SMECO’s apprentices earn while they learn
On-the-job training teaches crew members to work both efficiently and safely.
Specialized crafts require lengthy training to acquire the knowledge and hone the skills needed to become successful in those professions. This is especially true for the job of building and maintaining SMECO’s electric facilities. Not only must lineworkers keep the power flowing, any mistake can be deadly for both themselves and their customers.
Newly hired linemen at SMECO start out as apprentices and go through four years of training under experienced colleagues. This training combines classroom studies and field exercises with on-the-job instruction, with the goal of teaching linemen to work not just skillfully and efficiently but also safely.
The training journey
When the cooperative needs more linemen to expand its workforce or to fill vacancies, it hires new apprentices who are trained in groups, usually eight to 16 at a time. The training involves eight steps lasting six months each. Apprentices move up the steps based on tests of their knowledge and skill in line work. SMECO uses the apprentice training curriculum developed by Northwest Lineman’s College in Meridian, Idaho.
Apprentice training covers the core aspects of the lineworker’s job: overhead distribution lines, replacement of pole top equipment, pole installation, transformer connections, service installations, hydraulic hand tools, and line testing equipment. Apprentices also learn the broader aspects of the electric system, including the technology that helps keep the power flowing.
In the field, experienced lineworkers teach the apprentices the standard safety practices in climbing poles, working in confined spaces and in truck buckets, and locking out and tagging out electrical equipment. Often when SMECO needs to build new overhead lines or replace existing ones—work that doesn’t involve energized lines—those jobs will serve to train apprentices. Through countless hours of study and practice, they acquire the necessary technical knowledge and physical skills, learning to work efficiently and safely at great heights
Upon graduation, apprentices receive their licenses as journeyman linemen from the state of Maryland, and SMECO proudly welcomes them to its fleet of lineworkers. They become eligible two years later for promotion to chief lineman, or to lead a line crew if one of the chiefs is absent.
Jason Atherton, technical training manager, worked as a SMECO lineworker for eight years and has been teaching apprentices for more than a decade. “SMECO’s linemen work near high voltage electricity, rain or shine, in often challenging conditions to ensure members have power. Move just the wrong way, or lose focus for a split second, and it could be deadly,” Atherton said. "Being an electrical lineman is a dangerous job. A job this dangerous, requires thousands of hours of hands-on training to ensure that crews are able to do their job well and safely.”
Known for their strength and agility, lineworkers are dedicated to ensuring our communities have reliable power. Safety is always top priority on the job, which is why lineworkers spend thousands of hours training as they advance their skills.
Here’s a look at the career progression of a lineworker.
Groundperson/Linehelper
Many lineworkers begin their career as a groundperson, or linehelper. They assist line crews with tools, keeping job sites safe and operating smaller equipment.
Apprentice Lineworker
Before reaching lineworker status, they are required to work as an apprentice. Apprentice lineworkers earn competitive wages while receiving hands-on training and experience in the field. They typically spend four years in their apprenticeship.
Journeyman Lineworker
Post-apprenticeship and with roughly 8,000+ hours of training under the belt, journeyman lineworkers are fully trained in their field. They repair, update, and install overhead and underground power lines, as well as other electrical equipment.
Crew Leader
A crew leader is an advanced position that requires supervising lineworkers on job sites, coordinating with contractors and directing daily activities for crews.
Tryout day
Do you have what it takes to be a SMECO lineworker? That’s the question that the cooperative seeks to answer when it holds field days for job applicants.
In an atmosphere similar to tryouts for a football team, the field day presents job seekers with many of the basic tasks of a lineworker’s job, so SMECO can test their physical and mental preparedness for the apprentice training. An applicant has to dig a hole, climb a ladder, use a hand line, and assemble and carry a cross arm—all tasks that a lineworker might encounter on a normal day in the field.
Experienced lineworkers present a brief lesson in the physically demanding task of climbing a utility pole.
Experienced lineworkers present a brief lesson in the physically demanding task of climbing a utility pole.
Applicants receive rides in a SMECO bucket truck to measure their ability to endure heights. A descent into a confined space area serves to gauge their reactions to working in tight quarters. The cooperative’s apprentice recruiting team scores each applicant on their performance during the field day.
Next, the apprentice hopefuls will go through the job interview process, and the ones selected will start their four-year apprenticeship toward becoming journeyman lineworkers. They will use their skills to ensure a reliable, safe, and efficient power supply for Southern Maryland.
Want more information about working for SMECO?
Visit smeco.coop/careers
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