I think that answered your question. If you want to be building out venues, you will probably need your license and to be lucky, that said, you're not going to be able to live off of building out venues, but if you went to eventually go work for a design firm, I suppose it's possible eventually. You'd have to either get your license and keep up with it working as a regular electrician or find another way to keep up with it or take it and then go for your
ETCP.
There are many people who make a living as or with E.C.s including some without licenses while working for a design firm would usually relate more to being a licensed Professional Engineer in Electrical Engineering or other design related certifications than to any contracting licenses.
I am glad to see a discussion that addresses the separation of entertainment electrical systems design and installation from building electrical systems design and installation as these are two different areas of practice. Similar for the differentiation between electrical systems and low
voltage systems as those can also be two quite different areas. Going even further, many aspects of 'low
voltage' aren't necessarily applicable to entertainment applications, there are many low
voltage system designers and contractors who work with access control systems, building management systems, life
safety systems, networks,
etc.
I think there are a numerous potential variables involved. The reality is that someone could be a licensed Electrical Engineer, licensed Electrical Contractor, licensed low
voltage Contractor,
IBEW member,
etc. and yet have very limited knowledge and experience related to entertainment applications. I routinely work with EEs and ECs that
build and design entertainment venues but that have no idea of how to design or install the lighting, audio, AV, show control,
etc, systems within those venues. Conversely, I've worked with entertainment technology systems designers that have no concept of how to design and install building electrical systems or other low
voltage systems. This does not make any of these bad at or less qualified for their jobs, it simply means they limit themselves to specific areas of practice (and hopefully recognize and understand that).
On the install side, the necessity or value of being an
IBEW member can vary from state to state and it may have much less value in a 'right to work' state. Licensing can also vary, some states may have Electrical Contractor licensing but no low
voltage licensing, some states may have both low
voltage and Electrical Contractor licensing but automatically grant an EC a low
voltage license while other states may approach the Electrical Contractor and Low
Voltage Contractor licenses as two independent licenses. While having a low
voltage license can be beneficial, in regards to installing audio and AV systems it may not matter as much as some other certifications and relevant experience. Also, as others have said, a lot of what you'd be doing on the EC route is installing pipe and boxes.
For some specific examples of how these factors may come into
play, in some geographic ares it is standard practice for a union EC to install all basic electrical systems infrastructure including the low
voltage wiring and to oversee any low
voltage work. In those situations you are much more likely to find employees of Electrical Contractors who are qualified to work with low
voltage cabling and connections and for the unions to support related training. In other areas low
voltage systems are approached as totally separate from electrical systems and you may find ECs who generally have little or no background or training in low
voltage systems. You also unfortunately find situations such as Electrical Contractors that are '
grandfathered' as low
voltage contractors without having to show any related knowledge or ability and union projects that require union 'oversight' of or involvement in work for which the related union members have no no training or experience, neither of which usually benefits the work.
The bottom
line is that you may at least initially have to pick an area in which to focus as it would require significant time and training to pursue the related certification and licensing in the multiple different areas involved.