The are two components to a successful career as a heavy equipment operator – your training and your first job. Heavy equipment operator training provides you with the core skills required to gain employment. Once you have those core skills, it’s important for a number of reasons to find a good first job as a heavy equipment operator.

Obviously, building on those core skills is a vital step to a successful career. There is more to that first job than just gaining experience. That first job gives you the opportunity to develop your reputation – and reputation is what will help you gain future employment more than any other factor. If you have a reputation for being a skilled operator who is always on time, always works safely and who looks after their equipment, you’ll find yourself in demand by employers.

How do you get that first job? It can be difficult, especially if you’re new to the industry. As you develop your career, one of the things you’ll quickly discover is that it’s an ‘insider’ industry and that it’s hard for ‘outsiders’ to open doors. When looking at a heavy equipment operator training school, ask them if they can ‘open doors’ for you.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools does more than just ‘open doors’. We have a dedicated Career Services department whose only role is to help you gain suitable employment once you have completed your training. We work with you from day one helping you develop those soft skills that make finding employment so much easier. Research now shows that graduates who have been taught how to create resumes, fill in applications, and develop interview skills have a much higher success rate when it comes to looking for employment.

We also help students identify potential employers (and we have a huge database of potential employers), approach employers, and apply for job vacancies. Students (and graduates) also have access to our dedicated jobs website – a place where employers can post job vacancies. We know that our job is not to just train people to become heavy equipment operators – our job is to help people build a career as a heavy equipment operator, and that includes developing core skills and finding that first job.

There are three steps to a successful career as a heavy equipment operator:

• Finding a good heavy equipment training school
• Successfully completing your training
• Finding a good employer

You’ve found a good heavy equipment training school – we stand by our record of providing well-trained heavy equipment operators to a wide range of industries. When it comes to successfully completing your training, we try to do everything possible to help you through the training – whether or not you succeed depends on your attitude and willingness to learn. When it comes to finding a good employer of heavy equipment operators, that’s a lot easier than you may think.

In fact, we have you covered in that area as well. When you commence your training at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools, you will be introduced to a member of our Careers Services team. They will work with you to find suitable employers in the area you wish to work. They will also coach you through the various components of securing a job. This includes creating a resume, filling in job applications, cold calling, and interview strategies.

We will also give you access to an employer database that is filled with thousands of potential employers. Our dedicated job site is also available where you can check on a regular basis for any heavy equipment jobs that have been listed. Every Saturday we list the best jobs here as well.

When you put the package together, we deliver a fairly comprehensive service. Our heavy equipment operator training is second to none when it comes to quality and meeting industry standards. Our Career Services team help you find the right employers. The only ingredient missing is your dedication – if you have plenty of that, then we’re ready to help you take those first steps to a successful career as a heavy equipment operator.

Over the last five years we have seen the need for some form certification increase across a range of equipment. I know there are many operators who question the need for certification, with some even resenting the process. The problem is, it’s operators and employers who have forced this certification process on themselves.

Certification is all about safety, and it is designed to save both life and property. In most cases, accidents are caused by human error, often negligence. Minimum safety standards should, over time, help to reduce the number of accidents, more so if an operator has received training .

Construction sites are very busy with machinery constantly coming and going, and people always on the move. It becomes necessary in these situations to have everyone trained to at least the same mini. Heavy equipment operators can be a disadvantage – projects need to be completed on time to ensure future projects are not affected, yet there is little room for them to maneuver and work safely in.

By certifying operators, employers know that each has received their heavy equipment safety training that legislators expect of them. Employers also know that accidents should be on the decline, although no amount of training can prevent shear negligence. Fortunately, a certification system can remedy that as well – negligent operators may well lose their certification until they can prove they can safely operate their equipment. At present, there are heavy equipment operations that don’t need certification, however, this will not last for much longer, most other construction careers now do require that certification.

Excavators – you would be surprised at how small they can be, and equally surprised at how large they can be. Small excavators can be loaded onto a small trailer and towed by a family car. Large excavators are the biggest machinery in use – they crawl along at a top speed of 5mph, have buckets the size of a house, and can excavate several tons of earth with one scoop of that large bucket.

No matter the size, operators still start with the same basic excavator training. That means hands on training to get a real feel for the equipment, safety training (for obvious reasons), and training in areas such as soil knowledge and understanding site plans. Operators, including those that operate the monsters of mining, also need to learn basic maintenance skills, particularly those involving problem identification – it’s better to identify a problem whilst it’s small, before it becomes a major problem that disables their equipment for any lengthy period of time.

You can find excavators working in a wide range of work places. Digging trenches is just one, however, they can also be involved with demolition work, whilst much larger excavators slave away in mines. Excavator operators are amongst the highest paid heavy equipment operators, and there is always demand for operators.

If you’re looking for a career in heavy equipment, you should give the excavator plenty of consideration. If you like variety, if you like the challenge, then excavators provide those and more. You can commence a career as an excavator operator after as little as three weeks training – that training will have the basics covered, and you’ll be prepared for entry level work.

One of the busiest machines on a construction site is often the backhoe. Being so versatile, they can perform any number of jobs, and that makes them valuable to any business. The more experience a backhoe operator has on a variety of jobs, the more valued that operator becomes.

Backhoes are unique in the heavy equipment field. They can perform a lot of the work that an excavator does, and they can perform a lot of the work that a loader does. With the right attachments, a backhoe can even perform light bulldozing work. To add to their value, backhoes can be quite nimble, working in smaller areas than their larger counterparts.

To work as a backhoe operator, you need the skills that encompass both an excavator and a loader. When looking at training options, the ideal training program will give a student access to all three pieces of equipment along with some time on alternates like a bulldozer and grader. This gives the operator a broad exposure to heavy equipment whilst allowing them to concentrate on the skills requires to operate a backhoe.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools deliver training across a range of machinery including:

Backhoes
Wheel Loaders
Scrapers
Excavators
Bulldozers
Road Graders

If you’re interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator, then contact us for more information on available training programs. You’ll find more information on our training programs including how to apply on our main website. Training programs start on a regular basis with students graduation ready for employment in as little as three weeks. Our career services department is there to help graduates find their first job in the heavy equipment industry – that’s everything a person requires to launch themselves into a new career in this industry. If the backhoe isn’t quite what you’re looking for, then you can try your hand at bulldozers, graders or anyone of a dozen other pieces of heavy equipment.

Are there jobs in the trucking and construction industry? There certainly are. We are constantly receiving job vacancies from employers (you can view them all on our job site), and often the vacancies are for multiple positions. It’s important to read each job vacancy and to keep a positive attitude. We often hear the comment like, “Sure there’s a job available right where I want to work, however, I am new to the industry so they won’t select me.” That’s the wrong attitude. They may well select you if you are suited to their needs, and if they are recruiting for several vacancies, then you’ll have an even better chance of success. It’s like the old lottery issue – you won’t have a chance of winning if you don’t buy a ticket – in this case, you certainly won’t get the job if you don’t submit an application. The jobs that have recently come into our offices include:

Truck Driver Job Vacancies

Detroit, MI

Eagan, MN

Fort Worth, TX

Kill Devil Hills, NC

Nashville, TN

San Antonio, TX

Crane Operator Job Vacancies

Anchorage, AK

Hamilton, TX

New Mexico

San Jose, CA

San Marcos, TX

Tulsa, OK

Heavy Equipment Operator Job Vacancies

Fargo, ND

If you’re interested in a career as a crane operator, truck driver, or heavy equipment operator, then talk to us to find out how easy it is to get a start in these careers. It can take as little as three weeks of heavy equipment operator training to be ready to operate heavy equipment in the workplace – that’s a small investment in time for a lifelong rewarding career.

You can spend weeks, months, or even years training in a particular field. That doesn’t mean you’ll ever find employment in that field. It doesn’t matter the type of career – employment relies on a lot more than just training or skills. So what does it take to find a job in the heavy equipment field?

If we assume that skills are not the issue, then finding employment comes down to two things: knowing where the jobs are and knowing how to best apply for those jobs. You cannot isolate those issues either. You may know where the jobs are, however, if you don’t know how to best approach potential employers, you’ll most likely not make the interview stage. It goes without saying that it’s pointless knowing how apply for a job vacancy if you don’t know where those vacancies are.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training Schools have solved those problems by including a free lifetime access to a career services department with your training. When you start one of our training programs (and that includes crane operations and truck driver training), one of our career services personnel will work with you to help develop your career. This assistance includes soft skills training in areas such as resume creation and interview techniques. Our career services personnel will also work with you to identify potential employers related to the location and type of work you want to undertake.

Graduates also have access to our employer database and a dedicated jobs website. Employers frequently list jobs on this website (and we publish many of these jobs on this blog every Saturday) and review resumes left by graduates. How do you successfully start a heavy equipment operator career? You get the right training, then you make the most use of any career assistance offered by your training school. If your training school doesn’t offer career services, then you may find it difficult to gain that all important first job in the industry.

Truck driving technology has changed a lot over the years. At one point, the only technology wanted by truck drivers was their CB radio. That one piece of technology allowed truck drivers to communicate with one another whilst on the road. Drivers were warned of road hazards, bad weather, even highway police (or smokies as that famous trucking song goes). Today, new trucks have gone way beyond the CB radio; instead, they have fully fledged computers, similar to your iPad or tablet PC.

This new technology includes everything from GPS and the mapping and road direction advice that we install in our cars to full internet connections including Skype for voice calls. Trucks are now often connected directly to their home base through computers with traffic managers able to communicate directly with drivers. Managers can advise truck drivers on alternate routes when problems are encountered, or alternate delivery destinations if necessary.

What we are now seeing in the latest heavy equipment models is similar technology. Grader operators can use onboard computers to accurately set their blades at the right height and angle based on the engineering plans and the current conditions. These computers use a combination of GPS and laser technology to gather the data required to perform very accurate grading.

Graders are not the only equipment to use technology. You will find excavators, bulldozers and backhoes taking advantage of this new technology. It won’t be long and operators will be using tablet PC-like devices to do a lot of their work. It’s interesting to note that those who have played a lot of computer games using joysticks are able to make the transition to heavy equipment operations with ease. That’s where technology in the home is helping to train individuals for the workplace – if only most people realized that fact.

Trucks are setting the way when it comes to using modern technology, however, heavy equipment technology is quickly catching up. Truck driving, heavy equipment operations and crane operations are getting easier every year. At the same time, operators and drivers are being paid more each year, sometimes due to the new skills required to operate that technology. If you’re considering a career as a heavy equipment operator, the future is exciting, especially when it comes to heavy equipment technology.

When it comes to heavy equipment careers, the number one preference still seems to be bulldozers. The problem with taking a stance on bulldozers is that it limits your career options. Heavy equipment operators are in high demand, however, employers are not just looking for bulldozer operators. In many cases, they are looking for multi-skilled operators – that is, heavy equipment operators who can operate a range of machinery.

A recent look at job vacancies in the heavy equipment field will demonstrate this. Two recent job vacancies advertised for:

operators that have experience with the following equipment:- Tracked Excavator- Finish Dozer Operator- Motor Grader- Rubber Tire Loader,

and

Operate motor graders, scrapers, front-end loaders, dump trucks and other construction equipment of comparable size and complexity

The second job vacancy was particularly interesting since it also included operators who can drive dump trucks. Employers also often prefer heavy equipment operators who have a CDL and experience moving heavy equipment from site to site. The message here is simple – don’t rely on one piece of heavy equipment, diversify and gain experience on as many different machines as possible.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools, we provide training programs that cover a range of heavy equipment (and CDL/dump truck driver training). By undergoing training across a range of heavy equipment, you will be setting yourself up for a much broader heavy equipment operator career.

Yes, bulldozers are still one of the most commonly used pieces of heavy equipment. And yes, there is always a strong demand for competent operators. However, our recommendation is more practical. Give yourself a range of skills and you’ll always be employable.

Often looked down upon when it comes to heavy equipment, skid steer loaders have their place in society, and there is always demand for more operators. Rather than concentrating on just skid steer loaders, new operators should be looking at a broad range of heavy equipment. Skid steer loaders, whilst quite small, can be quite challenging to operate. They rely very much on an operator’s coordination between hands and feet, and their ability to move all four limbs very quickly.

Skid steer loaders have found a home in areas such as landscape gardening, and in cleaning up construction sites once work has been complete. They are also frequently used to clean up demolition sites once the major work has been completed. If there were no skid steer loaders, this work would have to be done by hand, and this can be labor intensive. A skid steer loader can do the work of a dozen manual workers, especially in skilled hands.

Ideally, a skid steer loader operator will also have experience in larger loaders, and perhaps backhoes and bulldozers as well. The ideal training program is one which covers these and other heavy equipment whilst also covering the required safety aspects of heavy equipment operations.

Over the years, skid steer loaders have proven to be the ideal equipment for those who wish to become owner operators. The equipment is easily transported on a trailer pulled by a car. Skid steers can get into small areas that larger equipment would find impossible to manage.

If you’re looking for a career in some of the smaller units of heavy equipment, then a career as a skid steer operator is well worth considering. We include skid steer loaders as part of our heavy equipment training program as good operators are always in demand since they perform the finishing touches to many construction projects.