Becoming a maintenance tech
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2024 9:23 am
This wonderful advice courtsey of reddit user Miss_Anne_Throwpick:
"My starting point was buying a foreclosed home in terrible condition and having to redo it all myself because i was too broke to pay anyone to fix things. Watch how-to videos constantly. Lurk in all the trade-related subreddits and Google everything they talk about. If your local community college offers an industrial maintenance or repair program, start there. I wish I had, because industrial maintenance (hydraulics and programmable logic controllers) is where the best money is. Otherwise, get some hands-on experience through friends, family, or volunteering. Help with home repairs or renovations.
Then it's a matter of bullshitting your way into your first position. Get on indeed, look up maintenance jobs, look at the skills listed, and add as many of them as you have vague hands-on experience with. Take the skill assessments on Indeed as well. Honestly, just start applying to maintenance jobs. Apartment maintenance is a good first step. Pay is low, turnover is usually high, and the job tends to suck, but it'll get your feet wet.
Get some trade-related certifications. OSHA 30-hour general industries and EPA 608 Universal certifications both can be taken online and make you a more valuable candidate. EPA 608 is essential for dealing with refrigerant and is a requirement for a lot of maintenance gigs. Certified Pool Operator cert is also useful to have. For the EPA 608, I spent a weekend watching lectures on YouTube and quizzing myself on the EPA 608 app, then used SkillCat to take the exam from the comfort of my couch. But I had prior experience and a solid understanding of HVAC equipment already from a previous job. You can also use SkillCat to study for the NATE Ready To Work cert. This one can be good to transition into an HVAC role, as it demonstrates a concrete understanding of how air conditioners operate.
Oh, and expect that you'll have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good as your male coworkers."
"My starting point was buying a foreclosed home in terrible condition and having to redo it all myself because i was too broke to pay anyone to fix things. Watch how-to videos constantly. Lurk in all the trade-related subreddits and Google everything they talk about. If your local community college offers an industrial maintenance or repair program, start there. I wish I had, because industrial maintenance (hydraulics and programmable logic controllers) is where the best money is. Otherwise, get some hands-on experience through friends, family, or volunteering. Help with home repairs or renovations.
Then it's a matter of bullshitting your way into your first position. Get on indeed, look up maintenance jobs, look at the skills listed, and add as many of them as you have vague hands-on experience with. Take the skill assessments on Indeed as well. Honestly, just start applying to maintenance jobs. Apartment maintenance is a good first step. Pay is low, turnover is usually high, and the job tends to suck, but it'll get your feet wet.
Get some trade-related certifications. OSHA 30-hour general industries and EPA 608 Universal certifications both can be taken online and make you a more valuable candidate. EPA 608 is essential for dealing with refrigerant and is a requirement for a lot of maintenance gigs. Certified Pool Operator cert is also useful to have. For the EPA 608, I spent a weekend watching lectures on YouTube and quizzing myself on the EPA 608 app, then used SkillCat to take the exam from the comfort of my couch. But I had prior experience and a solid understanding of HVAC equipment already from a previous job. You can also use SkillCat to study for the NATE Ready To Work cert. This one can be good to transition into an HVAC role, as it demonstrates a concrete understanding of how air conditioners operate.
Oh, and expect that you'll have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good as your male coworkers."