Compare A Electrical Apprentice ↔ B Power Plant Operator

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Your route

2 moves

No pay difference shown for this route: electrical Apprentice: All Electricians (47-2111) at every experience level, the occupation apprentices are counted in (SOC Classification Principle 7). Mostly journeyman-level workers, so it is not apprentice pay and is never subtracted.

Gates on this route

Move 1, to Hydroelectric Plant Operator: license depends on the work (Texas: no state electrician license for work on equipment controlled by an electric utility, co-op or power generation company (1305.003(a)(5)); the same work for a contractor needs a TDLR license).
Move 2, to Power Plant Operator: no degree, license or hours gate found (O*NET 31.0 and the licensing agencies checked for this job).

Move 1 Transfer move to the side
Electrical Apprentice to Hydroelectric Plant Operator
- Skills and knowledge profile similarity r = 0.85 (one of the 3 most similar occupations, r >= 0.6).
- Gates: license depends on the work (Texas: no state electrician license for work on equipment controlled by an electric utility, co-op or power generation company (1305.003(a)(5)); the same work for a contractor needs a TDLR license).
Move 2 Transfer move to the side
Hydroelectric Plant Operator to Power Plant Operator
- O*NET lists Power Plant Operators as a related occupation (Primary-Short); skills and knowledge profile similarity r = 0.79.
- Gates checked: no degree, license or hours gate found (O*NET 31.0 and the licensing agencies checked for this job).

Side by side

Power Plant Operator: 78% work more than 40 hours a week, about 2.2 times the share for Electrical Apprentice (35%).

This level's pay

A $18.34 to $34.64/h Houston apprenticeship scale (IBEW 716), 2026

B No headline record for this level

No published schedule lists both jobs, so no level-specific difference is shown.

Occupation-wide pay all experience levels, not this level's pay; Texas median, base pay, $0 to $300k

$58,570no difference shown$102,510

All Electricians (47-2111) at every experience level, the occupation apprentices are counted in (SOC Classification Principle 7). Mostly journeyman-level workers, so it is not apprentice pay and is never subtracted.

Outlook 2024 to 2034 whole occupation

A +14.4% Texas, 8,100 openings a year

B -13.2% Texas, 150 openings a year

Over 40 h a week

35%+43 pts78%

Physical load our index from O*NET, 1 to 5; A B; largest differences first

4.1 / 5-0.93.2 / 5

Bending or twisting-2.28Bending or twisting: A 4.68, B 2.4
Keeping balance-1.97Keeping balance: A 3.85, B 1.88
Climbing ladders-1.78Climbing ladders: A 4.2, B 2.42
Kneeling or crawling-1.65Kneeling or crawling: A 3.75, B 2.1
Cramped space-1.44Cramped space: A 4.4, B 2.96

Degree

A Most people in this job do not hold a bachelor's degree (O*NET: 1% do).

B Most people in this job do not hold a bachelor's degree (O*NET: 13% do).

License

A Texas: Electrical Apprentice license (TDLR) before doing any electrical work. No experience or exam; $20 online application, renewed yearly.

B Texas: no state electrician license for work on equipment controlled by an electric utility, co-op or power generation company (1305.003(a)(5)); the same work for a contractor needs a TDLR license.

Experience

A To start: no experience and no exam for the Electrical Apprentice (TDLR) license.

B Most common related work experience: over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (O*NET: 47%).

Skills O*NET importance, 1 to 5

You likely have: 6

Speaking
Active Listening
Complex Problem Solving
Monitoring
Judgment and Decision Making
Quality Control Analysis

To build: 2

Operation and Control +0.88
Operations Monitoring +0.88

Make this your goal

Save Electrical Apprentice to Power Plant Operator as your goal. Each step then shows the hours you have logged toward it, your exam practice and your license, with the one thing to do next and the 2 skills to build as a checklist. Free with an account.