The best way to switch to this career?

I'm currently an electrician looking to switch to operating as a career, the only problem is everyone I ask says something completely contradictory. Some say go to one of the ~8 week schools then start looking for work straight into a machine and others say just get hired on and as a shovel guy then wait to see if you get a shot in a seat one day (Which is no different than gambling from my perspective and I've never gambled a cent in my life for a reason.)

Then you have Unions but I'm in White Oak, TX and prefer to avoid Unions but if push comes to shove I'm willing to move. If blowing a few thousand at one of the quickie schools has a good chance of speeding up the process of landing a seat of any kind I'm more than happy to do that as opposed to gambling with potentially years of my time. Also, no, I don't mind hard labor and I'm not above using a shovel and actually enjoy hand digging trenches for conduit, I'm just scared someone will tell me they'll give me seat time starting me out on a shovel and be lying to my face or change their mind after 8 months, etc.

Sorry for the rant, it's been extremely difficult to find information on this and I hope I'm in the right place.

Lots of treads on this very subject. The 8-week schools are a scam. Try and find a smaller contractor and start in the ditch. Before long, you will be in a seat. Or, find a utility company where you can dig and do sparky stuff.

Not many companies are going to let someone with only 8 weeks of school for experience hop into a machine, you're going to have to start as a labourer with or without the school, IMO the school is a waste. The best way is by being a helper to a operator, and if good slowly they will let you start running it. Good people are hard to find and companies want to keep people, so anyone who shows ambition and shows up will move up.

Generally curious though, why would you leave electrical to become an operator? IMO electrician probably pays as well if not better and probably more stable.

In my opinion everyone should start in the ditch and learn the job from the ground up, that way you have a real appreciation for the seat at the top of the food chain and know what it's like for all the poor grunts just starting out.. As far as the unions most offer apprentice programs that pay very well with good bennies until you're actually an operator..Not everything about the unions are perfect, but I'm 57 and retired due to pensions from the IAM and Teamsters union and that doesn't suck....

Welcome to the Forums RJV!

Same sentiments on the school - waste of time. No way I am going to put someone in a seat with 8 weeks of "operator school".

What area of the industry do you currently work in? Residential, Commercial, Industrial?

Since you are already an electrician you may want to look at utility companies and get on a line crew. Highline crews use dozers all the time to cut roads and anchor pulls. Lots of mini-ex work replacing poles with underground services on them. Then there is underground distribution which is becoming more and more common.

Coaldust said:

Lots of treads on this very subject. The 8-week schools are a scam. Try and find a smaller contractor and start in the ditch. Before long, you will be in a seat. Or, find a utility company where you can dig and do sparky stuff.

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I can not fathom why you wouldn't be able to get in somewhere like this. I think your only problem is that you will want to do more of the excavation work and they will want to pay you more to do the other stuff.

Like others, I'm not a huge believer in the schooling - and I say that as someone who has the schooling.

We're a small company doing a mix of residential and light commercial. I have labourers I hire running our CTL after a month of so of proving themselves. Not all day, but it gives them some seat time. If they prove they can follow instructions, take care of the machines, and they have a knack for it, after a season of labour/skidsteer work, I let em get some time in the mini-ex on non-critical easy jobs. At no point is any of the crew 'an operator only'. Including me. Everyone is expected to get out of the machine and help if there's no machine work.

The only exception to that is one of my truck drivers who is 73. He's a driver only, but he's busy running a truck all the time anyways.

In my experience it creates a better environment where everyone is pulling towards the same goal. Not to mention everyone gets a good understanding of every aspect of the job.

I think you would do better pulling wire, but if you don't like it..... I started as a truck driver. Grabbed some seat time when I could. Schools might give you some of the paper work you need. I looked at some jobs in mining, but even though I have 30 years of seat time, I don't have a ticket. All these classes give you is basics. Safety, checking fluids, basics on grades. Most schools have a few machines, and 20 students, so very little seat time. Companies are crying for people, but hard to put a newbie on a half a million dollar machine. Some larger companies offer training. You can start off on a haul truck, then branch out after so many hours. Operating is a lot more than pulling levers, there's technique involved, and that stuff can be nurtured by others, but it has to be learned on the job. I can wire my house, but my technique might not be as efficient as an actual electrician.

Lots of solid ideas & good advice up here in this thread. I’ll also mention to look at companies doing right away - ROW maintenance for utility, gas and electric customers. Some land clearing, logging, trenching, yada, yada. And power line construction companies. You’ll be digging holes in no time. Especially with the labor shortage and if you can pass a wiz-quiz.

Do you have a fitness card? Like a journeyman? Digging out a failed septic tank looks like a step backwards. I’m too old for a career change. I think PLC’s and controls would be a great niche.

Or, maybe a gangster rapper. Dope walker wear, fancy cars, babes and narcotics. No wiz quiz, background checks, TSA fingerprints for a hazardous endorsement, Medical examination certificates, HAZWOPER renewals, confined space training & rescue renewals, blah blah. And now, we’ll have to do CDL continuing education. Haven’t wrapped my head around that , yet.

CM1995 said:

Welcome to the Forums RJV!

Same sentiments on the school - waste of time. No way I am going to put someone in a seat with 8 weeks of "operator school".

What area of the industry do you currently work in? Residential, Commercial, Industrial?

Since you are already an electrician you may want to look at utility companies and get on a line crew. Highline crews use dozers all the time to cut roads and anchor pulls. Lots of mini-ex work replacing poles with underground services on them. Then there is underground distribution which is becoming more and more common.

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Resi and Commercial service. The reason I'm looking to swap is I'm still a long way off a Master's and plan on staying single for a while to get a business up and running. I hate being indoors and want to work outdoors all the time and want to learn landscaping among other niches to look into starting a business in a few years, nothing fancy. I'm mobile, live in a camper and can travel anywhere for work. I might be an idiot but I can afford to try.

That’s the perfect scenario. Look at the mining industry for operator gigs. With the labor crunch, I see mines providing more opportunities for entry-level folks. Kinross, Coeur, Northern Star.

RJVelcoro said:

Resi and Commercial service. The reason I'm looking to swap is I'm still a long way off a Master's and plan on staying single for a while to get a business up and running. I hate being indoors and want to work outdoors all the time and want to learn landscaping among other niches to look into starting a business in a few years, nothing fancy. I'm mobile, live in a camper and can travel anywhere for work. I might be an idiot but I can afford to try.

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Well, on the electrical side. Crusher spreads, asphalt plants, concrete plants all run on electricity. They guy that does our electrical has his own business and does quite well. Most of that work is outside. Would it be crazy to get your electricians papers first, and then work into construction. You're only young once.

I could see someone getting tired or disfranchised with residential work. Load up your camper with your hopes and dreams and hit the road North until the road ends. Step into a IBEW 1547 hall and sign your X on the A list. Stay close to your phone and in no time, you will have the adventure of a lifetime. Fame & fortunes, all the hours and outdoor work you can stand. For the record, I don’t like IBEW politics, but those IBEW gigs have been the best money and benefits I’ve experienced.

My 30 yo son is 1547 IBEW. Little turd is shopping for an airplane. Pension is maxed, Roth is maxed, retirement contribution is maxed and he is still trying to figure out what to do with his cash. Your mileage may vary.

If there was ever a time to get into the field it is now. Finding help of any sort is nearly impossible (at least here, unemployment is 2%). I don't think that going to a school is that bad of an idea. If you have zero experience, anything you can learn is more than you know now. It is not going to make you an "operator" but it might speed up the process.

Second the industrial plant sparky those guys are all the hours you can work and if you can do controls no matter the economy your busy

I would pass on school that's not really an investment in my opinion it's just a minimum standard and that standard is can the guy pay us for 8 weeks

Others have said it walk onto a crew start in the ditch and work before long you will get seat time people think operators do the real work and it's not the case they assist the guys in the ditch who are actually performing a product its vitally important to understand the work performed than dirt moved

Coaldust said:

I could see someone getting tired or disfranchised with residential work. Load up your camper with your hopes and dreams and hit the road North until the road ends. Step into a IBEW 1547 hall and sign your X on the A list. Stay close to your phone and in no time, you will have the adventure of a lifetime. Fame & fortunes, all the hours and outdoor work you can stand. For the record, I don’t like IBEW politics, but those IBEW gigs have been the best money and benefits I’ve experienced.

My 30 yo son is 1547 IBEW. Little turd is shopping for an airplane. Pension is maxed, Roth is maxed, retirement contribution is maxed and he is still trying to figure out what to do with his cash. Your mileage may vary.

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I want to work outdoors and maybe try to start a small business doing some basic easy things like clearing brush etc. I spent 11 years indoors on a computer working, switched to electrical work about a year ago and enjoy it but I want to be indoors as little as possible. I have 0 debt and some real estate that generates enough income for me to live cozy if I like but I want to work. Money is #2 on my list, #1 is being outdoors. I have a small tractor and have always enjoyed working with it and have spent some time in a skidsteer and about 50 hours on a dozer for my Dad who rented it about a decade ago. I think I'll truly enjoy this line of work more since I'm not that invested into electrical work and would rather be burned at the stake than work with or on computers again.

Also yes, Resi work is the worst. I enjoy trenching for conduit and roughing in shops, barns and the like a lot. It's the "I need a plug exactly right here in this random ass corner where there are nails in the fire block for some panzy ass boomer reason." that gets annoying. New construction or roughing in some older homes isn't bad but I want to be outdoors as I said.

Also, I'm willing to travel to work but want to be within ~5 hours driving from my properties preferably.

You aint a beginner. Big difference, You prolly realize your skills and contrary to some real popular belief most of it is not ro9cket science. Aptitude means a lot, but lots of it just work. I understand the do all small company, I would rather do that anyway and after I figure out where the knobs are I would just soon let someone that WANTS to drive it. I get way more done being the last man in the way with a shyovel,,,, the work speeds up when I/we have a good man in the seat resting and ready to go. Old guys are the worst,,,, you really want someone to get it done get a lawn chair, sit him there and tell him to watch or pull out the stick. Hand the man the shovel when he is in the hole.
2nd,,, that goes for someone,,,, not a fukkin electrician. I agree with some thread above, get the paper in your pocket stupid. Especially after the fact, any major contractor worth a pinch of shate would drool all over himself to have a lic master wanna come sit in a backhoe seat.
3rd,,,, there is a lot of equipment operation in electric,,, lots and not all of heavy equipment involves digging 10 hrs a day, lots of cranes, big trucks, drilling.
4th,, I passed on licence a couple times when I was a sprout and its a big regret. Both plumb and electridcd,,,, the rest is easy to get thru testing but those are hard and allow a gateway in to most other trades. You could mo0ve sideways at will,,, or I could at full masters pay. absolutely would be easy room without haveing to start at the bottom.
There are people, I am not a genius mechanic which would help but put me in a gang of almost any trade aand I am up to speed as to what we are doing in a hurry and its often so easy to float to the top when the rest are so dumb so to speak. While I do know the difference between a white wire and the green one I am not a technical electrician and to tell the truth dont much care where gobs of wires end up I can leave that to someone else and know how to do the other 99 things it took to get them there, gobs of utility work, underground to come in the near future.

Best place to start is trying to find an outfit that needs off road truck driver and or roller compactor, then you can work up to the other machines. Dozer is the most difficult, it is in constant motion, excavators you can stop and think about what your doing.

This is not advice, just an idea, but if you wanted to throw money at a school, you could consider getting a class A cdl.