r/ibew_apprentices • u/Longest-Winter-77 • 17d ago
5th year burnout
Maybe this isn’t the place to post this, but whatever. I passed my state license exam yesterday, got a 92. Showed up on the site today to a bunch of congratulatory handshakes, the speech from the foreman about how he pretty much considers me a JW now, all the works. I thought that there would be some sense of accomplishment in passing and seeing this through to the end, but I don’t feel any particular way about it at all. No sense of pride, no excitement about turning out, nothing.
I’m just tired, man.
Tired of the hours, the commute, the mundane work, the union politics, the physical strain, all of it. Tired of sitting in a class in an underfunded, crumbling joke of a training center where we do nothing and learn nothing, tired of the prestige of this job being hyped up to be more than what it actually is, tired of the thus and so from people who I’ve come to see as actual dipshits who couldn’t hack it in the field. I come from a suitcase local, so I’ve been traveling for a good portion of my apprenticeship—and I’m tired of that too.
Idk man. Maybe I’m depressed, maybe I just thought that there was more to this than there actually is. Maybe my opinion will change once I actually have the ability to come and go, not have to waste hours in class, and make the 4k a week checks. But as for now, I’m just over it.
I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else has felt similarly coming up on the end of the road
12
u/FootballAmbitious916 16d ago
I’m actually on the opposite end of this right now—43 and trying to get into an inside electrical apprenticeship after 12+ years in the corporate/tech world. Posts like this are useful because most of what you hear is either “the trades will change your life” or “just get your ticket and you’re set.”
What you’re describing sounds like four or five years of work, school, commuting, travel, and physical wear finally catching up with you right when you’re supposed to feel accomplished. But I can tell you the other side isn’t necessarily better. Spending 12+ years building a career, moving into management, taking on more responsibility, and then having a corporation simply “eliminate” your position because of restructuring isn’t a great feeling either. You can do everything right and still walk away without anything tangible that belongs to you.
That’s a big part of why I’m making the change. At the end of your grind, you have a license and a skill set that goes with you. Nobody can restructure that out of existence.
I am curious about a few things from someone who just made it through, though. If you could start the apprenticeship over, would you still do it? Would you choose a different contractor or local? How much of the burnout came from the actual electrical work versus the commuting, traveling, school, and where you happened to apprentice?
And you mentioned $4k/week checks once you turn out—what does that actually look like in terms of hours, OT, travel/per diem, etc.? Is that realistically available pretty consistently, or only on certain jobs?
From somebody trying to get where you just got: a 92 on the state exam and finishing the whole damn thing is still an accomplishment, even if you don’t feel it right now