An electrician apprenticeship is a paid job with training, and you don't need experience to start one. Massachusetts has 166 registered electrician apprenticeship programs, with 2,907 apprentices in training at the latest federal count.
Each program takes applications in its own way. Ask each program how and when it takes applications.
The JATC of Greater Boston takes applications online from January 4 to January 29, 2027. It receives thousands of applications each year for a limited number of places, and the aptitude tests are in March or April.
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Also trains other trades: these 12 sponsors train more than one trade, so their count includes apprentices in their other trades.A count of 0 means the federal data recorded no apprentices in training, and it doesn't always mean the program has closed.
How one program works: JATC of Greater Boston
Each program runs in its own way. This is how one of them takes apprentices and trains them, as its own pages describe it.
JATC of Greater Boston
1
Apply online
The JATC of Greater Boston takes applications online once a year, during a set period. Pay the $50 application fee by credit or debit card when you apply, and the fee isn't refunded.
2
Complete the Personal Experience Form
After you apply, the JATC of Greater Boston emails you a link to the Personal Experience Form (PEF), which takes the place of an interview. On the form, you describe your education and work experience and upload your transcripts and any recommendation letters. If you don't complete the form, you aren't considered.
3
Take the aptitude test
Every applicant takes a 3-hour aptitude test in person at the JATC of Greater Boston in Dorchester, every year they apply. The test covers reading, math and spatial skills, and it has no minimum score, but a higher score helps you in the selection. The JATC emails you a free study guide and offers free prep classes.
4
Start work and classes
If you're selected, the JATC of Greater Boston assigns you to a contractor that has an agreement with IBEW Local 103. You usually start work in July or August and classes in September, and your employer's contributions pay for your health insurance.
The JATC of Greater Boston trains apprentices for IBEW Local 103 and its contractors. A first-step apprentice earns 40% of the $68.78 journeyman rate, which is $27.51 an hour, and the steps rise with your hours to 75%, which is $51.59 an hour. These are the latest rates published by the committee.
For each level of evening electrical classes at Gould Construction Institute
$2,567
Gould Construction Institute is the school of Associated Builders and Contractors of Massachusetts (ABC), and the ABC apprenticeship program offers its apprentices classes there. Each level of its evening electrical classes costs $2,567 for ABC members and $3,110 for others. You pay the full tuition when you register.
You don't need experience to apply. The largest sponsors are union committees, the ABC program and companies that train their own employees. The Division of Apprentice Standards (DAS) oversees registered apprenticeships in Massachusetts, and it suggests you contact your local MassHire Career Center with questions about becoming an apprentice.
The ABC program trains apprentices for ABC member companies. The company that employs you registers you with the program, and the program offers classes at Gould Construction Institute, the education branch of ABC.
To apply to the JATC of Greater Boston, you must be at least 18 years old and live in the area covered by IBEW Local 103. You must turn 18 by August 31 of the year you apply. You also need a high school diploma, a GED or HiSET, or a 2-year associate degree or higher by June of that year, and you must be legally able to work in the United States.
Before you start, you must pass a drug test. The JATC of Greater Boston tests apprentices throughout the apprenticeship, and it doesn't allow marijuana use. A positive test ends an offer of an apprenticeship.
The JATC of Greater Boston apprenticeship takes 5 years. You complete 10,000 hours on the job and 1,000 hours of classroom instruction, with class 1 day a week at the training center in Dorchester. There is no tuition, but books and apprentice fees cost about $1,200 a year, and earlier experience doesn't shorten the program.
To work as a journeyman electrician in Massachusetts, you need your own license from the Board of State Examiners of Electricians. As an apprentice, you don't need a license, because you work for a licensed electrical business under a licensed journeyman. To qualify for the journeyman electrician license, you need 8,000 hours of work over at least 4 years and 600 hours of approved classroom instruction, and you must pass the exam.
U.S. Department of Labor national apprenticeship data, extract of August 17, 2026: the programs, the apprentice counts, the median starting wage and the range of starting wages
Board of State Examiners of Electricians application pages, mass.gov, and Massachusetts General Laws chapter 141: the hours and classroom instruction for the journeyman electrician license and the rule for apprentices
The U.S. Department of Labor data has 45 Massachusetts filings whose registration numbers name a different state. No figure counts those filings. Every bar uses the same scale.
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