Program Structure
The San Francisco Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (SFJATC) is a cooperative effort of the San Francisco Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association and IBEW Local Union #6. Its Inside Wireman electrical apprenticeship is a 5-year program: you learn the hands-on part of the trade on the job site and attend evening school or day school, with about 180 hours of classroom training a year. Inside wiremen install and maintain raceway, wiring and related systems for electric light, heat, power, radio and signaling. The SFJATC is at 4056 Mission Street, San Francisco. It does not state the program's total work hours.
Requirements
You must be at least 17 on the day you file an application and 18 or older to be indentured, and be a U.S. citizen or meet INS requirements. You must live in one of the nine Bay Area counties (San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Santa Clara, Marin, Napa and Sonoma) and be able to work in San Francisco. The regular application asks for PDFs of a driver's license or DMV ID card showing a current address in those counties; your high school diploma, GED or equivalent certificate, or an associate degree or higher; and proof of math: one full year (two semesters) of high school algebra, trigonometry or calculus, or one post-high-school semester, with a C or better, or a passing NJATC Tech Math course. You need a valid California driver's license by the time you are indentured. There are separate applications for veterans honorably discharged within the last five years (Helmets to Hardhats) and for applicants with at least 4,000 hours with a C-10 electrical contractor. California's apprenticeship record states the math requirement differently: two years of high school math, one of them algebra, each with a C.
Application Process
The SFJATC is not currently accepting applications and has no scheduled dates for the next application period; it will post future dates on its website. Mailed or hand-delivered applications are not accepted. If you have all the required documents and your application is accepted, you are given a date for a 10th-grade-level reading comprehension and mathematics test. If you pass, you are interviewed; an honorably discharged veteran who applies within five years of discharge qualifies for a direct oral interview. Everyone interviewed goes on the eligible applicant list. The SFJATC offers apprenticeships from the list when it has room in the school and contractors need more apprentices. For questions, call 415-587-2500.
What You Earn
Apprentices receive a training scholarship that covers all tuition; you buy the required tools and classroom textbooks. The SFJATC describes an ongoing progressive wage scale, paid health insurance, pension benefits and an annuity, but it does not post apprentice wage rates. California's Division of Apprenticeship Standards lists the San Francisco J.A.T.C. for the Electrical Industry's Inside Wireman program for the Electrical Inside Wireman occupation, with a program length of 60 months.