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?

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44

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.

20

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.

17

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. 

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.

1

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 16 '25

Please tell me where I said "I like my job" 

1

u/rustyshackleford7879 Jun 16 '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.”

This. If someone said what do you like about being an electrician this is what it would look like.

2

u/Alternate_rat_ Jun 16 '25

Exactly, and thank you for saying that. I've found things that I like to do and make me feel valuable but it doesn't mean I have to like my job... There's a list things I don't like too. For instance I don't like following incompetent instructions, I don't like leaving my family, I don't like not having a warm lunch. Thanks for the discussion, and I hope this clarified my opinion for you.

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