[TransientCW]

so there is a "once in a lifetime opportunity" clause in the coast guard, not to mentioned that we are completely understaffed and under budgeted. my command has given me permission to start job applications and can almost definitely get me out a few months before my active duty contract ends.

i have recently applied for substation wireman apprentice positions with 3 different power companies in washington. the only qualifications are high school diploma, algebra in high school, and preferred 6 months experience in the field. i have a recent college algebra course, 3 years experience working with marine electricity on coast guard vessels and small boats, and i have had technical courses in the coast guard on circuit theory, electronics, safety, blueprint/schematics, etc, so i am hoping i have a SMALL leg up on the competition. i have heard that these positions are FIERCELY competitive, so what im thinking is i really have to nail the aptitude test, and then most definitely the interview............
i am going to dress to impress, with a nice suit, and come in highly prepared for all scenario questions with a folder of letters of reccomendation, accomplishments, etc.........

any advice for preparation? i really want to take this route and work for a power company. any tips for interviews as far as what they want to hear?

i have experience as a forklift operator and also i am our shipboard crane operator with a 40k lb rated crane. hopefully i can use these things to emphasize a concern and sense of personnel safety.......

any advice would be great, i cant sleep at night.
cheers
chris

 

[TransientCW]

ok thanks for the heads up everyone. i was planning on getting a basic algebra book to brush up like for when i had to take my military entrance exam. im not really sure what i should hit on the electrical theory side. i have been going over all the ohms law calculations and calculating voltage drops for series/parallel, and i was gonna go back to resistive/capacitive/inductive calculations. i wonder if they are gonna have questions on kirchoffs law calculations??? i hope not, i hate that ****
cheers fellas

 

[TransientCW]

well thanks island guy if your being serious, which im not sure if you are, but im gonna go in prepared for anything. as of now, i have been invited to sit for 2 tests, with 2 different power companies. im definitely gonna be studying my algebra, which will be nice and fresh cause i just took an algebra course within the last year, but what else should i study? anyone who works for a power company, i would be really stoked on any advice you could give. im doing my research, and getting super prepared, but tips on what else to study would be very much appreciated.

heres what i think im gonna study:
voltage drops on series and parallel
calculations for inductive, capactive, resistive, and combination circuits
turns ratio equations for voltage and current xformers
conversions for RMS, peak, and peak to peak voltage
ac sine waves and phase balance
math prefixes/symbols
diodes and rectification
schematic interpretation

anything else from the power company guys? thanks a billion

 

[TransientCW]

thanks then guys i appreciate it. i guess ill focus mainly on algebra refresher and nailing the interview.

 

[TransientCW]

okay tests is coming up monday, and then another in early april. after trolling through the forums i have gotten myself algebra and pre-algebra for dummies. all of this is an easy refresher as ive taken a college algebra class in the last year. im tearing my hair out over this but i think ill be good. im excited.

 

[TransientCW]

well you guys sure werent BSing me. that was alot more basic than i had imagined and i got myself all worked up for nothing. it felt like it went pretty well and they gave us a REDICULOUS amount of time for the test.......now they make us wait for results =(,hope its not gonna take a few weeks.

 

[TransientCW]

i passed the test and am number 19 on the qualified candidate list! they are hiring 4 apprentices, do any of you POCO guys think that realistically they will interview more than just a handful of people to fill the apprenticeship positions?

im hoping that at 19 i will be asked in for a panel interview.