I think I've finally decided what my "plan" for the next few years of my life. I'm currently in college, going to finish up my AA and get started back into excavation. I realize that a 4 year degree would be my best bet, but I just don't like school that much and I probably wouldn't make it through another 2 years. With that said, I'm going to apply for an apprenticeship with the local operating engineers union. They take 40-60 individuals a year and the program is 6,000 hours, works out to just about 4 years. Start out at $20 an hour in wages with $4/hour for pension and $6/hour for health and welfare. You start at 65% of journeyman wages and recieve pay increases as you complete the hours, journeyman are starting at $30/hr. in wages. I know I want to get going on my own at some point in life, but I think I can learn a lot through the union itself and the contractors I'll eventually work for, many of the big guys around here are union. I'm just looking for some advice from those who are union operators, anything you can tell me about how to possibly get my foot in the door with the apprenticeship. I know some of you aren't really fans of unions, to be honest being a union operator isn't my #1 goal in life either, but I think I could learn a lot, make some good coin, and at the age of 20 I can set myself up for a pretty bright future in the industry.
Go for it! Union or Not, It's all about what you put into it. What you describe is an excellent plan! Knowing you only by what I have read, I see you as being more than just an operator. With a good head on your shoulders, you will easily climb the ladder to bigger and better things. I wouldn't be surprised to see you go from from employee to employer. :cool2
Thanks, I appreciate it! I've been involved in running a business of some sort since I was 12. Started mowing lawns real young, did that all through high school. My dad started a landscaping/hardscaping business when I was 17, by the time I was 18 I was managing crews, operating/maintaining/moving all of our equipment (Cat skid steer and mini ex), then last spring my dad decided to make a run at excavation, which we did very well. I had a service truck and a Cat 312 and I was paid to manage the business as my dad was busy with a 6 man landscaping crew. Didn't do too bad for our first year out, I think we ended up generating $150K in just shy of 6 months. Not to bad for a 19 year old kid, I think I did pretty well given a truck and machine and being told "go for it". Needless to say we're no longer in the business, my choice to go back to college and my dad being too stubborn to try and learn the ins and outs of the business forced him to sell the machine. I volunteered a couple quarters off school to get him trained on the machine but he was just too nervous about it, said he couldn't run the business without me, so he sold the 312. To this day I still wish I we were in the business, but I think going the union route will get me more experience in areas I wouldn't learn otherwise. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get where I want to go, I love the biz, love running iron, there isn't anything I'd rather be doing. There are things that working for the big boys will teach you that residential excavation won't. I'm looking to learn development work, pipe work, and I'd like the chance to get on a grader at some point. These are opportunities I probably wouldn't see working for a residential contractor. I think if I did anything else with my life I'd be disappointed. I went to college to look for opportunities that I might not ever encounter, been here almost 2 years and haven't found anything that appeals to me career wise. I don't really like to toot my own horn, not really looking to make myself superior to anyone else, but I've been told by many folks in my home town that if I didn't make it back into dirt work my talents as an operator and experience in business would be wasted. I guess that's sign enough for me to stick with what I enjoy doing and stop trying to find something that probably doesn't exist.
Go for it, you should do well. LIke every job there are lots of politics, ups and downs, good and bad. Just keep cool, do waht you can, and learn from everyone, everytyhing you see.