Build and maintain the high-voltage power lines that keep the grid energized.
Outside linemen build and maintain the overhead power system: setting poles, framing crossarms, and stringing the transmission and distribution lines that carry electricity across Georgia. Much of the work happens up in the air, from bucket trucks or climbing hooks.
When storms knock out power, linemen are the crews who restore it, often working long hours in tough conditions. It is demanding, high-voltage work that pays accordingly and builds a tight brotherhood on the crew.
Outside line work is learned through a registered apprenticeship that pays you while you train, typically three-and-a-half to four years. You start at a line school learning to climb and work safely around high voltage, earn a CDL, and finish as a journeyman lineman. Georgia offers several ways in, including union and non-union apprenticeships and lineworker programs through the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG).
Georgia range, from entry-level (roughly the lowest 10%) to top earners (the top 10%). Pay climbs with experience, certifications, and overtime, and many move into lead, foreman, or contractor roles.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (2025), via O*NET / My Next Move
From a full apprenticeship to a few weeks online, here's every way into outside lineman in Georgia — ordered from the deepest path to the quickest.