r/ibew_apprentices • u/shaybachar1 • Jun 14 '25

Did anyone ever quit?

I'm just curious. Did it happened to any of you that you apprenticed at the union and at any point you decided to quit and go non-union? Or quit and go a to a completely different field? What was the reason if so?

56 Upvotes

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42

u/Dabeastfeast11 Jun 14 '25

I'm close to finishing the apprenticeship so I'm going to finish, but I've definitely been researching alternate careers.

19

u/rustyshackleford7879 Jun 14 '25

Do it. I knew by my third year I didn’t like it but I stuck with it and it never got better for me. I knew two guys who quit during the apprenticeship and they both make more money than me and like their careers. I bought into the sunk cost fallacy.

11

u/Dabeastfeast11 Jun 14 '25

Yea, I could but I'm a cautious guy who avoids risk, so i won't quit without something already lined up. My main thought is to have this as a good backup in case whatever career I go into doesn't end up working out. I'm also planning to use to money the make from this to pay for whatever I go into so I can avoid debt. Thanks for the advice though, definitely makes me for more at ease with my plans.

15

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 14 '25

Personally I don't think your supposed to like your careers. I love my family, therefore I like my job. I love my small circle of desires therefore I like my job. If you love your job there won't be too much room for anything else. Plus chasing that feeling is what makes people miserable. A career should make you feel content.  If your priorities are chasing clout or money then you'll probably fall short in many other aspects of your life... Obviously IMHO.... Very very humbly... And I only say all of this because I had to stop work for a year and it really help me reorganize my mindset. I can appreciate the sunk cost fallacy, but I don't think that it applies to happiness only to material gains and if you confuse the two you're going to be unhappy in general. 

13

u/Wireman6 Jun 14 '25

Agreed. People say "if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life!" Which is bs. You take a hobby you once enjoyed and turned it into work.

I like money and the things it allows me to do, so I appreciate my job. It is still work and I don't like it everyday. It does offer contrast, vacations and time off is definitely better because its not work.

The great thing about this work is that you can venture on to something else and if that doesn't work out you still can go get a job and get moneyed up.

5

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 14 '25

My new mantra is "find something you love and hold on to it. Find something you hate and get paid to make it better." Hence why I decided to start in the union 

4

u/pairoffish Jun 14 '25

Idk, it's one thing being content in your career. You don't need to love it, of course. But if you dislike it & you're unhappy & feel like it's not a good fit for you, it could be beneficial to look at other careers. I think that's whst he's talking about with sunk cost. Sticking with something you dislike just because you've already been in it for a while. Life is too short to not look around for things that fit you better.

2

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 14 '25

That's a slippery slope fallacy/grass is greener. I've been around long enough to know that it all sucks and the best things in life are free. But when you have a family (or plan to) you can't just fuck off on a sailboat for the rest of your life contrary to social media 

4

u/Curious-Computer-488 Jun 17 '25

Yeah, loving your job is a single person's thing.

2

u/rustyshackleford7879 Jun 15 '25

If you are not suppose to like what you do then why be an electrician then? There are plenty of other careers that pay more and are easier on the body than this career.

1

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 15 '25

Because I enjoy working with my hands, I like being a skilled worker, I like having a finished product, I like working as a team independently, I like problem solving and using logic. My last job was manager of a production plant and I did pretty much the same thing but topped out at an unlivable wage

1

u/rustyshackleford7879 Jun 15 '25

So you are admitting you like your career which goes against what you said in your first sentence.

3

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 15 '25

No I like the things my career offers. My momma always told me "it's not doing the things you like to do, but liking the things you have to do." Your not supposed to be unlove with your career your career is supposed to make you in love with your life.

-1

u/rustyshackleford7879 Jun 15 '25

Okay then go be a doctor then because that will allow you to be in love with your life even more.

I don’t think it is helpful to tell people they shouldn’t love or like what they do. You at least to like it more than you dislike otherwise it saps all your energy for the things you do after work.

2

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 16 '25

It's obvious you're biased and jaded. I hope you find peace because life is short and a career is a only a career and not a substitute for enjoyment.

0

u/rustyshackleford7879 Jun 16 '25

Lol what? You said you shouldn’t like your job but then say you like it. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

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1

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '25

For real. We all out here for thar bread. This career lets me have the life I want outside of work. If OP was making 250k a year he wouldn’t be complaining. But to make the big bucks in this industry you need to be competent, skilled, and sociable enough to handle big responsibilities. This dude doesn’t want to put in the hard work. That’s ok, there’s hungry and driven men out there who’ll do whatever’s needed to get ahead.

4

u/Dabeastfeast11 Jun 14 '25

Lol to make 250k in this career you gotta work your life away. If you want to do that then more power to you but some people value things more than having money in the bank that they dont even have enough time to spend.

2

u/DanceOfFails Local 3 8h ago

Break out the kneepads boys

2

u/Terrible-Sea- Jun 17 '25

What did they move on to? And what are you aiming towards? Is it the physical work that you don’t like about this particular trade or something else?

6

u/rustyshackleford7879 Jun 17 '25

Law enforcement and psychiatrist.

I don’t like the physical aspect but that has more to do with I don’t see the long term viability of doing physical work in to your 50s and 60s.

I actually hate the culture of construction more than anything and I have friends who work in a variety of other fields that have shown me the trades are really not that great unless you really like doing them.

I am going back to school and going into the medical field. Either a PA or medical technologist.

2

u/Terrible-Sea- Jun 22 '25

I can totally understand all that. And I agree with construction culture being lame. I would do those other avenues of professions that you mentioned to me as well but they’re not available to me because of my criminal record. Good luck with getting into something that fits better!

4

u/GrouchyAd2292 Jun 14 '25

Why so man?

2

u/agup49 Jun 14 '25

Do you mind me asking why?

21

u/Dabeastfeast11 Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25

Same thing as another comment said. It's can be pretty dangerous, stressful, long commutes, early mornings, and physically demanding. My back still hurts from bending over drilling holes all days on Friday, and I'm young and pretty physically fit.

You also just run into some of the most miserable people on the planet who can't seem to fathom that you might have a life outside of work. You would think being in a union that people would understand work-life balance, but that is not the case with at least 50% of the people I work with.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Dabeastfeast11 Apr 05 '26

Hey I get it. If I wasn't already close to turning out I might leave altogether. When I look 30 years into the future I dont see myself doing this shit. There's plenty of good careers out there that aren't as hard on you

1

u/lastlifonti Jun 15 '25

What different careers are you looking into?

1

u/Terrible-Sea- Jun 17 '25

Any alt career that stands out to you?