I completed the pre-employment course at JARTS last year.
I'll clarify a few points for the guys that are considering enrolling.
JARTS technically is a union school or should at least be considered very closely connected to the union because the union pays for 50% of your tuition. That being said you DO NOT have to be working for a union company or be a part of the union to attend the school. The price for tuition is so drastically different when comparing JARTS to BCIT that you might think BCIT is better because it's more expensive and the course is longer in duration. However, after spending the last 6 months job hunting I realized that most employers don't really care which of the two I attended and will give me the time of day as long as I've shown the initiative by completing one of them. Without the course my guess is they wouldn't even accept my resume.
I was privileged or screwed depending on how you look at it because our teacher quit halfway through the course and it was up to the remainder of the teachers to take turns and cover our course.
On the bright side, I had the pleasure of meeting almost the entire teacher faculty that I will be learning from for the next 5 years. Surprisingly I have nothing but good things to say about all of them(they are smart, know their stuff and know how to effectively communicate the material without making the class dull or boring). Most of them love to crack jokes to lighten the mood and are very approachable and easy to talk to. I look forward to enrolling at JARTS for my 1st year apprenticeship with confidence knowing that they will make a Journeyman out of me.
On the down side, my main teacher walked out on us kind of left us hanging to fend for ourselves. I was under the impression that he was going to assist his top and most committed students in whatever form possible to land that first job. Just to clarify, I wasn't expecting him to find me a job because that's up to me but being pointed in the right direction and having that support from someone in the industry who has contacts is invaluable and in essence what I was trying to obtain by taking the course.
I've been job hunting since and it's been a tough ride. I've devoted a lot of time trying to get my foot in the door. Everything from rewriting my cover letter and resume more times then I care to count, to knocking on every door I can find, to attending free HVAC seminars intended for the pros. I even attended a supply store grand opening event all in hopes of lucking out and meeting a solid contact or landing a job. I came very close to landing a job with a union company considered by many on this site to be one of the top to work for, unfortunately they had some contracts and they couldn't take me on. 2010 was a tough year for getting into the trade and I'm optimistic that this year it's going to be a lot better. Expect a lot of competition though the schools are pumping guys out regardless of the number of job opportunities available.
Bottom line to anyone considering entering this trade. You have to be committed and certain that this is what you want to do otherwise you won't have it in you to put in the leg work that it will take to succeed. You might get lucky but I wouldn't count on it.
Employers are welcome to contact me at:
luketurk@gmail.com
