I have an interview tomorrow with a national HVAC company for an apprentice position. Other than the automotive side of HVAC it's not something I've done before but that's what being an apprentice is about, right? Learning a trade from a more experienced person? I try to find out info on the company (Johnson Controls) and about the position but details are a little vague. Overall the workers seem to be happy and the benefits sound like they rock but I wanna get some more hands on from anyone in here so I can have a better idea of what I could possibly be getting into. I don't know if it's residential or commercial. I expect them to get into that tomorrow. But overall, what can you guys tell me?
Who can tell me about the HVAC business?
- Thread starter EB85
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Apprentice is pretty vague for Johnston Controls. They have sheet metal apprentices, assembly, electro/mechanical, etc.
Look at the reviews on Indeed.com for Johnston Controls, they usually give you a decent idea of the environment. I know two people who work for the Oklahoma plant and neither had mechanical skills to speak of, yet they were hired and still work there doing assembly.
They seem to have good reviews there, too, so I'm excited. But yes, the description there is vague, too. I was trying to get more info from the recruiter but he pretty much reposted what's on the website. I'll dig more into it tomorrow.
The HVAC/R is a really broad trade with lots of Avenues. I have been in it for 20+ years. I started as a residential Tech/Installer and worked all the way through commercial to heavy industrial Tech. I got my Mechanical license so I have my own little side business that I do here and there for extra cash, but my main Job is for a Major Pharmaceutical company as a Refrigeration Lead Tech. I have tons of vacation, good benefits and the pay is good. I live in Michigan and we have had Johnson controls in and out of our company, I cant speak for all of Johnson, they are huge, they don't seem to be what they used to. If your a young man I recommend starting from the bottom, residential and get into the troubleshooting side(Technician) and also learn the install side of things. From there you can work your way up in all different avenues, I went the industrial route. Good Refrigeration guys(Techs) are needed like crazy. You can make 6 figures a year easy with a Pharmaceutical company or Nuke Facility and if you learned the Residential side like I did, you can get licensed and pick up jobs at your leisure and knock some easy side cash, I am working for myself Saturday changing out a furnace and Air and will make $2500 for about a 12 hour day, all the while paying my kid(19 year old college student) $25 an hour to help me.
I got the inside on it today. It starts out like you'd expect: changing belts and filters, cleaning pipe, helping, assisting, and learning. It seems that it's mostly industrial as he mentioned that one of their clients is a high school about 10 minutes from me. 2 days a month (one every other week) are spent at the union doing classroom and lab work.
Overall, I feel it went well and it sounds like something I would enjoy. The hourly rate isn't the best but with some OT it would be tolerable. I told the guy I also know that it would work out best in the long run so I made sure to hint that I would be willing to give it a long term run.
Overall, I feel it went well and it sounds like something I would enjoy. The hourly rate isn't the best but with some OT it would be tolerable. I told the guy I also know that it would work out best in the long run so I made sure to hint that I would be willing to give it a long term run.
The HVAC biz: they do it all by exploiting the behavior of gasses. With some electric motors thrown in.
My buddy owns a residential HVAC company. He works 6 months out of the year and pulls some good bank. A typical install around here is about ~8k and can be done in two days. Some months he is making 30k easy.
Exploitation eh, doesn't sound very noble... Har har
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