Becoming an Apprentice
Step One: The Application
Everyone who wishes to be selected into the apprenticeship program must fill out an application. We only accept applications that are submitted through the website. You must enter a valid email address on your application. Once submitted, you will receive a confirmation email that will let you know that we received your submission. Your application is good for one year.
Step Two: The Exam
Anyone who wishes to become an apprentice must take and pass the entrance examination. Each training site will schedule an exam every month. The training site will attempt to contact ALL applicants, by email, in order to schedule their exam. You will be contacted based on the order in which we received your application. The average time to be contacted will be about 3-4 weeks, but could change based on the total number of applications received for your region.
Step Three: The Interview
All applicants who accumulate enough points on the exam will be contacted by email in order to schedule their interview. Interviews will be held on a monthly basis at each training site. Again, the average time to be contacted is about 3-4 weeks, but could change based on the total number of people who passed the exam.
Step Four: PAO Candidate List
Those who accumulate enough points on the test and interview will be added to the PAO Candidate List. Your position on the list will be determined by how many total points have been accumulated through the test and interview, and then any earned bonus points will also be added to your score.
Bonus Points
Bonus points are given to those who have submitted their proof of education documents (0-50 points, PROOF REQUIRED), if the applicant is Native American (10 points, PROOF REQUIRED), if they have served in the military (10 points, PROOF REQUIRED), and if the applicant has previously attempted entry into the apprenticeship program, but was not chosen. (10 points for each attempt, a maximum of 30 points, all attempts must be in consecutive years. If the applicant has chosen to not continue in any given year, the cycle re-starts at 0).
Step Five: Pre-Admission Orientation (PAO)
All applicants selected for the final step of the selection process, will be selected from the ``Top-Down`` (starting with the best score, and working down from that score), of the PAO Candidate list. The number of candidates selected will vary by region, the amount of work available in that region, and the needs of the IUOE Local 18 signatory contractors for the Ohio Operating Engineers to meet the demands for completing that work. Due to these factors, class sizes will vary, and the number of and frequency of classes taken will also vary. We are not able to guarantee anyone a position in the training program.
Apply to the Apprenticeship and Training Program
You can find our Online Applications here.