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"Skill" is the key. We have plenty of "bodies" in the trade, but a dearth of skill.

If you are truly skilled, you will always have work. Buying some tools and taking a 9 month course at a tech...

It's been my experience and observation...that the guys who truly succeed at this trade, are guys for whom the trade is also a "hobby" as much as it is a "trade" or "profession".

The guys who...

:whistle:

If you look hard enough, you may find a company that can use you.

There is a local company, pretty much all construction and commercial remodel. They just did a big job not too far from my shop....

Sage advice. The more you can do, the more you will be in demand. If you're a resi installer/helper, you have significant competition. If you're a good tech that can do commercial HVAC and reefer,...

Yawn :munching: Back in the 80's, we maintained Turbo Ice Makers that made 80 tons per day with 200 hp screw compressors. Even converted them from factory water defrost to hot gas...a design they...

So sad...but so true. We stress high competency service....makes it hard to hire and retain.

Good point. You could well wind up a Plant Maintenance Technician, and do quite well for yourself.

:cheers:

You might also look into companies that are heavy into new construction, and/or commercial remodel. No customer/people issues there for the employer to worry about....just other tradesmen. They need...

Hard to say, which is the bigger issue....time or distance. I grew up 30 miles from downtown Chicago, and it's well over an hour to make that trek....Here, I can make a town 30 miles away in 25...

:yes:

Paul, next time you look at an old Rheem heat pump indoor coil, you might notice a "chunk of copper" about 1-3/8 inches in diameter along the side of the coil. That is one type of compensator. Newer...

Exactly !! :yes:

It makes my skin crawl, when someone claims that you can't "properly" charge a heat pump system in the winter....

If you can't charge a heat pump in the winter, how do you...

Not at all.

Some guys go to work in a job, and thirst to learn everything possible about the place they work....others show up, and do what they have to do to get paid, not caring what the company...

Grow your own?

But, is every "experienced technician" technically competent? Or, have large numbers of them made a career of "getting by", changing parts and guessing based on prior experience?

There is a huge...

I knew that I could count on you to make this personal....:cheers:

is to teach or train an "experienced technician".

Why?

Because to accept said training or teaching, they must first accept or admit that they don't know something....which is too hard on their...

While my heart agrees with you, my head has me going to a class on Friday on how to use my iPad for sales presentations....

There is obviously a balance to be acheived. On one extreme, you can have a high powered, but incompetent "sell, sell, sell" crew....or you can be the best tech on the planet, work out of your house,...

:cheers:

That's certainly true in the reefer world, but in places like Texas, HVAC IS seasonal, and I don't care who you are or HOW you run your business....that's the way it is.

If you're working 40 in...

Who said anything about selling stuff? It can simply be a matter of efficient work practices and technical competence. A guy that can mow down 6 calls a day is certainly worth more than a guy who...

What's wrong with being paid by performance, as opposed to being paid by the hour? Performance pay benefits employer and employee. Hourly benefits employee, and can easily screw the employer AND the...

A lot of it has to do with motivation. A real go-getter may welcome the opportunity to work in a performance-based shop....whereas a less motivated person may prefer the straight hourly gig.

The...