Five things that I think a new HVAC Tech should be doing to grow in this group. As many of you know, we don't do a lot of videos towards technicians. Most of our videos are for homeowners, but this is a part of a whole series of videos that we're doing for guys that are getting started in this trade. so let's dive into it.

Five things that I think an HVAC Tech should do to either get into this trade and grow or if you're already in it and in your first few years to set yourself up for Success Number One do things that other people are not willing to do and this may be an all-encompassing thing. I I Can tell you that when I got into the trade, a lot of guys wouldn't even read the manuals and so one thing I started doing was I would take the manuals home with me. you might say well, Josh why would I care what you did I will say I'm not a business coach I'm not a a guru or anything like that. but I will tell you that I became a service manager at the age of 26 and I started my business at the age of 29.

Maybe you're younger than that and you want to get started quicker than that, but I can tell you in an industry where most of the guys were twice my age or if they were younger, they were inheriting their businesses, I started mine from the ground up and it's grown every year since I started. That said, I would take the manuals home I would learn them I would even ask questions sometimes I'd come back the next day and say hey, I read this on page 36. what does that mean I I don't know what this all means and I remember times when I would do that and the guys that I was supposed to be learning from I was almost kind of teaching them. At times, there were times where I'd be like hey, you know what's this mean about the reversing valve solenoid and what does all this mean and you know even they'd be like I don't know and they'd be scratching their head and trying to figure things out as well And so that's the first thing I would encourage you to do is just do things other guys won't do.

I remember working at a company and I was only 18, 19, 20, 21 and for those first number of years I didn't have a family I didn't have a wife and so I was willing to do things other guys wouldn't I was working s days a week, we would work 410 and then I would find another job site and I'd go work on Fridays and then on the weekends we would go to a different location where the place was only open on the weekends and you might say, well, Josh I don't work at a company where that's even possible and that's fine. I'm just saying be the guy that's willing to jump in when others aren't I Was blessed to be at a company where those types of opportunities were there. I Worked with another younger guy. he's my best friend to this day and he was only a few years older than me.

He was my boss and we would work all the time. We were just going after it and the last thing I'll say for this first tip is just put yourself out there again. do things that other guys aren't willing to do. Make a YouTube channel.

if that you think that's something you might be interested in, just put yourself out there. I Know some guys are doing Tik toks and they're doing all kinds of things to just kind of put themselves out there. and I would just say just try that. Put yourself out there a little bit.

I'm not saying you need to have a huge social media presence. Maybe putting yourself out there is a matter of just building your resume. I Used to tell my guys, hey, get five star reviews for the company. Ask the customer to put your name in there and then screenshot those five-star reviews.

You can add those to your resume. Just find ways to kind of put yourself out there a little bit and do things that other guys won't. The last thing I'll tell you is there's a book called The Go-getter I Would recommend checking out. It's all about this.

how going the extra mile doing things that other folks aren't I think if you check out that book, it's a quicker read than most. It's not a real long book, but you'll get the idea of going that extra mile doing things that others aren't willing to do and the rewards that can come from it. Number two: find a mentor and finding a mentor might be easier said than done. I Can tell you over my career, there's been multiple times that I thought someone either could be My Mentor or in a couple cases I actually asked them hey will you Mentor me can I ask you some questions can I get with you every now and then and a couple of those guys said said no no I will not Mentor you and I don't know what the reasons were.

Maybe maybe that was a little extra pressure I would say that even if they don't know, they are your Mentor but they're just further down the path. Find somebody that's where you want to be. Maybe you look at some of the guys in the trade and you say I don't want to be that in 20 years? Find somebody that is. Maybe you want to own your own business, Maybe you want to open doors with government contracts and things like that.

Find somebody that's into that. Maybe you just want to be the best service tech that's ever lived. Find somebody that's close to being that I Don't know if anybody's perfect, but find somebody that is where you want to be. Maybe you want to be in training, maybe you want to be a teacher someday, and you want to figure out how to go down that path and not be climbing in addicts in 20 years, right? Whatever that case is, find somebody that is where you want to be.

And even if they don't know, they are your. Mentor Find a way to ask them a few questions and get some of that wisdom number three and I tread lightly with this one, especially as you go down your career. I'm not saying that jumping companies is always a good thing, but my tip would be don't be Afraid to jump companies If you find a good company and you find a good situation and they're being great to you and they're loyal to you I Think that there's always that syndrome of the grass is always greener on the other side and if you start Burning Bridges as you go down this career path, then you might run out of bridges. There's something to be said for that, but I can tell you.

for me, I would say that I I worked in this trade for a company for about four or five years and then I did go to another company and I got a pay raise when I did that. And if you time these things right, and if you don't take jobs because you need them, but because they need you, that might play a role in all of this. If you apply to a job doesn't necessarily mean you have to take it. Just making wise decisions and not being afraid to go to a new company.

Ask for what you think you're worth. I Know some of you might be in states where unions are a thing and and maybe that's something you might want to look into But Ultimately just keeping your options open. Sometimes if you're at a company too long, then you're probably not being paid what you're worth. Now don't get me wrong, there's exceptions to that rule.

If you're at a company that they are giving you raises and they're treating you like you're worth something as you grow in the industry. That's different. Sometimes just to get a pay raise, you might have to go to a new company. Maybe you're there for a couple years and then you know another opportunity opens.

Unfortunately to move ahead in this industry, sometimes it might involve making a change. Number four: Gain knowledge. This is the biggest one of all of them. I Think to grow in this industry.

We talked about reading the manuals and doing some of the things others aren't but I would argue there are schools out there. There are trainings and things like that you should definitely look into. Sometimes your local distributor might have trainings that you could go be a part of. Instead of going to your boss and expecting them to book you for these trainings, you take the initiative.

Go find out if that distributor or that manufacturer is having some sort of classes and trainings and things like that that might look good to your boss. Anyway, if you go to your boss and say hey, on this date, there's this training I'd really like to go to it. Maybe that might show them that you're wanting to get better in this trade. In addition to schools and trainings and things like that, there's also this: There's YouTube I Can tell you that I'm I'm not sure they're out there, but I don't know anyone personally that has watched as many HVAC YouTube videos as I have I'm sure they're out there I'm sure you know maybe you might be watching this and saying Josh I bet I bet you don't watch as many as I do cuz I watch this many every night and I think that's awesome if you're that guy, but just finding time to absorb the information.

There's some way better channels than mine out there to absorb that kind of information. Find somebody that they're going over things. they're showing you things. There's just so much information out there.

and I think YouTube might be the most powerful way because if you work at a company that let's say they don't work on oil boilers, but you start watching YouTube videos on that and absorbing that information, you are now adding to your skills, your knowledge and that way, if you ever do come to a point where you're standing in front of that type of equipment, maybe it's the other way around. Maybe you work at a company that you know they're old school and a bunch of old timers, but they don't do Min splits. So by gosh, you're going to watch YouTube videos and absorb as much information of that as you can. Whatever the scenario is, there is so much information out there.

so many good channels. Some of those guys, it's just a matter grabbing a camera and taking you along with them on some of the videos and some of the guys literally will sit down with a pen and paper and show you things. If you're not absorbing that information, I would even ask how serious are you about being really good in this trade, right? Probably preaching to the choir. If you found this video then you probably are already that guy and your future is bright.

And the last thing I'll say in gaining knowledge, we already talked about it, but gaining Knowledge from mentors asking them questions sometimes I used to ask questions that I already knew the answer to or at least I thought I did. but I would ask them little things about equipment or just things that I thought I knew the answer to. kind of see how they would think about it, see how they would approach that situation. The biggest thing I think over that time span as I was learning this trade that I learned was how to look at things a different way from a guy that was really seasoned.

that a guy that was very experienced and so what I mean by that is I knew how to test a contactor right I knew how to test a capacitor or a motor or a thermostat or whatever the case is. But just because I knew how to do those things doesn't necessarily mean that's where you start right? And so what I learned from him is if I walk into a house and the scenario is this or that that will play a role in where I start in my my testing right? Just because I know how to test the solenoid on a reversing valve outside, but the thermostat is blank doesn't necessarily mean I need to be going to that reversing valve selenoid. Why is the thermostat blank? Why are you outside right now, right? And that's the sort of things that come with experience asking questions. Hey, Mr Journeyman or Master Tech How do you approach this If you've got a blank thermostat, where are you starting with that? Are you going to the reverse in Val Solenoid? They're going to say no I don't go to the reverse of B solenoid.

If I got a blank thermostat, Maybe he's checking power. Maybe's I mean wherever he starts. but that all goes back into gaining knowledge. Learn from their experience instead of maybe having to experience that yourself and maybe it'll speed things up.

And then finally, number five. I Have to admit, this is a maybe a little bit of a selfish one or a little bit of a a plug if you will. but on our website new HVAC Guide For a short time now, this door may open in the future. I Don't know, Just keep an eye on it.

But for a short time for now, we're going to open the door to a new group. We've already already got groups with guys with a lot of experience. Some of those guys own multi-million dollar companies and some of those guys are service managers of very large organizations. Another group we have is a lot of service techs and one service manager.

So guys that I would say are somewhere in the middle. But this group that we're starting is for new guys and new guys only. it's guys that are either trying to get into the trade or guys that are already in it, but they're in their first you know, year two, first three years maybe and so we're opening the doors. If you go to our website and scroll to the bottom and click Growth Groups again, this this door is going to close.

but for a limited time you go there and you click that, put your information in and you'll be able to rub elbows with other guys in the same position you are. You'll be able to bounce ideas off of one another, share ideas and things like that, and it's almost a mastermind if you will. Some of these groups meet once a week, one of them meets once a month, so it just kind of depends the goal would be to help you along in your journey. Thanks for watching if you like this video.

I Think you'll like this one even more. It's where I go over some of the problems with a lot of trade schools today. Thanks for watching. Hit that subscribe button.

We'll see you next time.