Program Structure
The Birmingham Electrical JATC (BEJATC) runs a registered electrical apprenticeship that combines full-time work for a union electrical contractor with classroom study. Its program section describes a four-year apprenticeship of 8,000 on-the-job hours and 720 classroom hours, advancing each year after 180 classroom hours and 2,000 work hours. Other sponsor copy describes a five-year apprenticeship, so confirm the length that applies before you commit. Classes run 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., usually one or two nights a week, at the BEJATC training facility behind the Birmingham airport, 5000 East Lake Blvd. You work at least 40 hours a week and are paid weekly by the contractor; BEJATC places you and tracks your training. A separate CW/CE work-only route has different entry rules and is not this apprenticeship.
Requirements
You must be at least 18, a high school graduate or GED holder, and have one full year of high school algebra or one post-high-school algebra course with a passing grade. You need a qualifying score on the NJATC aptitude test, official transcripts showing courses and grades, a valid Alabama driver's license (a state ID is not accepted) kept valid throughout, a Social Security card, and a passing drug screen. Before graduating you must hold OSHA 10, CPR and first aid and craft certifications and an Alabama journeyman electrician license, according to BEJATC.
Application Process
Create an account on the online application portal linked from the Apply page and submit the required documents. Once your documents are approved you can go to work with a union contractor and you enter the aptitude-test pool; candidates are invited by email in order of completed submission and must confirm within 72 hours or lose the seat. After passing the test you interview with the selection committee; interviews normally occur in July, before formal classroom training begins. The sponsor does not publish a current application deadline or next start date, so call 205-849-5522 to confirm.
What You Earn
Apprentices earn competitive wages paid weekly by their contractor, with free family medical coverage including dental, prescription and vision, and three retirement programs that follow you between contractors. Layoffs and moves between contractors are common in construction; BEJATC finds a new placement. No dated wage schedule is published. The IBEW and NECA pay tuition and training; you pay for books and need the tools on the sponsor's list. Go Build Alabama describes this as an apprenticeship program approved and supervised by the sponsor and the U.S. Department of Labor.