Lineman Apprenticeship: What’s it worth to you....and your family?
I am a just a 1st step apprentice with a line contractor & I did not go to a vocational school. In my opinion I think that it is not necessary to go to school to get your start with a contractor but with a utility or a muni it would definitely help get your foot in the door. If you read the experience requirements on the job postings you will notice that they usually require 1-2 years work experience or certificate of completion from a line college. I think that most line schools are great because you can get "certified" in a number of areas including: Pole Climbing, First Aid, CPR, Flagging & usually you will be able to get your Class A CDL. All of these certifications are important not only so you can do your job to the best of your ability, but also in your case to be able to compete for one of the highly coveted utility apprentice positions. Good luck with trying to get on with a utility, even though there is a high demand for line workers there are hundreds of people who test at the utilities every time they open their doors and the utility has the advantage or picking the cream of the crop and places everyone else on the “list”.
I don’t want to discourage you from trying to get on with the utility, by all means prepare yourself, put on your game face and test with the rest of the boys. Just don’t wait for them to call you if you don’t get a job right away. I would recommend that you find a “safe” contractor and get started immediately on your career. Get enrolled in a apprentice program and start moving forward. I believe that as a Journeyman you will be able to get a job anywhere you want, but as an apprentice if you don’t want to wait you have to put forth some effort and find someone who will hire you as a ground man & earn your apprenticeship position.
As far as having a family and working on the road….it sucks. Its not easy, its not always fun and your family suffers because YOU want to be a lineman. You have to be comfortable with these facts. I haven’t seen my wife and children since May 24th but in a couple of weeks I hope to be in the position to move them halfway across the country to the job and we will be back together again. If the apprenticeship was easy there would be no shortage of linemen and we would not command the wages that we get as Apprentices and Journeymen.
Be careful in deciding whether you should go to line college on someone’s opinion. In a class of 50-70 students I would imagine that 1/3 to ½ of those could end up being sub/standard for any number of reasons. I believe that in trade school as in life you will get our of it what you put in to it, most people are more concerned with what the school can do for them, instead of how they can use their schooling to better themselves. You have to invest yourself in your education and in looking for your apprenticeship or it will go to the guy who wants it more. Go to the school, visit the campus, talk to the instructors….half of getting started in this career is educating yourself and confidently deciding on your own where to go from there.
Holy Crap!
Sorry For The Novel……Good Luck