Advancing as a Electrition

If you are training to become an electrician, you'll have a background in understanding electricity and electrical circuits, but don't think that limits you to electrical engineering. Basic principles of technology apply to many areas. You can feel free to continue education in any branch of engineering or for that matter, any technical field. I personally would recommend to you what I've recommended to many others, and that is to take a personality assessment questionnaire, such as RIASET. The reason I recommend that first is two-fold. It will tell you what you may be good at and cover more fields than you might otherwise consider. The other reason is that it will tell you how closely you match the personalities of people who are successful in those careers. I always tell students that you'll probably be good at what you like. Hard work is good, but working hard at something you like is fun. And very likely more productive.

Colden,

When you say that you're working on a certificate in electrical, I'll assume that you mean that you're working towards licensure as a journeyman electrician. In order to qualify for the test, you generally need 4 years of experience working as a apprentice electrician. During this time, you not only work but you also learn, study, often attend classes, and get paid as you do so. Some apprentice jobs provide very little in the way of training so either be selective about who you work for or take responsibility for your own training and education. You'll need a solid understanding of basic math, algebra, and some trigonometry if you want to go as far as you can. Learning to use and understand the NEC (National Electrical Code) is essential as well.

After obtaining your journeyman's license, then master electrician is the next stop. You generally need 2 additional years of work experience as a journeyman before qualifying to take the master's test. Both the journeyman's and the master's tests are difficult and they represent significant achievements. This can put you in a great position to transfer into electrical engineering and that's exactly the route I went. After working (15) years as a construction electrician, I switched over to engineering and took the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) and PE (Principals and practices of Engineering) tests. Arizona was the first state I received a PE license in.

My background as an electrician made me a better engineer in my opinion because I knew how buildings got built. I personally didn't get a degree as I took the FE and PE tests based upon my experience but pursuing a bachelors during your time working as an electrician would certainly slingshot your career path. I wish you well on your journey!