How to Become an Electrical Lineman in Virginia

Electrical line workers install and maintain the power grid network. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that job opportunities for electrical line workers are expected to grow 4 percent nationwide through the year 2018. Electrical line workers in Virginia enter the field through apprenticeship programs developed by the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center. The Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives offers required safety training to Virginia line workers at member cooperatives.

• 1

  Apply for admission to an apprenticeship program. Three local unions of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers offer training programs in Virginia: IBEW Local 1340 in Newport News, IBEW Local 80 in Chesapeake and IBEW Local 666 in Richmond. Applicants must be 18 years old with a high-school education.

• 2

  Apply for journeyman training when you have completed the apprenticeship program and required work experience. The IBEW Local 666 offers journeyman training classes at the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center in Ashland, Virginia.

• 3

  Take continuing-education training. The IBEW Local 80 offers journeyman upgrade classes at the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center in Chesapeake, Virginia. Participate in ongoing electrical line worker safety training.