Operating Engineers Local 701 Apprenticeship Programs and Journeyman Upgrade
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How To Apply

The Apprenticeship program is closed for applications effective 8/29/08 until further notice.

Please note: the apprenticeship programs cover the entire state of Oregon and SW Washington. If you are a successful applicant, you must be prepared to travel to these locations for work opportunities.

See a map of the Local 701 jurisdiction (1.5MB, PDF).

See these links for further information:

Operating Engineer, Heavy Duty Repairer and Tech Engineer
Selection Methods
Application Scoring System
Calendar
Additional program, application and apprenticeship information
Apprenticeship Registration Agreement (DOC, 100kb)

SELECTION METHODS/PROCEDURE

A. SELECTION PROCEDURES:
The committee shall select apprentices from a pool of eligible applicants according to the following procedure: (ORS 660.137 (3) / OEEOA section 6)

1. All out of work apprentices in good standing will be offered the opportunity for re-employment prior to new applicants being registered in conformance with the committee's approved initial employment policy.

2. Selection shall be on the basis of qualifications and an oral interview. This means that apprentices are chosen in an open and competitive process from those applicants meeting the minimum qualifications for the trade solely on the basis of their qualifications compared to those of other applicants.

a. Examples of objective standards by which comparative qualifications may be determined are: school diplomas/transcripts or their equivalents such as a GED; occupation specific essential physical requirements; previous work experience.

b. To permit review, adequate records of the selection process will be kept and made available to the Council upon request.

Included will be a summary sheet for each interview noting the score received on each of the specific factors covered in the interview. Such records will be retained for at least five years.

3. Dissemination of Information:

a. Thirty days prior to the beginning of each quarter the sponsor shall establish the number of applicants that will be accepted based upon an evaluation of the labor market needs.

b. An application shall be made available to anyone who is interested regardless of any other consideration.

c. All applications shall be made available at a central point(s) as identified in the public notice.

d. Whenever an application is provided to an individual, an electronic or paper record shall be made detailing to whom the application was provided, the manner by which it was provided (US mail, in person, via fax or other electronic means). Such record shall also track the history of the application noting the date the application was provided to the individual, date it was returned to the program sponsor, and final disposition of the application.

e. Everyone expressing an interest in being considered for the program shall first be required to complete an application. It must be signed, dated and delivered to the designated central point(s).

f. Each applicant shall be provided a copy of the standards to read and an information sheet explaining the basic requirements for entrance into the program including documentation which must be submitted in support of the application.

g. The program sponsor shall record when the application was provided, the date returned to the central point (s), date documentation requirements were met (if different) and whether the individual has met the minimum qualifications

h. The committee will review all applications and schedule interviews for all individuals that meet the minimum qualifications as established in this standard.

i. Individuals that do not provide documentation of meeting the minimum qualifications will be notified that their application has been rejected, including what qualifications were not documented and their appeal rights.

j. The committee will invite the number of applicants established in the opening announcement to the orientation (four week training session).

k. Applicants not qualifying for or failing to attend and satisfactorily completing the orientation will be notified that their application has been rejected.

l. Each rejected applicant will be given an opportunity to participate in a discussion with committee staff to explore methods to improve the applicant's score on future applications.

m. During the interview the committee will consider documentation provided by the applicant with their completed application.

n. The documentation may include:

    1. School transcripts.
    2. Post secondary education.
    3. Vocational Training.
    4. Certificates of completion of any additional training.
    5. Letters of recommendation from previous employers.
The above documentation will be evaluated based on the attached scoring sheet. This score will then be added to the score total created from the oral interview, creating a net score, from which the applicant pool will then be ranked.

4. Experienced applicants

Employees of an active training agent who can document one thousand OJT hours of valid work experience with that training agent creditable to the term of the apprenticeship may apply to the committee at any time and have their application evaluated by the committee. Upon meeting the minimum requirements, the applicant with the required relevant work experience will be interviewed and placed at the appropriate place on the ranked pool of eligibles.
The applicant's employer may request that upon the applicant reaching the top of the ranked pool of eligibles that the applicant be dispatched to them provided the employer has not utilized this process in the preceding 12 months.

5. List of Eligible Applicants:

a. Applicants who have been placed in a pool of eligibles shall be retained on lists of eligibles subject to selection for a period of two years. After the program sponsor has exhausted their list of eligibles, or at any time they wish to re-open the list, they may start a new selection process. If a new list is established, prior to the termination of two years, eligibles on the old list shall be placed on the new list according to their scores without the necessity of reapplying. They shall be retained on this new list for the remainder of their two-year eligibility.

b. Applicants may be removed from the list before the expiration of two years by their request or following their failure to respond to an apprentice job opportunity. Such notice of a failure to respond and subsequent removal from the list shall be given the applicant by certified mail. Applicants shall be afforded a reasonable period of time to respond to an apprentice job consistent with the customs and practices of the industry. All individuals on the pool of eligibles shall be treated equally in determining such period of time. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to keep the sponsor informed of his/her current mailing address. The program sponsor in conformance with its "initial employment policy" may restore to the list of eligibles those applicants who have petitioned and received a favorable review of their case.

6. EXCEPTIONS:

    1. EXPERIENCED APPRENTICES

    Experienced apprentices who completed their probationary period in this registered program or a similar registered program in another jurisdiction during the previous five years shall be permitted to return to the program, as far as practical, and pick up their training where they left off instead of re-entering as beginning apprentices providing they were not terminated for cause by being placed at the bottom of the out of work list.

    2. NEW TRAINING AGENT

    If an employer has not participated in the training of an apprentice under ORS 660 for at least two years (24 calendar months) prior to seeking entry or re-entry in to the apprenticeship program, the employer may select as his/her initial apprentices, without going to the pool of eligibles, those bona fide employees who have been on their payroll for at least three months (ninety days-700 hours-) prior to the employer's request for an apprentice and who meet the minimum qualification for entry into the trade or craft. Once the initial selection of apprentices has been made, the employer is thereafter restricted to obtaining apprentices from either the program sponsor's out of work apprentices, or when not available, from the pool of eligibles.