Wanting to get foot in door

[a_weigum]

Hi All,

My name is April.  I have been in the mining industry for 12 years.  Most of the work done was in surface mines in North Dakota.  I moved to Ohio in June of 2008 and obtained my underground liscense, but haven't been able to get hired on any of the underground mines here.  I have also worked coal fired power plant outages as a laborer for the Union, so I had a chance to work with all the different trades, and I must say I fell in love with every aspect of the work involved.  I have my Surface Mine Foreman certificate, and I am also approved through the U.S. Dept of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration, to teach Coal Mine Safety.  The only certification I have remoteley related to this field is OSHA 10.  After all that being said, my question is what kind of jobs related to this field are out there for me, entry level, without further schooling, until I get my foot in the door and move up with schooling and training from there.

[anya1040]

Hi April,
I, too, am trying to get my foot in the door. I am nearing graduation from a 2 year college with a degree relating to radiological control. Even with my degree I think I am going to have to move away from home to get practical experience before I can come back home and work. (I live very close to the labs where they developed and made "the bomb".) After all the education I have, my adviser tells me I must pass the DOE CORE exam for employers to be interested. If you look on the front page you will see a category named "quiz". You can find the section on the RCT CORE exam.  There are like 13 modules. You need to know basic algebra or just forget it!! If you don't do well in algebra, find an adult learning class somewhere, there isn't anything in there that's rocket science.  Then just go through all the modules over and over (and over) and you will eventually catch on to the biggest part of it. I am taking Applied Radiological Control at school and I have actually learned more from going over these quizzes. Some of it, no matter how many times you go over it, you won't know how to do. But if you watch, you can begin to make educated guesses. 80% passes. Or you can take the course at a college. Expensive, though. Good Luck.
 

[AaronBuchanan]

Hello, I too am a college student, Chattanooga State Radiation protection program here. I'm going to graduate by the end of this year if everything turns out as planned. I got into this when I found Radiography to be a bust for me, I was more physics inclined and less patient inclined. Just could use general advice when I get to the plant. We're taught a lot and I think a lot of this is going to gel out when I get into the plant. Our professors just gave us the general warnings of, "Don't step in a standing pool of water, and step around the vents when you walk past them."

[cbguy]

Getting a foot i the door or changing industries is difficult, but not impossible.

For anyone tryin to get into the nuclear world I would suggest working outages. If you could work 3 outages in the fall and 3 in the spring you would make around $60 K a year.

Yes you would have to travel and you will get dirty, but the pay is good, but the hours will be long.
 
The advantage to doing it this way is that you would be badged and you would have some nuclear experience, which along with your training would give you a leg up on others trying to get into the field.

I hope that this helps.

[AaronBuchanan]

Your professors are academia morons.

I was joking, they're actually very good instructors, they've taught us a whole lot. There's just somethings you can't teach, and it's the experience. This spring has been a slaughter house, and honestly, I think if I were to get into the outage work things would clear up. I just feel like I've had a dump truck full of schooling backed up and emptied into my head. I just would like to see, better yet, work at a plant to apply it.

[AaronBuchanan]

Got it, use emoticons when you're just joking, it took me too long to figure out why people couldn't figure out when I was making a funny.
The emoticons do not always convey witticism, but at least you can say you tried to the fullest extent of internet posting to get it across.

To wit;

Your professors are academia morons. 

Lol sorry, I have a dry humor. My class is just scared and I am in particular over the job market, and we're all told in nuclear the sky is the limit.

[ElectricBuckeye]

What part of Ohio are you looking in April?

I can assure you the mining jobs are almost all exclusively here in the Southwestern half on the Ohio River. They're exclusively underground.

A list of mines and companies should help, try these.

CONSOL Energy:
McElroy Mine - Moundsville, WV (Union)
Shoemaker Mine - Benwood, WV (Union)
Enlow Mine - West Fork, PA (Non-Union)
Bailey Mine - Wind Ridge, PA (Non-Union)

North American Coal:
Powhatan No. 6 Mine - Beallsville, OH (Union)
Century Mine - Beallsville, OH (Non-Union)


That's really the only mines around here anymore, almost all surface operations were shut down a few years ago (i.e. R&F Coal, Marietta Coal).

[cbguy]

How does anyone get involved with working outages?  They are a big mystery to me.  I typically work in Projects.  I suppose my question is the same as the OP's - where do you even know where to start? 

If you are working projects at a nuclear plant aren’t you currently badged?

What do you normally do in projects? 

Let’s start with the second question first.  There are several shops that supply craft to the various sites for their outages.  You need to tell us what your current skill set is or what craft you would like to get into so we can suggest shops to contact.

There are places to get a list of outages that will tell you when the outages are scheduled to begin and how long they are scheduled to last.  They may have such a list on this site, if not I’ll send you the URL for the list from another site.

[cbguy]

Puzzling response hogs.   Are you saying that the projects come to an end at the sites that you work at during an outage?  I’ve never seen that at any of the sites that I’ve worked at but I’ll take your word for it.

What kind of craft do you coordinate?  Electricians, Mechanics, Valve Techs or ?.  These are crafts that are normally brought in during an outage.  So a little more information would be helpful.  If you are looking to do outage work as a coordinator you might check with DZ Atlantic.  I seem to remember that they have postings for outage supervisors.  I think that their rates were a little low, probably the mid $40’s but it’s a place to start looking.  You might want to also check with some of the other shops that supply craft to the various sites.  I would check to see which shop supplies the craft to the site that you are working at and contact them.  You have site experience which is very valuable.

I have a friend at Pt Beach who I was talking with a couple of days ago.  He told me that Bechtel or one of their many divisions was having trouble finding Field Engineers for that site.  I think that I read that the rate that they were paying was $60. - $75. @ hr and the PD was $600. - $650. but I could be wrong.  You’ll have to check with them to get the rate.

It sounded to me that Ms April wanted to stay in the mining industry and was hoping to stay in Ohio if I’m wrong then maybe she can tell us. 

[mostlyharmless]

Chattanooga state used to have a really good Rp program. Probably still does. Anyway,your perception of the industry and your role in it is about to change in a radical way. That is not to say forget about everything you have just learned, but rather you are about to learn a whole bunch of practical things that you must know to survive in this business. Playing nice and working well with others is just one. Doing the work of an rco is a good bit different than studying or watching, just like almost everything else in life. I know I state the obvious. Besides learning your craft you will have to figure out how to look for and obtain work. See cbguy posts above.This site is a good resource.
Most of what you need to know you will get from folks at the sites you will work. Each site is different , all are similar to some degree, and if you work outages you wont have a lot of time to figure it out.
I realise i have not said a lot that is not obvious. You have spent your time in school now you must spend your time learning to apply what you have learned. Work as much as you can,do as many different jobs as you can,even if it feels like you are being taken advantage of, and you will, some folks love to let you work. But find those of us who will take the time to show you a few things,there are some. If you have specific questions, ask.

[AaronBuchanan]

You now have to apply for the program. You have to pass a urine test from what I hear now, and you have to have good credentials. They're also expanding the program to involve other nuke employment positions. Chattanooga is about to explode.

Chattanooga state used to have a really good Rp program. Probably still does. Anyway,your perception of the industry and your role in it is about to change in a radical way. That is not to say forget about everything you have just learned, but rather you are about to learn a whole bunch of practical things that you must know to survive in this business. Playing nice and working well with others is just one. Doing the work of an rco is a good bit different than studying or watching, just like almost everything else in life. I know I state the obvious. Besides learning your craft you will have to figure out how to look for and obtain work. See cbguy posts above.This site is a good resource.
Most of what you need to know you will get from folks at the sites you will work. Each site is different , all are similar to some degree, and if you work outages you wont have a lot of time to figure it out.
I realise i have not said a lot that is not obvious. You have spent your time in school now you must spend your time learning to apply what you have learned. Work as much as you can,do as many different jobs as you can,even if it feels like you are being taken advantage of, and you will, some folks love to let you work. But find those of us who will take the time to show you a few things,there are some. If you have specific questions, ask.

[Smart People]

After all that being said, my question is what kind of jobs related to this field are out there for me, entry level, without further schooling, until I get my foot in the door and move up with schooling and training from there.

My first thought is industrial safety. Look at the company list in the "Jobs" tab and send out your resume. If you want to get into nuclear outages, look into decon to get your foot in the door or check out the local union shops. If you have experience with industrial hygiene, that is also a plus.

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