If you could do it all over

[dave r]

I know some of you here like being in the HVAC business, but if you had the chance to do something else, would you do it? I know there are doctors out there that would change their career if they could, so I'm not trying to say I have had a bad experience being in the HVAC field. Nevertheless, what would you do in my situation. I hold a AA degree, and I am thinking about going back to school to get my bachelors. I'm not yet 30, so it is a good time for me to make another career choice. I was thinking about getting a degree in mechanical engineering or even finance. My original goal was to start my own heating and air business, but I have seen a lot of owners struggle to make it in this business. Moreover, almost every old timer I have talked to tells me to strive for something better.

[kim]

If I could do it over again, I would do the same thing again. I might do it a little faster is all.

An engineer with practical problem solving skills is better than the average engineer.

[midhvac]

As much as I hate them, I'd probably be a mechanical engineer. The way entire industries are being plowed under, I might have a better long term chance of finding work in a different industry. The future of hvac businesses seems very shaky at this time. I'd be very nervous about entering it now. It's like we're sitting around wondering which direction the death blow is going to come from.

Pick your poison:

Government regulations
Utility company takeovers
Skyrocketing insurance costs
Home Improvement Co. hvac competition
direct marketing competition
Lawsuits

All of these things have crept up on us in the last few years and the combined effects are buckling our knees at this end of the industry. Meanwhile hvac equipment manufacturers and hacks are doing just fine.

[muskie770]

Next time around, I'm staying with electronics. Worked microwave and satellite radio while in USAF. One thing I can say about HVAC, it has made my pops and I best friends. Now, that is truely priceless.

[cde72]

I would have gone to vo-tech in high school for hvac instead of waiting and paying when i was 20....

[infwsdm]

Originally posted by dave r

I know some of you here like being in the HVAC business, but if you had the chance to do something else, would you do it?

Hell, I've been looking for the 'make a ton of money and do no work' kind of business for years.

If you hear of one let me know

;)

[Edited by infwsdm on 09-13-2004 at 07:21 PM]

[seaboard]

Originally posted by dave r

Moreover, almost every old timer I have talked to tells me to strive for something better.

This is a major reason why we are having trouble getting young people to enter and stick with the trade. Many older techs are negative about their lot in life and discouraging others. These same guys probably have a nice house, boat in the driveway, and Harley in the garage but want to ***** about the trade to whoever will listen! This trade as with anything will reward you if you invest the time and energy. There are many one man shops that are scraping by but many are content with that and want to be their own boss. Many larger companies however started with one man in a van. I actually know more mechanical engineers who are working as techs, project managers, sales, distributor reps, and such than techs that went back to school to get a degree and actually use it as an engineer with a design firm. So if your end goal is working for a supplier, in sales of design/build work, EMS sales or something similar, go ahead. Your experience as a tech will be invaluable. If you want to sit in a room all day using Autocad dreaming up stupid places to put the air handler and drawing out 150 foot lineset runs that are only 24" on the plan, well some people are always drawn to the dark side of the force.

[nine servicetech]

been a service tech for 25 years-love it-hate it.Been an engineer for 6 years and could never find a paying job.So unless your area is in bad need of engineers,stick with the paying job.

[maxair]

The owner son at our company is a electrical engineer
and what he does redefines dull? We do alot of work at
a local air force base that does wind tunnel testing and
space shuttle work.The mech engineers there dress like
Donald Trump fuss about student Loans and house payments
while driving Kia Sorentos.I think theres a lot of
engineers out there.

[Green Mountain]

I think you got to be willing to go to new places and start new things.

If all I could do is refrigeration in independent grocery stores than I would have been out of business a long time ago. Here in this town a new microtech company is moving in. This company will be giving out a lot of good work. They asked me to design a class 10000 clean room.

Okay so I will design a clean room. How do you design a clean room? When I get done I will know. I may not make a ton of money on the first one but I am sure there will be more clean rooms to come.

I never have or will I compete with hacks.

[Senior Tech]

When I grow up I wanna be the proud owner of a mustang ranch...

[condenseddave]

I don't want to grow up.

If I did, though, I would prefer to a cowboy.

[MadeinUSA]

If you are constantly bettering yourself, who cares about the past?

[Edited by madeinusa on 09-14-2004 at 11:35 PM]

[The Penguin]

Ive always wanted to be a solicitor (Lawyer)

yes thats right a bottom feeder

[midhvac]

Originally posted by The Penguin
Ive always wanted to be a solicitor (Lawyer)


If they were called that here, I'd be putting up "NO SOLICITORS" signs all over the courthouse :D

[air1]

I've been doing this for a while and it has had its rewards. A sense of accomplishment when you have tangible results from your efforts. The satisfaction of solving a problem most other people couldn't.

I sit at a desk now and will be returning to school for vocational rehab because of a back injury (lifting a condensing unit). But when I work with the guys that work on the project that I manage (clean-room), I become reminiscent and realize that I miss the work I did. Even though I complained allot I did enjoy what I did. But I would do somethings different.

Going to school would be a good choice. With your practical knowledge and transferable skills you should do well with a BS in engineering.

[Dowadudda]

For me personally, it's not neccesarily what I would do over. It's a matter of what I will do next. This trade has given me the chance to learn, earn a good living as well as, opening my eyes and mind to other things in life. I went through some tough hard knocks ways as I came into the trade. So I feel now, working my way up that technician ladder, then going on to running a business and still making a living atleast that it seems I am much more interested in things like sales, numbers ect. I am smarter now in life and in business beyond the day to day of BTU chasing and contracting. And would like to challenge myself into a new arena. The beuty of it is, I could more than likely do that on my own terms due to me gaining financially and by developing a no fear personality.

Life is so full of opportunity, but many guys don't see that. And I'll be flat out honest. When I was just another tech in a little old van running my calls every day, it gets boring. It really does. It's also a kind of a "being used and abused business". Your golden when the busy times come, and your a cost when the slow times arrive. Then you go totally opposite and have to really show up when your the one that has to pay the bills. You reach down and grab your set and just do it. It's during this transformation, that you realise, life don't end or begin with the next service call.

At this point, it's simply about what I might want to do next. Could be the next project I bid out is the "one" or I could be selling drugs to old ladies as a pharmecutical guy. For me. It's about tommorow.

[tinman]

I've made a few blunders over the years but if I could do it all over again. I would of taken formal education seriously. I have skills but really how valuable is knowing how to temper a knife blade or poach doing me know.

[tim koel]

Originally posted by midhvac
As much as I hate them, I'd probably be a mechanical engineer. The way entire industries are being plowed under, I might have a better long term chance of finding work in a different industry. The future of hvac businesses seems very shaky at this time. I'd be very nervous about entering it now. It's like we're sitting around wondering which direction the death blow is going to come from.

Pick your poison:

Government regulations
Utility company takeovers
Skyrocketing insurance costs
Home Improvement Co. hvac competition
direct marketing competition
Lawsuits

All of these things have crept up on us in the last few years and the combined effects are buckling our knees at this end of the industry. Meanwhile hvac equipment manufacturers and hacks are doing just fine.

Man you have focused the camera!
How about cheap labor. And yes the lawyers are indeed vultures!!!!! They have destroyed american life. Who wants to own a business now?

[tim koel]

Originally posted by madeinusa

Originally posted by condenseddave
I don't want to grow up.

If I did, though, I would prefer to be a girlie man. There, is this staying on topic better?

You maid me do it....:P

[Edited by madeinusa on 09-14-2004 at 12:38 AM]
"YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN AND WILL CONTROL YOUR OWN DESTINY IN LIFE" -
The above quote in its essence is pure balony-
{hope that's spelled right}. Anyone who truley thinks about being able to control thier own destiny would realize that they may not wake up the next morning!! What CRAP!!!!

[uncle buck]

I would Have gone to a local college and gotten the associates degree in applied scieces in HVAC-R. I have done well in hvac-r but it would have been nice to have gotten the Degree also.

[prestiege]

i acually cant say, i kinda got thrown into hvac and enjoyed it, i started out laboring for a guy who did hvac and building /renovation, you cant teach an old dog new tricks so he started teaching me hvac, i enjoed it, the only thing that might of help that i would of liked to change was going to a technical high school vs academic, academic didnt have machine or auto or wood shops, if my parents would of told me that i would never went to an academic HS, BTW the counselors in my gramer school never told us that either

[Green Mountain]

Originally posted by uncle buck
I would Have gone to a local college and gotten the associates degree in applied scieces in HVAC-R. I have done well in hvac-r but it would have been nice to have gotten the Degree also.

Uncle Buck I went back to college and got my associates degree when I was in my late 50's. This was after I helped put my kids through college.

The first course they encourage you to take is "Life Experience Accessment". This program teaches you how to take the experiences you have learned throughout your life and convert that knowledge into college credit. You need 60 college credits to get an associates degree. Through this life experience course I managed to gain 33 credits. Plus you get 3 credits for taking the course.

Then this course showed me that I had earned 9 additional credits that I didn't realize that I had earned. I took a Dale Carneige Sales Course once that was college accredited. So they went back in my records and sure enough those 3 credits counted towards my degree. Plus I got 3 credits for an advanced Scuba Diving Course I took. And another 3 for a drafting course I took long ago.

Then the next step is to take courses to furnish the credits that you still need. That part is fun because you are going to school with adults who are also trying to better thier life. It isn't like when you were in high school. When you go to school after working all day it becomes a fun night out. You can't wait to get to school and chat with your new friends.

[uncle buck]

Thankyou for that info Bencool,there is only one college in the long Island area offerring the hvac-r associates degree,enrollment is so low they may be dropping the program after the 13 current students graduate.

[Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]

I think I would've gone for pharmacology or something along those lines.
Sometimes I wish I had a 8-5 job where I could forget about work until I was punching in the next morning.

[billva]

i want to own the chicken ranch in vegas! nice perks.

[no8no3]

All this cheerleading is kinda sad. for all you guy's that are still optimistic, just wait. For all those that are not, dont wait.

There is nobody here that has done this work for any length of time without noticing the fact that our customer is working"in" the A/C, While we work "on" the A/C. They drive the lexus, we drive the F150.

Believe me when i say, that if i could have found anything else to do with my limited education, that would pay as good, i would have.

I have seen how the rich man lives....I have seen how the educated man lives.... This is not rocket science guy's, and anybody who really feels good about doing this work is just kidding themselves.

[rookie79]

i met people that said they want to leave the field if you have a chance to leave with your e.d. then do it you always have the h.v.a.c to fall back on. myself i was in the bodyshop bizs, i like hvac much more!good luck your still young bro

[sonc]

"kidding themselves"?

I'm a mechanic, I drive a Lexus, I make 100 grand a year. I look forward to going to work {necessary evil}

I've lived in motels before I lucked into this trade.

I guess it depends which end of town you grew up in, eh?

[noaccme]

im thinking about going into gyneocology

[ozone drone]

I guess I'm one of the old guys (55) 32 1/2 years in the trade. Everything gets old, there's been days I wished I had done something else. But on the whole I think I could have done alot worse than I have. It's the old glass half empty/half full analogy.

There's lots of degreed cubicle dwellers who hate shuffling meaningless paper in circles and at the end of the day can't see any tangible results of what the do. Lots of other industries are seeing their jobs going overseas. There's very little job security these days. Downsizing, outsourcing, and new technologies making old skills obsolete like the printing industry. The grass may look greener "out there" but you may not appreciate what you have. Look at all the posts from people thinking about switching careers into HVAC.

I liked being out and about, not having a boss over my shoulder, making my own decisions, not looking at the same 4 walls everyday, keeping up with new technology. I'm not rich, but this trade has kept my family housed,clothed and fed. Now I have one building to worry about and a good slide on into retirement job with great benefits at a place where my knowledge is appreciated ($9,000 in raises in 2 years)

I'm not one of the old guys saying find something else. I'm saying you could do alot worse at something else than what
HVAC has to offer.

[Dowadudda]

I beleive right now, for guys who are good at what they do, it's tough to not see that we should be earning more. And we compare what we do, physically and what we need to know mentally, to those office type guys. We should be a top them.

Plus times in certain areas are tough as nails right now. I think the way the over all trade conducts business today will be changed drastically when this all settles out. What ever that might transform into, there is no doubt in my mind, that the ones who know their stuff, will be well paid and compensated.

Hang on. The trade is going to get better. I beleive it will.

[classical]

NoNo you get out of what you put in into it; I make more than most of the folks out there with good degrees. I also don't worry about there not being a need for what I do at least not here in Houston.
I drive a truck but it cost, as much or more than most Lexus's it is not a work truck. I own a very nice pleasure boat have time shares in Cabo take a nice vacation or two each year and have a nice home. I don't want for anything that I really want and more toys than I need.
If you are not doing well you are in the wrong location have poor skills or poor attitude.

Now back to the original subject if I had it to do all over again I would have done what I thought about doing when I was 30. I was working on clean air hoods for Texas A&M College. I meet a young graduate student working on a PHD in Biogenetic engineering and I became fascinated with it. Working in a pure science field is my deepest desire next to racing Formula 1 cars.
Bio-Genetics at the time were developing mutagenic viruses that could de-toxify toxic slurs at superfund sites. The problem was it would have taken me 12 to 15 years to get a sufficient degree and you don't make much money unless one of your viruses is patented then you are rich.
Overall I am glad to be in this field make very good money and get to meet new people every day then forget them till next we meet.

Ben I did clean air work for a while installed setup and maintained clean rooms all over the country including a 54,000 sq. ft. Unitel facility in Palo Alto CA.
Very interesting stuff but also very critical depending on what they will be doing in. Silicon chips require using a laser beam particle counter even simple hoods require particle counters that are costly. You might want to set up the room build it and have an outside company do the testing and certification. There is I believe a company that builds the rooms to spec and will ship them to the site for assembly.

[no8no3]

Classical....I am excited for you, and i can see why you love what you do. But if you would be honest about this, You would see that the young grad student has a better chance of driving the formula one car than you do.

The point of my post was for the 98% of us that dont work in clean rooms and aspire to PHD's, and have to work for a living, it sucks.

I am niether in a bad location or lacking for skills. I am at the top of my game and make more than most of my counterparts in my area. My point is, it took me 30 years to achieve this, and your young grad student will most likely do it in 10 years or less.

If you did not have the same experience in this trade as the most of us did, then i'm glad for you. Sit back in your easy chair in Cabo, and drink one of those fruity things with the little umbrella in it and think about us poor slobs having to teardown a chiller at 3:00 in the morning.

The idea that you would think of going back to school bolsters my arguement.

[jay302]

I wish I started this 5 years ago...

I'm 28, for the past 9 years I worked as a computer support technician. Over a year ago, I was laid off. The company I worked for (and many others in the area) began to send the programming work (and the people I supported) over to India. Here I was with no degrees or certifications competing with college grads and people with certifications coming out their backsides for jobs that were now paying 30k a year. (They used to pay 60 - 70K) After being out of steady work for over a year, my father-in-law heard there were openings in the UA Apprenticeship program. I was lucky enough to get in, I like the work and in a few years time, I should be making fairly close to what I used to get.

[classical]

NoNo I worked in attics for over thirty years and it was brutal and I didn't make all that much for what I did.
However I made then and make now much more than many people I know with degrees and even advanced degrees.
I am in the position I am in because I am knowledgeable of my trade and happen to be very good at sales.
Sales BTW is what I do now and I enjoy it immensely I also enjoyed sweating my ass off picking up big heavy objects and generally flexing both my muscles both physical and mental.
The reason I considered going back to school I am a perpetual student I can't get enough of knowledge most about science and history. If I won the lottery I would travel and have fun for a year and go back to school for the joy and fun of learning.
For many working indoors at a desk is not a pleasant thought it wasn't for me that is why I went in to this career in the first place.
My daughter is a Petroleum engineer she finshes her secondary degree in business in December. She was offered numerous jobs applied for the three she was most interested in. She will recieve a large signing bonus and more $65,000 a year at the company she choose.
Her fianc'e has a degree fro the same University wants to be a Game Warden he will statr out at barely one third what she will make and will never make half of where she starts out.
He will however be doing what he loves doing so will she. When she takes time off to raise the future grand kids they will hurt finacially but it is there choice.
We all make choices that determine our path in life for many reasons most of us choose what makes us happy regarless of compensation. For those that choose just for the financial rewards will be unhappy.
My daughters cousin had a financial degree from another Texas University her first year her salary and bonus's totaled more than $100,000 she hated the work even though she really didn't work that hard and had lots of free time.
She quit to go to make up school in LA decided she didn't like that came home taught special needs kids for a year. She is now in Canada at a University pursuing a masters in education for special needs children. When she is through she will be lucky to make $30,000 a year.
I think she is nuts but it is what makes her happy.

[no8no3]

classical, I am extremely happy for your family. It seems as they have chosen wisely. The main thing is they had a choice. Even if one decides to reject monetary gain over peace of mind and enjoying their work, at least they have explored the other side and can make an informed decision.

Circumstances are different for everyone, and if i could have done things differently, i would have. Not that i would have opted out of hard work, but definetly a higher education gives you that option. I am somewhat gratified by the work i do, but not so to the degree i had expected. I believe everyone should explore all options before embarking on a long career, from which at some point it may not be possible to leave.

[rob10]

I have been moderately successful doing day trading in the stock market. The HVAC trade in my area is starting to "suck" to a great degree. I just don't know if the wife can stand to have me on the computer 10 hours a day.

[pro-tech1]

If your mommy and daddy can pay for your education your set. Most of us dont have that luxury. I would have finished my training to become an airline pilot, but couldnt afford it. I took a job delivering propane, worked up to senior tech, started my own company, and dream every day of doing what i had dreamed of! Isnt life grand.

[rob10]

Originally posted by pro-tech1
If your mommy and daddy can pay for your education your set. Most of us dont have that luxury. I would have finished my training to become an airline pilot, but couldnt afford it. I took a job delivering propane, worked up to senior tech, started my own company, and dream every day of doing what i had dreamed of! Isnt life grand.
Started investing by using a platinum VISA with a 10 grand cash advance.

I bought 12,000 shares of this one at $2.35 http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/research/msnbc/newsnap.asp?symbol=gra

[midhvac]

I think many of the older people here tend to look around at people in other fields their age and think they got the short end of the stick. Many of them have bodies that are just demolished from doing this kind of work for over 30 years. They wish they'd have gotten out a long time ago, but they didn't, now they feel trapped wondering what other jobs they could get at this point. I know the feeling. I started out at a nice cushy government desk job with my own office. But the walls started closing in on me after a while, and I longed to get away from it, so I grabbed onto the first thing that came along, hvac. It was good for a long time until the last few years when it all began to change.

[otto]

I would go back in time and stop Janis Joplin from overdosing. We would fall in love and have beautiful children and grow a peach farm!

[Dowadudda]

No8No3,

Whats your back ground in the trade?

I only ask this because. In my area. In the trade. Heavy Commercial in particular, is very lagging. Very. And a lot of guys who got like anywhere from 15 to 25 years in the trade, are having these thoughts. There thinking it sucks. For all the reasons you mentioned.

It sucks right now. Indeed. But the changes in this trade as I spoke about earlier, they are going to happen. Guarunteed. I wished to all hell I knew where it exactly is going but, I aint that smart. But as I said earlier. This trade is got about another year to maybe three years and things are going to go wide open. I beleive it and I am placing all bets on it.

I have many reasons to think this way. I have many reasons to understand why you and many others feel the way you do at this time also. But to sum things up as best I can.

I think the manufacturers will reverse their positions about their goals to also become service providers. Right now there experiencing the lackluster numbers that their service is putting up, and they will grow tired rather quickly of this. They all thought we were stinking rich, and little did they beleive that we somehow in fact were doing good eeking out 12% margins. They thought they could do better. They aint. Once they run, things will then start to get better for the service man who works for an independant shop. And independant shops get back to the business we were all meant to be.

My father recently had a long talk with me. I was wanting to ditch my business aspirations and make life easy. He went into the experinces he had in business back in the late seventies and very early eighties. It's incredible how similair this time in our trade is to that time.

By the time your ready to hang up the tools, you'll be doing pretty well. Hang on.

[framehvac]

pimp

[pabull]

.....I'd have been born rich instead of well-hung.

[kevin1313]

I'd be designing this crap. Instead I'm out till the wee hours fixing it.

[mdp]

The big thing that I'd do over again would be to have not married the test wife. As this trade goes I have no regrets at all. The technical aspect still keeps me interested and as many of us out there realize, it's a never ending cycle of education. I do wish I had started the education side a lot earlier than I did, the school of hard knocks can be a brutal teacher. The education has made my life considerably easier. At 48 my career has done me well, I like driving my GMC pickup I couldn't see myself in a Lexus or Mercedes, I've raised 4 children and my wife and I now enjoy that little farm in the country with the horses and the like. I've often thought about going back to school for mechanical engineering and in the near future I will. After talking to a good friend that owns a large engineering firm, I'm more commited to staying in my chosen field. The run of the mill ME (not the seniors) make considerably less than I do and I've grown very accustomed to my life style not to mention sitting in an office all day drives me nuts. The ME schooling would be just for my personal education and satisfaction.

[no8no3]

Sorry i didn't answer this sooner... I think my experience in this trade is not unique to older techs. I started out slow, as was the way back then, and rose to a respectable level in about 6 years. From that time to about year 15, all was well and i had made a good living, and enbjoyed the trade. After that, it just seemed the whole trade went south. Contractors in this area were inundated with price slashing hacks that totally stripped the profit from our work. During the same time, the feds jumped on bord and made our job much more difficult on the word of two or three scientist.

If that wasn't enough, the long time tradition of being an "exclusive dealer" went out the window with national contracts. At the same time, the practice of larger companies buying out smaller mare profitable shops came into being and the quality suffered. Nowdays we make 5 dollars an hour more, and our insurance costs us 6 dollars an hour to buy. Our parts are almost all assembled in mexico or pakistan, and warranties are eating us alive.

Our street rate, while competitive, is still huge compared to just three years ago. On a more personal note, my accelerating age is making all this more difficult to bear. I am a tear-down man, and they dont make these chiller's any lighter.

The main point i am trying to make is this. The guy's that start their career in this field today, will have to be much brighter, and have a more diverse education to keep up with the newer stuff. I think with the added schooling, it wouldn't take that much longer to get a degree in a field that is much easier physically, and pays a lot more sooner.

[Dowadudda]

I can respect that look at it.

[R12rules]

I just like sharing information.

I like to brainstorm.

I would enjoy being a member of a think tank somewhere in industry. Developing new products and or coming up with solutions for various problems being encountered in day to day business life.

I once thought of being an information broker. Selling information gained thru online searches.

Now, I like Mentoring someone young in the trade. And that pays some of the bills.
When I get my Texas contractor's license, I will be earning a little better pay than now. And that will be fine.

[classical]

NoNo I can also respect your position, as does Dow.
I have been in this trade for 34 years now and have worked in almost every facet of it. I tried very hard to get out when I was young joined the military got out went to school for Fire & Safety engineering as soon as I finished my degree and ready to enter that phase of my life the petro chemical industry changed. I no longer had the future I wanted in that field so back to HVAC I came. I went to schools but formal and hard knocks worked in industrial commercial residential clean rooms all of it.
I did not like the industrial end or the commercial end but really like the residential area and in particular found I was good at communicating to customers and leading to trust my products and me. I made the transition to pure sales about 5 years ago and do very well at it. I could be unscrupulous and do even better but that is not in me and there is no need.
What we need to do in this field as in any other is educate ourselves determine our strengths and desires.
Find something in this field that is easier on the body use your knowledge and brains more and your back less.
I really don't know that much about chillers or what being a tear down person does I can envision most of it.
Is there opportunity to move up and be a foreman or an estimator? Can you transfer your skills to residential or refrigeration?
I know many guys in this field that never thought about the future made no plans did not improve themselves beyond the minimum to retain their jobs. That is too bad for them and you if that is the position you find yourself in.
The truth is in today’s world even those with degrees need to continue to improve their knowledge base and skills, develop more skills and even pursue additional degrees diverse of their original educational endeavors. When my daughter attended a dinner for the Rotary club where she was awarded a stipend scholarship the keynote speaker made a very poignant statement.
He told every student in that room that they would probably change careers at least 3 or 4 times in their lifetimes and most would need to return to school to attain additional degrees just to prosper and survive in the working world over the next 40 years.
The days of our fathers and many of us that started out in one company and one career and remained for our full working lifetime are over.
Maybe it is time for you to go back to school most colleges have night and weekend courses available and you can take life experience test that can give you a significant start towards that degree.

[rubobornot]

I never would have given up my exotic dancing career!

[hvacbear]

Dave

School is great. With a blend of hands on and engineering you are on the way. It will help you understand why you do what you do.
I am in school for HVAC design now and in every lesson there is something I wondered about properly explained ie: sizing hydronic valves. School will not hurt you even if you don’t change jobs.

I have seen many older techs with limitless experience but no credentials beat out of a job by someone younger than their kids with a degree. I am not saying that is smart but that is the way it is. I wish you the best of luck in school it is worth it.

[deanmech]

If I was a young man starting over I would consider industrial robotics. I think there is a great future in that field.

[jay302]

Originally posted by deanmech
If I was a young man starting over I would consider industrial robotics. I think there is a great future in that field.

Sure...


If you live in India or China...

[marvin]

All this cheerleading is kinda sad. for all you guy's that are still optimistic, just wait. For all those that are not, dont wait.

There is nobody here that has done this work for any length of time without noticing the fact that our customer is working"in" the A/C, While we work "on" the A/C. They drive the lexus, we drive the F150.

Believe me when i say, that if i could have found anything else to do with my limited education, that would pay as good, i would have.

I have seen how the rich man lives....I have seen how the educated man lives.... This is not rocket science guy's, and anybody who really feels good about doing this work is just kidding themselves.

if you feel that you have been fooling yourself then you chose the wrong trade. ive spent my working career in this business & feel like ive never had a job 90% of the time. i wouldnt recommend a young person to enter this field but if they decide to ill give them all the help i can & hope they enjoy it as much as i have.

[supermep]

I started out in installs, while I enjoyed it, it wasn't my true passion. Now I do marketing for a HVAC company and I love it. I like still being involved on the HVAC side of things and hammering away at the marketing/business aspect of it. Plus they still grab me for service calls and installs from time to time ;)

[marter]

im thinking about going into gyneocology


meh.. id be a pornstar.

"just because your hung like a moose doesn't mean you have to be a pornstar"

yeah but my job wouldn't be as hard (no pun), and id make more money..

or a pimp

[John Markl]

As much as I've enjoyed and prospered in the HVAC business, my favorite all-time job is/was still at the old cotton mill.

The pay and benefits were okay, but not great. It was just plain old work....fixing shuttle looms. 7-3 M/F, and some occasional Saturdays.

When the whistle blew, you locked up your tools and went home 'til tomorrow.

But alas, cotton mills are long gone in the US......

I have a good friend, who is always pestering me to go back to college for another degree. She brings me a catalog every semester. I look thru there, and don't see a thing that interests me as far as another degree to pursue.

I think she liked going to college with her daughter.....:)

[akelesis]

If i could do this over again. i would have not worked at companies that i first worked for and actually take that job i should have gotten in the first place. I think at first, i was happy to be working for a hvac company but then realized that the company didnt really care about me and just wanted me to work for cheap.... i would have concentrated on understanding the electrical diagrams back in college and thought about trouble shooting equipment. Plus i made some stupid moves that cost me a few years in my trade causing me to not have a job for about 2 years.empty promises doomed my first couple years of my hvac trade. but im happy to say now that i dont take any day for granted. If i could do this all over again i would still be in the hvac trade. great things for me to come hvac/r is the best trade and i dont regret anything else. cheers boys

i spent my first 4 years installing for the residential sector and didnt learn anything from it except how to do a quick job. I learned after that actually reading the manuals would have made my job a lot easier. my lead guy didnt read anything, he just asked his boss if he didnt understand which was the wrong approach. manuals are there for a reason and not just a paper weight! and i should have listened to the young guy that told me to pay more attention to th squence of operation of a furnace. i realized it later how important it was for me to understand it. things i did which made no sense!

[jmac00]

If I had it to do over, I would be a conservation officer/Zoologist.

I would have also married my second wife FIRST. The first one was a big waste of time and energy.

[classical]

If I had it to do over again I would have studied bio genetics like I started instead of Engineering either that or stayed in the Army and gone to Helicopter flight school but alas Carter was president.

[walterc]

I know some of you here like being in the HVAC business, but if you had the chance to do something else, would you do it? I know there are doctors out there that would change their career if they could, so I'm not trying to say I have had a bad experience being in the HVAC field. Nevertheless, what would you do in my situation. I hold a AA degree, and I am thinking about going back to school to get my bachelors. I'm not yet 30, so it is a good time for me to make another career choice. I was thinking about getting a degree in mechanical engineering or even finance. My original goal was to start my own heating and air business, but I have seen a lot of owners struggle to make it in this business. Moreover, almost every old timer I have talked to tells me to strive for something better.

That's easy. I joined the Volunteer Fire Dept years ago, but at my age had to cut down. I fell in love- seriously!! I would have been a Firefighter.
No other feeling like it I know of.