I am a Locator want to be......

[locatorwant2b]

Hello all. Been enjoying your sight for a few weeks now and looking for some advice.......Applied to USIC and sucessfully completed my phone interview. I hadn't heard anything back so I followed up and was advised "there are no appointments available right now". They assured me they would be contacting me. I am very excited about this opportunity! Is this typical or do you think I may be fooling myself And although I have no locator experience, I am very eager to learn and become a locator. I currently work outside and have a spanking clean dmv and background. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to joining your brotherhood and thrive on putting in a good days work. Wishing you all well, Locatorwant2b

[ProfessionalLocator]

I cannot speak for that particular firm so I will talk generically.

Let's say they are sincere in their response to you, find you passed their interview but have no job openings at this time.

In most companies the interviews and hiring is not the primary job of the person doing them. That person is usually a supervisor of some sort like a foreman or higher management. With all the details of running a locate firm you will likely soon get lost as these are very busy people.

I worked at one firm where the foreman asked us locators to recommend people. We did, had them call the foreman as well as e-mail. Next week the foreman is asking if we know anybody. We gave him the same names back and told him to check his voice mail and e-mail, all these people left messages which he never returned. That is because hiring people is secondary, or even third, to the people doing the hiring. The foreman I mentioned is a good guy, works hard and is conciseness but over burdened with work.

So it is up to you to keep contact between yourself and any firm you apply with. Do not worry about being thought a nuisance, you do not have the job anyway so you have nothing to lose. If one were to think about it persistence is a quality needed to be a good locator.

[FiosKing]

bad time of year to try to get into locating... but just keep giving them a call every few weeks or so, so when soemthing does open up they will think of you first... also a great idea to know someone in this industry

[ProfessionalLocator]

bad time of year to try to get into locating... but just keep giving them a call every few weeks or so, so when soemthing does open up they will think of you first... also a great idea to know someone in this industry

I find this depends on the firm and it's training program.

Ideally you hire a person who never located before to start early in the year, like January.

They go through the training program. They ride with an experienced locator who mentors them and adds to their training. At this time of year the mentor is not overloaded with wok and has the time to teach the noobie. Next the noobie starts doing locating on their own with review and guidance from their foreman or mentor. When the workload picks up in Spring they are trained and more productive.

Unfortunately this ideal does not always occur. A manager decides that with workload low they cannot justify any more staff. So they hire later when the workload is heavy. The experienced locators are expected to get their workload done so they have very little time to give guidance to a noobie. The noobie struggles trying to meet the demand to be productive and feels very stressed because they may damage out and feel that they should have been given better training.

So for some firms this is a good time of year for a noobie to get hired.
Experienced locators? No, later is a better time of the year for them.

[yahoo]

bad time of year to try to get into locating... but just keep giving them a call every few weeks or so, so when soemthing does open up they will think of you first... also a great idea to know someone in this industry

I agree with what has been said so far....just keep asking and be persistent and good things will happen for you! you need to have a good job history as well for most of the contract companies.....

[locatorwant2b]

Thank you all for the advice thus far. I initially saw a posting on CareerBuilders for an Utility Locate Technician in the Lake Villa, IL and the McHenry county area. To date I have submitted my resume along with successfully completing my assessments, application, waiver and phone interview. At the conclusion of my phone interview I was congratulated and advised that I would be contacted. I have followed up since and was advised that the hiring manager in my area has not scheduled any appointments as of yet. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed. In response to my work history......I'd like to think I have a good one. Prior to downsizing, I worked for the same company for 16 years. I have worked for my current employer for 5 years, yet choosing to be proactive with potential cutbacks on the horizon. Best to all, Locatorwant2b

[Mark]

Welcome.

[paintitnow]

like professinal stated, they probably going to start classes sometime after the holidays and the manager is waiting until he get his people riffed and set up and then will do the interviews. Figure mid january to early february for classes. I once called an employer for two months every two weeks and was told the job was onhold but it soon would open up. I got the job. Maybe by me calling all the time my name was in their heads or it showed them some one that was motivated to take their job besides being excellently qualified. The girl knew who i was when i called. I would just keep calling like others have said in their post.

[locator1]

like professinal stated, they probably going to start classes sometime after the holidays and the manager is waiting until he get his people riffed and set up and then will do the interviews. Figure mid january to early february for classes. I once called an employer for two months every two weeks and was told the job was onhold but it soon would open up. I got the job. Maybe by me calling all the time my name was in their heads or it showed them some one that was motivated to take their job besides being excellently qualified. The girl knew who i was when i called. I would just keep calling like others have said in their post.

They more than likely will hire you in the spring,they will string you along till then.Locating is a ok job,it just depends on who you work for.

[damageratio]

oh to have that " new guy " excitement again..lol

[Mke]

Hey Want2B, welcome to the vine, and congrats on the interview. I'd look for a call around the middle of Jan. Like the week of the 11th. That gives them a week to get things in order, and they maybe looking for additional prospective employees.

Some companies load up on prospects, knowing that some may not pass the UA's or MVR's. Then out of the ones that make it to the training, some may just be filtered out though the complexity of locating. Either way, stick with it and post as many questions as can so we can cloud up the picture even more for you... hehe

mke

[Goldenboy]

Welcome to the vine.

By looking at the jobs in IL is seems like USIC is hiring everywhere. Good luck and be patient. It seems to be the norm for most locate companies to do 2-3 interviews before they make a commitment about hiring someone.

[locatorwant2b]

Thanks for the feedback and I will continue to hang in there. Any advice in the event that I get a face to face interview? Happy Holidays to all.

[hellbilly]

I applied about 2 weeks ago and just got my offer letter and i start training jan. 4 for 4 weeks, the 2 weeks for ride along.

[TBONE]

first thing you need to find out is if the work is there in your area most places here are on skeleton crews barely scraping by