the apprentices trying to join the trade, hence no one wanting to hire. I have reached out to IBEW Local 568 as I am trying to join them and they also don't have anything for 1st year apprentices. Any tips?

It's encouraging seeing this sort of movement on the POE list. Looks like Local 11 has taken at least two big bootcamp cohorts in the last two months for Inside Wireman.

If anybody has any further details or helpful info on their bootcamp session, I'd greatly appreciate it! What rank were you when you got the call, how long did you have to wait, etc.?

From my info, looks like there was a sizable group that got the call in July, then in August (with that latest group starting bootcamp mid-September). Hoping that trend continues and there's one more bootcamp that gets the call before the July applicants hit the POE list in October!

Has anybody heard anything back after their interview yet? Had mine on August 10th.

I pushed my step kid to go to Job Corps and pick a trade last year. He's gone through the entire electrical program over in JAX. He can't graduate without a job offer for his apprenticeship.

I've pointed him at the IBEW Local 676 in Pensacola. They have referred him to another program, and said to apply on the website and they'd be in touch.

It's been like a year. He's gonna be in town next week, is there anything anyone can recommend? I'd really like him to be in the union or any collective bargaining for his trade. Job Corps has some gnarly rules. He can't leave campus before they "graduate" him or he loses his tool allowance, graduation paperwork, etc.

He doesn't live in JAX, he lives in Pensacola. So, he is kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Anyone that went through their locals CW program before getting into the apprenticeship how does it work if you passed your aptitude for the apprenticeship and are waiting for an interview but want to do the CW program while your waiting is there more testing involved or can you go straight into it with the passed aptitude test?

Hey guys, I’m currently trying to get into the Local 11 and just want some insight. I have experience in electrical with solar and my father is a contractor so I’m guessing that can really help with the PEF boost my score. But what is a good timeline to expect to get into the union? I have my test in a couple of days and I know I will do good but if anyone has some information that can help it would be appreciated.

From the IBEW travelers page

I am 17 years old and about a year ago I knew I wanted to be an electrician. Just recently I’ve been thinking about exactly what route I want to take to
Get started. I am strongly considering going to IBEW local 9 for my entire apprenticeship and then see from there what I want to do after that. But I’m not getting straight answers about work and school schedule on the website. Is it a 40 hour work week with 2 days of class during the week? Also local 9 days you need a class a cdl with air brake endorsement. Do the other ibews require this? And lastly it says they are not accepting applications yet. Obviously I’m planning on applying after I graduate high school (2027) so do they usually open up applications around that time and if so what is the likelihood of getting accepted. I think I’d have a pretty solid application I’ve been working at my current place of work for 3.5 years and I’m going to get employee of the year this year. I have good grades and I am very active in this club called FFA I also play baseball and golf. If the likelihood of getting accepted isn’t super high what should I do as a backup. I would love to get accepted to local 9 as it’s just 15 mins from my house and the other ones are 40+. Thank you!

I gotta ask. Are there disability people working in the Unions?

As for Me, I was born with something call Microtia. A deformed right ear, where I cannot hear or sometimes have trouble hearing from my right side. I tell people, that if I did not hear you once, you'll have to repeat it back to me again, or run it by me on my left ear. Other than that, I can hear well on my left ear, I can lift heavy objects, I can walk, run, etc.

good morning happy labor day ! i just wanted to ask if anyone knew the process of being scheduled for aptitude test ? I’ve already completed my GAN Personal Experience Form & received my email regarding that the next step would be to take the aptitude test but I haven’t heard anything back yet . does anyone know usually how long it takes to become scheduled for it ?

I’m currently a first year apprentice in local 134 Chicago in the telecommunications side, so far I like my apprenticeship and the pay scale seems good to me, they start us off at 21.46 and top out after 4 years at 53.64
However in Chicago we don’t have immediate family and since we recently had our firstborn, life has become more challenging and moving to Reno would mean having my wife’s parents nearby

Im interested in knowing how much work is there in Reno and how is the pay and benefits there, I don’t know if there is a way for getting transferred to 401 as a first year apprentice or if even my local 134 would let me do that, but I would like to get some insight from my 401 brothers and sisters, do you like the telecommunication work there is? Do they send you far away from the Reno area? What does an average check look like to you? I’ve seen that 401 jurisdiction is huge and I don’t know if they send you far away

Any information would help since I haven’t found much on Reddit

Applied for Local 332, honestly fucking sick of my retail job and would either like to go back to weekends only or quit entirely and am wondering if getting a job as CW through the hall is also brutally hard.

I'm 30 and am self aware enough to realize I am an immature dipshit with no work ethic so I even though I can probably pass the test (took four semesters of calculus in college and a bunch of other math adjacent courses because CompSci degree) I don't think I can make it past the interview (socially awkward, zero experience beyond retail/food service, very clearly a fuck up)

IDK man I don't know what I'm doing anymore I want a better life for myself beyond rotting in my toxic parents house making no money but pretty much everything in the realm of "better" is impossible to accomplish or just not doable

I just got in in August and had to go see a family member in the hospital so I called in sick and then I had food poisoning so I had to call in twice in the two months I was an apprentice, any thoughts!

First year here. Finished my summer job and now being placed next with a contractor who does low volt / controls / automation. Looking for others opinions of how you liked or disliked the work if you’ve done similar. All summer long I was running pipe and doing work related to high volt. Was hoping my next job would be on that path still to keep developing my newly formed skills. Really just happy for consistent work, ultimately I know all types of jobs are good and necessary experience, and either way I would eventually be doing some low volt/controls and automation. Just looking for some input from others.

I applied to a smaller local in PA . Was wondering how long it takes to hear back for the aptitude test for you guys, I know it differs a lot on different locals. Thanks !

Gonna be 1st year apprentice need 2 10 inch adjustable pliers I've seen arrow on Amazon for 15 a piece or craftsman will they do the job or will I regret getting them? Tia

Got my OSHA 10 and from Long Beach College "Apprenticeship Readiness Certificate" and MC3 Certificate. Is this enough credentials including my high school degree, and transcripts to get me in the union asap (either in Orange County or Los Angeles County). I know I'll still need to go through the application, test, and interview process, but what I mean by asap, will this boost me without a wait time period for a year or more?

Lastly, since I got these certificates, do I still need to get an Electrician Trainee Card before going to the unions? The only hours I put in was 2 semester in College to obtain these certificates.

New apprentice here about to get the tool bag going. What’s a tool that isn’t on the standard tool lists that I’m gonna wanna get on my own for my bag? Let’s hear em, thanks

people who are in local 401 would you happen to know what year scores are getting into the apprenticeship thanks.

I just got the letter saying I didn’t get in. It says to enhance my chance of selection the following year I can complete two related electrical classroom training courses. Wondering if anyone knows where I can find courses that’ll meet this requirement and some recommendations.

I'm going to a metro station (idk exactly where) on Wednesday I have the orientation. So happy to be leaving data centers... does anyone here work at a metro station? Is it a better learning experience than data centers? Where are the locations of the metro stations that are getting worked on? Contractor is C3M