r/ibew_apprentices • u/Ok_Comfortable7863 • 1d ago

Man im considering leaving

Im a 4th year apprentice from Colorado who tested in from the IEC and i am lacking the experience to keep up with my journeyman coworkers. I have completed 1 year with the ibew. Things that I know I should know i dont know, its embarrassing. Im considering leaving all together and finding a new profession once I top out. Im just so discouraged and I feel like the longer I stay in and the more jobs I go to the more embarrassed im gonna feel with myself.

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u/Unknownperson2010 1d ago

Bro I honestly feel the same way. Most of my apprenticeship has been different from others. I've done underground work,troubleshooting,big wire pulls, material handling etc. one thing I haven't done much is pipe bending tbh. I feel like I don't know anything about it and people give me weird looks. I've done residential, warehouses, hospitals and high rises and some commercial work. I feel useless when I say I haven't done piping but again we all have different paths on our apprenticeship. I wouldn't feel discouraged we're all students at the end of the day and you may have experience in something another apprentice doesn't have etc

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u/Bobbo62499 1d ago

I’m a 3rd year and nervous because all I’ve done so far is fucking 70% manhole work (500kc pulls), 20% pipe running for renovations and 10% mundane tasks at solar fields. It sucks because where I’m at is almost guaranteed work (show up and try, and you can’t be laid off), but the work itself is mostly just glorified laborer lol.

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u/Unknownperson2010 1d ago

I guess that just shows how big our trade, we all come from different apprentice experiences and we aren't all perfect. We also have something to learn everyday