Brushing up on my math skills
I first spoke with the IBEW Local Union 553 about their apprenticeship program (Raleigh-Durham Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC)) this past January. I missed the deadline for an apprenticeship this year, but my hope is to be in the program starting in January 2019. But first I need to take (and pass) an aptitude test and gain an interview with the JATC.
The test is composed of two parts: math and reading comprehension. The math is all Algebra I. I have brushed up on my equation solving, sequences, graphing, fraction-to-decimal conversions, dividing fractions, and calculating percentages. It is hard to find examples of this particular test, so I have relied on examples from other trade programs as well as a textbook that the Electrical Training Alliance (NJATC) puts out. I bought it for a couple dollars on Thrift Books. I am also working my way through the Math Aptitude training that is partnered with the NJATC. It costs $50 but has been well worth it to get the cobwebs out.
I wouldn’t say my math skills are terrible, but if you think about it when was the last time you used FOIL to solve a binomial? Or remember the order of operations using PEMDAS? Or how to simplify an improper fraction? If you are a person in their mid-forties like me who does not have a math based career, it has been a very long time. So I’m rusty, let’s just put it that way.
