Program Structure
The Hawaii Electricians Joint Apprenticeship Committee, through the Hawaii Electricians Training Fund (HETF), runs the Inside Wireperson (Electrician) apprenticeship. It consists of 10,000 hours of on-the-job training, about five years, plus 800 hours of related classroom instruction, and prepares apprentices to take the State of Hawaii EJ license exam on completion. Inside wirepersons install conduit, wiring, fixtures, devices and equipment in commercial, industrial and residential buildings. HETF has training centers in Honolulu (1935 Hau Street, Suite 400), Kahului on Maui, Kailua-Kona and Hilo on Hawaii Island, and Lihue on Kauai. Your apprenticeship is served on the island you apply for, and you must be able to reach job sites anywhere in the program's area.
Requirements
You must be at least 18, with proof of age, a high school diploma or GED with transcripts, and one full year of high school algebra or higher, a post-high-school algebra course, or the NJATC Tech Math course or another course the committee accepts. You must pass the electrical industry aptitude test with the committee's minimum score. Except for Direct Interview or Direct Entry candidates, people offered a place complete a preparatory boot camp of up to 80 hours before registration; it is postponed on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island until further notice. You must pass a substance-abuse test before indenture and join IBEW Local 1186. U.S. citizenship is required for work on military bases where the contracting agency requires it.
Application Process
Recruitment depends on island. Since March 27, 2026, Oahu Inside Wireperson recruitment has been closed until further notice; only Direct Interview applicants with documented 2,000 hours of electrical construction work may apply there. The committee is accepting online applications for its pool of eligible candidates on Kauai, Maui and Hawaii Island. Apply through the online system on the Recruitment page and pay the $33 non-refundable fee; qualified applicants are invited to aptitude testing and then an oral interview. Candidates stay in the pool for two years from the interview and are drawn in ranking order as needed.
What You Earn
Apprentices are paid a percentage of the journeyworker rate. For apprentices indentured on or after September 5, 2021, pay starts at 35% for the first 1,000 hours and rises by step to 80% in the tenth step; no dollar rates are published. Training Fund beneficiaries, whose signatory employers contribute to HETF, attend apprenticeship classes at no charge; ask about books and tools. Hawaii's Department of Labor and Industrial Relations lists the Wireperson program as approved and registered. The EJ license exam is separate from completing the apprenticeship.