People hire electricians for a wide variety of reasons. However, the traits which make an electrician good at his job tend to transcend any given task. The best electricians are going to do a great job when confronted with almost any job. However, it’s not always easy to judge an electrician’s overall quality. There are a few specific traits to look for which can help one judge an electrician before hiring them. This is true for people hiring one for a project or someone hiring them as part of his own team.
One of the most important things to look for is their ability to communicate. An electrician isn’t just going to come in, see a problem, and fix it up. Instead, what an electrician needs to actively discuss the project and offer up suggestions about what he’d like to do. This is always going to be somewhat difficult with any overly technical field. And this is where communication really becomes an important quality. One should talk to an electrician about the project and see how well he can describe things in layman’s terms. If he can make a complex project easy to understand then he has some exceptional communication skills.
Next, one should look into an electrician’s dependability. This isn’t always easy to see without talking to past employers. However, one can often judge a person’s dependability by asking about prior projects. It takes a lot of work and effort to bring a larger project to completion. As such, someone who’s been able to do so will highlight his own dependability as he describes one of those projects.
Location is often related to dependability. One should ideally find an electrician in the same general area as the project. For example, one might consider a Spokane electrician near me if he’s in Spokane. He might even wonder about a Spokane electrician near me if he lives in a neighboring area such as Cheney. The important point to keep in mind is that electricians near a project will have an easier time arriving on a regular basis.
It’s important for an electrician to be able to function as part of a team. However, it’s just as important for them to be able to make the tough calls on their own when the situation demands it. It’s always a good idea to ask an electrician about times when they’ve had to work on difficult problems by themselves. This type of discussion will highlight their independent problem solving skills. One can get a look into how they handle complex situations which often lack a simple and concise answer. It will also highlight how well they can take charge of a situation when there’s no clear cut chain of command in place.
Next, one should talk about an electrician’s time management skills. People often misinterpret what time management means on a professional level. It’s true that there’s some overlap with the general definition. When people talk about time management they usually mean getting a set amount of tasks completed in any given period of time. However, there’s another aspect to this on a professional level.
Time management for an electrician also refers to their ability to properly document their work. This is especially important for electricians working as contractors. An electrician needs to be able to offer a realistic projection of both duration and cost of his efforts. And he then needs to be able to deliver the expected results within that projected time frame. This is often easier said than done. It’s quite common for unexpected setback to appear in a project. As such, an electrician needs to be able to properly plan for unexpected delays when creating rough estimates for a client.
And finally, all of this comes together under a broad label of experience. One should talk to an electrician about his past work experience. This can include projects similar to what he’ll be working on or something quite different. The most important point is that he highlight real world work experience. Stories from notable projects will highlight how he relates to every point touched on so far.