Electrician via Vo-Tech School
When he realized that he had been adopted, HL could have become depressed because ‘my natural parents didn’t want me’ but instead, he looked at his situation in a positive way, believing he was lucky to have the opportunity to be loved by a family who wanted him. Eventually, he would demonstrate appreciation for his life’s opportunities by giving back to others less fortunate.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
HL was adopted into a family whose father sold insurance while the mother was a homemaker. HL became an older brother to his sister.
The father’s type of insurance sales involved personal visits to client homes, frequently on nights and weekends to convenience the client. But such a work schedule interfered with the father’s availability to dine regularly with the rest of the family for dinner and to attend the children’s after-school events.
HL doesn’t recall either of his parents directly suggesting an adult career for him, but his eventual, adult career choices were indirectly influenced by his father’s work schedule and occasional lack of income, causing missed mortgage payments. HL vowed – to himself – that he would (A) always be available to share family dinnertime and attend children’s events; (B) avoid repetitive work like making the same sales pitch again and again, though to different people; and (C) earn steady income.
EDUCATION
Through elementary and middle school, HL was not self-motivated to achieve high grades for the sake of being recognized as an honor student; he just wanted to pass each grade, reserving enough time to play whatever sport was available during each season.
When HL entered 10th grade at the vo-tech school, he hoped to study German since his father had been an American soldier during World War II, involved in combat in Germany. However, no German studies (history or language) were offered. Upon review of the curriculum catalogue, HL opted to study the electrician’s trade so he could help his father set up the family’s annual Christmas holiday lights.
Though HL found his coursework involving electricity to be interesting, he also found the basic concepts initially difficult to understand. His test scores reflected his lack of total comprehension of the course. Thus, he was nervous about whether his final grade would be sufficient to pass the course, especially when he overheard the teacher telling a fellow student who had also been struggling in class: “OK, I’ll reluctantly give you a passing grade but only if you’ll promise to never pursue a career as an electrician – it would be too dangerous for you and everyone else!”
Fortunately, the teacher was not as harsh in judging HL’s academic performance, which gave him the confidence to continue his career pursuit as an electrician. Studying harder the next two years, HL became a ‘Straight A’ student during his senior year.
CAREER PATH CHOSEN AFTER SELF-ASSESSING PERSONAL INTERESTS
As a result of his late blooming, academic success, a teacher recommended that HL consider veering off the straight-line career path toward becoming a licensed electrician by instead, changing his focus from basic electricity to electronics and more specifically, to ‘diodes.’
(Editor: A diode is a specialized electronic component with two electrodes called the anode and the cathode. Most diodes are made with semiconductor materials such as silicon, germanium, or selenium. Though relatively simple in construction, diodes are vital in modern electronics. Diodes have the capacity to conduct electricity in only one direction. One significant application of diodes is to convert AC power to DC power. LED diodes can produce coherent light.)
HL was pleased to be recognized as someone who could understand and work with electricity and be offered the opportunity to develop a specialty which might involve important new technologies but he self-assessed his future career vision as more comfortable with what he now knew – electricity and its related uses within residential and commercial settings for wiring installation and problem solving – rather than an uncertain future with a technology which might develop in ways that HL could not now project his future interest and comfort level. Would he have to work at an inside desk? Could he keep up with ever-changing technology to master the concepts, be competent and efficient?
HL decided to stick with the known, rather than with the unknown. He would continue to learn the trade of electrician, become licensed, avoid desk work, earn a steady income, save toward retirement, and develop a work schedule allowing him personal time to devote to his own family life.
EMPLOYEE TO SELF-EMPLOYED
HL was wise to begin his electrician’s career as an employee of a company of electricians. The company was responsible for finding paying customers, providing oversight of HL’s growing skills as an electrician, transportation to and from job sites, health insurance and a steady paycheck.
However, the downsides of being an employee include assignments to boring, repetitive work, inflexible hours on the job, having your wages not necessarily reflect your hard work in contrast to more senior employees and being more likely to be laid off if the company’s workload takes a downturn, than senior employees who may not work as hard but have a longer history with the company.
After several years of working through the advantages and disadvantages of being an employee, HL decided he needed no further guidance to succeed as an electrician, with the level of knowledge and skills he had already obtained. HL discreetly (confidentially) asked some contractors with whom he met while working on various jobs if they would consider hiring – or recommending – him as an independent electrician if he went out on his own.
By then, HL had saved a few dollars which he judged to be sufficient to get through some ‘dry’ (no customers) days until he had a steady customer base. So, mindful of the need to provide his own tools and advance some costs for materials, along with self-supplying health and vehicle insurance, HL made a ‘giant leap’ to start his own business.
Despite a few days of no available work, HL’s skills as an electrician and his dedication to prompt, efficient and quality service soon resulted in steady business referrals from fellow contractors and happy customers.
ONE ELECTRICIAN’S LIFE: CHALLENGES AND REWARDS
Like any career, there are positives and negatives. The goal is to have more of the former than the latter.
Negatives include:
- Necessary emergency electrician responses which conflict with personal, off-duty priorities such as family time
- (Fortunately, infrequent) customers (usually residential) who believe (incorrectly) that your work has adversely affected some other electrician’s work (despite your being able to defend clearly and objectively your good work)
- Boring, repetitive work which you’re unable to assign to anyone else
- New electrical situations for which there are no apparent, immediate, easy solutions
- Having to work in inclement weather
- Customer’s checks which ‘bounce’
- Having to work in potentially hazardous circumstances
- Having to deal with the usual hassles of running your own business which require taking some time away from your core activities as an electrician; these necessary distractions include dealing with your attorney, insurance agent, tax filer and website manager
Positives include:
- Hearing praise from a customer for a job well done at a fair price
- Being referred to a new customer from another happy customer
- Undertaking newly different and interesting work
- Solving a complex electrical problem
- Working inside and outside in pleasant conditions
- Job assignments without concern for personal safety
- Watching your bank account grow due to steady work and thrifty spending
- Availability with little notice to focus on personal / family time while keeping customers satisfied – e.g., deciding today to ‘hit the beach’ tomorrow with your family for a long weekend after promptly finding a back-up electrician to cover any work which had been scheduled or might arise on an emergency basis
- Retaining all business profits
CAREER SATISFACTION
HL’s electrician business eventually developed to the point where he could afford to take some time away from immediate customer service and invest some financial savings to create a large, Christmas holiday light display within the commercial district of his hometown. This event became a “win – win” for many: for townspeople to enjoy the dazzling display of holiday lights, for parents to introduce their children to a holiday tradition, for HL to observe the awe and enthusiasm of holiday tourists, for HL to collect donations for his efforts – which he pledged, in turn, to donate to locally worthy causes and as a final win: the gifts (toys, uniforms, travel expenses) received by the beneficiaries of the donations.
