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What is a chief electrician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a chief electrician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.97 an hour? That's $58,184 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 50,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
ScoreChief ElectricianUS Average
Salary
4.5

Avg. Salary $58,184

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
7.6

Growth Rate 7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
8.6
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%

Asian 2.26%

Black or African American 8.66%

Hispanic or Latino 16.39%

Unknown 4.28%

White 67.55%

Gender

female 2.63%

male 97.37%

Age - 41
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41
Stress Level
7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
6.8

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
5.5

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a chief electrician

  1. Explore chief electrician education requirements

    Most common chief electrician degrees

    Associate

    36.1 %

    Bachelor's

    28.4 %

    High School Diploma

    14.2 %
  2. Start to develop specific chief electrician skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Safety Standards16.03%
    Electrical Equipment15.51%
    Preventive Maintenance8.29%
    VAC7.04%
    DP6.37%
  3. Complete relevant chief electrician training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chief electricians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a chief electrician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chief electrician resumes.
  4. Obtain the necessary licensing

    Becoming a licensed chief electrician usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed chief electrician in most of states. 25 states require chief electricians to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.
    StateEducationExamLicense Url
    Alabama-State exam requiredLicensed Journeyman Electrician
    Alaska-State exam requiredElectrical Worker
    Arkansas-Third-party exam requiredJourneyman Electrician
    Colorado-State exam requiredJourneyman Electrician
    HawaiiDegree requiredState exam requiredElectrician
  5. Research chief electrician duties and responsibilities

    • Service and maintain all air conditioning and refrigeration systems, SCR system, top drive, and mud pumps.
    • Rig have a Baylor Thyrig 3 SCR system.
    • Rework and relocatedstarter buckets in MCC change out heaters on starters to propersize need to meet specs for each motor.
    • Perform Electrical/Mechanical/Hydraulic maintenance on CNC machinery.
  6. Prepare your chief electrician resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your chief electrician resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a chief electrician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Chief Electrician Resume templates

    Build a professional Chief Electrician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Chief Electrician resume.
    Chief Electrician Resume
    Chief Electrician Resume
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    Chief Electrician Resume
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    Chief Electrician Resume
    Chief Electrician Resume
    Chief Electrician Resume
  7. Apply for chief electrician jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a chief electrician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Chief Electrician Job

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Average chief electrician salary

The average Chief Electrician salary in the United States is $58,184 per year or $28 per hour. Chief electrician salaries range between $40,000 and $82,000 per year.

Average Chief Electrician Salary
$58,184 Yearly
$27.97 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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How do chief electricians rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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Chief Electrician reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019
Pros

Be able to optmize risks and safe equipement life time

Cons

Not enough training for new hires


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A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019
Pros

As it is a maintenance job the equipment or machines develope new problems which may be u have not seen before, so l will say it help me learn new things every day.

Cons

Not being able to to resolve issue for my client within the expected time.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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