Any advise?

[mx450]

So i have been working for traveling non union contractor for about four years now and i have journeyd out.
I just got married and had a baby girl, im ready to go back to cen cal where i belong.
I dont know what to expect going in to a utility, im sure there going to challenge me wich is fine even though i suck at test.What concerns me though is i am not cert HOT and i have only done new constrution for the most part.I have done transmision distribution and i have been stuck in a sub since i needed the hours, but now that i have finished my apprenticeship im ready to leave i hate my job i didnt go to line school to be a stuck building new subs.
I need help with my trans hook up as well i dont do them so i forget.
Any good books or web sights?

Thank guys if you can help

[Highplains Drifter]

So i have been working for traveling non union contractor for about four years now and i have journeyd out.
I just got married and had a baby girl, im ready to go back to cen cal where i belong.
I dont know what to expect going in to a utility, im sure there going to challenge me wich is fine even though i suck at test.What concerns me though is i am not cert HOT and i have only done new constrution for the most part.I have done transmision distribution and i have been stuck in a sub since i needed the hours, but now that i have finished my apprenticeship im ready to leave i hate my job i didnt go to line school to be a stuck building new subs.
I need help with my trans hook up as well i dont do them so i forget.
Any good books or web sights?

Thank guys if you can help




IBEW Apprenticeship!!!

[tramp67]

Lineman's and Cableman's Handbook by McGraw Hill, runs about 90 bucks at Barnes and Noble or Borders bookstores, a little less on E Bay. Tons of valuable information in that book.

[mx450]

So your telling me i need to go threw another apprenticeship. I J out with dennise merchnt, and i do have the book i got it in line school.
I guess im asking should i be nervouse going in to a utility beeing a J man and basically only having experience in new con. exept for the storm i did on some 14.4kv 69kv and 34.5 about a year ago. like drifter said ibew and thats the way i feel. I got screwed on the stuff i need to know.

I am not a dumb A#& or a slacker at all.
They have actully trying to make me a sup, if that means anything.
I'm scared i wasted my time hear. That will make me pissed!!

[electric squirrel]

So i have been working for traveling non union contractor for about four years now and i have journeyd out.
I just got married and had a baby girl, im ready to go back to cen cal where i belong.
I dont know what to expect going in to a utility, im sure there going to challenge me wich is fine even though i suck at test.What concerns me though is i am not cert HOT and i have only done new constrution for the most part.I have done transmision distribution and i have been stuck in a sub since i needed the hours, but now that i have finished my apprenticeship im ready to leave i hate my job i didnt go to line school to be a stuck building new subs.
I need help with my trans hook up as well i dont do them so i forget.
Any good books or web sights?

Thank guys if you can help

I got news for you, you have wasted the last four years of your life! How can you "journey out" if you have never done any hot work?????
The best thing you can do is head down to Riverside as soon as you get back to Cali, call Cal Nev jatc 951 685-3896, tell them your story and ask for some help,I hate to rain on your parade but you ain't a journeyman at all. E.S.

[mx450]

Well,you do say what i expect to hear. I do have my hot hrs im just not cert.
dennise merchant is recognised threw DOL and there is actually one guy with the company that is cert.
Does union care if you have a bad record criminal and driving?

[Highplains Drifter]

You can call you self what you want but the only ones with Journeyman on their ticket is a IBEW construction lineman. The Power companies use line mechanic to be politically correct. The women .in my world are called and call themselves Journeyman Lineman. Until you take the test and pass you then may call you're self a Journeyman

[Highplains Drifter]

Well,you do say what i expect to hear. I do have my hot hrs im just not cert.
dennise merchant is recognised threw DOL and there is actually one guy with the company that is cert.
Does union care if you have a bad record criminal and driving?


Noooooo!!!! And I will fight that, felonies are never an issue. Where else can folks that really messed up have a career and make an excellent living!!

[mx450]

I was just going of the card that says journeyman lineman.
Do they have any practice test or a test that would help me to challenge it.
It seems you were calling me a girl.

[mx450]

That makes me mad, thats the hole reason im in the spot that im in.
I never would have went to line school. Thought that is what i needed to be ahead of the next guy since i have a record. I already have more drive then the next kid, seems they barely want to get out of the truck.

[electric squirrel]

Get mad, get mad at that line school you went to and paid all that money,get mad at the RAT contractor who you worked for, who probably told you how that you would learn all about line work ,working for them!
I know when you were in line school, they came in and recruited you,and you saw the carrot they dangled,thinking you would be a journeyman some day,lots of guys fall for it so don't dwell on it. NOW you have four years of experience, you NEED to go talk to the JATC ,that's ONLY way you ever get a ticket!!!E.S.

[Lineman North Florida]

I have worked at a utility for going on 23 years and belong to a union it's just not the IBEW, but it is all that we have. I have worked with a lot of union hands through the years some were good and some not so good, I am not convinced that the only way you can be a journeyman lineman is to be IBEW like some on here say, the utility that I work for put's all the new hires through a 4 year app program and you have a good start with some practical on the job training to be a good lineman.A lot of power companies just like the one I work for are not hiring right now because of the economy. I have seen other power company hands when we worked out of town on storms that quite frankley did'nt want to hit a lick at a snake and that gives power company hands all over a bad rap, trust me it's not that way everywhere. There are a lot of good power company hands out there and if we are not journeyman lineman I guess we have just all been mighty lucky. Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Highplains Drifter]

I have worked at a utility for going on 23 years and belong to a union it's just not the IBEW, but it is all that we have. I have worked with a lot of union hands through the years some were good and some not so good, I am not convinced that the only way you can be a journeyman lineman is to be IBEW like some on here say, the utility that I work for put's all the new hires through a 4 year app program and you have a good start with some practical on the job training to be a good lineman.A lot of power companies just like the one I work for are not hiring right now because of the economy. I have seen other power company hands when we worked out of town on storms that quite frankley did'nt want to hit a lick at a snake and that gives power company hands all over a bad rap, trust me it's not that way everywhere. There are a lot of good power company hands out there and if we are not journeyman lineman I guess we have just all been mighty lucky. Good luck in whatever you decide.


Partner I never said a Journeyman Lineman is better than ones who work at a Muni , REC or Power Company. But if you quit and decide to work outside construction, I don’t care how much knowledge and experience you have, you will have to take the Journeyman’s test to transfer from you’re Union to an Outside local. What you’re company and Union calls you’re classification is not accepted in the Outside to do a lateral Union transfer.

[Lineman North Florida]

Well, partner for the names sake I am satisfied that there are a lot of journeyman lineman out there that are not IBEW, but I do follow what you are saying about wanting to test any hand that tries to come in to the IBEW, I would'nt want to take just anybody sight unseen because he claims he is a lineman, we give a written test and a field test to anyone trying to hire in as a lineman, we don't take there word for it either. I think it is different depending on which part of the country your from, meaning most people think if your from the South you are a union hater and that's not always the case, a lot of these guys down here would starve to death waiting on something union to come along,now say they were out West were you have mostly union they would probably go that route. As far as me saying that you said IBEW journeyman was better than Muni,Co-op,and power company hands I did'nt say that or that was certainly not my intent, I took it that you meant something in one of your post's that is probably more terminology of a job title than anything.I did'nt quote you in any way, so no harm intended, I hope none was taken.

[returntotheeve]

That makes me mad, thats the hole reason im in the spot that im in.
I never would have went to line school. Thought that is what i needed to be ahead of the next guy since i have a record. I already have more drive then the next kid, seems they barely want to get out of the truck.
NICE! Now that it's out of your system, stop looking back and look towards where you are going. You can spend your whole life consumed with reliving your mistakes or you can concentrate of your goals. How is beating yourself up helping? Go to the source, where do you want to be? Talk to those people and see what you need to do. Then do it. As you know these jobs aren't handed out sometimes you need to fight for them. Fighting can be driving across state for work sometimes it's convincing people that you are going to be an asset to them and sometimes it's going back to that person who doesn't readily see in you what you see in you. The person that says "No" the most to MX450 is MX450! Go get what you want.

[mx450]

Ok, i got some good advise i guess, im pretty sure i knew all of this i know i will be challenged and that is good. And im not dweling on anything i feel that i have gained alot of valuable knowlege.
As far as union i can see there is mixed emotions there and im not against either one all i know is that i have had a job the hole time i have been here with no lay offs atleast with me. I am looking foward thats why im on here i guess what it basically comes down to is me leaving a comfortable job where i have time in and they treat me good.
As far as the IBEW test i dont think that really matters the format is prob a little different, I have meet some dum A$# J man out of the haul so i dont think the test matters much.
Thank you all for your opinions.

[tramp67]

What a mixed bag MX 450....what a mixed bag man....

Graduated Line School. From there, ya had a decision to make. Lots of decisions, actually. You made the decision you made. For money, Travel, or whatever...

Line School is a "start" in the trade. From there, a non union contractor will take ya on, and dependin on the contractor, and your ability...you'll go from there.

If you had gone with a Union. You would have gone into their structured app. program....IF ya could have got hired and got in.

So now...you're "almost" 4 years in the trade, and ya want to go home to "Cali". With the prices of shit out in THAT state....I don't know why.

But, yes....basically, IF you get hired on with a Union outfit in Cali.,....your "almost" 4 years of experience, might bring you in as a 2nd step apprentice. But in this day and age....maby not.

As for a criminal record, and bad driving....
I'd "Like" to think, if you've been "cool" for the past "Almost" 4 years of linework, that really shouldn't matter. You SHOULD come to the plate with a CDL though.

Comin here and askin advice and shit is cool. But only YOU know what and Who you are man.

Good Luck. I hope all works out for ya, and your young family.

"I want it all, and I want it Now"....don't work in linework, and not anyplace nowdays.

"Time" and "Pay your dues", is the only way to a successful life.

Wow, Swamp!!! I'm impressed, and batts will probably think someone wrote that for you!!!:D

That said, mx450, like was kind of mentioned in other posts here, the best thing for you to do if you are interested in getting in the IBEW as a construction hand, or with a utility - union or non, is to talk to someone there. With a utility, be up front with them as far as your experience, what you have and have not done. A lot of utilities do their own training, and I know of a few that won't take anyone in without evaluating them and placing them somewhere in their training program, at a level they decide the new hire is qualified at.
If you have enough work experience, and years of work, the IBEW construction hall may take you in as a "white ticket" or conditional lineman. You generally have a specified time to be on the job before you have to take the IBEW Journeyman Lineman exam, and depending on your score, you may be placed in the apprenticeship program at a level they feel you are qualified to be at, and then you will have to complete the apprenticeship program. Not a bad thing at all, the IBEW wants to keep you and everyone else safe, and make sure you have been trained well enough to meet their standards.
Yeah, unfortunately there are some guys out there that should have never made it through the apprenticeship and topped out, but they are a small minority of hands. At least in the construction end of the IBEW, if you do much traveling, you build up a reputation pretty quick, be it good or bad. Most jobs I go on anymore there's almost always someone that either knows me or knows of me, and I'm proud to say that I'm one of those hands that people look forward to working with. It goes the other way, too. There's guys out there that the day they show up, everyone beats it out of the yard full gear to keep from getting stuck with the lousy hand.
Good luck, remember, we are all still learning every day!

[mainline]

Highplains that is bulls*t about the transferability of rating. In the Northeast locals often let former non-union guys work in the local without taking a test, based on work experience and where the experience is gained. I know this for a fact because I work with them. As for ratings not transferring I'll tell you what, if I decide to drag up and go to the hall I am going to be some pissed if someone at the hall says my rating isn't equivalent after 12 years of paying dues as a lineman, not a line mechanic. I letter from your BA, and a union card should be good enough. I say this having no doubt that I could pass the test.

[T-Man]

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_2/chpt_10/6.html

Pay attention to what these guys arlready said. . . .I don't need to say more.

[PA BEN]

I was just going of the card that says journeyman lineman.
Do they have any practice test or a test that would help me to challenge it.
It seems you were calling me a girl.
Is it a State approved journeyman card? If so it means you topped out in that State. If you were to come to our Utility, the Local would give you a Journeyman lineman test. You have to pass it to join our Union, no union on job. If you pass, our union would except you. The Local would ask about your experience and make a recommendation to the utility. You might have a card but you might need to work close with other lineman before you can be cut loose. Hope you get a chance, remember, you still have a lot to learn. Keep your mouth shut and perfect your skills. As far as the test goes, safety ether OSHA or if the State has there own safety laws like my State. Transformer hook ups, cat banks, Regulators, how to take off line, math primary amps vs secondary amps, minimum amount of raps of winch line left on a drum before you can pick a load. Good luck.