Curious 2

[Thickhead]

OK I GUESS I SENT THE WRONG MESSAGE IN LAST THREAD. IM A 30 MALE LOOKING TO BE COME A FULL TIME LOCATOR FOR MY CAREER AS IN THE REST OF my LIFE AND I HAVE A VERY STRONG WORK HISTORY. I WAS WONDER HOW IS IT BE LOCATOR AND HOW IS CONSOLIDATE AS COMPANY? IM INTERESTED IN A POSTION IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. thanx guys

[Turk182]

I would not pick working for any contract locating company as a career move, to do it for awhile and get experience to use towards getting a job as a locator for a SUE or private locate company, the training would be worth it. I left locating because I could not land a job outside of contract locating, and could no longer take the frustration of working for a contract locating firm, and the more utilities they do the worse it is.

[Jcbro86]

haha, i like how thinking using all caps would clarify what you meant... i read your previous thread and i understand what you're wanting.

i worked two jobs before i started locating thinking the same thing that you are, maybe i could get an awesome job to replace my two crappy ones.

i cant speak on the company you are asking about, but from what i know of my career as a locator so far is this:
its alot of hours (60+ per week) in the summer and depending on how hard the winter is you might be eating your savings or vacation to make ends meet.
as a locator you are expendable if you make mistakes.
you have to cover your ass from every direction, up, down, side to side, and from outside the company.
its very demanding work, time consuming, physically demanding at times and always mentally exhausting during the dig season.

however, its also satisfying work if you are naturally curious or enjoy solving puzzles and problems. especially when others are depending on you, possibly standing right beside you with a backhoe ready to dig around the main phone line connecting two or more cities together. as soon as you say "go" they put the bucket in right beside your mark and you all get to see if you marked it right or not ; )

i would agree with turk182, id say its a good job to get some training but then try and either move up or into another part of the utility industry. im trying to move up myself, wish me luck and good luck to you with whatever you decide doing. this place is pretty cool so if you do go into locating you can learn alot here. take care.

[Locates with a cape!]

I found contract locating to be a nice challenge as a young man new to the work force in general. I could badmouth it all day, but the fact of the matter was I was happy to be working outside instead of stuck in a warehouse. It can be stressful at times, but if you have the right personality type and you don't leave job-sites with questions eating at the back of your brain you might not mind it. The money isn't anything to write home about. If you are seriously contemplating locating as a career, I think that diving in on the public side would be a great way to get a general understanding of utility design/layouts and to test your ability to manage/multi task high priority jobs. If you can hang with it, you will eventually find yourself seeking to move up the ranks or get out of the contract side of things.

Good luck in your career hunt!