Residential Track
(5 Years)
A supportive training program that prepares you for your apprenticeship.
The Residential Track allows you to get a feel for the trade, grow your skills, and get paid while you’re applying for an apprenticeship through the Inside Electrical Track.
Why Choose Residential?
Get Started in the Trade and Earn While You Learn
Earning Upon Completion
Over $57,580* annually, plus $24,167.40 in health and retirement benefits
Online Classes for Maximum Flexibility
The majority of your classes will take place online so you can complete them at your own pace. Some classes will take place at night. This allows you to maximize your work hours during the day.
Hone Your Skills By Working on Smaller Projects
The details matter and there’s no better way to hone your skills than by working on a smaller scale. Apprentices in this track typically work on smaller projects or in prefab shops.
Use Letters of Recommendation to Advance
If you’d like to upgrade to Inside Electrical later, you can use references from your instructors in Residential to optimize your application.
Earn While You Learn
Like all JATC tracks, you’ll earn a rewarding wage throughout your program, which means you aren’t burdened by student loans
What to Expect
- Minimum of 168 hours of instruction and 10,000 hours of on-the-job training (designed to be completed in five years).
- Gain hands-on experience in branch circuit wiring; light fixture, receptacle and panelboard installation; and blueprint reading.
- Take online courses to learn Ohm’s Law, AC/DC theory, safety, basic blueprint reading, and wiring of elementary circuits.
- Complete courses at your own pace. You’ll then take a test on each subject. Upon passing, you’ll receive a certification of completion.
As stated on JATC 26.org, “Trainees receive regular increases in pay, they perform similar tasks to other classifications on the same job sites, and they are required to take classes. Unlike apprentices, trainees do not need to pass an aptitude test, do not interview, are not selected off a ranked list, work off their own pay scale, and take classes online/at night instead of in-class during the day. Trainees finish the program with a Residential Electrician classification, different from an apprentice who will be classified as a Journeyman.”
Career Opportunities
Upon completion of the Residential track, you will become a certified Residential Electrician with the Local 26. That said, at any time during your Residential Program, you may be accepted into the Inside Electrical Apprenticeship program.
Future Classifications (without Apprenticeship) Include:
- Jurisdictional Licenses
- Residential Wireman-Rw2 Reclassification
- Residential Wireman-RW3 Reclassification
How to Apply
- Make a Local 26 TradeSchool user account.
- In your Local 26 TradeSchool account, click the application tab to start the process. Select the program you want to apply for.
- After you have uploaded documents to your TradeSchool application, ask your previous/current school to send a copy of your transcript to the JATC. For more details on this process, see the JATC website.
Apprentice Stories
Build a Career. Build a Life.
“Every moment you are learning something and the benefits are great.”
Andy Rabiolo
Electrician, IBEW
Apply to the Residential Track Today
