Get ready
Five things to handle before and alongside applying. None of them are the job search itself, and all four are the reason applications fail.
Resume and application kit
Fill in your details once and it builds three copy-paste documents: a long federal resume for USAJOBS, a one-page resume for everyone else, and an apprenticeship worksheet for the union halls. Sending a one-page resume to a federal job is the top reason people get screened out.
Documents checklist
The originals union halls ask to see in person, the sealed transcript, and the accounts that have to exist before you can apply at all. Most of it is free and takes a weekend, but Social Security cards take two weeks and transcripts take three.
Tests and interviews
Nearly every job here is decided by a test before a human meets you: the IBEW aptitude test, Ramsay mechanical, the CalCareers exams, the USAJOBS questionnaire, CritiCall, the CPAT. What each one is, how to prepare, and what a trades oral interview panel is actually scoring.
Deadlines
The water board exam postmark deadline, the apprenticeship windows that open for a single week, and the four phone calls worth making this week so none of them pass you by.
The 90-day game plan
What to do in week one, week two, and weeks three through twelve, in the order that actually works. Set up the systems that gate everything else first, then apply wide, then stack credentials while the applications work through.