Entrance exam local 322 NJ

[fogshat]

Hi anyone ever take the entrance exam for local 322 (322, 274, 475, recently merged with Local 9 IBPP in NJ, I think?) air conditioning & refrigeration? I am told it is at best complex fractions and geometrics, but i'd like to hear it from another party., but they really lay you out during the ensuing interview (up to 7 person panel vs. you)-if you get that far.

I'm just looking for a heads up from anyone that is privy to such information. I believe in being prepared, so i am looking at every angle. Thanks in advance for any informed reply.

[numbawunfela]

I have never heard of an entrance exam for a union. I have heard of a Jouneyman test, and the UA star exam.
Is this entrance test different than those? Is it a test that other locals use?

I am also in Jersey, but a little farther North.

Wannafreeze is a referman in Northern Jersey - he may know a little something.

[wundumguy]

Entrance exams have been used on and off by various UA locals. Whether they are administered in any particular local probably depends mostly on the preference of the local's current voting membership. For the most part, the apprenticeship committee just wants to be assured that the applicant has a pulse.

http://www.ualocal469.org/training-c...ance-exam.aspx

[numbawunfela]

In NYC (local 638 steamfitters) the process af checking for a pulse is left to the employers. THe only way to get into the union is to be hired by a union company who then must submit your name for union membershipp after 90 days (that is, unless he finds you have no pulse and he fires you).

How does it work with an entrants exam? - You become a member of the union first by taking the test and then the employer comes to the union hall looking for a helper?

[wundumguy]

It used to be (and it still may be), that one could obtain membership in local 170 by completing the pre-apprentice program. Applicants were selected based on the strength of their application: high school grades, interview, character references, that kind of stuff. During a conversation with a retired member of the apprenticeship committee, I was told that this program used to also have an entrance exam.

Those who successfully completed the program, were inducted into 170 and went on the job board as year 1 apprentices. As far as I understand (and I may be wrong), 170 contractors must first attempt to fill positions from the existing membership. Only when a position cannot be filled, can the contractor look for potential members off the street. So, apprentices coming out of the pre-apprentice program got first crack at the apprentice jobs.

[numbawunfela]

Thanks dumguy!

I like you screenname.

[Korndogg]

Yeah I had to take a test which is all just math and english and like mechanical drawings and shapes you have to figure out. Then I sat on the list waiting for a contractor to pick me up.

[Doesn'tPhaseMe]

Was told by coworkers that went through it that its a basic apitude test. Pass that then comes a drug test. They will weed out about half the applicants due to failing the tests or just dropping out of the program. Get through all that then you hopefully get a job. There are 25-30 techs for 322 including myself out now. I know guys that have been out for 6 months to year now. The NJ UA locals share the same training facility in Nutley, they don't have HVAC training in Winslow. Good luck.

[secorp]

Wow one year the economy really bites......

[fogshat]

Was told by coworkers that went through it that its a basic apitude test. Pass that then comes a drug test. They will weed out about half the applicants due to failing the tests or just dropping out of the program. Get through all that then you hopefully get a job. There are 25-30 techs for 322 including myself out now. I know guys that have been out for 6 months to year now. The NJ UA locals share the same training facility in Nutley, they don't have HVAC training in Winslow. Good luck.

Thanks.

While it started out basic, it did get harder.

I just took it today, it was 2 parts, timed, reading comprehension & applied mathematics, but with time constraints...-you had to have the ability to quickly identify how to solve (calculate) each problems' answer, and do it quickly; probably 1/2 the room ran out of time before they were finished, based on my 'casual' glances around once i was done. Pretty much if you could not fairly quickly identify the correct way to solve, then do it, you wouldn't finish in time.

For the record, they explained, it is merely an aptitude test, following their acceptance of your initial application into their apprentice program, and prior to their paneled interview. They said a combination of your test score and unknown criteria known only to them determines your eligibility to be taken at 1st year apprentice level, with an additional "skills" exam to be selected and placed into a higher level.

[softtail]

The "unknown criteria known only to them" for your score at the interview concerns the heavy politics of who you know, not how well you actually do at the interview.

You could "ace" the written test, but if the paneled interviewers don't have room for you after they give their sons, brothers, and retarded relatives the highest interview scores to offset their low test scores, you may not have a chance.

Hopefully, the interviewers use some common sense and not the "good old boys network" which they typically use to select apprentices.

The union trades are in the fight of their lives for survival, and the dumb a$$ relatives are making it easy for the other side.