There are a lot of choices for electrician job nowadays. One of those is becoming a private or independent contractor. Because of the shortage of licensed and qualified electricians, this industry provides numerous opportunities for those who like to start building a business as an independent electrical contractor. Like other technical jobs, there are specific qualifications and skills one should have to start this career. Such basic requirements would be needed to make sure that the work done is proper and safe. 

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Obtaining License

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You do not have to get a bachelor's degree for you to qualify as a professional electrician. The minimum prerequisite would be a diploma in high school to undergo apprenticeship programs. You could do an apprenticeship through programs offered by electrician associations or under a certain master electrician. Those programs though would teach you all things you have to know to become an electrician and would give you on-the-job training so you could apply the things you've learned. The training and apprenticeship stage would last up to four years and after you've finished the curriculum and gained adequate hours of experience, you would then need to take a South Carolina Residential Builders exam. 

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If you have some electrician experience, although you have no formal training or apprenticeship, it would still be possible in several states to take the contractor exam. There's a fee for the examination and Alabama general contractors licensing fee as well when you have passed the exam. When you are planning to become an independent contractor, then there are some other steps you should take. Another examination is needed to have a contractor license as well as some states would need you to be pre-qualified before you'll be able to take the exam. Contact the nearest testing centers to have more details about the requirements in taking the contractor's exam. 

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Becoming a private contractor lets you work by yourself or hire another electricians to build your team as well as bid for those electrician jobs offered by a construction company and some other organizations. When compared to being a worker for another contractor, being a contractor would give you a flexibility in choosing which contracts you will accept as well as how much you are going to charge. There's a tough competitions with this line of work, and those contractors who promise to do more for an affordable amount of cash will get the contract. It's the reason why contractors should have an excellent business sense as well as leadership skills. If you think you can do it, why not take a contractor's exam now?

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