It's not easy to find a crane operator sometimes. That's one place where you want some experience. That was the top paying operator job on the Alaska Pipeline. Somebody might lie about his truck driving experience and get by, but crane operators don't get to slip by. If you're lucky somebody won't get killed the first hour.
135 - "crane operators don't get to slip by. If you're lucky somebody won't get killed the first hour."
That depends on who is doing the hiring, whether they slip by or not, but the poor ones are soon found out, even certified operators, as crane operating is more of an 'art' and requires generally a very sharp, and agile able to mentally calculate, angles, variables, angles, winds, support, all at the same time.
That is why I mentioned sailboat sailor. I found that the best natural crane operators, even without training, were good sailboat sailors.
But extrememly dangerous, extremely fast. One minor error and catastrophe and death. Crane operators don't 'fall asleep' while 'driving (from boredom), like truck drivers.
Here is a true, amusing, strange story. Once, on a job in Saudi, I noticed, after work, one of my British crane operators out in the yard, driving around a small, rough terrain, mobile crane - A 25k Gallion. He was having a ball, just backing up, turning, doing all kinds of strange movements. As it was really boring, and many did strange things for entertainment, and he wasn't bothering anybody, I didn't interrupt. But when he came back in, and I got an opportunity, I asked him what he was doing, and he said 'practicing' - and I said - "You are a good crane operator, why do you need to 'practice', and he responded - "Oh, yeah, the 'crane' part, no problem. It's the driving. I can't drive, have no lisence, so I am practicing driving, so I can get a lisence when I go back to the UK."
True story.