A career as an electrician can be rewarding and beneficial in many ways. There is always a need for a skilled electrician and the salary for skilled electricians can sometimes even surpass careers that require a college degree. It is for this reason that there are often few openings for apprenticeships, and when there are openings, the slots are full of applicants to who want to be able to learn the trade along-side a journeyman electrician. Becoming an electrician is a career path that offers opportunities and challenges, in an environment that is constantly changing. The Steps to Becoming a Journeyman Electrician. Many people want to become a journeyman electrician and in this process they usually start as an apprentice to a journeyman with years of experience and knowledge of a career as an electrician. If you want to be able to get an electrician's license, you will have more than likely have to study in the evenings while doing your apprenticeship and then take an exam to be able to be licensed. The requirements to become a licensed electrician may differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some local governments require you to do an apprenticeship and some do not; this will be something that you will have to check with your local government. The Everyday Challenges Of an Electrician Career. One of the benefits of a career as an electrician; is that the challenges that are faced, will change from day to day. An electrician can be installing a breaker-box in a home one day, and rewiring an office for a new network the next. It can be challenging in a mental and physical way, that many electricians find rewarding. Electricians can install many different types of systems that have to do with new technologies, and may also continue their education to keep up with the new systems that are being used. The challenges can be something as simple as rewiring a new home or it can be a complicated network installation that uses the newest technologies, such as CAT5 cable and fiber-optics. A Reliable Salary and Job Security, as an Electrician. Of all the reasons to become an electrician, one of the biggest benefits, is a salary that can be more than some careers with a college degree. The average salary of a journeyman electrician can be as high as $50,000 annually, and in some cases; a highly trained, high-tech electrician, can make even more. The job of an electrician can also consist of freelance work, which can be a supplement income. Many people do not want to do things like rewire a garage or change a breaker-box, and this is why they may call on an electrician to help them do these and other small jobs. There are other tasks that an electrician could come across for freelance work; a job installing network cables and outlets or home automation equipment may pay more than average electrical installations. A career as an electrician is a job that is almost always in high demand and usually electricians experience few periods of unemployment -unless work focused on new construction. The electrical field will continue to grow and there will be a need for skilled electricians, as technology develops and there is a need for new electrical installations and repairs.