Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Advice for the New Students

When you are on the clock, WORK! I tell my son all the time, work hard, play hard. Enjoy yourself on your time off, but when it comes to work, bust your but. I have always lived this. And don't keep blowing your own horn, your work and dedication will do that for you.

Another thing I've learned is to never be afraid to try something. Don't be afraid to take something apart in order to fix it. It's easy to get that "Deer in the headlights" look when you see something new, but for the most part the concepts are all the same. Take a step back and think for a minute, then dive in.

Given that, don't be afraid to ask for help. The only dumb question is the one you don't ask.

Be an ambassador for your company. Always say please and thank you, be polite and helpful when dealing with customers.

And above all, be safe!

Comments

  • Eugene Silberstein 3
    Eugene Silberstein 3 Member Posts: 1,380
    Any Advice

    Greetings All,

    We just started a brand new group of students at the college. They seem to be very eager to learn.

    What words of advice/support can you offer them?
  • Techman
    Techman Member Posts: 2,144
    NEWBIES

    Greatings !By hook or by crook you have entered a fabulous profession and you also have a fabulous Instructor. Professor Silberstein! My advise is this "Study ,Study,Learn, Learn, Study a little more ,Learn a little more" Oh yeah, now for the BIG ONE ,You must ENJOY yourself while doing your part in this profession . GOOD LUCK TO ALL!
  • Paul Fredricks_3
    Paul Fredricks_3 Member Posts: 1,557


    One other thing. One of my teachers 25 years ago said to me, "There is no good reason you can give me for doing a bad job". Do it right the first time.
  • Mitch_4
    Mitch_4 Member Posts: 955
    While all may not be applicable

    Here is a synapsis of a speech Bill Gates once gave. I sits in a frame on my office wall at home.

    "Bill Gates' speech to MT. WHITNEY HIGH SCHOOL in Visalia, California.

    To anyone with kids of any age, or anyone who has ever been a kid, here's some advice Bill Gates recently dished out at a high school speech about
    11 things they did not and will not learn in school.

    Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it.

    Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

    Rule 3: You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

    Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

    Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.

    Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

    Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

    Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

    Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

    Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

    Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. "

    Mitch
  • Paul Fredricks_3
    Paul Fredricks_3 Member Posts: 1,557


    Think I'll put that on my son's door.
  • Empire_2
    Empire_2 Member Posts: 2,343
    Advice:....

    Learn all the little things that you think now, aren't important. Be willing to learn and to share information. some people do not like to do this in fear of job security. Make the job fun while getting it done. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I still do and I have been in it for 24 years. If I knew all the answers,...I would be "God" like and I don't want that job....;-) Most of all,...All jobs are important and they have to be done correctly. Do not get frustrated with menial things cause if you think about it,....it has to be done and you are the person in charge of that job. Meaning, while changing filters or something easy, keep an eye or ear out for something that doesen't sound or look right. You can save the customer MEGA dollars because you take pride in what you are doing......;-)

    Mike T.
  • Eugene Silberstein 3
    Eugene Silberstein 3 Member Posts: 1,380
    Thanks, Mike

    Thanks for the words of wisdom....
  • Eugene Silberstein 3
    Eugene Silberstein 3 Member Posts: 1,380
    I Printed This

    I printed this for my home office.

    Good stuff.
  • Mitch_4
    Mitch_4 Member Posts: 955
    I Liked it

    because the system of education in North America sets young folks up to fail. There is no responsibility, no consequences..then real world hits and they are depressed. My neighbors son and daugther is on their 3rd and 5th job in 4 years, because the others were "too hard" and they expected her there at 8 am til 4:30 with a 1/2 hour UNPAID (can you believe it?!?!) lunch. Thanks god they are not inthe trades..they'd be puddles..

    Failure is the best learning tool, and schools dont use it.

    I will help my kids if they ask, but I do not badger them about homework, they dont do it..they pay the piper (and I am one of those pipers too).

    Eugene..I have never met you, but by all accounts you are an excellent instructor..teach the most important lesson of all, you will fail, you will make mistakes, its ok to seek assistance, but learn from it, don't ignore what is being done because someone else fixed it. If you don't learn from your mistakes your wasting everyones time.

    Mitch
  • Eugene Silberstein 3
    Eugene Silberstein 3 Member Posts: 1,380
    Well said

    Well said and thanks for the kind words.
  • Eugene Silberstein 3
    Eugene Silberstein 3 Member Posts: 1,380
    ONE MORE WORD

    Guys,

    Make certain that you read the material BEFORE class!

    :)

    Prof. S.
  • Weezbo
    Weezbo Member Posts: 6,232
    Bust out the books.

    when given a list of books to read, read ten more on the subject...

    periodicals ,often have new perspectives on old ideas..... with controls changing in the terms of quality availability and parameters of influence read even the simpilest statements with depth.....

    remember it is not that you know everything there is to know ... you just know where to find it :)

    burn plenty daylight reading...you have that opportunity now.
This discussion has been closed.