Watson Electrical Employee Spotlight: Timothy Amerson

Watson Electrical Apprentice Timothy Amerson has come a long way since being hired in May of 2015. A native to Wilson, NC, Amerson joined Watson Electrical a few years after leaving the US Army, where he served as a M1A1 Abrams Tank Mechanic. By the fall of 2015, he was in the Watson Electrical Apprenticeship program and at the beginning of a promising career. 

Amerson found that one of the best benefits of the apprenticeship program is that you are a full-fledged Watson Employee, which means that the Watson Electrical Apprenticeship program allowed him to get paid for his work while learning his trade. Additionally, by being a veteran, he was able to benefit from the GI Bill he earned during his time in the Army. 

In the apprenticeship program, apprentices attend classes or have independent studies and then apply what they have learned on an actual project. While on the job, apprentices are teamed up with a supervisor (or peer) to monitor their work. To graduate from the Apprenticeship program, an apprentice will have had approximately 675 hours of related instruction (classwork) and 8,000 hours of practical experience (on-the-job training). 

To be successful, Amerson found that he had to learn how to manage his independent studies and apply his newly acquired knowledge on the job. This wasn’t easy at first but he was creative and came up with ways to help himself learn. For example, to understand blueprints better, Amerson would take the job blueprints home with him at night. He would examine the blueprints, matching the work he had accomplished that day with the instructions on the blueprints.  

In addition to the classwork and practical experience, apprentices who have completed two years of the program get the opportunity to participate in the Watson Electrical Apprenticeship contest, possibly the NC State Fair Apprenticeship contest, and perhaps the ABC National Apprenticeship contest. Each location works with their apprentices to get them trained and ready to compete in the Watson Electrical content. However, in preparation for the State Fair and National contests, the apprentices work directly with Lloyd Evans, the hiring and training administrator. Evans has been with Watson for over 50 years. He has worked in almost every aspect of the company and is a great resource and mentor for the apprentices. 

It was with Evans’ tutoring that in 2018, Amerson took second in the Watson Electrical Apprenticeship contest and fourth in the NC State Fair Apprenticeship contest. Furthermore, in 2019 Amerson upped his game and won second place at the ABC National Apprenticeship contest, first place in the Watson Electrical Apprenticeship contest, and first place in the NC State Fair Apprenticeship Contest. But he wasn’t finished, because he also qualified for and competed in the Ideal National Championship, placing fifth in the nation.

When asked about Amerson, Evans said, “I have worked with Tim for a couple of years now on the National Electrical Code as well as hands-on electrical work. I worked on the NEC book a lot with Tim and his knowledge of this book has increased by leaps and bounds. Also his hands-on knowledge about the correct ways of doing electrical work has improved a great deal.” 

When asked about the Apprenticeship program, Amerson said,  “It has become the foundation to my future with Watson and my career as an electrician.” However, he understands that there will always be new things to learn. His career goals include going through Watson’s Construction Management Training (CMT) - Electrician Master Craftsman Program, getting his unlimited electrical license, and maybe, one day, becoming an apprentice trainer himself.

The Watson Electrical Apprenticeship Program is a four-year program operating under Standards of Apprenticeship registered in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia through the U.S. Department of Labor.  If you are interested in learning more about Watson’s apprentice program, visit the Watson Electrical Construction website at https://www.watsonelec.com or call Eric Emde, Human Resources Recruiter at 252-237-7511.