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Enrolled in a HVAC course

Nebulous

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I am going to take a HVAC/R course. At the end of the course I will be certified to enter the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning & refrigeration field (which pays well, a friend of mine makes about $5000+ a month as a HVAC technician).



I currently have an alright job (general maintenance / groundskeeping at a local school district) but despite my five years of seniority, I am on the very bottom of the seniority. I used to be above a couple people but they have been laid off due to budget cuts. My job is safe for another year (through July 2012) but if they decide to do any more cuts to the maintenance department next year, I will be the first to go. Ive always wanted to learn how to work on the heating/air conditioning and refrigeration units at my job, but they wont let touch them because I am not properly trained and I don't have the certifications. By next June I will be. Hopefully I will use this schooling to move up in my current workplace or go out and find a better job.



Wish me luck!
 
I was just doing some research and according to the California EDD

(Employment Development Department AKA the unemployment office):



In California, the number of Heating/Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Workers is expected to grow much faster than average growth rate for all occupations. Jobs for Heating/Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Workers are expected to increase by 16.1 percent between 2008 and 2018.

This occupation must be one of those green jobs the media has been talking about.



Also, I just did a job search in my local area on several websites and seen a few HVAC jobs. All pay more than what I make now and some significantly more.
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That's great news. Good luck with your course.
 
This is wonderful and a great career change. I wish you all the very best, Nebulous, with your course!
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Thanks for the support. I told some Co workers and they were very supportive too
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That's wonderful news and it sounds like a great idea, good look Nebulous.
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I think I am going to go with a different school but I still plan to take a course. After a little more research, I found a better school that gets you certified in more areas and covers more subjects.
 
That's awesome! I wish you the best of luck! One great thing about the job is that you'll have job security, because people need air conditioning all year long, every year. My friend's dad owns a heating and air business and it does great business.
 
Nebulous said:
I think I am going to go with a different school but I still plan to take a course. After a little more research, I found a better school that gets you certified in more areas and covers more subjects.

Sounds great mate!
 
Yeah the 1st class I was going to take only taught you about HVAC.



This other school offers this class:



Course curriculum will cover electrical, climate control systems (HVAC), plumbing (water heaters), solar panel installation, maintenance electrical, maintenance plumbing, advanced refrigeration, ice machines, reach-in coolers, reach-in/walk-in freezers and a basic overview of system applications.



I think putting on my resume that I know how to do all that stuff and went to school for it + the certifications I will have would make me a pretty valuable candidate for a good job (hopefully).
 
That's really great. Hopefully you'll be able to find a better, higher paying job. Good luck with the course.
 
And if you use a few fancy words it'll sound like even more!
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Nebulous said:
I think I am going to go with a different school but I still plan to take a course. After a little more research, I found a better school that gets you certified in more areas and covers more subjects.

Went and checked out that other school & it was very impressive. They seem like a better place for me.
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They have better equipment & facilities plus they offer 1on1 time (extra tutoring) if you are having trouble with no extra charge.



Also, former students are always welcome to come back & sit in on classes & learn new skills (as the state laws, rules & regulations in this field are ever changing). They don't even charge you for it either. No other school offers that.







The 1st school I went to costs more & only gives you a bare minimum of knowledge and help.
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@Nebulous: This second school sure sounds much better and what they offer is awesome. Good for doing more research!
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Nebulous said:
Also, former students are always welcome to come back & sit in on classes & learn new skills (as the state laws, rules & regulations in this field are ever changing). They don't even charge you for it either. No other school offers that.
Nice!
 
Nebulous said:
Went and checked out that other school & it was very impressive. They seem like a better place for me.
ertery.gif




They have better equipment & facilities plus they offer 1on1 time (extra tutoring) if you are having trouble with no extra charge.



Also, former students are always welcome to come back & sit in on classes & learn new skills (as the state laws, rules & regulations in this field are ever changing). They don't even charge you for it either. No other school offers that.

I went and checked out yet another school but I am still going to go with the school quoted above.



As for the 1st school I signed up with, I did enroll in their course but I changed my mind on that school and decided to cancel.

I go there to cancel today and they gave me a Status Change form. On this form there was a box checked Cancel (among other possible status changes). Anyway, at the bottom there was a place for me to sign and for an Administrator to sign. After talking to the admin, I was referred off to someone else to finish the form. That person said This is all you need, you're all done. I noticed the line where the Administrator was supposed to sign is still blank. I went back to the Admin's office and asked him to sign the form. He said I'll give you an initial, thats all you need. He only placed the initials of CP and it was on the wrong line (in the Explanation section under the signatures portion). He was the person who signed me up so I referred back to my original paper work when I got home and his intitals aren't even CP. Something fishy is going on here. I think I am going to go back tomorrow and demand a signature, bring the original paperwork and compare to make sure it matches. I don't want to be stuck paying anything because they suckered me into believing I legitimately canceled when I really didn't.

What do you think I should do? Am I just paranoid? (working for a the public school system, I know first hand that educational institutions aren't necessarily moral and trustworthy at all times)

If they said initials is all I need, should I just go with that and not worry about anything coming from this later on? It does say in the paperwork that all I need to do to cancel is just to mail a letter stating I wish to cancel. So I will be sending that. This signature business is bothering me though.
 

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