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Darrin
Student
Becket, MA
1
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How do people like being a lineman
I like work and I like making money I also like being outdoors #work
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Karina Guerin
ECE
3
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Howell
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Karina’s Answer
Okay, I admit I'm not a lineman - my cousin is. I've asked him this a few times over the last few years, and this is what I've gotten from him:
• It's hard. You're out in all weather (because of emergencies as well as regular working hours during the hottest and coldest months), running on the bare minimum of rest. You're pretty much always on-call, even if you aren't officially, because things go wrong.
• It's an important job. You're keeping an entire civilization running, after all. We can't even flush our toilets without power!
• It's dangerous. Those wires hold enough voltage to kill an elephant in a second. One wrong or stupid move, and you're toast. You have to be pretty strong too, as well as brave.
• It's a lot. There's travel involved, not just in your area, but within your state, region, and even throughout the country, depending on need, and it's very much a "be ready to go" job.
• It pays pretty well. He was 25 and bought a decent house. His wife works because she wants to stay busy (no kids), not because they need her to work in order to survive.
• He told me it's very much a "single guy" job. There's a lot of last-minutes, a lot of cancellations (he's missed a lot of holidays), and it's easier to manage without a family. It's definitely not a job he'd want if he had kids, but he doesn't and he loves it.
Overall, it's definitely something to think about. See if you can't tweet out to your local power company about how to get started, or something like that, if you don't already have a personal connection. Good luck!
• It's hard. You're out in all weather (because of emergencies as well as regular working hours during the hottest and coldest months), running on the bare minimum of rest. You're pretty much always on-call, even if you aren't officially, because things go wrong.
• It's an important job. You're keeping an entire civilization running, after all. We can't even flush our toilets without power!
• It's dangerous. Those wires hold enough voltage to kill an elephant in a second. One wrong or stupid move, and you're toast. You have to be pretty strong too, as well as brave.
• It's a lot. There's travel involved, not just in your area, but within your state, region, and even throughout the country, depending on need, and it's very much a "be ready to go" job.
• It pays pretty well. He was 25 and bought a decent house. His wife works because she wants to stay busy (no kids), not because they need her to work in order to survive.
• He told me it's very much a "single guy" job. There's a lot of last-minutes, a lot of cancellations (he's missed a lot of holidays), and it's easier to manage without a family. It's definitely not a job he'd want if he had kids, but he doesn't and he loves it.
Overall, it's definitely something to think about. See if you can't tweet out to your local power company about how to get started, or something like that, if you don't already have a personal connection. Good luck!