Looking for ideas..........hb

Troy_3

with your enthusiasm and dedication it is contagious. Show some of those jobs you've done that make us all drool! If they don't recognize that beauty - keep them out of our trade. There are enough fakers already! If you touch on comfort,healthy space,efficient,environmentally friendly, Indoor air quality,------Never mind----Back to the pictures!

heatboy

I need help with a chat..............

I want to have with the HVAC class at the local vocational school. I don't want this to be a technical yawn, but rather what we as an industry need from the next generation of technicians. I want to drive home the fact that we don't need any more $15 laborers since we can rent those anytime they are needed. They need to take it upon themselves to gain as much knowledge as possible on their own. I had to do it that way. That's what I'm looking for. Someone with the initiative. Anyway, since my brain is not wired to be very creative, I would very much appeciate some input from people I admire and like it or not, you're it! :-). This trade and the friendships I have made from it have been so good to me that I feel I owe quite a bit in return. We have to pay it forward, don't you think?

hb


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Steamhead

You might take a cue from Dan

fron the first chapter of "The Lost Art of Steam Heating". In it, he relates how he was never that interested in history until he got into the heating business and encountered all these fascinating steam and Vapor systems.

These kids probably yawn thru their history classes (unless they have unusually good teachers). Show them a Hoffman Differential Loop or a Honeywell Heat Generator- or maybe Dan will let you borrow his Gold "Mattress" radiator! This is the kind of history that should definitely hold their interest!

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Don_2

the next

May I add my 2 cent.The most important, that I think they should have,"the Passion" and the belief that what they are doing make's a difference.

How about showing the backdraft effect,the one that burns
your eyebrow and mustache,Then again maybe not.

OK,how about If they find out why one can handle a capacitor
with a bleed resistor quicker then one without, after it takes a charge. I assure you they will never forget.

Alright heatboy,I know thats extreme for votech, so
how about the hard boiled egg,the match and the bottle trick

Gary Fereday

Dear HB,

Attitude Attitude Attitude.
This is what you are trying to teach. As trite as it may seem, the Boy Scout Law, and Oath is where it begins and ends. Only when these ideas are ingrained into a young mans head will he ever be more than a $ 15.00/ hr laborer. For it is attitude that seperates the man from the kid!
If the attitude is there you can easily train the tech part, however if the attitude is not there no way will anything be learned or placed into that mind.
A mentor , Dad, Scoutmaster, neighbor, someone who will teach attitude (by example) is needed by us as we grow up. The military can pound drive an attitude into a recruit, mostly because the recurit is scared of death. But a HVAC tech has to have been taught the attitude of "doing his very best" to succeed. he must have selfesteem (attitude) to be as we need him to be. Area 51 had an example of an attitude, One of the guys there told of always having a rag and shinning the equipment he insatalled. even on return calls he shinned the equipment. asked why ? He answered. If I always leave it looking better than It was when I came Perhaps folks will take better care of it. and besides I look for leaks upon the rag also. So if Location, Location, Location is the way to real profit in real estate, Attitude is the way to real profit in the HVAC feild.

Unknown

Just tell your story...

that is the reason you are there. If you love what you do it will come across. Do not be afraid to get fired up about what the future hold for anyone getting into this business. Bring a few transparencies of some of the pictures of jobs posted here on the wall. Get a couple of video interviews with some local heating contractors who have made it. Steal some of the testimonies from Dans ON The Job area. Also find a couple of good jokes about this busines. Use some of the stuff from Dans books. A good mix will not bore them.

Don_2

Timmie,humor too? how this

Gynecologist becomes hvac tech!

A gynecologist had a burning desire to become a hvac technican.So he found out from the local tech college what was invo;ved,signed up for evening classes,attended diligenty,and learn all he could.When the time for the practical exam approached,the gynecologist prepared carefully for weeks,and completed the exam with tremendous skill.
When the results came back,he was supriesd to find that he obtained a mark of 150% fearing an error,he called the instructor,saying"I don't want to appear ungrateful for such an outstanding result,but I wonder if there had been an error which needed adjusting."
The instructor said,"during the exam you took the boiler apart perfectly,which was worth 50% of the total work.You put the boiler back together again perfectly,which is also worth 50% of the mark.I gave you an extra 50% because you did all of it through the flue!

Online Sheriff \"Murph\"

Achievement........

Just about anyone doing this work on both the design and build side can honestly say.........It has to do with the feeling of accomplishment, whether it be service, design/build, or finishing a job and standing back looking at what has become the finish project!! We see it in all the pics that are posted on this site, and how many say "next time it will even be better" that my freinds is what it is all about !!!


(at least for me)

murph' (SOS)

Mark Eatherton1

How old...

is your target audience. And even before you answer that question, thank you for being proactive in our never ending search for good help. You are a true inspiration.

ME

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Wayco Wayne

I got my helper

from a high school level Votech school, and I must say the prevailing attitude was one of boredom, and of a feeling of resignation that the work they were going to be doing the rest of their life was not going to be where their interests were going to lie. Their cars and motorcycles and their partying exploits are their main focus. If you can change that in one talk you need to start your new carrer as the next Dale Carnegie. However you have a chance to plant some seeds. There may be some young people who will latch into your enthusiasm and some day will rebel against the cookie cutter mentalilty that can sometimes prevail in the trade. Definetly bring some pictures, your work is unsurpassed. I'm sure you have some funny stories of dealings with customers. (Everyone has a cat lady story) Above all relax and be yourself. I've taught night school for years and I still get uptight to begin with, but the best classes happen when I let loose and get spontaneous (sp?) Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Frank_17

Additude

and craftmanship are the key in this industry.I recently ventured out on my own and started my own business.Best move I ever made.I used to work for an oil company, we offered 24/7 and all the techs carried a pager one week a month. nothing worse than getting paged a 2:30 am for a call back on a no-heat. Since April, I have had no call backs, DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. Best move I ever made.Very busy, I have more time to spend with my son.Am planning to go on vacation this week to the lovely state of Arizona. I still offer 24/7 but am not worried about my customers for that week.Let the class know of the endless carreer ops in this field. But it comes down to quality work and additude.

chris smith_2

chat

hb,

i've done the talk for years on career day at the local high school and i like to stress the positive enviromental impact we have creating an efficiant heating system how one done right is not only cheaper to run and more comfortable to live with but also pollutes less, how designing and properly installing a new system is a great way to show both creativity and craftsmanship, also i like to tell them that if they are the best at what they do they will never be out of work and they will always be well paid. hope this helps

chris smith

paradise porter maine

Mark Eatherton1

My neighbors son...

the one who worked with me last summer, is also enrolled in Vocational School here in Denver. If you want I can ask him to come here and comment on what motivates him. I suspect the bottom line is $, but could be wrong.

Let me know if you want me to ask him over, he's internet active already.

ME

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Bill_14

Amen !!

Attitude is the secret ingredient. You said it correctly bigugh. Attitude is the recipe for success or failure in any endeavor.

Bill

John R. Hall

Get with the times

Kids need to learn about the "neat stuff" in the mechanical trades. Go to a school during a career day (I do it) and bring all of your fancy gadgets. Wow the kids with some of the neat functions of your test equipment (keep it light and fun -- not technical). Find out which kid the others look up to get into his head. Kids face a tremendous amount of peer pressure. They'll follow the leaders. Yeah, you'll have to wait a few years but you could be helping the trade that you'll pass on to your family or employees.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

thanks for the tips

wednesday i'm going to help the local boy scout troop get their plumbing merit badges. luckily there is a workbook to go by. the scouts must thread a pipe, solder a joint, clean a trap, change a washer, etc. it should be interesting. bob

Online Sheriff \"Murph\"

another idea !!

form the rountable (not me) is use some stories from "on the job" located below the desanko fitting on the left bar pipe thingy !! and also some articles from folks that are some funny stuff over there somewhere too !!

billygoat22

Interesting you should mention studying on your own- Itold the guys that have worked with me to go in the training room and read the books in there. Of course, technical ability doesn't mean anything if you don't have integrety and desire to do the job well- even when its not convenient. I haven't figured a way to teach that yet, so people "get it". I've seen some don't want to work to hard, piddle at some small job, and not try to do it as well as you possibly can, like sweep around the dumpster. I imagine that the self made millionares not only swept around the dumpster, but ran the broom under it to really do the job up right, and carried that attitude all through their successes

tim from Reed Wright

giving encouragement

Heatboy, I started in this business in 1982, working with an owner of a company who I think was 78 at the time. He had ran the business since 1938. He brought me in and started me doing odd jobs around the place and then out in the field. He was very well respected in the community and even though blind, considered very knowledgeable. He tought my partner and I a respect for customers and a conscience. This meant pay it back, as you said in your ?? Don't take more than you need, leave a little for them. Make them smile when there heat comes on when your done and don't make them frown when you write them a bill. I now own this company with my partner and we still try to keep that balance of a fair return but don't clean out the bank. That bank is what has let us be our own bosses and provided a good income for our workers. This along with the great knowledge that we learn in our day to day jobs should be reward enough to bring the people we want in our industry.