San Francisco, a Northern California coastal city, is known for its specific character. Eclectic and special, this city has a sizable population, – 8.4 million people in 2012- and an ever expanding urban sprawl. A cultural hub, San Francisco is considered to be a center for art, technology and business. This unique combination of size and specificity makes this western city a great place to live and a fertile soil for the growth of employment. Electrical jobs, those that utilize electrical technician and electrical engineering skills are particularly available. Much like the city they are located in, however, these electrical jobs are quite interesting and unusual.

The local public transit in San Francisco, known as the BART train is looking for qualified electricians at this time. The public transit authorities are seeking a pool of electricians to fill anticipated openings over the course of the next year. These electricians would be working both with the electrical systems that serve to propel the trains as well as the power systems present in the BART infrastructure. This job offers competitive pay rates starting at over $27 an hour, as well as a benefit package with medical, dental and vision coverage, a pension plan, paid vacation and two fully-paid employee investment program. A full time position, working for BART offers the opportunity to advance and to learn more about transportation systems. Candidates with experience in high-voltage electrics and whom have proper education and experience will be preferred.

While many electrical jobs in the U.S. surround the design and installation of electrical systems in new or renovated construction, others have more to do the with maintenance of those systems. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is looking for a maintenance electrician. Founded in 1852 in the San Francisco area, this local agency is a staple of the community. What better place to work than a chocolate company? Besides being surrounded by delicious treats, the challenges of working in a chocolate manufacturing factory can be exciting and motivating. Journeymen status is sought, and the electrician who lands this job must have excellent problem solving and trouble shooting skills as well as the ability to interpret various production and building schematics. Comparable benefits are offered with this job, including medical insurances and a 401(k) retirement savings plan. While the pay is not listed, it is to be determined by the degree of experience applicants bring to the table.

Another electrical job presently available in San Francisco is with SolarCity, a solar power provider in the Berkeley area. They are seeking an apprentice-level electrician to support their photovoltaic installation and maintenance teams. A full time job with paid vacation and paid training this is an exciting opportunity for those entering the electrical and solar power fields. With full benefits and opportunities for promotion, SolarCity offers newer electricians the ability to get in on the ground floor of solar power and get payed for it immediately. Specializing in a field like solar electrics and heighten the ability of an electrician to get specialized jobs in the future and to be able to do it in an awesome place like San Francisco, is a great step to success.

These electrical jobs speak to the diversity of employment opportunities available in the greater San Francisco area. With such a wide variety and high growth of work present in this Northern CA city, it s good place for electricians to look for work.

Sometimes, if the employment market where you are is unyielding and you need work, the time comes to throw in the towel and relocate. Especially if you are a skilled tradesman, like and electrician or electrical engineer, where you are really does affect your ability to find and keep work. As the recent decade’s economic shift drives more young people out of rural areas and into cities to find career growth, cities are expanding both in population and infrastructure. With this flood of urban area population comes the demand for energy and accessibility, thus the call for electrical workers grows daily. If you’re going to be relocating, you might as well do the research and move somewhere that will both serve to help you become employed in the electrical industry, as well as be a compatible and enjoyable place for you to live.

Austin, Texas is often considered to be the most forward thinking, and moving city in the state. Haled as the ‘live music capital of the world’, Austin is full of young professionals, musicians, and other artistic types. With a population of over eight hundred thousand residents in 2012 and a multitude of universities and colleges, there is no lack of people in this town. The local government in Austin is responsible for supplying power to it’s citizens and needs a comparable electrical staff to keep things up and running. The Austin Department of Energy is currently looking for an electrician to serve in their aviation wing. This individual must have skill and experience in the electrical field and would be stationed at the airport, working to keep electrical systems operating within that infrastructure. Other electrical jobs open up regularly as the energy department grows and comes with government benefits and stable pay.

More is growing in this Texas town than the population. The food, art, and education scenes are also expanding in large scale. The energy systems required to meet the demands of these booming communities is immense. Campuses and university buildings also have electrical needs. The University of Texas at Austin is currently posting a job listing seeking a full-time maintenance electrician for their campus. This individual would work to upkeep the electrical systems of the university buildings and insure that those systems were functioning to mandated code levels. A Journeyman-level electrical worker is the minimum required, and getting into university employment can help fill out a resume, as well as lead to other college-related jobs.

Electrical jobs in Austin are not only government or education affiliated. The steady cultivation of private industry is another force at play in the employment of electrical techs in the Austin area. Construction electricians, electrical contractors and other electrical positions are available. TDIndustries, a leader the construction is also looking for a journeyman electrician to work in the planning and installation of electrical systems in new building going up in the Austin area. This kind of Austin electrical job makes up a large bulk of electrical employment in the region. It is important to assess the demands of a job like this where the Austin heat and dry weather will factor into working conditions. If you enjoy the warm weather, an electrical job like this one might just be the thing for you.

Clearly, electrical jobs are ripe for the taking in Austin. It’s a hip city to reside in and living costs are fairly low. If you are thinking about relocating for the sake of finding as electrical job, Austin is a great place to start putting in applications.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods and other natural disasters bring with them destruction and often tragedy. However, these ecological events also bring with them their fair share of opportunity. Especially in the field of building construction and maintenance, natural disasters leave in their wake a lot of rebuilding work to be done, and many workers in these industries meet high demand, and electricians are no exception. For this reason, electrical staffing companies become frequently utilized by clients like large construction companies, architectural building firms and even government agencies to beef up their electrical staffs to help regions rebuild and recover.

In 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana the damage to the city of new Orleans and the outlying rural area was devastating. Even today, the recovery and rebuilding efforts continue, particularly due to the high poverty rates and large economic disparity in the region. Because the structural damage was so complete after the storm, the immediate rebuilding done by public and private aid organizations only put a dent in the overall restoration. Spherion, a recruiting and staffing agency in the greater New Orleans area felt the force of rebuilding after Katrina. Founded in 1981, Spherion does staffing work for multiple fields, including electrics. Electrical staffing after the hurricane was greatly needed and Spherion helped to meet that demand. Well established in the state of Louisiana, Spherion has the infrastructure in place to recruit useful professionals and place them in the jobs that need to be accomplished.

The Pacific Northwest and the Front Range states of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado have their own share of troubles with natural disasters. Semi-arid mountain ranges and desert lands make for odd temperature shifts and swift weather fronts. While unpredictable snow storms do cause some damage, the real force to be dealt with on the Front Range is wildfires. The raging fortresses of heat and flame usually come with a drought. The dry trees make for willing tinder and the soaring temperatures, as well as negligent ourdoorsman create the spark for the inferno. The wildfires are difficult to control and often move into populated regions destroying buildings and town. Small towns like Centennial, Wyoming were hit in the summer of 2012 and man buildings burned down. Wildfires of the sort that happened in Wyoming last year also burn into the ground growth and can ruin electrical lines running in the soil. Premier Electrical Staffing, a nationwide company that mainly serves the Midwest and the Front Range serves to help recruit staff to towns hit by fire that require electricians to do rebuilding and repairs. With job openings in Casper, Laramie and Cheyenne as well, electricians seeking work in these post-wildfire situations can provide a real service to a community that needs them.

With the shock of Hurricane Sandy hitting the new York city area last fall, the need for electrical staffing after a natural disaster in the U.S. continues. The service provided by electrical staffing agencies to both regrow the economy through employment as well as to rebuild the physical towns and cities hit by distastes is very important work that must be done.

If you are an individual with electrical training who is seeking employment it may surprise you how many opportunities exist beyond the tradesman electrical work. Electricians are a niche career and those with proper education and experience are in high demand. As the workforce grows and the national economy improves so does the size and variety of the job market. The knowledge held by electricians is being applied in a multitude of ways to different jobs and projects, so sometimes looking beyond the title of ‘electrician’ can be an eye-opening and career broadening experience.

One of the many jobs that require electrical experience are Electrical Project Managers. While sometimes this job is titled differently, the intentions of the work are usually the same. Project Managers may be hired onto a construction or electrical company to plan and oversee the electrical aspects of the construction work. These individuals are responsible for making solid plans and projections about the electrical needs of a certain project, including the budgeting, materials needed, staff, crew and hiring as well as scheduling and estimating the work time. A Project Manager may be overseeing many projects as once, for example, if a new housing development goes up the developer will hire an Electrical Project Manager to plan and manage the electrical needs of each sort of model of house to be constructed as well as hire and distribute the electricians and electrical work for those building projects. This job requires a vast amount of electrical knowledge and keen sense of timing and responsibility.

Another job in the electrical field is that of Electrical Inspector. Electrical Inspectors can work for independent agencies, but more frequently work for the federal, state, or local government. These Inspectors visit building sites as well as pre-existing buildings to check the usage of parts and the safety of the electrical systems being applied. These Inspectors also sometimes work for manufacturing companies who make electrical parts and systems to act as safety and quality control agents. This is an important and often well-compensated job because inspectors set the professional standards of electrical work in the regions that they serve.

Electrical Distribution is third example of an unusual electrical job. Electrical Distributors often also have engineering experience or training. These professionals oversee the distribution of energy and electricity over a certain area. Distributors design the flow of electricity in their region and help to manage and maintain that system. Their knowledge helps them to solve problems that might come up and to plan for the future building growth of the locale. Like Electrical Inspectors, Distributors can make good money doing the job, and are usually employed by the State. The more space they manage and the larger the population, the greater the demands and the pay out of the job.

For electricians who are looking to grow and develop their careers from the technical standpoint, more education and training can be the best way to prepare. However, for many electrical professionals, a solid history of experience and a commitment to integrity is enough to expand towards new fields.

As reports roll in of stalled and halted construction work soaring annually and dissolution of companies putting electricians out of work, more electrical professionals are looking towards fringe fields to find jobs. The statistics speak to a slow in the frequency of paid electrical work, and sadly, in some cases actual unemployment. While many traditional outlets for electrical jobs are dryer than usual, there are those areas that are growing and thriving. Sustainable building and renewable energy sources are both booming industries. The public and private funding for renewable energy projects continues to be prolific even as other pursuits fall away. There are electrical staffing agencies that work with companies specifically focused on projects in renewable energy. There are also staffing companies that work particularly to find workers for renewable energy projects. Both sorts of these staffing agencies are often seeking electrical workers and electricians. While there are multiple types of renewable energy construction projects, many of them do require electricians, even those with no notably education or training in renewable sources of energy.

Wind energy, which uses windmills and turbines to harvest wind power and turn it into electrical energy is often employed on coastlines and in large field lands where wind is plentiful. Because these mechanisms work to make electrical power, electricians are needed for the building and installation of wind power implements and for the upkeep and maintenance of the system. Clients looking to construct wind power operations often turn to electrical staffing companies for qualified electricians. The equipment for such work is a little different but the concepts and applications come from the same world as general electrical construction work. There are training courses to be taken for such employment, though on the job experience and apprenticeship can be an even more effective way to get placed in these jobs by an electrical staffing agency.

In simple terms, geothermal energy is the harvesting of the heat created in the earth’s crust by plate tectonic shifts. This collection of radioactive mineral decay is then processed into electrical energy for human use. This energy source is especially in need of electrical engineers and skilled technicians. This earth-heat energy must move through a geothermal plant where it is converted into electrical energy through binary cycle electricity generating technology, a process which requires a large amount of electrical wiring and design. This is a field that almost always requires special training of some kind, but the work is electrical and electrical staffing agencies are often unitized to find qualified workers.

Solar energy is captured using precisely designed panels that harvest the energy of the sun and turn it into useable electric energy. Solar energy is on of the biggest cross over fields for electricians and there are staffing agencies just for electrical/solar work. Solar plants are highly electrical in there design and in sunny locations electricians can even find work installing and maintaining solar energy hook up in private homes and businesses. Electrical staffing agencies serve to place electrical workers in jobs they might not expect. Broadening the horizons of electrical staffing into renewable energy electric work stands to benefit both workers and electrical staffing agencies.

In the electrical industry, moving form job to job and project to project is a fairly recognizable way to work. While some electricians and electrical engineers will start their own firms and stay occupied with employment in the same realm for much of their careers, many electricians today are taking a less traditional approach to career building. Hard work and focus are almost always the best ways to advance, however in a bad economy and tough job market other tactics may be necessary to find success in the electrical field. Leaping from opportunity to opportunity and project to project is a new stratage for climbing the job ladder.

This ‘job leaping’ or ‘job hopping’ has both its benefits and its pitfalls. Especially for independent contractors, electrical work comes and goes, and one must jump on the opportunities that arise in the hope of staying employed and maying a living. Depending on the situation you are in, moving on in the hope of a better or more long-lasting opening may be a smart move. Because of the shifting international economic temperature, young jobs are less sure than they were in the past. Because of this, employment can dissolve at any moment, regardless of the care and time it took to build it. Electrical staffing companies are a huge boon to young electrical professionals, and keeping up a resume and good relationship with an electrical staffing agent can lessen the blow of a sudden lay-off. Unfortunately this unsure footing of the job market has caused workers to treat the job market with the same level of transience: why become committed to this one job when it could evaporate without warning?

The real cost-benefit analysis of leaping into a new electrical job comes between the measure of good available jobs out there, and the length of time you work between leaps. If your electrical staffing company helps you land an electrical job, even one you are overqualified for or that does not meet your pay expectations, working that job with full focus and commitment for a reasonable amount of time will make it easier for you to land the next, better gig. It is more manageable for an electrical staffing company to market your resume to a better electrical or construction company of they can prove you are a good and committed worker where you are. It is only common sense that while it looks nice at a glance to have variety on a resume, it will become quickly apparent that you are a floater and questions will arise about why you can’t seem to stay in one place. With all that in mind, many electrical employers respect a worker who knows their own worth and is willing to reach for new opportunities when the time is right. As far as building a career goes, consistency is still the best path, and while an electrical staffing company can help in the unforeseen event of lay-offs and job shortages, a steady build to success is considered the most effective way to break out of a starter job and move into a growing career.

The term ‘electrical agent’ can mean many things according to the circumstance in which is is used. Sometimes it refers to any noun that is affiliated electrically, as in, a lamp is an electrical agent. The term can also be used to refer to those engineers and technicians who do electrical work, like electricians and electrical distribution specialists. In the realm of electrical staffing, ‘electrical agent’ is most often used to refer to those recruiters who work for electrical staffing agencies.

This type of electrical agent does work much like a sports agent, except for electricians and electrical engineers instead of major league baseball players. The relationship between an electrical worker and their corresponding electrical agent is a very important one, particularly because many electrical workers are employed on a freelance basis. This means that they are contracted to work job to job and project to project and when one job ends they must procure another to continue to obtain income. Especially the electrical professionals who have specialized abilities or skills, like wiring for solar energy, teaching electrical trade skills or large scale electrical building design benefit from having an electrical agent on their side. These agents can serve the clients who seek highly skilled electrical workers, and are often compensated by those seeking workers as opposed to those seeking work. However, a small population of electrical agents get a percentage cut of the income the electrician makes on the projects they are sent out on.

Electrical agents, much like employment agents in other fields must have excellent people skills. Staying connected to the electrical and construction industry can be the most integral part of the job. While some electrical agents work independently and are, for the most part, self-employed, many work for construction and electrical staffing agencies. Within agencies there are tiers and levels of recruiters and agents with a varying ability to focus in on one client or electrical worker. It can be a good gig, being an electrical agent. The work is satisfying and personal; helping someone find work can feel very good. Electrical staffing particularly can be a wonderful way to support growth and renewal within any community. The financial compensation is good, often upward of $60K and the hours are reasonable. It is an attractive job for many people with the right training and personality.

While many electrical agents have no relationship to the field they represent, others have made the shift from in-the-field electrical work into employment representation. As networking is such an important part of the job, the connections made doing electrical work can serve those who choose to go into electrical staffing. These crossover individuals also have the unique ability to recognize the quality of a good electrical professional and follow their instincts as to what sort of work matches what sort of person the best. Electrical agent work is needed all over the country, and for that matter all over the world. The profession grows as electrical work grows. It is certainly a job path to be considered.

As the economic landscape of the United States shifts to recover from the recession, there is a growing trend away from white collar trades. While ten years ago, a college degree in law, business or medicine seemed both the preferred and often necessary route to professional and financial success, these fields are becoming increasingly more difficult to find employment in. Furthermore, the years spent in lower levels of these occupations as apprentices and junior associates is increasing, while the pay bracket is getting smaller and smaller on both ends. The only thing becoming greater in fact, is the desolution of firms and loss of pre-existing jobs. This is inherently because such careers depend heavily on the amount of capital moving through the economy. In simplistic terms, if there is less money flowing, less people are needed to manage it.

Because of this decline, more young people are considering training in trade skills to start work in technical careers. Going through a certification course, or a one or two year technical school program can prepare you to be a licensed electrician, carpenter, or plumber. Jobs like this often include union membership, insuring reasonable hours and reasonable pay. Even when the economy is less that wonderful, new construction will always need the skills of such tradesman, as will older buildings that need maintenance.

This shift in focus is actually very good, both for the construction industry and the economy at large. Flooding the field with fresh, new blood cultivates growth within form of these jobs, expanding the work traditionally done. It also allows for more workers to become proficient and experienced at a younger age, allowing efficiency and skill to grow with time. Younger workers will also tend to be more willing to learn about new technologies and keep themselves up to date with the needs of the consumer. This availability may aid in the growth of the industry, creating more work and more jobs in the future.

Economically speaking, the shorter training time of technical trades – about two years in comparison to the four, eight and even ten year education programs of universities, means that more individuals of a younger age will move out of the dependence of family and education loans sooner. They will experience job placement faster and begin earning money with more alacrity, resulting in the possibility of surplus capital to spend. The lack of student – loan based debt frees up money to be infused into the market. People then have reasonable wealth sooner, not only to spend on luxury items, but sustainable capital that can grow, like real estate, land property and stocks. To add to the economic incentives, many workers with careers in construction and trade report a great deal of satisfaction with their jobs, meaning that they enjoy the completion of tasks, and find the work-load to be manageable. Ironically, this might mean that, as a country, we need more Lawyers and Business men again, though it will be a combination of trade work and small business that we have to thank for our recovery.

It used to be, even a few decades ago, that if you were installing or repairing a system and you came across an obstacle or quandary that your training didn’t prepare you for, you only had a few places to turn. While manuals, texts, and your immediate colleagues are still wonderful resources when you find yourself in a pickle, more and more laborers in technical professions are turning to online forums to help solve difficult questions.

As internet access has grown, chat rooms and forums have appeared on all sorts of topics, professional and otherwise. These forums are websites and interfaces where individuals can leave posts or start threads around particular topics in relationship to a theme. Much like collections of information that are built by any one who wishes to contribute, (as in Wikipedia), these forums can be dense libraries of experiential knowledge, but also have their pitfalls. Electrician forums are no exception to the rule. With their given names or under pseudonyms, electricians all over the world bring up topics important to the profession at large. These online locales are excellent places to air out career ideas and concerns, as the writer has adequate time to reflect on the topic at hand and express themselves sufficiently. As standards are often different from nation to nation, the world-wide floor of the internet provides the broadest possible scope for open conversation and solution. These matters range anywhere from what electrical staffing agency one should use to expanding areas of the field and where and how to gain further certification and education.

Beyond the camaraderie and usefulness of profession-wide topics, there is also a huge opportunity for specific problems to be solved in online forums. With the new popularity of smart phones and tablets that are capable of taking high-quality pictures with ease, more and more electricians are able to effectively communicate what they are dealing with and might need advice on. These devices also expedite the pace at which quandaries can be posted and solutions can be found. This fast access has the potential to improve the skills of electricians as well as the condition of the work done.

It is important, however, to exercise some degree of caution. Just like all things online, there is always a chance that the person advising you is not who they say they are, or may be exaggerating their expertise. To ensure the information you get is good, seek out forums that have a more limited access. Often, electrician staffing agencies will have a forum for those contractors that they have deemed fit to employ. Otherwise, electrician forums in which you need to register and provide a company name or certificate information are good choices because individuals can be held accountable for their credentials. If you are, in fact, seeking the answer to a specific question or problem, be as descriptive as possible and try to survey a variety of answers and solutions to find the best one. Remember that while jobs are often posted on such sites, electrical staffing agencies remain more reliable and career-supportive.