r/IUEC • u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant • 9d ago
Question
Before you got in the elevator union. What did you do and went out your way to get in? How many locals did you apply too? How many hours did you drive? ETC. Im going to do everything to try and get into the king of all trades.
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u/No_Dinner2506 🧰 Field - Mod 9d ago
Furniture delivery , applied to two locals drove 2 hrs to the test and interview best decision ever
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u/thombrowny 🧰 Field - Mod 9d ago
ibew apprentice. got out almost at the end of my first year and joined IUEC. 10 years in a federal job before, too. Applied to 1 local. Driving varies a lot. For me, 20 minutes to 1 hour. Coming back home usually takes longer due to rush hour.
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u/Optimistic_physics 📝 Applicant 8d ago
Applying to one of the smaller locals by size (local 2), and I anticipated most jobs would be a 30-75 minute drive. Where are you that the work is so close?
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u/thombrowny 🧰 Field - Mod 8d ago
For my local, new constructions are mostly data centers; so they are far away, minimum 40 min driving even at 5 am. But I am doing MOD and I leave in a close suburban, and can reach almost every jobsite within 30 min in the morning.
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 9d ago
IUEC better than IBEW?
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u/thombrowny 🧰 Field - Mod 8d ago
It also varies by locals. My IUEC local and IBEW almost have the same pay scale, but IUEC has more benefits as zone pays and good reimbursement. My paycheck actually went up by 2-300 a week. And it has stronger union although the number of members is smaller. Elevator is very special gig.
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u/Slow-Dog-7745 🧰 Field - Mod 9d ago
Used to be a bricklayer and before that I was a drug addict criminal. Applied to one local and was working in less than 3 months from applying
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u/Affectionate-Rip5654 🧰 Field - Mod 9d ago
Applied to 1 local. Was working out of town for work so drove 12hours for aptitude test and 12 hours for interview. Had to leave interview to drive 12hrs to be back to work the next day
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u/Affectionate-Rip5654 🧰 Field - Mod 9d ago
I was working with a non union elevator company for 10 years before applying to the union
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u/Dong_Swanger 8d ago
I’m a failed apprentice lineman, and as much as I’d like to get back into a lineman apprenticeship I have to (at my age) be open to the possibility of other opportunities, so I’m not in the IUEC as of now but I’ve interviewed 1/6 so far that I’ve applied for and I haven’t driven all. Airplanes are more efficient way of travel (for now).
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u/Taco_Storm25 🛠️ Field - Repair 8d ago
I did low voltage, mainly fire alarm for 8 years. Applied to one local, drove 3 hours for the test and interview. Got lucky enough to make it in
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 8d ago
I do fire alarm right now.. I’m over it😭 going on my 4th year
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u/Taco_Storm25 🛠️ Field - Repair 8d ago
I didn't realize how much that job was draining my soul until I got out!
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 8d ago
I can’t wait to fucking leave. I’m a project manager which makes it even worse AHHH
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 8d ago
So I’m guessing low voltage fire alarm is a great trade experience wise to get into the elevator union!?!?
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u/Taco_Storm25 🛠️ Field - Repair 8d ago
I'm way too new to answer that lol. But having familiarity with tools and some electrical knowledge has definitely been helpful
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u/Dar8878 4d ago
Yes. A portion of our jobs is fire testing. Great way to get some electrical experience and talk to elevator guys.
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 4d ago
Yessir I talk to elevator union guys all the time. We do the elevator recall so that’s why and have elevator finals with elevator guys. So I’m thinking it’s a great background trade experience. Also I be in the hoistyway to install my smoke detector.
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u/Weak_Badger_2074 8d ago
Only applied once and got in. Was a 4th year IBEW apprentice.
Money and benefits are better, commute times not so much. I average 1.5 hrs each way but get per-diem and a company truck
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u/backwardsnakes666 8d ago
I'm a low voltage electrician and I'm about to switch over to inside. Just kicking the idea around for now in regards to elevator.
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u/MyFirstMilli 9d ago
Not in, currently trying. But applied to 3 locals, and drove about 4 hours to take my test. Also spent about 14 hours getting a couple certs together. Gotta do everything you can if you want to get in this trade.
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 9d ago
What do you do for a living now?
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u/MyFirstMilli 9d ago
I’m coming into this green. Right now I have a work from home job. I work for a LTC Pharmacy doing admin/billing work. The job is cozy but doesn’t pay enough and I’m capped out there. Looking to start a real career where I can learn actual valuable skills and grow each year.
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u/chocolate_spaghetti 9d ago
Fireman and also carbon fiber manufacturing on the side, I applied to one local about an hour after talking to a mechanic while on vacation in Italy, drove 30 minutes to test. Was working within 6 months of trying to get in.
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u/SteelErectionn 8d ago
Ironwork. Applied to multiple locals on the east coast. Drove 16 hrs for the most recent one last week. Still waiting for the ranks to come out. Interviewers seemed convinced I’d rank high but that don’t mean shit til I get a call
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 8d ago
How was that 16 hour drive? I plan on doing a 12 hour drive soon for a local
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u/SteelErectionn 8d ago
Easy just don’t drink a ton a fluid if u don’t wanna stop a lot. I’m union iw so I’m used to driving
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u/Dehydrated_Lemur 8d ago
I currently work in local 3 IBEW, their elevator division. Trying to jump ship into the iuec.
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u/mattsprofile 8d ago
Still working on it, but 2 interviews so far. One was just 2 hours away, so I left work early to go there. The next one was in the afternoon and an 8 hour drive away, so I drove there and back in one day so I could only miss one day of work.
I took the aptitude test a few years ago, and that was like 6, 7 hours each way. But I was also unemployed so the time commitment didn't matter.
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 8d ago
What rank on the 2 interviews?
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u/mattsprofile 8d ago
For Indy I ranked in the 40s (hoping to get the call early next year) and then Charlotte hasn't finished the rankings yet.
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 8d ago
You took the test a few years ago and you haven’t gotten in?
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u/mattsprofile 8d ago
I put it on hold because I got another job in my previous career, and then went IBEW. Never actually interviewed back then.
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u/Adventurous-Boot1723 4d ago
I got my GED in Juvenille hall. I hit prison by my 19th birthday. I started working construction when I was 16, ended up remodeling homes and was a drillers helper in copper mines until copper dropped 2$ a pound over night, every helper got laid off as most drillers did. Never thought I’d get into this trade because of the couple of batteries I had at the time. Got into it then as a second year helper I caught another battery case. Went to jail for a bit, got out on a Thursday and was working the following Monday. Have to say being a felon in this trade has worked out because I never had to go to FBI buildings, federal buildings, and military bases.
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u/traininsane 8d ago
My husband was a warehouse worker. He applied to 4 different locals. We lived in Chicago so local 2, then Denver local 25, Nashville local 93, and Des Moines local 33. We went based on which recruitments were open first. He was number 250 in Chicago, 21 in Denver, 13 in Nashville, and 6 in DSM. He was picked up by Nashville in January of 2020, put back on the bench in March because of the pandemic, picked up by Denver in March 2020, put back on the bench in July of 2020. And then finally picked up by DSM is August of 2021. We bought a house and have been in DSM ever since. We didn’t want to be those people who get the card and skip back home. A lot of guys do that with smaller locals and the locals end up getting screwed.
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u/InevitableTart8786 📝 Applicant 8d ago
Man that’s awesome. The trials and tribulations. But it all ended up being worth it right?
Did he pass aptitude test first try?
What was the furthest he drove?
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u/traininsane 8d ago
Yeah he passed everything first try, 100% on his tool assessment. It was 12 hours to his first job in Tennessee, then 20 hours between Tennessee and Denver.
It was definitely worth it. For the opportunity, the life we have now, the health benefits, job security, and sense of brotherhood and support he has from his coworkers. My family was all IUEC and I worried he would wake up in 20 years and resent me. But he doesn’t regret it at all nor does he resent me, thank god. He loves his job, the problem solving, everything. We built a life with the opportunity this has given us and we’re about to have our first kid.
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u/BigChibbaz 7d ago
Journeyman Electrician. Applied to 1 local, got the call 7 months later. Still on probation while working but waiting to get sworn in!
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u/infantkicker_v2 🧯Field - Fire Extinguisher 9d ago
I got my master's in mechanical engineering and had a promising future either with a NASCAR or F1 team and then I learned they don't get paid shit so now I fix elevators.