Career profile for Electrician Assistant

What does an Electrician Assistant do?

Electrician Assistants help electricians by performing duties requiring less skill.

In addition, Electrician Assistants duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.

What kind of tasks does an Electrician Assistant perform regularly?

Electrician Assistants are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Measure, cut, and bend wire and conduit, using measuring instruments and hand tools.
Trace out short circuits in wiring, using test meter.
Strip insulation from wire ends, using wire stripping pliers, and attach wires to terminals for subsequent soldering.
Examine electrical units for loose connections and broken insulation and tighten connections, using hand tools.
Construct controllers and panels, using power drills, drill presses, taps, saws, and punches.
Drill holes and pull or push wiring through openings, using hand and power tools.
Clean work area and wash parts.
Maintain tools, vehicles, and equipment and keep parts and supplies in order.
Transport tools, materials, equipment, and supplies to work site by hand, handtruck, or heavy, motorized truck.
Install copper-clad ground rods, using a manual post driver.
Thread conduit ends, connect couplings, and fabricate and secure conduit support brackets, using hand tools.
Disassemble defective electrical equipment, replace defective or worn parts, and reassemble equipment, using hand tools.
Erect electrical system components and barricades, and rig scaffolds, hoists, and shoring.
Perform semi-skilled and unskilled laboring duties related to the installation, maintenance and repair of a wide variety of electrical systems and equipment.
Dig trenches or holes for installation of conduit or supports.
Raise, lower, or position equipment, tools, and materials, using hoist, hand line, or block and tackle.
Break up concrete, using airhammer, to facilitate installation, construction, or repair of equipment.

The above responsibilities are specific to Electrician Assistants. More generally, Electrician Assistants are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Performing General Physical Activities		Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Handling and Moving Objects		Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events		Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings		Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

Performing General Physical Activities

Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Handling and Moving Objects

Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

What is an Electrician Assistant salary?

The median salary for an Electrician Assistant is $33,840, and the average salary is $35,440. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Electrician Assistant salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Electrician Assistants earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Electrician Assistants earn less than $24,280 per year, 25% earn less than $28,160, 75% earn less than $40,220, and 90% earn less than $50,050.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Electrician Assistants is expected to change by 0.9%, and there should be roughly 8,900 open positions for Electrician Assistants every year.

Median annual salary: $33,840
Typical salary range: $24,280 - $50,050
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 0.9%

What personality traits are common among Electrician Assistants?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as an Electrician Assistant are usually higher in their Realistic interests.

Electrician Assistants typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as an Electrician Assistant tend to value Support, Relationships, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Electrician Assistants strongly value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Electrician Assistants moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Electrician Assistants somewhat value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Electrician Assistants must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, dependability, and innovation.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Electrician Assistants, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Innovation		Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
Concern for Others		Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Innovation

Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

Concern for Others

Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

What education and training do Electrician Assistants need?

Working as an Electrician Assistant usually requires a high school diploma.

Electrician Assistants need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Electrician Assistants

34.3% did not complete high school or secondary school
38.8% completed high school or secondary school
16.6% completed some college coursework
4.1% earned a Associate's degree
5.0% earned a Bachelor's degree
1.0% earned a Master's degree
0.1% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Electrician Assistants

Electrician Assistants may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as mechanical, building and construction, or customer and personal service knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Electrician Assistants might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Mechanical		Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Building and Construction		Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Design		Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Physics		Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

Mechanical

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Building and Construction

Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Design

Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

Physics

Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

Important Abilities needed by Electrician Assistants

Electrician Assistants must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Electrician Assistants need abilities such as near vision, manual dexterity, and problem sensitivity in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Electrician Assistants, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Near Vision		The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Manual Dexterity		The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Information Ordering		The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Finger Dexterity		The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Manual Dexterity

The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Information Ordering

The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

Finger Dexterity

The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

Critical Skills needed by Electrician Assistants

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Electrician Assistants frequently use skills like active listening, quality control analysis, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Electrician Assistants, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Quality Control Analysis		Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Troubleshooting		Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Quality Control Analysis

Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Troubleshooting

Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Electrician Assistant

Electrician Assistant

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