northwest lineman college and getting a job afterwards 

that's awesome dude! those who really want it will go get it no matter where the work is. Sometimes family responsibilities make that tougher for some more than others but stoked to hear you are getting experience and hope your apprenticeship goes well! good luck man!

Nice, are you still in washington or have you returned to texas? Basically my question is did you move to washington for work or did you just stay in a hotel for a set period of time while you were on that job?

This is actually good news to me, I’m ready to graduate highschool and get up to leave. I was hearing 6 months and started to lose hope but 2 weeks I can handle that😅

​@@Alishuacan I talk to you

I’m so thankful I didn’t have to travel

Right on man, thanks for watching

Can you help me with this process? I plan to go here with my GI bill. I don’t want to waste time

@@isaacsalas9813 with your GI bill you can use it to automatically be at top lineman pay throughout your apprenticeship. Skip the NLC school. Look up your local IBEW Union, go down there and sign the books, that's it. Since you are a veteran, you will be on book one and could have a job within a week or two as a ground man. Once you have that job, you are a union member and can sign up for the lineman apprenticeship and will have a test and interview within a couple of months. Seriously, find your closest IBEW union hall for more information. DONT SPEND YOUR GI BILL ON NLC! Your GI bill will get you making $150k+ through the IBEW apprenticeship within six months!

@@stevenhenson186 you used your GI Bill? Assuming you have that benefit.

@@stevenhenson186 how can I get on books for local 47? I have a cdl and osha 10 but no climbing cert

@@michaelchavez1043call the hall

Thanks man, and that’s awesome good luck!!

Thanks budd ✌🏿🙏🏿

I'm happy to and thanks for watching. I will say I don't think I would have got my groundman job with the utility company without school but its alot of money and effort upfront for something that isn't guaranteed and isn't quite mandatory. good luck to your son

Glad it was helpful!

yeah dude! I remember you. Hope all is well man!

Thanks man! Great to hear and good luck with PGE and Cal/new. I’m sure after a little 1245 experience you’ll be swooped up

@@Alishua yessir currently at ILB in selma. But it’s a short call so will probably be back on the books shortly. Where did you end up?

@@mikeyphillips1701 sweet! I ended up in Socal working for a utility as a groundman

@@Alishua how’s the travel when you start? Gone like everyday or what and how’s the starting pay? Just curious start school in December

​@@cameronhuckabee4787 That Really all depends on where you end up man. You can find a utility job where you work M-F 6:30AM-3:30PM, show up at a single yard location, and manage how much overtime you work. You could go work a union hall groundman book call and end up digging holes for 12hrs a day 6 days a week all over the place and make racks. Utility groundman pay around 34, union books pay around 36 in CA. Both are represented by the IBEW so you'll be pretty much guaranteed at least 40 hrs a week and end up working more. Seems to me like the guys I graduated with who work as groundman make around 4k a month working no overtime and guys who work a ton of overtime are making around 10k a month. Really depends, sorry to be ambiguous but I hope that helps answer your question. After you go to school it will make a lot more sense. I would highly encourage you to get your CDL before you go in December. If you've got the money and you can make the time you will thank late if you get it done before school. I wish someone would have told me that. Good luck in school, it's tons of fun and you learn a lot.

Thanks man and good for you that’s awesome! Have fun, stay safe, and make some money! Good luck!

Lol nice, I had the bedroom in the middle. I’d say at least 25% of the guys at school my term were prior military. It depends on their willingness to move with families and stuff as to how/where/why they go to work. I haven’t kept in close contact with someone with prior military so I’m not sure what kind of ratio they were dealing with applying to jobs and getting rejected. I know One dude prior military was hired for the utility I work for one month before I was and we applied for the same job at the same time. If your going to school by the end of it you’ll have a better understanding of how the books work. Guys who are not military like me sign book 3, guys like you sign book 1. So when the union hall gets word from a line contractor that they need 5 groundman. They will call everyone on book 1, then every one on book 2, then everyone on book 3 until they get 5 groundman who answer yes to the call to go to work. So you would get the call to go to work a lot faster than I would in that scenario which is great for you!

nice man thats awesome, Idk if you live in AZ now but you could always sign the books in other areas or other states too just in case that helps you get a call faster. but sounds like you got it figured out, good luck dude

i have no idea how they separate everyone in to crews. they take all the students and divide them into two teams and the two big teams are split into 4 man crews. You could call the school and ask them to put you in the same crew if thats important to you but I'd say the odds of that happening are pretty low it was all assigned for my experience.......I think its a good thing tho, youll know your two family members and then you'll meet people and they will meet people and you'll end up just meeting more people and learning more if they split you all up because you'll experience things a little differently and be able to study and talk together and just pool more experience. But it would be fun to be in a crew with them too, I doubt it would happen but best shot at making it happen is to just call the school and ask. good luck and have fun!

I’ve never heard of abcsocal but I just googled it real quick. It looks like the residential/commercial electrician version of cal/nev jatc. Abcsocal is a wireman electrician journey man program where NLC is a lineman training program. You can reach a journeyman status in both trades but they are different trades……. If you want to get into the electrical lineman trade and don’t want to pay the money for NLC you can sign the groundman books, apply to the cal/nev jatc, or apply to entry level positions at utility companies that might help you get started.

@@Alishua thanks man!

awesome good for you. I don't know how fast they are moving. You can call norcal local 1245 or socal local 47 to see how many people are on the books and how fast they are moving. Also if your signing the books with just a CDL I would ask if they can put you on book three...or just ask what book you'll be put on.....Towards the end of the year work can slow down and picks up in the begging of the year and summer. Hopefully youll get the opportunity to sign soon, Good luck.

Maybe a little but no I do not think it will make it significantly easier. Experience seems to be most valuable. What you know in those areas might prove very helpful if you encounter them in the other field but from my experience, they are different lines of work and you have to learn how to do each one. Lineman can't wire houses and electricians can't build power poles. Not that either of those things are rocket science you just have to learn each one......my dad is an electrical contractor and I've worked for him in residential and commercial electrical work since I was 16. My electrical experience is helpful when it comes up but honestly not that often. In line work, we use different sized wires, different tools, and different materials. All that matters is that you know how to do the work and even tho I have great electrical experience, I still have to learn to do line work and there is a lot to learn!! I will say I think the electrical experience looks great on your resume so that's awesome! Hope that answers your questions

I got the same degree brother it wont help much but I guess you can say it looks good. They wont care they only care about your certs. Hope this helps

thats one thing that was really curious about when I was in school. Really it just depends where you go and what kind of a route you take. If you get hired by a utility then yeah you can kind of just move up the ladder through the program. If you sign the union groundman books then you work off those books but you still need to apply that particular local's apprenticeship in order to get a job as an apprentice. It sounds complicated and weird but it makes more sense once you spend time around it. both routes are great and you'll learn a lot more about it once your around it. Unfortunately getting a job after school is not guaranteed you still have to find job and figure out a way to get started so it can be a pain in the ass for sure but its doable and anyone can do it. just to encourage you if your interested, its not for everyone but it lots of people do it and its totally achievable!

yeah man, I hope you get on with them too! When I was at school SDGE sent out a recruiter that spoke to us over a zoom call and emailed us a private link to apply ahead of time in November so that when the company opened up their actual job posting in march our applications got in immediately. I didn't have any line construction experience and my application got denied pretty fast, unfortunately. I'm not sure what your prior experience is but being a veteran helps some guys get a job pretty fast and I hope it works out for you. If it gets close to the end of the term and no one has spoken to your class from SDGE it might be worth asking one of the ladies that work on the administrative side if NLC has a contact you can reach out to since they've had a contact from SDGE other terms. Good luck!

That's super exciting dude! thats great you have your permit but get that CDL asap. I think your permit is only good for 6months. Lets say you got it in july, went to school august-november, went to trucking school after and then got your license, that might be encroaching on your permit expiring which sounds stressful to me. Maybe you are already aware and prepared for that I just wanted to throw it out there in case it is helpful. I got my CDL the month after school too and (do what you have to do) but I really wish I got it before or during school. I don't know of any specific local union halls that have a short list. I would pick a state/area you think you might want to live in and see what local hall is near by. Or you could google all the outside line construction local union halls in the nation state-by-state, give them a call to see how many groundman they have on their list and how fast the books are moving, and get better information that works best to make a decision on your situation. You also don't have to sign local hiring hall groundman books you can apply to out-of-state companies and maybe get hired. I will say when I interviewed for an out-of-state JATC they were disappointed I hadn't signed the groundman books at any of the hiring halls in their service teritory. So if there's a JATC you want maybe sign the groundman books in that area to hopefully help get you an apprenticeship faster. And while you are in school apply like crazy!!!! everyone says it but few students really take it to heart. It is totally a possibility to get a job while in school but it might actually take you over 200 applications. I probably sent like 50 and heard back from 3 while I was in school. Good luck man, have fun! you will learn a lot at school and things will make better sense after.

I'm thinking about going out of state for an apprenticeship after NLC also. See you Monday morning in Oroville!

I just graduated from term 1 in oroville this year and landed a groundman job in new mexico before I graduated. My advice to you is to NOT get your CDL through NLC, you will only get your CDL with an automatic transmission restriction which is not good and will not be accepted in apprenticeship programs. While your up there make sure you sign the groundman books for 1245 and after you graduate I recommend you and your friends take a little road trip to all the halls in or around your state and sign those as well

ultimately the choice is up to you man. after you finish school you can resign the books and you will be at the bottom of the list of book 3 with your documents from line school graduation. I would imagine you should get a call in CA from book 3 within a year AT LEAST. The could 1 week or 1 month after school its hard to know but is that worth 20k to you?......I'm not trying to be rude at all but just to point out that if you pay 20k go to school and get moved up to book 3 but you don't take a call when you do get one then it doesn't sound worth it to me. If your'e only trying to work out of one location or you need personal things to be dialed before you can go to work then spending 20k on school might not be worth it. But if you want to go anywhere right now and your'e tired of waiting then going to school might help you get into work somewhere faster and that makes sense to me. Thats really good you got your CDL though. in addition to the union hall books, I would encourage you to find some entry level positions with your local utility because the CDL might help you get a job. Good luck!

@@Alishua thanks for the response, much appreciated

Book # 4 from what IBEW ?

nice dude thats awesome! when i was sending in applications and it got to that step i would sometimes get the notification the next day or it would be pending and look like that for 2 months was the longest I waited for it to change....I never got hired or made it past that stage but that was my experince lol. Good luck man!

I would say 7 months is on the longer side of people who try to work as soon as possible after school. For most people who really want it, they have a job lined up out of state before school is over and then they go start immediately. If you can get your CDL before school is over then you can sign the CA local books while you are in school and have to wait a lot less once you graduate. I had friends that signed the books the last month of school and were waiting 3-4 months on CA local books. I've heard stories of people getting a call the next week after school in states like Texas and Montana. you can always call a local hall you think you want to sign on for and see how many people they have on the books to get a better idea of how long you would be waiting. If you honestly mean you are willing to go anywhere then you should have a job less than a month after school. But you have to really own it and be prepared to travel to that location, find a place to live and work there. You can sign local groundman books in other states that have a MUCH shorter waiting time. apply for JATC's and apprenticeships out of state that sometimes pick up recent graduates much faster too. A lot of people say they are willing to go anywhere but they aren't actually fully committed! Do what's best for and good luck!

In my opinion Matt, don’t do NLC. I graduated April I paid over 25k for that school just to be jobless 4 1/2 months later. Look for a cheaper school if you can. If not think about getting into the medical field, I guarantee with that career choice you’ll get a job right off the back!. I honestly regret going to lineman school. Wish I did something else. BUT if your going to continue with a lineman career I strongly suggest getting your class A.. Good luck man..

@@40ozkiller what do you mean by the medical field? What kind of job specifically?

Hey I’m going to the NLC CA December class too haha

@@HashSlingnSlashr I’ll see ya there. I’ll prolly be one of the old men in the class !!!! 😂

I’m 18 and graduate highschool in a couple month and after that I’m moving half the country away to go to NLC in Idaho, but I guess it’s never too late to get that bag😂

yeah, it's never too late as long as you are committed and willing to swing it. anyone can do it. not everyone will but anyone can. I know three guys where I work that are around the same age and above and they are in entry-level positions and still kicking ass...... as far as advice I'm afraid I don't have much for Idaho. from start to finish becoming a linemen is a process that takes people a few years to complete. it can be difficult to get started if you're dedicated to one location. I would get your CDL and try applying for entry-level positions in the area at electrical utilities or electrical co-ops (you might get a job without school). MSLCAT is the union linemen apprentice program that covers the state of Idaho, there's no guarantee you'll be close to home or even in the state but that's an option you could investigate as well. I don't want to make it sound easy, it can totally be done. it takes a lot of sacrifices to chase it down but anybody who wants it can do it!

LOl you are 18 stop it your mom and dad still wipe your a$$. @@jacobluker5531

In my case no it was not too difficult to qualify. On the NLC website they have some pretty detailed information regarding the loan process like who they work with and how the process goes down. When I attended I had the option to use meritize or sally mae because that who the school said they worked with. after looking at the two websites I choose meritize just because they would give me a loan without a co-signer and I was able to “fund” School all by myself…. Someone who is in a different position than me could maybe get a better rate or go a different route I’m not sure. There’s is also line worker scholarships and things of that nature that exist but I didn’t take advantage of or apply and I don’t know much more then they exist so that might be worth a Google search. But yeah I would check out the website and call around to get a better idea of what will work for your son. Or have him do those things if he’s interested in attending

can you start an apprenticeship with the union right after you graduate?

in order to get your CDL you have to take a DMV behind-the-wheel test. So if NLC does happen to offer it at that location at that time it would just be for training purposes you would still need to take a behind-the-wheel at the DMV. Maybe they would lend you a class-A vehicle that you trained in I'm not sure but ill bet you could call NLC in Texas and ask. It's totally possible to start a union apprenticeship with one of the 9 JATCs after school. the issue is if it works out logistically. meaning do they have an open application that you can apply to once you've completed school. I believe the JATC's applications only open up once for the whole year so if you miss it you'd have to wait till next year. you could also apply to utility apprenticeships and those should be represented by the union. I would highly encourage you to get the CDL before you go to school in Texas. I did not do it but it would have made my life a lot easier if I did. @@Conner_kirkland

Thank man! to my understanding yes after your call/ assingment is complete if you don't stay with that contractor and go back to the books you would be moved up the books. the duration of the calls can very it could be a couple weeks or months or you could be there longer. you can always leave and go back to the books if you decided to.

@@Alishua Can you find out ahead of time how long the assignment is? I would hate to quit my job only to have work for three weeks. How were you able to do it Bro?

@@louisgordon-415 yeah man when they call you they will tell you how long the call and where it is located and stuff. or you can ask before accepting it. I wouldnt quit your job till you get a call and decide to take it and you know for sure. from the time you get called to the time you have to report could be super short like a few days short so i would just beware and prepared to go

yeah dude sign the books and see what happens if your wanting to check it out. things are going good for me. lots to learn. almost two years in and Im an apprentice rn and just learning as i go

that's awesome man, If you sign the local union groundman books, apply to all the JATC's, and available entry-level electrical co-ops, city, and utility jobs online you'll probably get a job faster than I did. good luck and have fun at school!

it depends on your situation man. Once you get into the trade, line school ends up only being an introduction to the work and you are going to end up relearning everything the company way and the way your coworkers want it done. line school was 20k and took 4 months plus 6 months of waiting to get a job. If I would have gotten my CDL and not gone to line school I might have been able to just sign the books and get a call in 10 months and saved myself 20k. with that said I would not have been selected for my job now and working there had I not gone to line school. From my experience line school is a good education but not worth 20k, however, It significantly expedites the process of getting hired. Do what works for you. CA groundman local books pay $36 hr. I have a friend that made 175k off that and another who made 107K. That's going to depend on the contractor and how much overtime you work. At the utility, My base pay is around 70k and with overtime, I'm hoping to make at least 120k but I'm not sure if that will be more or less. Time will tell.

The only difference in certificates between the two would be the out of state drivers license. In idaho he will have to get a idaho state class c license, then an idaho class A license, and then if he comes back to california transfer or re-test for a california class A. Not a problem or anthying to avoid just something to be aware of. In california starting wage for the union entry level groundman i believe is 38 an hour maybe a couple dollars more. It can be less in other states but it really just depends on where he goes and who he gets on with. it may seem a little confusing now but the more involved he gets the more we will learn and he will find a path that works for him. If your in SoCal you could also check out the "LA trade tech." program. lots of guys get hired from that program too and it might be closer to home or even cheaper. best of luck to him.

@@Alishua Great, thank you very much!

I believe right now groundman at the utilitys start around $35 an hour and the union books groundman start at around $38

@@Alishua in you opinion which is better Edison or with the Union? Does Edison also pay double time after 8

@@joshuavalencia3817 yeah they pay double time after 8hrs. I think you’ll make more money and they will be easier on you starting off on the outside but I’d like to think long term Edison is better because you can go right into an apprenticeship where on the outside you’ll have to apply to the cal/new jatc once a year. They are both good. Just depends on where you can get in and what your situation is. I think experience is invaluable so I would go wherever you can for experience and worry about getting to the exact location you want to later down the road

How do you like LATTC, and please share any tips about LATTC. Thx

I can’t remember if school was 6:30-2:30 or 7-3:30 but it’s basically early morning to early afternoon and it’s only Monday-Thursday when I attended. Sometimes if you miss class they have makeup days over the weekend or extra activities that are optional to participate in on Friday and the weekends. If you sign up for the extra classes like crane and smart grid those are also held outside of the regular class hours.

Also the program followed that a schedule from 8/9/21-11/19/21. I Drove three hours home Thursday night and back to school Sunday afternoon for a majority of the term

Yeah man, it is a requirement to graduate from the NLC school. You’ll go to the dmv website, and fill out an application for the dmv for your CDL permit. That $76 charge is the cost of your dmv application and is paid directly to the dmv. After your application is processed you have to go to the dmv and pass a minimum of 3 CDL written test on the computer. I believe it is the General knowledge, air brakes, and combination vehicle. After you pass those you’ll get your CDL permit and that’s what you need to have to graduate school. You’ll also need to take that to a driving school to practice and to the dmv for your behind the wheel driving test. You can complete this before you even show up at school which I highly recommend. Save the time and hassle of getting to the dmv and passing all the stuff while you’ve got other stuff to deal with at school…. I think your permit is only good for a year or 6months or something meaning if you get your permit but fail to get your license in that time it will expire and you’ll need to resubmit a new application to the dmv and redo the whole process including retaking the test. So don’t get it too far in in advance but before school for sure. There’s tons of free online practice test and you can fail each test 3 times and then pass on one application so you’ve got some trial and error room. All you have to do is go to your dmv and take a few test. Hope that helps!

@@Alishua appreciate the feedback myman, hard to get this type of information not a lot out there so you are much appreciated

How much does one make starting off ?

Hey man, it depends on what your desired timeline is like for getting into the trade. If you’ve got a good job and got your life pretty dialed I would just get the CDL and sign the 1245 books. That way you could keep working while you wait. Even if you go to line school your going to have to sign the books once your finished and wait as well. The down side of that is it might take longer to get a 1245 call if they put you on book 4 because you don’t have a line school certificate, osha 10, and first aid. You could call 1245 and see what they would need to put you on book 3 with a CDL and without line school. Or you could pay 20k get that stuff at line school and then sign the books and wait on a more structured timeline since you know when you start school, when you get out, and within a year you should have a groundman call from 1245. You also don’t have to go to NLC, I’ve heard of east LA trade Tech which has a program that is cheaper. And I’m sure there are other options in other areas of the nation. There is local 47 out of SoCal and there are other groundman local union calls out of state if you want to go to work faster. I’m not very familiar with non union utilities in CA. It’s seems like most of the work is covered by the utilities and then they contract out work to the local union halls in those areas too. Most of the non union utilities I’m aware of are out of state. I know of one called braun electric in Ventura CA, I found them online when I was trying to get a job in CA. That was a lot of info so I hope that makes sense and helps Answer your question.

@@Alishua dude that’s more than enough. You don’t know how much I appreciate it. I just have a follow up question. To get an apprenticeship is it better to have a couple years experience as a groundsman to get an apprenticeship w/ line school & cdl vs no experience and going to line school with a cdl? I make around $30 managing a store and it would be difficult for me to take a paycut as a groundsman because idk if they make as much. You literally made my day helping me out with that response. I appreciate you

@@dcabs138 yeah no worries dude. I felt pretty blind before I went to school too and since I know a little bit now I’m just trying to be the resource I wish I had! Just remember do what’s best for your situation. I’d hate to mislead someone one way or the other Option 1) years of groundman experience, line school, CDL Option 2) 0% experience, line school, CDL Obviously experience is great but people in the trade come from all kinds of backgrounds not everyone goes to line school. you don’t have to have experience but if you have it then sweet. Chances are if you did NOT go to line school and you DID get some groundman experience you would probs get an apprenticeship without going to school because you would have relevant experience, and know how the system works so you could find an apprenticeship to get into somewhere because you are more familiar with what’s going on. Option 2 is the one I took and I would say 95% of people that go to NLC share that perspective. 0% experience, cdl, and line school. It’s really good to have some sort of related experience to beef up your resume but it’s not required. Option two is faster because it should not take years to accomplish. Option 1 is cheaper but might take too long to work through the process and accomplish that, idk. CA local groundman books pay $36hr. Utilities pay not as much but still over $30hr. I don’t think it’s that pay cut that gets to people but really the transition period of not working during school and then not really working after school while you look for a job can be rough. Out of 16 guys I was hired in with only 2 didn’t go to school. Most people go to school, work ground man books for a 1-2years, then get an apprenticeship. That’s pretty common but it doesn’t have to happen that way. I know it’s a lot of stuff and what I say isn’t exactly how it’s gonna go down for you, this is just general info. I will say it’s a big commitment! If you go for it better make wise decisions and send it with everything you got!

@@Alishua man I got to buy you a beer or something. Thank you so much. You have an Instagram by any chance? I want to be able to contact you after I make it as an apprentice. You’re a real one brotha 💪⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

@@dcabs138 lol thanks man, Yeah insta is just my name or its in the vidoe discription. Good luck on getting the apprenticeship, its hard to do but it is well earned!

To be brief and specific I don't know man. Cal/Nev is great but it isn't the only way to get in. Sounds like you have desirable experience and you could try applying for more JATCs in other parts of the nation or apply to other utilities that are offering linemen apprenticeship jobs. My NLC roommate was in the same situation as you and after line school, he got into cal/nev. At the utility, I work for there's a tree trimmer with no line school that got hired with similar credentials to you. I don't know a ton about tree trimming work but you could call 1245 to see if they could put you on book 3 outside line construction groundman books since you have so many hours. Or keep applying to more jobs, maybe out of state, maybe out of state groundman books.

Swlcat ape here apply to every JATC you can if you rlly want it cal/nev has the lowest odds of getting in bc Everyone wanted to work there I’m from NorCal and moved to start my apprenticeship

@@aape5230 where did you have to move to?

You do not get paid anything as you go to northwest lineman school. 4 months of school. So 4 months no income

A Groundman predominately stays on the ground and works from the ground assisting linemen and linemen apprentices who will work in the air off lifts of off the power poles A groundmans task include things like gathering tools and material for the job, driving heavy equipment, keeping the trucks clean and organized, and assisting during the job by running the handline, framing poles, and prepping material for whoever is gonna do the work. For a lack of better words you are kinda a job site bitch and you do as your told and learn along the way. That’s my job now and that’s what’s it’s like from my perspective. Your task include lots of other little things but that’s the idea When you go to the school too school you’ll be learning to climb and electrical theory which is more apprentice based stuff. Your job task after school whether it’s an apprenticeship or a groundman position will be similar to the groundman task I listed just cuz that’s the way you learn how to do the job

How many hours are you typically working in a week as a groundsman?

I think you should do whatever you want to do man. And I would take everyone else’s input with a grain of salt because your going to have to live it down one way or the other. If you want a career as a linemen and you want to start as soon as possible then yeah I would probably go. If your not sure if you want to do this or spend that money you could get your CDL, sign the groundman books, and get a feel for the trade while making some money and not going into debt. A lot of kids from line school don’t end up in the trade. I don’t want to discourage you one way or the other but whatever do just I would recommend you do it because you choose to and you worked hard to accomplish it not because someone said you should

@@Alishua okay appreciate it I’ve been wanting to do this trade since junior year of high school

Not really anything specific……they ask pretty corporate interview questions so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to Google a few examples and practice good responses. Or maybe have a few scenarios in your head for how to give a solid response so when they ask you seem pretty dialed in your response. I would Just treat it like any other professional interview. When they open up SCE job applications for groundman apply to all the locations you’d be willing to work in because you could always transfer to another location after 6months. Just show you really want to learn and you really want to work and that safety is a big deal to you and your co workers. I would emphasize any outside hall groundman, construction, or heavy equipment work experience you’ve had in the past. A lot of new groundman don’t have tons of line construction experience but a least a solid background of how to work with tools and follow instructions. Hope that helps, Good luck!

When you do your loan application they give you three options. Start making payments immediately, start making payments once the NLC program ends, or start making payments 6 months after the first day of school. I selected the third option. That loan is collecting interest while your not making payments on it during school which sucks but I wasn’t really able to pay it during school so choose to wait. Those were my options and that’s how I went about it

@@Alishua Thank you I appreciate the help.

Which loan company did you go with?

How much are the payments?

yes, for a lot of the utilities a part of the hiring process is taking a competencies test. I can’t remember exactly what kind of math was on each one but the math isn’t that difficult. usually adding multiplying decimals and fractions is the most difficult but I wouldn’t stress it the math isn’t that hard.

yes you can. if you show up to school with your own tools and they meet the safety standard then you won’t have to pay that cost. however I wouldn’t advise that unless you know what to get, you have another linemen help/give you the tools, or you buy them second hand from a student who attended school and has them posted on Craigslist. for me I was so new and didn’t know how to adjust or use a lot of my gear and since I bought it from the school all the other students have the same setup and all the demonstrations are with the same exact thing which I found helpful to have mine be the same. some students brought their own tools and did totally fine so it’s just up to you

ultimately I quit during the physical interview. you apply online, then they send you a digital personality test, and then you go for a three-day physical interview. during the physical interview, you wear a harness with a yoyo attached to the top of the pole, and you free-climb to 15ft and 30 ft to hang an arm and change an insulator. I rented an air bnb and I was super sick throwing up all three days. the second half of the 3rd day I was super dehydrated and light-headed and just too dizzy to climb anymore. I asked if I could come back to test in the next class because I was sick but they said that was not how it works (which is totally fair), and I just quit. That one always bummed me out. It was a great opportunity and I just quit instead of pulling through or getting asked to leave.

@@Alishua i applied to lineman apprenticeship with SMUD. I didn't go lineman college or union hall but I have a three years CDL exp, solar installer exp and a college degree. do I have a good chance to get it? thx!

jiffy's truck rental in Redding CA. they have a location in Sacramento too. I paid to rent their truck for 1 day with 6hrs of practice and I failed. I paid for another 2hrs of practice a few weeks later and passed. If you are interested in that route I would give them a call and see what they are offering in 2022. I wouldn't give the school itself a high review but it helped me get my license and it's cost effective.

no way man! not easy or exactly the way you pictured it but very possible!

I think you have to submit a high school diploma or GED just to prove you can do algebra for basic electrical equations which consist of adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. but honestly the math is not hard at all and they just want your money so if your able to apply and talk with someone I don't believe there are any real requirements that would actually hinder you from attending school. You can always reach out and ask them or check out their website. hope that helps!

@@Alishua should’ve been more specific, I meant lineman school 😅 regular school is obligatory hahaha

@@AdrianRomeroJr yeah im talking about requirements for linemen school. The only requirement I’m aware of is have a GED

@@Alishua oh ok cool that’s good to know, sorry I asked the question very vaguely, my original question is do I have to go to lineman school to become a lineman? After research I found out that no I don’t have to, I can get my CDL and a couple certs and side some of my local ibew books or go into the cal/nev aprenticeship Now I guess my question is would you recommend the no lineman route? Or go to lineman school

@@AdrianRomeroJr If you're pretty set on trying to go the lineman career path you could sign up for a future NLC or similar linemen school ( like one year from now) and while you wait for school to start you could get your CDL and apply for utility jobs and also sign the local union hall books. That way maybe youll get a job before school and save yourself 20k or decide to go a different route or whatever. and then in that year if you don't get a job you could follow through with school. When I got hired i think 8 dudes had climbing school and 2 dudes did not. Me personaly I don't think I would have gotten hired without having it on my resume but its deffinitly not manditory, just depends on what route you take and how you wanna work it out

I agree! I attended community college before transferring to a university to get my bachelors. Community colleges are fantastic resources!

25 when I went to line school. 26 now and 26 when I first started the job

i do not know what that means

Im an Edison at Florida campus FTT is in our chant the TT is Team Tesla The F… lol