I should have applied to IBEW 332 sooner.
That is the honest version.
I was too hopeful about IUEC Local 8. I put a lot of energy into that process, waited for the test, waited for the interview, waited for the rank, and hoped it would turn into something strong.
By the time I understood that my rank was probably not competitive, I had lost time.
That is when I applied to IBEW 332.
Electrical work was one of the trades that appealed to me most. I liked the idea of troubleshooting, systems, and work that combined thinking with hands-on skill. IBEW 332 made sense geographically, and the apprenticeship looked like a strong path.
The application window, at least when I applied, was open during the first week of the month.
That is a detail worth knowing.
Some unions do not let you apply whenever you feel ready. They have windows. If you miss one, you wait for the next. That may only be a month, or it may be longer depending on the program.
The bigger lesson is this:
Do not wait for one union to finish before applying to another.
I know why I did it.
I had a favorite.
I wanted to see what happened.
I did not want to juggle too many processes at once.
But apprenticeship timelines are slow enough already. Waiting one by one can stretch everything out.
If I were starting over, I would apply to every realistic program as soon as I qualified and had the documents ready.
Not random programs.
Realistic ones.
Programs I could commute to. Programs where the work interested me. Programs that made sense for my family.
IBEW 332 became one of those paths.
The application was the start of a new process: test, wait, interview, score, rank.
By then, I already knew enough to take it seriously.
I just wish I had started earlier.