Electrician (General)
What the work is
Selects, installs, tests, connects, commissions, repairs, maintains, modifies and diagnoses faults with electrical equipment, wiring and control systems in non-industrial settings.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Interprets and uses technical drawings, circuit wiring and mechanical diagrams, equipment and cable/connection schedules and manuals to undertake electrical wiring work
- Installs, repairs, maintains and tests electrical and electrotechnology systems and equipment, including wiring, switches, outlets, circuit breakers, transformers and lighting fixtures
- Measures and lays out electrical installation sequences
- Selects, cuts and connects wire and cables to circuit breakers, transformers or other electrical components in residential and commercial settings
- Connects electrical systems to power supply
- Tests continuity, resistance and compliance to standards of electrical circuits
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a small electrical contracting business working on homes and shops. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- You trace a fault nobody else could find, and the lights come back on
- A clean finished job that you know is safe and that you can be proud of
- A grateful customer who gets their shop back open before the weekend
Hard days
- Crawling through a hot roof space in the middle of summer
- A customer pushing you to cut a corner because they are in a hurry
- A fault that keeps coming back, with the clock and the budget both running
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 381231, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.