electrician

commercial electrician

Mr. Electric

Working at the Edmonton branch of Mr. Electric, I did get in some time learning more about creating quotes and making sales. But there is no way you could make a living working here. 

 You receive a name and address, and go to the customer's house at the appropriate time to create a quote. The goal is to use Mr. Electric's (very efficient) iPad quoting software to create a quote on the spot. You create the quote, then try to get the job then and there. 

 For smaller jobs (typically 2-3 hrs max) it was actually quite common to get the job then and there. However, it was -very- rare that a larger job (basement reno, service upgrade, etc) would happen that same day. That makes sense, of course, but you were scheduled for one morning call, and one afternoon call (assuming there were enough calls to go around, that is). Once you string together a couple weeks with 3 or 4 calls for major work (often fishing for the cheapest, which Mr. Electric is not), add in a day or two where you only have one call, and top it off with a cancellation - and you're broke in no time. But remember that you need to have enough money in your account (or use a CC) to pay for your parts for the next two weeks.

A typical day could go this way:
 Morning call, customer wants you there for 9 AM. You show up right on time, introduce yourself, etc. Customer wants you to fix one light fixture that has stopped working. They don't want it replaced, just fixed. So you tell them it'll be X dollars to fix, Y dollars to replace it if it can't be fixed. But since you're such a stellar salesman, you convince them to replace the smoke detectors in their house, or install a surge protector on the panel, etc. If you're decent, you come away with 3 hours of work.

 So you eat lunch on the way to your afternoon call (generally they try to keep the calls close together, so you aren't going from St. Albert in the morning to Leduc in the afternoon). You get there for 1 PM, and the customer's insurance company insists they upgrade their 60A service to a 100A. Well, as long as they show the insurance company that they are looking at quotes, they get left alone. So you can tell right from the get-go that they just want that quote, and have no intention of doing the work any time soon. So you give it your best shot to make the sale, but in the end you go home empty handed. 
That's your day, you worked for 3 hours, spent 6-7 hours away from home, maybe spent $100 of your own money on parts at the closest Home Depot (for which you'll get reimbursed on your next check), and don't feel like you achieved much.

Now, perhaps you can stick it out for three months or so, and you start having your days balance out a little bit by some of those service upgrades, or major jobs coming through. That helps. So does having your own credit card just to manage your work money vs personal money. You get good at the sales, you get a feel for pricing and how to upsell, and you're better than most of the other electricians. Now that you're at the top of your Mr. Electric game, you're making about average for an electrician in the city. Maybe a little better if you manage your own time exceptionally well. 

So why one earth would you stay? You might spend three months learning the ropes, but when you get good at it, you might as well start your own company! The parts that you aren't doing already at Mr. Electric, you could outsource to an accountant if you need. 

I was so broke working at Mr. Electric that it hurt. It took me almost three months at a real job to get out of the hole I fell in to at Mr. Electric. You might be thinking that it was because I wasn't efficient with my time, or good at sales, or some other such thing, and that might be true. I may not have been the best, but within a year of leaving Mr. Electric I created my own company, and have been doing remarkably well there (busy enough to have hired another Jman and apprentice after a year). So perhaps it was something to do with Mr. Electric.

In summary - I do not recommend working here. If you are considering taking a job here, go in to it knowing that the money will be poor, and that it is absolutely not a place to make a career. If you are craving the opportunity to learn these sales skills and time management, then give it a shot. You start out on an hourly basis, so you have got a couple of weeks to get your stuff together before you start hemorrhaging money. But once you move to commission, be prepared for the hurt.

Only worked for the company for less than a month before I got an email 2 hours before my shift saying that I was let go due to reorganization of staff or something ridiculous like that. I was planning to quit anyway because of how horrible it was to work there! 

The receptionist that was already there was basically warning me about how horribly management treated administration staff. 

Training was for a day and you were expected to know all the ins and outs of the business and got yelled at if you made any mistakes. Yelled at for mistakes past administrative assistants made, even! 

Management was unapproachable and very rude and cold. Verbally abusive! 

They go through administrative staff like underwear. I saw the job posted several times before I got hired and several times after I left. Just judging by all the different signatures for emails, I counted about 10-15 different names over a span of 1 year! 

One of the worst companies I have ever worked for!

Typical day - Prepare the gathering of material to complete task, deliver materials, install materials to code and ensure all is working per specifications and clients satisfaction. 

Learned - Each client is different and must take into account their reasonable likes and dislikes about the type of product used.
Each installation has challenges and these must be taken into account while executing the installation process.
Management - The management has a lot of pressure on their minds trying to organize each days projects the material acquisitions, and customer preferences. 
Co-workers - Most all have unique personalities and these must be treated with dignity and respect.
The hardest part - Getting the work done in a reasonably speedy manner while maintaining quality.
Most enjoyable part - Is seeing a happy customer and employer.

It's important to know that each Mr Electric location is privately owned and operated.
Here in Edmonton, we have a small team that works closely together in a respectful and efficient way, to provide local home and business owners with excellent electrical service for fair prices. 
While we do have an on-call schedule, our technicians enjoy a flexible schedule as we do our best to maintain a good work/life balance while providing customers with the service they are searching for.


Working with Mr Electric of Edmonton has been great. I have been with them for over 3 years and enjoy each day at work. As a service technician it has been a great learning experience, being able to work directly with clients and help them get exactly what they are needing from an electrician. The staff at Mr Electric Edmonton are all great and we work great together as a team. 

I have been working for Mr.Electric out of Edmonton for the past 4 years. I am the type of person that gets bored doing the same thing day in and day out. At Mr.Electric you could be changing plugs one day and upgrading an electrical service the next. At first it can be overwhelming but we have a great team to lean on if you run across something outside of your comfort zone. If you are good and what you do you will find that you will never want to work for an hourly rate again.  

Mr. Electric was a franchise and working for them you could definitely notice that. They do very good work by all means but it definitely becomes a numbers quite quickly with how much work you can get done in a week with your weekly quotas.

Horrible mismanagement, lack of relevant training, very high turnover rate. Very toxic work environment, high stress and pressure. The owner and the GM bring their martial problems into the office constantly.

A typical day would include answering the phone, scheduling service calls, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, some accounting. Updating Customer accounts and whatever clerical duties are required.

Worked for this company, subsidized by provincial government with the promise of an apprenticeship to come. After 8 weeks, contracts were slow and 4 of us were put to lay off with no return date.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Electrician 1 salary reported	$35.00 per hour
Commercial electrician 1 salary reported	$31.00 per hour

Working at Mr. Electric: company overview and reviews

Mr. Electric

Mr. Electric ratings

Popular jobs at Mr. Electric

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected