We are the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee of DuPage County and we’re reaching out to the makers. Those with spirits powered by pride. Those who look at a challenge with a grin, and the grit to never quit. Those who have what it takes to make it. We’re making a new era of electricians, the power of their passion measured in megawatts.
What are you waiting for?
GRAB YOUR TOOLS.
We offer career development where you earn while you learn. Both of our training programs offer a structured wage compensation package that includes health care benefits and multiple retirement plans. There’s even a vacation fund of 12% deferred compensation! Cost? No tuition here. You’ll pay a small application fee, a drug and agility test fee, and an annual school fee of $410.00 that covers the cost of personal tools and textbooks.
Through a partnership with the College of DuPage, apprentices are even eligible for college credits. Because your future is bright. All you have to do is make it.
Choosing the Inside Wiremen program requires a 5 year commitment that includes 8,000 on-the-job work hours and 900 classroom hours to complete. The Inside Wireman installs and maintains all of the various types of electrical requirements found in commercial and industrial facilities. Equipment used may include lighting, power distribution, motors, HVAC equipment, and any electrical system that controls the operation of a facility's energy usage. While there are many tasks associated with the Inside Wireman classification, the apprenticeship training provides all of the required knowledge and skill.
Choosing the Data Technician program requires a 4 year commitment that includes 6,400 on-the-job work hours and 720 classroom hours to complete. The Data Technician is typically responsible for installing a network of equipment and cabling systems that are used for video, voice, data, fire alarm or other low voltage signals. Whether the work is in new construction, existing office building or manufacturing space, our apprentices take pride in their work.
The program isn’t easy. From the get-go, you’ll be working out in the field. All candidates receive on-the-job training from our signatory contractors. The best way to learn is by grabbing your tools, going out, and doing it.
You’ll learn the theory and then get right to its application. You’ll learn something in school that you’ll actually use: how a conductor works and how to conduct yourself in the professional world; temperature control and controlling your destiny; strategies for wiring and strategies for winning.
Our state-of-the-art facility is custom-built for the mechanically inclined. For 900 classroom hours, this will be your home. Apprentices will learn under the instruction of journeymen electricians, but the training center itself is also a learning opportunity: every system is exposed to view, covers stripped away, so that apprentices can see how the building works.
Take a look.
We keep our class sizes small, so that apprentices get one-on-one time with our experienced instructors. Often times instructors are coming to class right from a job site themselves, and as members of IBEW Local 701, all of them once stood in your shoes. They look out for you, making sure you get broad experience.
They want to see you succeed and after three months of training, you’ll be welcomed into the IBEW brotherhood that built the backbone of our great country.
I’m a second year data tech. Before I was a JATC candidate, I was a bartender. I’d gotten my bachelor’s degree, but afterwards, nothing appealed to me. I thought college was what I was supposed to do. I needed to make a change, so I applied to the apprenticeship. I quickly found it was my passion, and I’m passing with flying colors. I was serving people drinks, but now I’m serving the entire county’s data systems.
My only regret? That I didn’t do it sooner.
I know that discipline is the root of creation. That’s because I spent 6 ½ years in the army. When I finished my duty, I was looking to support my family and community in a new way. I found the perfect program for myself.
It’s important. I care about it. It’s a great foundation to start a career.
I found that all the skills I’d learned in the military served me well in the apprenticeship: Show up. Be on time. Do the work.
I was settled into a job I was fed up with. I worked in tool and die, then I was a carpenter, but I never felt like I belonged anywhere until I joined the IBEW.
It was the perfect place to realize my potential, to hone my skills, to continue my education.
I started out in sales and marketing. But after a number of years, I realized I really preferred working with my hands. So I left and began studying a new trade. Today, I work for a very successful signatory contractor. I love not only the security, but also the satisfaction. The industry isn’t going anywhere. We’re always going to need electricians in DuPage. And I like to be where the action is.
When I’m out with my daughter, I can point to buildings and say, “I made that.”
