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The original was posted on /r/electricians by /u/tampora701 on 2024-01-17 03:30:40+00:00.
I just had my 6-month review as a first-year apprentice at age 43. I was hired with 8 years low voltage experience (7 as a dish network self-employed technician, 1 year security installation) and another 8+ years in the construction trades (6 as a millwright, 2 concrete labor). FWIW, I also have useless degrees in physics and mathematics.
During my review, I was told:
pros: punctual, hard worker, very knowledgeable for my level, stays until the job is finished, fast worker when I get in a groove, and other commendations
con: communication. If you do something other than the way it was intended by the journeyman, don't say "but this is what you told me.."
When I applied, I asked for $20/hr. I was offered $18/hr and told we'd try this out. If things work out, I would receive a raise at my 6 month review.
Today, I received a raise to $18.25, a bonus of $140, and told that we'll have another review in another 6 months where "hopefully we can get some bigger raises".
I live an hour away from the shop which really adds a lot of unpaid time and gas costs. I also live in a desolate area with maybe only 1-2 other shops within an hour drive. I want to move back to the city, but my house is falling apart faster than I could ever hope to repair it, nor do I have the money to make the problem go away. It took years on the market for the previous sellers to find a sucker as foolish as me.
I see the KFC by my work advertising $18/hr for *no experience*, but I have to supply all my own tools and work outfits, dig trenches through compacted clay and rock by hand in the blistering heat, and risk my life atop the tallest ladders and with electrical hazards... for what? The prospect of, after a year of hard labor, making $0.50 more than a no-experience 15-yr old?
What do I do? I'm going into debt working here, but the actual work isn't bad at all. If I leave, this bridge could get burnt and I may find myself without any future prospects whatsoever.