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Utility Tests

The CAST test

Construction and Skilled Trades Selection System

EEI's catalogue describes CAST as covering jobs in three general areas: transmission and distribution, facilities and equipment, and meter reader service and repair.

Take a full CAST mockFree demo: Graphic Arithmetic
Sections
4
Questions
110
Timed testing
87 min

As published in EEI's CAST test brochure.

The sections, in order

Each section has a free demo you can try now. Counts and time limits are the ones EEI's CAST brochure publishes for this battery — the same section can be timed differently in another one.

  1. 1.Graphic Arithmetic

    Standard16 questions · 30 min

    You work from drawings — a plan, an elevation, a pole or conduit layout, a simple schematic — and answer questions that need numbers taken off them. The arithmetic itself is everyday: adding, subtracting, scaling, percentages. The work is finding the right figures and not misreading a label or a scale.

    Two drawings.

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  2. 2.Mechanical Concepts

    Standard44 questions · 20 min

    Simple pictures of mechanical arrangements with a short question: which gear turns which way, which pulley takes less effort, where the pressure is highest, which load is more stable. No formulas are needed and nothing is measured; it is about understanding how everyday mechanisms behave.

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  3. 3.Reading for Comprehension

    Standard32 questions · 30 min

    You read passages of the kind of writing the job involves — procedures, safety rules, equipment descriptions, work instructions — and answer questions on each. The wrong options are usually true-sounding statements the passage does not actually support, so the discipline is answering from the text rather than from what you already know.

    Four passages.

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  4. 4.Mathematical Usage

    Standard18 questions · 7 min

    Short applied math: convert units, put numbers into a given formula, work out a rate, a percentage or an area. Individually the questions are easy. The section is built around speed, so the practice that matters is doing simple arithmetic quickly and cleanly.

    Short form.

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About the CAST test

CAST is the battery most people mean when they talk about "the lineman test". EEI's catalogue describes it as the Construction and Skilled Trades Selection System, used for transmission and distribution, facilities and equipment, and meter service and repair jobs. Its brochure sets out four timed sections: Graphic Arithmetic (16 questions in 30 minutes), Mechanical Concepts (44 in 20), Reading for Comprehension (32 in 30) and Mathematical Usage (18 in 7) — 110 questions and 87 minutes of testing.

Two of those sections are the ones candidates lose marks on for reasons that have nothing to do with ability. Mathematical Usage is a sprint at roughly 23 seconds a question, and Mechanical Concepts is not much slower. Graphic Arithmetic looks generous at nearly two minutes a question until you realise how much of that goes on finding the figures on the drawing.

The score is reported as an index from 1 to 10, and EEI's brochure says cutoff scores can be tailored to local company employment needs. That is worth repeating, because a lot of sites will tell you what score you need: no US utility publishes a cut score, so any specific number you read is somebody's guess.

How it is scored

EEI's CAST brochure describes a single index score from 1 to 10 and states that cutoff scores can be tailored to local company employment needs. There is no penalty for guessing. No utility publishes its cut score, so nobody — including us — can tell you what you need.

Worth knowing

  • Most utilities still advertise the test as CAST even though EEI's current version is CAST-R.
  • EEI's brochure describes two alternate forms of the battery.
  • CAST has historically been administered on paper as well as by computer; EEI says most of its tests have several delivery options.

Common questions

What is a passing score on the CAST test?
There isn't a published one. EEI's brochure says cutoff scores can be tailored to local company employment needs, and no US utility publishes its number. Federal appeal court findings in a case about a different EEI battery describe the same arrangement: EEI suggests cut scores, employers set their own. Treat any specific figure you see online as speculation.
How long is the CAST test?
EEI's brochure gives 87 minutes of timed testing across four sections, within a sitting of roughly two hours including instructions. Employers quote anything from two to two and a half hours with a break.
Can I use a calculator?
It depends on the employer. The only EEI statement permitting one covers Graphic Arithmetic in CAST-R. Several utilities tell candidates calculators are not allowed; at least one says a basic calculator will be provided. Assume not, unless your invitation letter says otherwise.
How soon can I retake it?
That is the employer's rule, and they vary a lot — published waits run from 15 days to six months, sometimes with a cap on attempts per year. Check the careers page of the utility you applied to.

Utility Tests is independent practice. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Edison Electric Institute or any utility, our questions are original and written from published descriptions, and nothing here is the real CAST test.