JWB
01-27-2010, 06:05 AM
A year ago my boss that gave me a chance in this trade couldn't really stay open. I'm a rookie. Went to work for him (2yrs total there), read a lot (here and company sites), asked a lot of questions, used the phone a lot, bought a lot of tools and worked hard. Then he kinda folded up.
Got hired as a service tech, I have doubled my pay by going into a piece work/performance pay situation. Done very well, cust love me, my employers love me, I have sold a lot of equipment in a year (all resi) and at 3 years experiance I am making good money. About twice what hourly guys in this area make......
But I wonder. Is all this resi work going to mean anything as I become a more qualified and seasoned tech. Right now I have a company that will hire me tomorrow based on my work in the town I live, but their top guys are making a lot less at 20+ yrs experiance and long term employment. This is a owner operator been going strong for 50+ yrs in my town. Refrigeration, generators, residential and commercial. So much room to learn new things. (ps-my old owner sold to him, and works there, wants me back)
I presently am employed by a huge company with many shops nationwide. I really like it. The problem is, at 43 I see that i am segmenting myself only working residential and working that quick piece work service, lots of advertising live for today kind of mentality. Money is great, my wife loves it, I work a ton of hours and am rewarded. As a rookie I feel very fortunate to be making near union $ and know that there are a lot of guys out there that would love to have my problems. I am not ungrateful, just trying to figure out the future LOL!!!
Got hired as a service tech, I have doubled my pay by going into a piece work/performance pay situation. Done very well, cust love me, my employers love me, I have sold a lot of equipment in a year (all resi) and at 3 years experiance I am making good money. About twice what hourly guys in this area make......
But I wonder. Is all this resi work going to mean anything as I become a more qualified and seasoned tech. Right now I have a company that will hire me tomorrow based on my work in the town I live, but their top guys are making a lot less at 20+ yrs experiance and long term employment. This is a owner operator been going strong for 50+ yrs in my town. Refrigeration, generators, residential and commercial. So much room to learn new things. (ps-my old owner sold to him, and works there, wants me back)
I presently am employed by a huge company with many shops nationwide. I really like it. The problem is, at 43 I see that i am segmenting myself only working residential and working that quick piece work service, lots of advertising live for today kind of mentality. Money is great, my wife loves it, I work a ton of hours and am rewarded. As a rookie I feel very fortunate to be making near union $ and know that there are a lot of guys out there that would love to have my problems. I am not ungrateful, just trying to figure out the future LOL!!!