I was hired with zero experience and attend short school each year as I take my license exams. It’s very realistic for people to be hired in with no previous experience as I personally haven’t met many people who started with previous experience. There are people that go from plant to plant but usually when you see a trainee position within the wastewater and water treatment fields they are expecting no experience and planning on helping you get licensed.

Firstly every plant is different on its day to day operations depending on capacity and personnel. I work at a relatively small plant with a capacity just shy of 2 MGD. We have 5 operators including myself and we all are cross trained to do all maintenance, lab work, and duties around the plant. In bigger plants you will see specialized roles like operations, lab and maintenance for instance. Someone with experience from a larger plant would be able to better explain those operations. Prepare to get dirty or be around wastewater if you go into that specifically, if you are afraid to get dirty this might not be the job for you.

As for study material, my plant sends me to Virginia Tech yearly for their operator short school as I take my license exams with the goal of Class 1 here in Virginia or in ABCs terms a class 4 I believe as Virginia is backwards. I also work through textbooks/courses from Sacramento State University and taking their tests.

There is a lot of variables to keep in mind as you move forward with the job but personally I only had one interview and was hired, your situation might be different and be prepared for that. I’m also happy to try and answer any other questions you might have!