Day in the life of
Licensed Master Electrician – Christopher Haas
My Typical Day
My typical day varies depending on if I’m wearing my “Owner’s Hat” or my “Electrician’s Hat”, as I’m both the company owner and a Licensed Master Electrician who works in the field with my team.
Administration
When my team members are not on vacation and all working in the field, I’m doing the owner tasks that look a lot like any Administration role. My day-to-day includes juggling the phones between customers and workers, keeping the wheels in motion. I feel as though I am the conductor of an orchestra, keeping the tempo consistent and on key. Emails come and go, sprinkle in some Zoom meetings, and long on-hold times with the power company. Though not physically demanding it constantly tests your character and patience. One must be able to handle rapid firing between several tasks to be effective or the whole machine can come to a halt. Traffic coordination among all our residential and commercial jobs each day, paired with unforeseen circumstances and the reschedulings that come from those, can be hard, but you learn to navigate the tasks and persevere.
In the field
Working in the field is a whole other ball game. Nothing is routine, even what should be the most mundane of tasks like making holes in a customer’s ceiling to install ceiling fans or new chandeliers. Normally, a ceiling has open space above it, which you plan for. But you’ll show up at a job that’s scheduled for an hour visit and realize really quickly that your plan isn’t going to happen. This will inevitably put you behind for the rest of the day. You’ll discover randomly placed plywood that now requires you to perform sawing and numerous trips up and down the ladder and into the attic before you can get to the wiring and hardware. Or you’ll know that the reason a customer is experiencing power issues is that they have a GFCI outlet somewhere that’s tripped. You explore their home and all their exposed outlets for 30 minutes until they inform you, “Oh yeah, we finished the basement back in 2015 and it could be hidden behind the sheetrock.” Only then do you realize you now know where to look and it was hiding from you the entire time! Time to cut into the wall to troubleshoot. So there’s a ton of variety and investigative work that goes into the gig before you even get to the electrical repairs or installations. No two days are the same.
Installing chandeliers
Pros
The pros of the job include many perks, free rewards, building a business, being paid well, which are all pretty nice. The ability to now take time off and still get paid is a big change and improvement from when I was a solopreneur and completely independent. I also experience a lot of healthy pride from being able to say this is my accomplishment! I love seeing past jobs I worked on that are still adding value to the customer’s home, such as when we do electric vehicle battery station installations or allow a homeowner to install a hot tub. You can see how your contribution to their home has added value, financial and personal, to their experience, which can make you feel like you’re on top of the world!
I’m also the coolest dad in the world, according to my family, because I’m a champ at renovating and improving many aspects of our family’s home.
Plus, everyone has electricity and electrical problems from time to time. Having expertise in a trade such as electrical work is such a good return on investment, per se. You’re able to answer baffling questions for your friends and family when something’s on the fritz, you can educate customers along the way for their own empowerment (when safe and within their scope), and more. It’s just valuable in many ways.
Installing chandeliers
Cons
The main cons of the job are when you’re independent or solo. Until you have staff to delegate tasks to, you bear all the weight. I think one of the biggest cons for me is how financially bound I am to this company, failure isn’t an option. Until the business builds substantial business credit, the owner(s) have to sign a guarantor for any loans the company takes. Auto loans, bank loans, vendor accounts, are all tied back to the owner.
Also, it can be hard on your body if you’re working in the field for many years and decades. We go up and down ladders a lot, load things in and out of our trucks/vans, and also wiggle into attics often. But it also keeps you in shape and limber, loosely speaking, so you can remain pretty active.
Installing boat dock lighting
Advice to aspiring Electricians
In most cases, vocational schools are overrated and don’t really give you any sort of leg up. What I do recommend is starting off with a company that offers a company-paid apprenticeship program. Many other industries expect you to work as a free intern (not getting paid) to get a foot in the door. As an electrical apprentice not only will you have a job, but the company will pay for your schooling so long as you get a passing grade. Our trade is hurting for skilled electricians to replace the retiring ones and you’re being paid a premium to do so. In some states they will use a portion or all of your apprenticeship schooling towards your total years worked so you can apply for your Master’s License years earlier.
If you can find a company that does a variety of electrical services I would strongly consider it. What I mean by that is commercial (service, remodeling, and new construction), residential (service, remodeling, and new construction), light-industrial, gas stations, oil fields, or other blends of services. This way you can stay with one company and try out all the various fields to find which one you prefer. This will also make you a very well-rounded and knowledgeable electrician. Don’t just specialize in one field.
Getting paid what you’re worth is a negotiation and you’ll want to sit down with your superior every six months to review. Don’t expect that just because you’ve been working for XXX amount of time that you automatically deserve a raise. Keep track of what you’ve done to benefit the company you’re working for, what new skills you’ve learned, and how you’ve become more proficient at your work and use that to negotiate raises.
