Apprenticeship Application Checklist
What to bring, what to send, what not to forget.
Written and fact-checked by the IBEW Test Prep team — working electricians with 12+ years in the trade About usLast updated:
Documents JATCs commonly ask for — check your local's own list
Of the JATCs we have checked, only Central Florida publishes a full document list. Everywhere else, treat the list below as what to have ready, not as a requirement your local has published.
- High school diploma or GED — official transcript
- Birth certificate or passport
- DD-214 (if veteran)
- One year of high school algebra (transcript proof)
- Application fee — set locally. Across the JATCs we have checked these run from nothing at all (Ithaca charges no application fee) up to $75, and are usually non-refundable. Checked 2026-09-14.
Process
- Find your local at ibew.org.
- Submit application + documents.
- Take the aptitude test (if your application is accepted).
- Meet your local's published score rule — check the local pages, because minimums vary.
- Pass the interview.
- Get on the eligibility list — wait for a call.
Don't screw this up
- Submit early. At least one local we have checked — Los Angeles Local 11 — closes its window the moment a cap is hit rather than on the published date.
- Show up on test day with a photo ID. The electrical training ALLIANCE's own test-day guidance says pencils, paper and all materials are provided — but at least one JATC we have checked (Atlanta Local 613) tells applicants to bring a pen. Read the instructions your local sends you; they win. Leave the calculator at home, including a calculator watch.
- Leave your phone in the car. Atlanta Local 613 is the only JATC we have checked that publishes a phone rule ("no calculators, no cellphones"), but four publish calculator bans — Atlanta, Steubenville Local 246, Fresno CCETI and Peoria — and no test centre is going to let you sit with a phone.
- Dress decent for the interview. Clean jeans and a collared shirt is fine.
Sources
- electrical training ALLIANCE
- Ithaca Electrical JATC — Ithaca, NY (checked 2026-09-12)
- Central Florida Electrical JATC — Orlando, FL (checked 2026-09-14)
- Atlanta Electrical JATC (IBEW Local 613) — Peachtree Corners, GA (checked 2026-09-14)
- Local 81 — Scranton, PA (checked 2026-09-12)
- Electrical Training Institute (IBEW Local 11 / LA NECA) — Commerce, CA (checked 2026-09-14)
- Denver Joint Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Committee (IBEW Local 68) — Denver, CO (checked 2026-09-14)
- Local 103 — Boston, MA (checked 2026-09-12)
- Local 246 — Steubenville, OH (checked 2026-09-12)
FAQ
It varies more than anything else in this process. Of the locals we have checked, some accept applications year-round and test monthly, several run a scheduled window instead — Denver Local 68 opens twice a year, Boston Local 103 once a year, and Steubenville Local 246 normally only every two years, and one accepts applications only during the first seven days of each month. Check your local's page before you assume you have time.
Related guides
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