Electricians occupy a prominent role in our society, and with the expected rise of job openings for electricians in the near future, they may even take center stage in many of infrastructural developments in the years to come. But what is it that makes a good electrician?
Of course, you have the legal requirements of a license and sufficient training and experience through a qualified apprenticeship program. If they specialize in certain areas, such as solar power, commercial electrical work, industrial electrical work, or even marine electrical work, the requirements for their training and relevant experience also increase.
You might think that as long as these requirements are complied with, then you are dealing with a qualified electrician, and that is that. Or if you are aspiring to be an electrician, you may think that as long as you render all the required training and apprenticeship hours, and validly get a license to practice, then you are the same as all the other electricians out there who are qualified to take on electrical work.
But people look for more in the person they hire, and the personal qualities that make you also make you a better or worse electrician, over and above your familiarity and grasp of the NEC. Your ability to communicate, your ability to lead, a discerning eye to be able to identify problems quickly, efficient work management that enables you to deliver quick and quality service. These are significant qualities for all electrician and may spell the difference between you getting more clients compared to others who are also in the business.
Electricians must also possess the qualities of focus and concentration, and having these qualities enables them to deliver efficient and quality work that would satisfy them and their customers.
Focus and concentration are important for electricians because of the nature of their work. When you concentrate, you focus your mind on a specific issue, task, or problem. If you have been tasked with conducting preventive electrical maintenance check on a commercial building, for instance, the work itself could take some time to finish. Throughout the entire time, you need to stay on point and remain focused on your task because even a slight lapse in concentration could mean a potential electrical hazard that goes unnoticed, and which responsibility eventually falls on you. If an accident should happen later on where a person suffers from an electrical shock, or if an electrical fire starts and property is damaged, people will look to you for answers.
The same is also true if an electrician is called in to resolve an electrical issue. If the lights are flickering in a room, for instance, and you are called in to check things out, what is presented to you is a problem that needs answers and a solution. Why are the lights flickering, and what can be done to rectify the issue? From that point on, you become a sort of investigator, and to rectify the problem, you would need to be able to identify the cause, contributing factors, and the necessary solution. Then you would need to eliminate the problem, ensure the continuous supply of electricity, and implement whatever safety features are necessary so that things run smoothly for as long as possible afterward.
The lack of focus and concentration, on the other hand, is dangerous for electricians, because slipups can result in property damage or injury, sometimes even death. Harnessing the power of electricity is a serious business, and while the electrician may know the code by heart, and complied with all the legal requirements to be able to do electrical work, on a personal level, he needs to keep his wits about him at all times during the course of his work. Working from a height, working in confined spaces, working near areas of water, working with potentially energized electrical equipment, addressing short circuits, live wires, or malfunctioning electrical devices – these are par for the course in an electrician’s line of work. To keep himself, his coworkers, his clients, and the public at large, safe from electrical hazards, it is important for the electrician to maintain his focus and concentration at all times.
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