Yeah, Class A Permit isn't worth sh!t. I got rejected everywhere (PGE pre-apprentice twice, Turlock, all the utilities in Portland, Texas, Mountain States JATC, Dominion, etc in the east coast). I'm surprised that the Cal-Nev JATC even gave me a chance by giving me a good rank. I got lucky.
Dude, funny thing is that I waitlisted for ELASC on October 2014. It took them 1 year and 6 months to tell me about the orientation for the climbing school. Lmao, by that time I got the e-mail, I was done with my climbing cert from Los Angeles Trade Tech College 9 months ago + got my Class A driving test this Thursday
i heard that NLC and ELASC are way better than LATTC for prepping you, so you are in good hands man. I heard from talking to my classmates and other journeyman lineman that ELASC is way more intense, but I've only been to LATTC, so i don't know jack sh!t. Good luck. With that climbing cert, Class A and your climbing job, you'll be more ready than I am.
You should write about your orientation/ ELASC experience so that more people can learn about it btw. The forum seems slower than it was years ago. Pages 22~40 are golden due to so many replies with good answers though.
Yeah, I talked to older utility lineman (glendale, LADWP, SDGE) and they told me that the utility paid for their CDL A back in the days. I guess that the good ol' days of the companies paying for everything are over. They want to minimize expenses. And we'll do anything to get in, so it goes.
p.s. - so glad I went to LATTC climbing school. Got that climbing cert in 4 months, for Free, before the JATC interview. I lucked out man...