What is a service electrician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Ronald Widdoss

Service electricians are licensed professionals who specialize in installing, repairing, and maintaining electrical systems in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. They are trained to diagnose and troubleshoot electrical problems, and work with a variety of specialized tools and equipment. Service electricians also provide expert advice on electrical safety and energy efficiency, and may be called upon to install new wiring or upgrade existing systems. They must have strong communication skills to interact with clients and other tradespeople.

What general advice would you give to a service electrician?

Ronald Widdoss

Be a sponge. Learn all you can and prove to your employer you can be taught and that your up for the challenge.

ScoreService ElectricianUS Average

Salary

4.5

Avg. Salary $57,731

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 2.21%

Black or African American 8.04%

Hispanic or Latino 20.81%

Unknown 4.25%

White 63.85%

Gender

female 2.41%

male 97.59%

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

What are the pros and cons of being a service electrician?

Pros

High demand for electricians
Good pay
Opportunity to specialize in a specific area
Opportunity to work in different settings (residential, commercial, industrial)
Ability to see the results of your work

Cons

Physically demanding job
Risk of injury or electrical shock
Long hours and irregular schedules
On-call duty may be required
High stress levels due to the nature of urgent service calls and tight deadlines

Key steps to become a service electrician

Explore service electrician education requirements

Most common service electrician degrees

High School Diploma

33.8 %

Associate

29.6 %

Bachelor's

13.4 %

Start to develop specific service electrician skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	20.06%
Ladders	12.58%
Electrical Systems	7.83%
NEC	7.34%
Electrical Equipment	6.14%

Complete relevant service electrician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New service 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 service electrician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real service electrician resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed service electrician usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed service electrician in most of states. 25 states require service electricians to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	State exam required	Licensed Journeyman Electrician
Alaska	-	State exam required	Electrical Worker
Arkansas	-	Third-party exam required	Journeyman Electrician
Colorado	-	State exam required	Journeyman Electrician
Hawaii	Degree required	State exam required	Electrician

Research service electrician duties and responsibilities

Remove, analyze, identify issue install properly working pressure transducers, effectively accomplishing priorities to go underway.
Complete electrical installation of all service equipment, transfer switches, and large generators in new barns or old.
Update all electrical work to today NEC.
Follow local building codes and OSHA regulations.

Apply for service electrician jobs

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

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

How do service electricians rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Service electrician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2023

Pros

Thinking about the job while working the job

Cons

Bending pipe,cause it cost me money if the measurements is off

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2022

Pros

Is to keep lights burning to satisfy customers

Cons

The customers siting on the dark

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2022

Cons

Retarded trades who think they are special. They don't realise to be an electrician requires superior brain power, something they can only dream about. Hence the continual flapping of their gums trying to make us believe their dull useless lives are interesting.

Pros

Nothing? Its the worst job on site and you have to put up with working with uneducated divs. And thats just the management.

What is a service electrician and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a service electrician?

What are the pros and cons of being a service electrician?

Service electrician career paths

Key steps to become a service electrician

Explore service electrician education requirements

Most common service electrician degrees

Start to develop specific service electrician skills

Complete relevant service electrician training and internships

Obtain the necessary licensing

Research service electrician duties and responsibilities

Apply for service electrician jobs

How did you land your first service electrician job

Average service electrician salary

How do service electricians rate their job?

Service electrician reviews

Service electrician jobs by state