About Battle Creek Electrical JATC

Now accepting applications all year!

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Applicant Information

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Applicants who applied last year still need to request an application packet. Answer YES to the question “Did you apply to this apprenticeship program last year?” If you applied more than a year ago, you will need to submit all new information.

Interviews are normally conducted in April or May. Apprentices usually begin work immediately. Apprenticeship classroom training begins in late July. Our Inside Wiremen Apprentice Electricians work for electrical construction contractors for nine days out of every two weeks. One day every two weeks, apprentices are required to attend school for a full day for electrical code, theory, and industry education. School days are unpaid. 

Although there is no residency requirement, our normal employment area consists of all of Calhoun and Branch counties, the eastern half of Barry County and the western quarter of Eaton County. Job sites can be located in any of these areas, although they are mostly in Battle Creek and the surrounding area.

Here are just a few of the sites our Apprentices and Journeyman have worked on: Kellogg’s, Post, Denso, Fort Custer Industrial Park factories, KCC, The Federal Center, VA Hospital, all of the National Guard bases, Firekeepers Casino, Meijer, Lakeview Square Mall, all of the public school systems, Brembo in Homer, the ethanol plant in Albion, Clemons in Coldwater and Coldwater Hospital. 

Apprentices are required to go to work where they are assigned and are not allowed to choose contractors or job sites. Traveling within our jurisdiction is required.

Total Journeyman Wage Package is $59.74 an hour (with $35.97 directly on the check and the rest in retirement funds and and health care), and the starting package for Apprentices is 45% of Journeyman rate, currently $26.07 per hour ($16.19 on the check) with step raises of 5% every 6 months over 5 years.

At the end of your apprenticeship you will be raised from 90% to 100% of Journeyman rate. You will have an excellent benefits package including pensions and health insurance starting on your first day. You are highly encouraged to become and remain a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers during your apprenticeship.

You will be applying to become an Inside Wireman Apprentice.

• Read the job description for Inside Wireman here.

• Read the Bureau of Labor Statistics job description for a Construction Electrician here.

• Prospective applicants may also find this 3rd party web page useful.

How To Apply For An Inside Wiremen Electrical Apprenticeship

To submit an application you must meet the minimum qualifications for apprenticeship:

• You must be a minimum of 18 years old by June 1st. You must also be either a US citizen or have a valid work visa. Submit proof of age and employability with your birth certificate, passport, naturalization papers or work visa. 

• You must be a high school graduate or have a GED. Provide proof of this with your H.S. or GED Diploma or an official letter from your high school stating you graduated (or will be graduating this school year) and on what date, signed by a principal of that school. A college diploma in addition to H.S. is welcome but does not satisfy this requirement.

• You must provide documentation of successful completion of one full year of high school algebra with a passing grade or one college level algebra course with a passing grade. Integrated math is acceptable for this requirement. GED math, consumer math or business math is NOT acceptable for this requirement. Provide proof of this requirement with either your high school or college transcript. We still want a copy of your high school transcript even if you took algebra in college.

• You must have a valid Driver License. Provide proof of this with your application.

• Each applicant is required to submit to a criminal background check. The release form is in the packet. We will do the background check if you get to the second round of interviews. You are not required to do the check just complete the form.

• Each applicant is required to take and pass an aptitude test that has been validated by our national organization and is used by most JATC programs. The test is 1/2 algebra and 1/2 reading comprehension. Here is a link to the Electrical Training Alliance’s web site for prospective apprentices: APPLYING AND QUALIFYING FOR APPENTICESHIP IN THE ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY

• To qualify for an interview you must score a 5 or better on a scale from 1 to 9 on the aptitude test. This test will be scheduled for a later date (usually testing starts in February) after you submit all required paperwork. If you have applied, or will apply, with other electrical JATC’s, this same test score will be used for a period of at least 6 months.

• Submit copies of all of the required documents with your completed application packet. There is a page in the application packet that lists the required documents for you to check off. If you are submitting by email, scan your documents at 300-400 dpi as PDFs. Do NOT submit photos of your documents. Photos don’t print well, and the Apprenticeship Committee needs to see your application packet clearly.

If you are qualified, and interested in submitting an application, then click the link below to take you to the application download page.

Request An Application

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Please, do NOT hit the submit button more than once after completing the form as this creates a double entry in our database.

After you complete the application, you can either:

• Upload the required documents to the Google Drive folder link in the email, or

• Mail your documents to: BCEJATC Applicatons, 405 Hill Brady Road, Battle Creek, MI 49037, or

• Deliver your documents to the KCC / RMTC building located at 405 Hill Brady Road, Battle Creek, MI 49037

• Please do not ask the people at KCC questions about our program. We just lease space from them. They are kind enough to accept your dropped off packet to our mail box. They cannot answer any questions about our apprenticeship program. Email your questions to the Applications email address.

• Applications must be completed by midnight March 31st of each year to be considered for that class year.

• Apprentices are normally hired in the month of June of each year, begin work immediately and then begin apprenticeship classes in late July.