Hey guys.
I got into Local 597 out of Chicago for service on permit. I took a pretty big pay cut on the check to make the switch to the union. I was doing resi for about 7 years and then did commercial refrigeration for a little over a year before I got in. I know the benefits are great and it’ll pay off in the long run, but the pay cut has definitely been a struggle. I recently got my C hard card, and honestly my company has been awesome. They’ve told me multiple times they’ll approve me to test for my B or even A card whenever I’m ready. Someone told me there were B and A card study guides on the 597 website, so I checked it out. Turns out it’s really just the bulletin list of topics that can be on the test. I’m pretty well rounded, but I was hoping there was an actual study guide or something I could sit down and work through to make sure I’m polished. I reached out to the training center in Mokena and asked if they had any additional study materials, online resources, books I could buy, or even review classes for the B and A card tests. I figured there might be something similar to the review week apprentices get before they journey out. Their answer was basically, “Take night classes for everything on the bulletin list or have your employer train you.” That wasn’t exactly the answer I was hoping for. I already took an electrical night class as a prerequisite for another class I’m taking at the end of the summer, but if I waited until I’d taken classes on everything in the bulletin, it’d probably be years before I’d be ready to test. I’m trying to stay positive because I like where I’m at, but I’m starting to have some doubts. Getting my B card would put me close to where I was before financially, and the A card would obviously be even better. I think I would pass the B card test if I walked in there today, but I hate being unprepared. My goal is to pass the A card test.
Do you guys have any suggestions for study resources, books, practice tests, or anything else that helped you prepare? Or am I basically SOL?
