Industrial Electrician

Industrial electrical work is distinguished from other electrical work by virtue of the setting in which the electrical work occurs, that is, in a non-residential environment (either commercial or industrial). Whereas residential electrical work usually involves the installation and maintenance of electrical wiring and components in environments where people live, industrial work occurs in buildings, plants, and facilities where business is performed. Due to the fact that an industrial environment involves a complex process environment, the variety of electrical components that an industrial electrician deals with is greatly increased (versus that encountered by a residential electrician). These components include programmable logic controllers, motors, motor control centers, variable frequency drives, and other electromechanical parts, in addition to the usual wiring and conduit work that a residential electrician encounters. Added to this variety is the fact that the work is performed in and around complex production processes involving people and machines, a challenging task at the best of times. Because of these differences, industrial electrical should be considered as a craft in and of itself as distinct from residential electrical.

If you like working safely, methodically, and, most of all, collaboratively, in a complex and busy electromechanical environment, where the only "thank you" you are likely to receive after accomplishing a task will come only from yourself, then choosing industrial electrician as a profession might be a good fit for you. The pay is comparatively good and there is good job security. And if you don't forget yourself and start acting in an unsafe manner, it's actually a pretty exciting job. A technician in this field gets to use his or her mind and body, usually at the same time. The job requires troubleshooting, negotiating with people, navigating obstacles, and devising solutions to problems. One example of a job an industrial electrician might perform is to take an inoperative overhead crane -- basically a large, immobile, and useless piece of metal at the moment you arrive at the work site -- and restore it to its previous functioning (and valuable) state. A crane operator couldn't have accomplished the task you just performed, neither could an engineer or even a plant manager. No one else but you could have done it without getting hurt. That's because you're an industrial electrician. Bask in your importance for the next ten seconds before moving onto the next job (but please be sure to take adequate breaks).

Being an industrial electrician is a physically and mentally demanding job -- you must be in good physical shape and you must be able to keep your wits about you. You can easily die if you are not taking the precautions necessary to ensure your safety -- remember that you are primarily dealing with deadly levels of electrical energy that you are not able to see. Peer pressure to circumvent safety protocols is rampant in some sectors of this field -- always be vigilant to as to what your own state of mind is at any particular time on the job. You are doing this job for one thing and one thing only: to make money safely. Remind yourself of that fact often. You are not on the job to make friends. If coincidentally you find that at times you like working with an individual (or group of individuals), then that's fine -- getting along with your workmates is critical. But getting along doesn't mean being a "hero" or a "cowboy" by getting the job done faster and less carefully than it should be done. Behavior like that is unsafe and unprofessional. Work done efficiently is good, fast is not. A competent, ethical, and responsible employer will appreciate the lower insurance costs that he or she will ultimately have to spend (or the funeral he or she will be able to avoid going to) if you can remember to act safely.