Albat Question

[glennk]

Hey guys I gotta quick question about ALBAT. I had my interview a few weeks ago and ranked #3 outta local 245 in Rossford,Ohio. Just wondering when might I expect a call to start work. Thanks for any info....... anything will help even if it isn't good news

[MI-Lineman]

I heard today there might be a freeze do to no work. Not absolutely sure but I will try to find out?

[drawmonster]

It can take months to hear back. I was #3 at my local union, and it was 8 months before they took any more apprentices. When they do call, you better be ready to drop everything and go. I got the call on a Thursday and had to report to work on Monday.

I worked for a month before climbing school. Save up all your money!!! 3 weeks with no pay is not fun especially with a family. Also, climbing school is no cakewalk. So you better be ready. We started with 25 and 10 graduated.

[gmarchlewicz]

First of all, don't let go of the dream.. or whatever it is to you if you really want it. I interviewed November 2007. My/ your interview is good for 2 years. I was lucky #7... then I moved up to #2 after 6 months or so... now I am NOW #24. I called Albat and what they do is have a new interview session every 3 months for new candidates. The newly interviewed guys/gals scored higher than I did the previous session. So, if the interviewers were in a bad mood on my date and in a better mood when they interviewed the next group, I am screwed. Or maybe they legitimately felt the next candidates were more qualified. Unfortunately, the interview wasn't real thorough from my point of view. There was no written aptitude test. I can't see how a 5-10 minute meet and greet can tell them anything! Only because my local is not hiring, what I am doing now is looking at other unions far from my house. If it works out, I will leave my family back home during the week and come home on the weekends. Just an idea. Hope all goes well for you and you get hired soon!

[drawmonster]

A LOT of the people I went to climbing school with had to go to neighboring unions to get the job. So you should probably do that. And DEFINITELY be ready to travel and be away from home. Initially I was out of town 4 days a week, but now I'm driving 1 1/2 hours to work and back every day. That's about my limit on driving distance. I expect to be heading further north soon, so I'll be gone through the week.

I won't lie, it's not easy in the beginning. With rain outs, gas money, and food money, I'm barely making more than I was at my previous job. You'll have that three week period of no pay for climbing school, and you'll also have to buy upwards of $1000.00 in tools. Being an apprentice, you're gonna do ALL the crappy work. Digging holes, filling holes, chopping down a jungle with a shovel to pull a guy, running back and forth to the trucks when someone else forgets something out in the middle of a field, etc.. During the summer I was usually soaked from head to toe in sweat and very dirty, where as my journeyman was dry and clean. So it's tough.

BUT, when you get that Journeyman ticket you are set for life. Consider your apprenticeship as paying your dues for a job that pays a ton of money and get's a lot better when you top out. So stick in there and do what it takes.

Let me know if you have any more ALBAT questions. I'm a few months in, so I can give you info on pretty much everything you might be curious about. EXCEPT climbing school. You'll have to wait until you get there to see how that is, just like I had to. ;)