How does the IEC's apprenticeship program work?

I went to a local IEC chapter in Rocky Hill, CT, with a whole list of questions.

When I went into their office, the lady saw my list and said "before you start asking your questions, are you an employer?"

I said no. She replied that we only accept people who have been forwarded by employers.

"So you don't take people on an 'off the street' basis?" I replied.

"No."

A little baffled, I left, since I was tired coming off my second job had to return back to work with my first job in about 5 hours.

From doing my research, I am getting this impression:

To get into the IEC's program, you have to locate a local electrical contractor which is affiliated with the IEC association. Next, I guess you ask if

1) They are currently looking for apprentices 2) They would be interested in sponsoring me for the IEC's appenticeship program.

If the answer is yes to both questions, I presume I do the classwork with the IEC and do the required number of hours of fieldwork with the particular sponsor.

Am I correct here, or does it work diiferently from what I have deduced?

Does IEC have its own aptitude test process?

As for the math issue, I am slower with numbers and quantitative concepts, though that does not mean I am incapable with them. I found math to be boring in high school, so I did not put much effort into it.

Now I have a motivation to pay attention and do the best I can with it (Wanna stay at Wal Mart?).

As always, any suugesstions of other apprenticeships, union or non union, are always welcome to aid in my research.

I spoke to a rep from IBEW local 40 in Hartford, and he suggested that folks are trying to avoid working with electrical unions...

Brian Ghilliotti