Program Structure
Seattle City Light's apprenticeships are full-time, paid positions in the electrical utility industry. There are five routes. Electrician Constructor is 4 years and 8,000 hours, working on substations and on poles, towers and underground vaults. Generation Electrician Constructor is 4 years and 8,000 hours, assigned to the Boundary and Skagit hydroelectric facilities. Cable Splicer is 4 years and 8,000 hours, locating and repairing faults underground in confined spaces. Meter Electrician is 3 years and 6,000 hours. Pre-Apprentice Lineworker is a paid six-month position; graduates who pass physical capacity and pole-climbing tests enter the 3½-year, 7,000-hour Lineworker Apprenticeship.
You work on an assigned crew under journey-level workers. You also attend evening classes four hours a week from September to June, at least 144 hours a year. City Light does not say where classes are held. After the required training you take City and union exams; if you pass, you get a Certificate of Completion and become a journey-level employee. Apprentices must join their craft's union, IBEW Local 77 for the electrical crafts.
This is utility work, not the commercial inside wireman route that union JATCs offer. We file these routes under outside line, but Meter Electrician and Generation Electrician Constructor aren't line work. City Light's pages don't say whether these hours count toward a Washington electrician license.
Requirements
You must be legally able to work in the U.S. and be 18 by the time of hire. You need a high school diploma or equivalent, a vocational school diploma or an associate degree. You also need one year of high school algebra, geometry or trigonometry, or one post-high-school semester or quarter, with at least 70%, or completion of City Light's free BEAM class. You need a valid Washington driver's license by the time of hire.
Every route except Pre-Apprentice Lineworker also requires one of several electrical backgrounds. Options include electrical coursework, a few months of paid or volunteer experience, or BEAM.
Application Process
Applications go through the City of Seattle Job Opportunities portal, only while a posting is open. Pending budget and business need, City Light typically opens Cable Splicer, Electrician Constructor, Generation Electrician Constructor and Meter Electrician in February, and Pre-Apprentice Lineworker in late summer or early fall. We couldn't confirm from City Light's pages whether a posting is open now, so set up a job alert on the portal.
Hiring includes the CAST aptitude assessment, a hands-on working test (lineworker applicants also take a physical capacity test), an oral panel interview and a reference check. Candidates who are chosen get a conditional offer that depends on a medical exam and a background check, and a drug test where the job requires a Class A CDL. City Light typically selects 10 to 30 apprentices a year, depending on business needs.
What You Earn
City Light says apprenticeships earn at least $46.36 an hour to start, with step increases, plus City medical, dental and vision benefits. Its booklet also lists a pension and paid tuition, books and work wear.