Commercial and Residential Wiring

Alternative Job Titles for Electricians

• Control Electrician
• Electrical Journey Person
• Electrical Troubleshooter
• Electrician
• Housing Maintenance Electrician
• Industrial Electrician
• Inside Wireman
• Maintenance Electrician
• Paper Mill Electrician
• Wireman

Job Tasks and Activities for Electricians

• Advise management on whether continued operation of equipment could be hazardous.
• Assemble, install, test, or maintain electrical or electronic wiring, equipment, appliances, apparatus, or fixtures, using hand tools or power tools.
• Assist skilled construction or extraction personnel.
• Communicate with other construction or extraction personnel to discuss project details.
• Connect wires to circuit breakers, transformers, or other components.
• Construct or fabricate parts, using hand tools, according to specifications.
• Create construction or installation diagrams.
• Diagnose malfunctioning systems, apparatus, or components, using test equipment and hand tools to locate the cause of a breakdown and correct the problem.
• Dig holes or trenches.
• Direct construction or extraction personnel.
• Direct or train workers to install, maintain, or repair electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures.
• Estimate construction project costs.
• Fabricate parts or components.
• Fasten small metal or plastic boxes to walls to house electrical switches or outlets.
• Inspect electrical or electronic systems for defects.
• Inspect electrical systems, equipment, or components to identify hazards, defects, or the need for adjustment or repair, and to ensure compliance with codes.
• Install electrical components, equipment, or systems.
• Install ground leads and connect power cables to equipment, such as motors.
• Maintain current electrician's license or identification card to meet governmental regulations.
• Order construction or extraction materials or equipment.
• Perform business management duties, such as maintaining records or files, preparing reports, or ordering supplies or equipment.
• Perform physically demanding tasks, such as digging trenches to lay conduit or moving or lifting heavy objects.
• Place conduit, pipes, or tubing, inside designated partitions, walls, or other concealed areas, and pull insulated wires or cables through the conduit to complete circuits between boxes.
• Plan layout and installation of electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures, based on job specifications and local codes.
• Plan layout of construction, installation, or repairs.
• Prepare operational reports.
• Prepare sketches or follow blueprints to determine the location of wiring or equipment and to ensure conformance to building and safety codes.
• Provide assistance during emergencies by operating floodlights or generators, placing flares, or driving needed vehicles.
• Provide preliminary sketches or cost estimates for materials or services.
• Repair electrical equipment.
• Repair or replace wiring, equipment, or fixtures, using hand tools or power tools.
• Test electrical equipment or systems to ensure proper functioning.
• Test electrical systems or continuity of circuits in electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures, using testing devices, such as ohmmeters, voltmeters, or oscilloscopes, to ensure compatibility and safety of system.
• Thread wire or cable through ducts or conduits.
• Train construction or extraction personnel.
• Update job related knowledge or skills.
• Use a variety of tools or equipment, such as power construction equipment, measuring devices, power tools, and testing equipment, such as oscilloscopes, ammeters, or test lamps.
• Work from ladders, scaffolds, or roofs to install, maintain, or repair electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures.

Interests for Electricians

• Realistic
  Designing, building, or repairing equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors.
• Conventional
  Following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting.

Skills for Electricians

In order of importance

• Troubleshooting
  Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
  Importance: 75/100
• Repairing
  Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
  Importance: 63/100
• Critical Thinking
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
  Importance: 60/100
• Speaking
  Talking to others.
  Importance: 60/100
• Active Listening
  Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
  Importance: 60/100
• Quality Control Analysis
  Testing how well a product or service works.
  Importance: 56/100
• Installation
  Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
  Importance: 56/100
• Judgment and Decision Making
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
  Importance: 56/100
• Active Learning
  Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
  Importance: 56/100
• Complex Problem Solving
  Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
  Importance: 53/100
• Coordination
  Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
  Importance: 53/100
• Operations Monitoring
  Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
  Importance: 53/100
• Reading Comprehension
  Reading work-related information.
  Importance: 53/100
• Monitoring
  Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
  Importance: 53/100
• Learning Strategies
  Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
  Importance: 50/100
• Instructing
  Teaching people how to do something.
  Importance: 50/100
• Mathematics
  Using math to solve problems.
  Importance: 50/100
• Persuasion
  Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
  Importance: 50/100
• Time Management
  Managing your time and the time of other people.
  Importance: 50/100
• Equipment Selection
  Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
  Importance: 50/100
• Service Orientation
  Looking for ways to help people.
  Importance: 50/100
• Writing
  Writing things for co-workers or customers.
  Importance: 50/100
• Operation and Control
  Using equipment or systems.
  Importance: 50/100
• Systems Analysis
  Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
  Importance: 50/100
• Equipment Maintenance
  Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
  Importance: 50/100
• Social Perceptiveness
  Understanding people's reactions.
  Importance: 47/100
• Systems Evaluation
  Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
  Importance: 47/100
• Management of Personnel Resources
  Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
  Importance: 47/100
• Operations Analysis
  Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
  Importance: 44/100
• Management of Material Resources
  Managing equipment and materials.
  Importance: 35/100
• Management of Financial Resources
  Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
  Importance: 35/100
• Negotiation
  Bringing people together to solve differences.
  Importance: 31/100
• Technology Design
  Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
  Importance: 28/100
• Science
  Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
  Importance: 25/100

Knowledge for Electricians

In order of importance

• Building and Construction
  Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
  Importance: 67/100
• Administration and Management
  Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  Importance: 65/100
• Mechanical
  Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
  Importance: 61/100
• Mathematics
  Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  Importance: 60/100
• Design
  Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  Importance: 58/100
• Customer and Personal Service
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  Importance: 54/100
• Public Safety and Security
  Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  Importance: 47/100
• Psychology
  Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  Importance: 42/100
• English Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  Importance: 41/100
• Transportation
  Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  Importance: 38/100
• Production and Processing
  Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  Importance: 38/100
• Telecommunications
  Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  Importance: 37/100
• Law and Government
  Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  Importance: 36/100
• Administrative
  Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  Importance: 33/100
• Physics
  Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
  Importance: 32/100
• Education and Training
  Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  Importance: 30/100
• Sales and Marketing
  Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  Importance: 30/100
• Personnel and Human Resources
  Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  Importance: 28/100
• Engineering and Technology
  Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  Importance: 27/100
• Computers and Electronics
  Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  Importance: 25/100
• Sociology and Anthropology
  Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
  Importance: 19/100
• Economics and Accounting
  Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  Importance: 16/100
• Chemistry
  Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
  Importance: 15/100
• Communications and Media
  Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  Importance: 14/100
• Geography
  Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  Importance: 12/100
• Therapy and Counseling
  Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
  Importance: 11/100
• Medicine and Dentistry
  Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  Importance: 5/100
• Foreign Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
  Importance: 5/100
• Biology
  Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  Importance: 4/100
• Philosophy and Theology
  Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
  Importance: 2/100
• History and Archeology
  Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
  Importance: 2/100
• Food Production
  Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
  Importance: 2/100
• Fine Arts
  Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
  Importance: 2/100

Physical Abilities for Electricians

In order of importance

• Problem Sensitivity
  Noticing when problems happen.
  Importance: 75/100
• Near Vision
  Seeing details up close.
  Importance: 75/100
• Deductive Reasoning
  Using rules to solve problems.
  Importance: 72/100
• Inductive Reasoning
  Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
  Importance: 72/100
• Finger Dexterity
  Putting together small parts with your fingers.
  Importance: 69/100
• Oral Comprehension
  Listening and understanding what people say.
  Importance: 69/100
• Information Ordering
  Ordering or arranging things.
  Importance: 69/100
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  Keeping your arm or hand steady.
  Importance: 66/100
• Visual Color Discrimination
  Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
  Importance: 66/100
• Extent Flexibility
  Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  Importance: 63/100
• Written Comprehension
  Reading and understanding what is written.
  Importance: 60/100
• Visualization
  Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
  Importance: 60/100
• Oral Expression
  Communicating by speaking.
  Importance: 60/100
• Trunk Strength
  Using your lower back and stomach.
  Importance: 60/100
• Far Vision
  Seeing details that are far away.
  Importance: 56/100
• Flexibility of Closure
  Seeing hidden patterns.
  Importance: 56/100
• Manual Dexterity
  Holding or moving items with your hands.
  Importance: 56/100
• Category Flexibility
  Grouping things in different ways.
  Importance: 56/100
• Control Precision
  Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
  Importance: 53/100
• Selective Attention
  Paying attention to something without being distracted.
  Importance: 53/100
• Mathematical Reasoning
  Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
  Importance: 50/100
• Perceptual Speed
  Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
  Importance: 50/100
• Number Facility
  Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
  Importance: 50/100
• Depth Perception
  Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
  Importance: 50/100
• Speech Clarity
  Speaking clearly.
  Importance: 50/100
• Fluency of Ideas
  Coming up with lots of ideas.
  Importance: 50/100
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  Keeping your balance or staying upright.
  Importance: 50/100
• Written Expression
  Communicating by writing.
  Importance: 50/100
• Speech Recognition
  Recognizing spoken words.
  Importance: 50/100
• Multilimb Coordination
  Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
  Importance: 50/100
• Gross Body Coordination
  Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
  Importance: 47/100
• Auditory Attention
  Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
  Importance: 47/100
• Memorization
  Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
  Importance: 47/100
• Originality
  Creating new and original ideas.
  Importance: 47/100
• Reaction Time
  Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
  Importance: 47/100
• Time Sharing
  Doing two or more things at the same time.
  Importance: 47/100
• Static Strength
  Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
  Importance: 44/100
• Stamina
  Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
  Importance: 44/100
• Speed of Closure
  Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
  Importance: 44/100
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
  Importance: 44/100
• Response Orientation
  Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
  Importance: 41/100
• Hearing Sensitivity
  Telling the difference between sounds.
  Importance: 41/100
• Dynamic Strength
  Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
  Importance: 38/100
• Speed of Limb Movement
  Quickly moving your arms and legs.
  Importance: 31/100
• Glare Sensitivity
  Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
  Importance: 31/100
• Explosive Strength
  Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
  Importance: 31/100
• Spatial Orientation
  Knowing where things are around you.
  Importance: 28/100
• Sound Localization
  Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
  Importance: 25/100
• Rate Control
  Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
  Importance: 25/100
• Peripheral Vision
  Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
  Importance: 25/100
• Night Vision
  Seeing at night or under low light.
  Importance: 25/100
• Dynamic Flexibility
  Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  Importance: 6/100

Tools and Technology used by Electricians

• Stripping tools
• Wire or cable cutter
• Voltage or current meters
• Cable reels
• Wire lug crimping tool
• Circuit tester
• Conduit benders
• End cut pliers
• Retaining ring pliers
• Hex keys
• Cable accessories
• Fish tape
• Levels
• Soldering iron
• Power drills
• Metal detectors
• Diagonal cut pliers
• Locking pliers
• Linemans pliers
• Magnetic tools
• Pipe or tube cutter
• Bandsaw wheel
• Ammeters
• Manlift or personnel lift
• Tape measures
• Wire cutters
• Nibblers
• Impedance meters
• GFI circuit testers
• Wire wrapping tool
• Fuse pullers
• Hydraulic press frames
• Phasemeters
• Nut drivers
• Blow torch
• Bolt cutters
• Calibrated inductance coils or boxes
• Banders
• Socket sets
• Welding masks
• Articulating boom lift
• Gas detectors
• Protective gloves
• Gas generators
• Capacitance meters
• Plumb bobs
• Stamping dies or punches
• Specialty wrenches
• Inspection mirror
• Longnose pliers
• Electrical frequency meters
• Label making machines
• Punches or nail sets or drifts
• Conventional truck cranes
• Offset socket wrenches
• Calibrated resistance measuring equipment
• Drill bit set
• Spot welding machine
• Open end wrenches
• Threading taps
• Tapping machine attachment
• Track excavators
• Deburring tool
• Insulated screwdriver
• Adjustable widemouth pliers
• Thermographs
• Hand reamer
• Pipe wrenches
• Claw hammer
• Cable splicing kits
• Microcontrollers
• Tensiometers
• Power saws
• Tinners snips
• Hacksaw
• Two way radios
• Multimeters
• Wattmeters
• Depth gauges
• Staple guns
• Ladders
• Micrometers
• Air compressors
• Hard hats
• Ohmmeters
• Respirators
• Awls
• Razor knives
• Scaffolding
• Hammers
• Safety glasses
• Tongue and groove pliers
• Utility knives
• Notebook computers
• Circuit tracers
• Laser printers
• Threading die hand tool
• Shears
• Screwdrivers
• Hole saws
• Desktop computers
• Adjustable wrenches
• Feeler gauges
• Heat guns
• Strap wrenches
• Needlenose pliers
• Personal computers
• Winches
• Megohmmeters
• Oscilloscopes
• Backhoes
• Tablet computers
• Word processing software
  • Microsoft Word
  • Socrates Contractor's Library
  • Word processing software
• Analytical or scientific software
  • Construction Master Pro
  • Electrosoft FlashWorks
  • Elite Software E-Coord
  • Elite Software Inpoint
  • Elite Software Outpoint
  • Elite Software Short
  • Elite Software VDROP
  • Lighting calculation software
  • SoftEmpire Electrical Calculations
• Data base user interface and query software
  • Database software
  • Insight Direct ServiceCEO
  • Resolve Systems Service Management
  • Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate
  • Shafer Service Systems
• Industrial control software
  • AVEVA InTouch HMI
  • Programmable logic controller PLC software
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
• Computer aided design CAD software
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Computer aided design CAD software
  • One Mile Up Panel Planner
• Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Spreadsheet software
• Electronic mail software
  • Microsoft Outlook
• Accounting software
  • Turtle Creek Software Goldenseal
• Document management software
  • Adobe Acrobat
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • SAP software
• Office suite software
  • Microsoft Office software
• Operating system software
  • Microsoft Windows
• Project management software
  • Craftsman CD Estimator
• Process mapping and design software
  • SmartDraw

Employment Industries for Electricians

• Electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors
  519,800 employed
• Temporary help services
  20,000 employed
• Local government, excluding education and hospitals
  16,100 employed