3 Tips to Help You Pass the Electrical Journeyman Exam
After spending a few years as an apprentice electrician learning the electrical craft, picking up new skills and gaining valuable experience on the job, you’re finally ready to take the next step in your career — earning journeyman status.
But reaching your goal of becoming a journey-level electrician isn’t just about having a couple of years in the classroom and in the field under your belt. In most states, you also need to pass an electrical journeyman licensing exam or certification exam.
Even if you’re confident in your skills and knowledge in electrical work and the latest national codes, taking official tests can still be challenging or intimidating. Fortunately, there are some basic steps you can follow to help you get prepared for one of the most important events of your career as an electrician.
Become Familiar With Your State or Local Electrical Journeyman Process
Figuring out how to become a journeyman electrician can be a bit tricky. Definitions and requirements for getting a journeyman electrical certification or license can vary between states and even at the local or municipal level.
There are a number of things you will need to find out about the journeyman certification process in your area, including:
- What are the education and experience requirements to be eligible to sit for the journeyman exam?
- How do you sign up for your journeyman electrician exam?
- How much does the journeyman exam cost to take?
- What does having a journeyman certification allow you to do?
- Which regions offer reciprocity for my state’s electrical journeyman license?
You can find the answers to these questions and more with a simple online search. Search for “journeyman electrician exam in my area” and you can find helpful resources with the details you need. For official licensing inquiries, “.gov” websites will be your best source.
Understand the Details of Your Local Journeyman Electrician Exam
Once you understand how the process of acquiring a journeyman license works in your area, you can turn your attention to the details of the examination itself.
If you’ve gone through an electrical training program and have the on-the-job work experience required to sit for the exam, you should be familiar with the topics that the test will cover. But also having familiarity with how the test is formatted and the types of questions that will be asked can help you be even more prepared.
Some considerations to explore include:
- How many questions are on the journeyman exam?
- How long does the journeyman exam take on average, and is there a time limit?
- What score on the exam is considered passing?
- Are the journeyman exam questions multiple choice, true-or-false, open response, or a mixture?
- What topics are covered by the electrical journeyman exam?
- Which edition of the electrical code is the journeyman exam referencing?
- Is the test conducted digitally or on paper?
- What materials do you need to bring to the exam and what items are provided by the testing center? What items are forbidden during testing?
Understanding the process and details of the journeyman electrician exam can create a positive expectation for your testing experience and help you feel better prepared.
Take Electrical Journeyman Certification Practice Tests
Researching the components of the exam will help you prepare, but you can amplify your readiness by taking journeyman license practice exams.
These exams are often based on or directly taken from previous years’ exams. The specific questions on the practice tests will be different from questions on the official exam you will take, but the topics they cover and how they are presented will be very similar.
Taking a practice journeyman test is a low-risk strategy to familiarize yourself with the format of the electrical journeyman exam. You can take unlimited practice tests to prepare for the certification exam, helping you identify any concepts that require additional study. These practice tests are one of the most effective ways to study and prepare for the exam.
Journeyman Electrician Exam Preparation Resources
Prepare for the journeyman electrical licensing exam with NCCER’s Journeyman Electrician Exam Prep.
The Journeyman Electrician Exam Prep offers expert-written practice exam materials and additional testing resources, including:
- An overview of journeyman exam formats
- Recommended journeyman exam study techniques
- Test-taking strategies and tips
- Practice quizzes and full practice exams (generally applicable in all 50 states) available in both study mode and timed mode
- More than 700 combined practice questions covering 2020 and 2023 electrical codes
Earning your status as a journey-level electrician is one of the most rewarding steps in your career, and being properly and confidently prepared for the certification exam is essential. For more information about how NCCER’s Journeyman Electrician Exam Prep can help you, click here.
Interested in receiving more great construction news, research and content from NCCER? Click here to join our mailing list!