Operators....how long did it take to qualify

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On your first unit? What kind of unit were you running? What is a reasonable time to learn something like utilities?

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I illegally practiced around the neighborhood in my siblings' cars and my parents' cars for about a year before I sat for the written test at age 14 1/2. Mom* had a '70 Sedan deVille, dad had some kind of GM shitbox (Regal or something), sibs had a '73 Impala and a '74 Maverick. I took Driver's Ed and got my unrestricted license following passing that class and the practical at the end of the class.

I would think a year is reasonable to learn to operate a motor vehicle, I'm not familiar with it being called "utilities" but whatever.

*No pics, think Heddy Lamarr in the mid '40s.

I got on with a small refinery and qualified in the FCC (Fluidized Catalytic Cracking) unit in 6 months I think. I was in the process of qualifying on my second unit when I decided I couldn't take the shift work anymore. Plus the people on my shift were miserable old farts and I was afraid the plant was going to blow up at any moment. I quit and went back to school. Not sure if all plants are like that one but you could qualify in as little as 6 months but you had a deadline to qualify. Can't remember if it was a year or 18 months.

My refinery requires a minimum of 6 months in a unit before you can take it alone. You have a full year to meet those requirements.
We try to start new operators in larger or more complex units because your maximum time to qualify in each unit becomes less and less as you get your promotions and pay raises.
Some units are harder than others.
If your learning utilities and you have to learn all phases of the process it can take the full 6 months.
If you have cooling towers, boilers, Co-gens, air compressors, De-alks, softeners, etc. You should expect it to take a bit.
Remember that the utilities are the heart of the refinery and you have to know what to do in a outage without hesitation. For this reason we normally don't start new operators in our utility section.
Good luck

2years associate plant tech
2years plant tech
Sr plant tech after 4 years
After retirements Lead equipment operator in year 14. (similar to a shift supervisor)

This is in a steam turbine power plant.

Under appreciated post

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Don't worry, You will be OT baller status before you know it. Start looking for money counting machines soon.

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This.

Oh, but you'll have to deal with working every fricking weekend, putting in a zillion hours of overtime, never being able to do shite, and Jody. Don't forget about Jody.

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Don't forget about Jody.

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Hell, most of us would like to shake Jody's hand.

You should qualify before you reach 6 months. But it may take less time, depending on the unit. Why are you worried about the time limit?

It depends on the plant, but like most have said 3-6 months on the first job. Especially if it is your first operations job, it may take a little longer learning all of the policies and procedures. Just don't rush it. Actually knowing the unit will be better than qualifying a few weeks sooner and being unsure of yourself when the console operator calls you to do something. I have only been in distillation units, so I can't really say about utilities. Seems like it would be easy enough though.

I believe I'm progressing nicely, it's fairly easy at this point. They've given me 3 months. Eyes and ears always open.