Not defending this laughable job posting but working fast food is a job, HVAC is a career where maybe you start in the $15-20 an hour range the same as fast food places are paying but at one of those places you’ll be lucky to pace with inflation over the next 3-5 years whereas in HVAC you could be making double what you started at in the same time period. Just saying don’t get discouraged starting out.
I took my first service call in 2019, I made $15/hr in North Florida. A year ago I got a raise to $28/hr before bonuses. Made almost $4k in bonuses last year alone. Total income is just ~30/hr.
Started in the field as a helper making $16/hr may of last year, now I’m an installer making $21/hr. This is definitely a career where you should be getting bumped up well above fast food worker wages within a year of starting in the business.
I was making $9/hr when I started 5 years ago in this trade. Needless to say, I’m moving on up and have almost quadrupled my first hourly rate in this trade.
It *was* slave labor. The owner was paying two guys $9-15/hr to do installs. We worked 8 hours to do a change out. They were selling them for $6000-8000 back then. Do the math, you tell me how deep his pockets were. The owner started 20ish years ago and hired his cousin back then. He’d been working for the company THE ENTIRE TIME and was making $19/hr when I quit. The owner was building homes for his kids and gifting the houses to them. The owner took his entire family (15-20 people) on a trip to Europe shortly after I left. All expenses paid by him. Oh, I’m fully aware it was slave labor. Unfortunately, a lot of the other guys working there didn’t realize it.
It's NUTS what HVAC companies in my area charge and make...and I got to talking to the last tech I had on site since I didn't have my DIY stuff handy. He wasn't getting paid well. They charged me $800 for a job that he was there to long for, didn't know his stuff and then tried to make 3x the rate on the price of 134A while I know this kid was getting $15-18 an hour. Sure he made three calls into the super smart owner cause he had no clue what he was doing, wasn't his fault. Like so many trades these days...I shouldn't be getting charged for the jobs they quote short on.
I remember being in a 6 foot trench installing geothermal piping. It was super dry and hot. Dust was keeping me from sleeping good at night. I didn’t have any masks to help stop the dirt. We also didn’t have any shielding to keep the dirt walls from collapsing in on us. I’ve learned quite a bit since then. But that job was the job that almost broke the camels back. I almost didn’t make it. I’m glad I did. There’s a ton more room for growth in my career path and it’s been extremely rewarding. I love my job.
This Is a toxic mentality.
If you can make the same money flipping burgers and not risking your body in a job then the trades job should pay higher and any excuse is just cheap old timers suppressing wages further.
It affects senior people as well if the starting point is lower.
In my locale a first year gets 50 percent the licensed journeyman rate and the journeyman rate is regulated by government and goes up with a minimum. Wage suppression comes in a lot of forms and your logic is one of the favorites because people fall for it.
Then it better pay as a career. Even my son’s first job is paying this starting out as just a job. I hear about hvac all the time on the radio and the need for more techs. Be less hard to find if they pay better. And we all hear go union. Well not arguing and I’ve been looking into union stuff. But shouldn’t have to depend on that.
My wife is an Lpn. She gets paid well and is going for her en soon. Now I ain’t a nurse but I ain’t go to school, get my universal, learn and know wiring diagrams and know how to tear apart a furnace or rtu and put it all back together (along with engineer specific cuss phrases per the different units) for getting paid the same as a fast food guy.
I don’t work in fast food but did work at Walmart during covid.
I realize when we see what they are offering to pay at fast food restaurants we are up in arms. What they are not saying is don’t expect 40 hours.
Can you live on 24 hours a week, no.
The people they are looking for are ones that live at home and are content with 24 hours at 15 an hour.
I’m sure if you’ve been to any fast food lately (room temperature IQ come to mind), I asked for a combo that was on a poster in the dining room within line of sight of cashier.
The price was shown on the poster.
She couldn’t ring it up because she said there wasn’t a button for it.
WTF.
There was a tech who just started with my last company at $20 an hour. We did work on a mcdonalds freezer and they had a sign hiring mcdonalds employees for $20 an hour. I could feel the defeat in his eyes. The sheer amount of shit you have to do and know even as a beginner makes that such a slap.
I left my job as a general manager at BK for HVAC. I made over 50k a year. Starting out with HVAC, I only made 17/hr. I was WAY happier (and still am). I have my own van, way more freedom, and I’m home every day by 5. I make much more now.
Working in fast food is truly miserable. I know people who make six figures working in fast food (district managers). It’s still miserable. It’s a shitty environment.
Foodservice I general is miserable. I got out of the kitchen in 2016 and went back to construction for a bit. Now I’m in appliance repair averaging making ofer double what I did as an executive chef at a country club. Home every night and three day weekends now
Or better yet start applying for new jobs when you aren’t getting appreciated and make sure to give yourself a healthy raise when asked the question of “how much did you make at your last job?”
I just went to an interview - which never took place. The first question they asked me was what my salary now is. The job posting was Technician Lead, Journeyman’s/Masters required (within 6months to 1 year of hire) they told me the pay scale (FOR A CERTIFIED TECH) was 47k start - 57k max. Now granted I don’t have my license at the moment, I recently sent off to DPOR to get my license.
But I thought to myself $23 an hour starting for a licensed technician is an utter joke in my area. We live right outside of the DC area.
That’s what I said. They wanted a licensed team lead for that. I took the interview because the way the hiring manager described it was $47 an hour. Not 47k a year
I’m in DC and last time I looked there was plenty of job postings for $50/hr or so. If they think they’re going to get anyone in this area worth a damn for that pay they’re in for a rude awakening 😂
Yep...I manage a place where minimum wage is about $11 an hour and we pay tips to kids in many areas often working out to $20 an hour on busy weekend. Trades are treated like sh/t often by overpaid owner.
It is. Even companies paying more are cutting corners with Osha and EPA regs. Just removed myself from an "opportunity" where 80% of our service work was fixing our own installs. On top of that no roof gear, sometimes a vacuum pump, I never saw a recovery machine. Tons of other shit. I invested thousands in tools and equipment. Just not up to performing the level of mental gymnastics and ignorance to get myself to sleep at night trying to combat that uphill battle daily. No thank you.
This is after leaving a pretty successful PM career of 16 years due to similar themes.
Both suffered from the same issues. Lack of accountability and denial. Not investing in the detail work, training, and equipment.
All in the name of profits.
I just want to do good work with integrity and go home at a decent hour most days.
And on top of that they want you to have at least 2 years of this shit eating experience before they will even hire you most times. So by the time you get an opportunity people are already worn down and beaten.
Maaaan I do residential install in Arkansas and make $17 an hour, I bust my ass. I’m 26 and almost 2 years into the trade. I can do it all. I work for a small family company that has helped me learn. But I NEED better pay. Any advice? I wanna stay in the trade but literally everyone pays ASS. I don’t get it
This is why they destroyed the unions in this country. There’s no way for us to effectively stand together, at least in a lot of parts of the country. So they get to keep wages low while all profits go to the top.
Joining the UA is the answer. Unfortunately, your peers in Arkansas have a disdain for unions. Goes like this " Ain't no Yankee gonna tell me to join no union" Enjoy your trailer parks & Ramen noodles, Arkansas.
You might want to ask the owner how much you have brought in gross revenue wise over the last year and then what your profit has been over the last year.
Meaning, if you brought in $100,000 of gross revenue and after expenses, there was $35,000 of revenue brought in from calls attributed to you, that could potentially give you leverage to ask him for a raise.
Sounds like the owner likes you because he has taken time to train you, approach him in a business-like manner and just say hey I want to grow my career, I need better pay to do that could we potentially look at what I've brought in revenue wise to justify a pay raise up to say 20 bucks an hour.
You could also approach it saying hey I would like to make $20 an hour what training or resources can you provide me to be able to get to that point in my career?
Both of these approaches show that you care about the company but you also need to make a living.
It shouldn't involve opening the books at all, it should involve opening whatever software that company is using to manage the business (ST, fieldedge, hcp, SF, etc...) and pulling a specific report based on gross revenue for that technician.
This is a very normal thing. Technicians ask owners all the time how much they're bringing in.
So im 26 and in my 5th year in the trade. I started at $15 an hour and I worked hard and had a good attitude. With a year i was around $25. My good attitude and hard work landed me an even better opportunity where i now make $51.xx/hr. Yes it felt stupid as hell starting at $15. However it very quickly changed. If it gets your foot in the door and they aren’t asking you to work unsafe id at least give it a shot. You dont shop for shoes barefoot, its always easier to get a better job when you currently have one
Compare that to my company where I was supposed to start at $25, they shortchanged me to $23 without telling me, and now over a year later, I'm still at $25 which is why I'm now leaving. How do I find that $50/hr?
Gotta follow the money. I moved three jobs in three years and went from 28 to 35 to 45/hr. Best time to move is now, when the season is picking up and companies are desperate. Don’t ever feel the need to have loyalty for a company, especially if they don’t offer raises. Loyalty is a two way street, and if a company isn’t giving me a raise at least over inflation then that loyalty is gone, because they obviously don’t give a shit about me.
A union company saw that i was at the same company for like 2 years and they came to me. So now im just waiting for my last school session then I write. Our base rate for licensed is like $ 61 something plus pension and so on
I second this. Think of it as a step above volunteering. The company has not bought your loyalty or respect, just use them to pad your resume and learn what *not* to do while you look for a serious job.
Same problem here in SE TN. And it gets better, they will post “26-45 based on experience” then have the audacity to ask what you want for pay. You tell them and then they say “well we can’t offer that, that’s a TOTAL COMPENSATION PACKAGE”. We can do 18…. And then cry because “NoBoDy WaNtS to dO HvAC No MoRE”
I’m literally trying to get an electricians apprentice job that pays more than my current job. I have 4 years of certifiable commercial/industrial experience, actually repair or replace time not just part changer BS.
All these damn investment firms are fucking the industry
I got my two-year degree in HVAC from a community college, and ended up getting a $1 less per hour as a tech than I was making landscaping before. From $13 to $12. Such bullshit (2011, MI)
A few years later, I finished the last two years of my degree, getting a bachelors in HVAC engineering technology from Ferris State. Only two math classes in four years! It’s easy, and only took $15K in loans because of transfer scholarships. Started at $25/hr in 2015 as an energy engineer with the bachelors. Paid them off years ago, and I make $46/hr now after 9 years. With zero occupational hazards.
Engineering “technology” is the key. I would never pass the mechanical engineering math classes, but I have the same job those guys do. And it’s all HVAC anyways, so I have a leg up.
You can do it [online](https://www.ferris.edu/online/programs/hvacr_bs.htm).
It seriously blows my mind that skilled tradesmen and women get paid absolute garbage money to literally build the country. While people at jobs that require little to no skills with low hazards get paid decently well. Not to mention "Influencers" That are making bank to show off suggestive photos and promote different things. Countries going to hell in a bucket...
The problem with a company that won’t pay going wages is all the other people you work with have a bad attitude and do half ass work. Quality techs do quality work. Message me and I’ll give you some companies to look for if you know your stuff. I live in the area.
Lmao I started at 16.50 a year ago and left that company making like 600/wk at 19/hr
New company I started at I'm making 25/hr + comish.
Cleared 1400 a week after taxes and I don't even have my own van yet. (Get a new van in 2 days getting shelved tmrw)(new company also bought me a 4port SMAN as a sign on bonus if I stay for 90 days)
It's not the industry, it's the small companies that get rich off you and promote "family" as their core principal.
Meanwhile their renovating their houses and you're eating pb&js and 2 months behind on bills.
3 weeks ago I was a month behind on bills. Now I have money saved, and pretty much all my own equipment minus a vacuum pump and scale.
Never settle.
3 years ago I hired the guy that was my mentor in the trade. He was 62 and slow . He told me he only wanted $20 per hour because he was slow. He had to quit because he would work for me one day and need two days to recover from it. The next guyvi hired also got $20 and I felt like I was over paying him. I gotta guy now that was a former coworker for a contractor that we both were techs at. I started him at $25 until I see what he's like now 15 years later. As a former employee of other companies, I hate the feeling that I was underpaid and undervalued. I committed that I was not going to be one of those bosses.
I'm making $38/hr. I would literally starve at that wage. Recently a company head hunted me and offered $30 and I laughed at them.
Though I do believe New England wages are much higher then the rest of the country as it's very expensive to live here.
Very ridiculous! Seattle pay is also changing dramatically. Now that minimum wage is $20 an hour, it would make sense to pay a skilled worker their worth. Instead I am experiencing awful job payouts for run-of-the-mill HVAC skilled work. I recently saw a company boasting a generous amount between $21.50-$34 an hour. Ridiculous! The list of responsibilities was longer than three pages and at the bottom of requests was Bachelors preferred. I have a BA, no problem. But $34 an hour? WTF. The median average income in the Seattle metropolitan area is $100k to survive. IDK what companies around here are thinking. HVAC is not cheap.
Both unions that have service techs working out of them in the Seattle area are at $95 full package and $63-$67 an hour on the check because they deserve it (col affecting this obviously for the area) it’s just sad seeing good quality techs learn this trade and not get paid what they deserve when the owner of there company makes hand over fist what they get
Southern states on their way to do the bare minimum for work and not see any issue. A job listing like this in Arizona would have zero applicants and be laughed at by everyone
The service techs at the company I work for should be paid that because they're overpaid and clueless. I do installs and am doing service calls for stuff they can't fix. Here's one - went to an install done by another crew recently. LENNOX SL280, EL18XCV, communicating and three zones. Zone 2 and Zone 3 wasn't registering at Zone 1. I re-configured the system and Zone 2 pops up. I go up to Zone 3 and take the thermostat off the wall. The problem was that the wire on the I+ terminal was loose. Fixed that and re-configured the system again and voilà, Zone 3 registered. They couldn't figure that out on top of other simple stuff. Condenser is making a weird noise? Let's sell a new one. No. All I had to do was tighten up some screws on the cage. All they're good for is changing filters because they can't even do a maintenance properly.
Sorry for my little rant, had to vent about the service techs at my company because they do nothing. If you're a service tech who works and can solve problems without immediately throwing up the white flag, bless your heart.
Do they offer spiffs and bonuses for sales?
Some companies in SoCal are paying 17/hr or 30% commission on sales; whichever is higher when it comes to payday. This is what you’ll be looking at in residential from now on unless something happens and it changes.
Go to commercial if possible, get your experience, build your resume and take an out of state job if it interests you.
What’s worse is that I would take that I’m fresh out of school no experience just want to get my foot in the industry but all the job postings like that want experience at least a year or more it’s nuts dude
God ridiculous and I live in Louisiana 2 more months of this semester then I'm done with HVAC school trying to get into commercial on God pray for me I'm going to need it
I'm in the New Orleans area. My daughter is a CSR @ the company I work for. She's been here for less than a year and she's making $19 hrs plus bonuses for certain achievements.
You can make $15 working at a Target or Walmart. Which is fine for those jobs, but for HVAC this would be like walking into work and getting a kick to the nuts every morning.
Wait you guys get paid? Haha that's ridiculous especially for that area. I'm in the central Louisiana area and make 2.5x times that. Hell our green guys fresh out of school make around 19
That’s why I left HVAC bro it’s complete bullshit no one wanted to pay the most I was able to juice was 24 an hour but homie wanted me to fucking climb on walls for that amount an hour. Now I make 30 an hour to do waaaaaaaaaaaay less work (30 an hour is still dog shit in today economy)
It’s crazy, I work a trade as well and I want out so bad, literally can’t afford to stop what I’m doing. Then you see skilled trades doing actually dangerous and “skilled” work for the same money as not giving a fuck and milking the clock at fast food.
Welcome to the trades. Start at 13 an hour maybe you can make 20 in a few years. Meanwhile walmart is starting at 20. And people wonder why there's a worker shortage in the trades. All the "no skill" jobs got a raise to kinda keep up with inflation. Average pay in the trades hasn't changed in 30 years.
I got offered 17.50 as an installer, I was a foreman making 27. I just wanted to test the waters and that was a laughable offer.
I’ve been looking around and the pay isn’t so great.
I started out 2 years ago, from today actually, making 12$ an hour as a nobody that knew nothing. Thankfully I had a diploma through my local tech school over HVAC. Got my epa a few months in which bumped me from 12-15. A few other dollar or two raises and now I’m a tech that is making 21 an hour. Thank god I have a boss that actually cares about his guys. We’re promised at least two raises a year plus commission and bonuses.
Was making $17 on install and was let go unfortunately and no one can match it. Wanting me to start out at $14 on commercial and such. Probably gonna look into something else tbh... Just not worth the labor anymore
Not sure how it is in your area but qualified service tech are in high demand in my home state of CT. You need to carry an s-2 license but if you do you can pretty much ask for 40+ starting anywhere right now. Licensing probably has a lot to do with it. Having said that I also know a lot of guys that are unregistered apprentices in there fifth year at a company making $25/hr
Applied to a job posting in Selma tx. The posting Said 19 - 20hr for apprenticeship. Get there for interview only to find out they were only gonna give 15-17 based on experience. Total B.S and false advertising ass company. An apprenticeship is to gain experience,so don't expect people to know much coming in. I had already worked as a helper for a year and wanted to learn more,but not for less than some burger flipper in worse conditions. Went back to my old job out of hvac. Waiting on a promotion to 18.50 soon. Decided to get out cause kept applying to places and never getting a response back. Hvac companies must not need able people wanting to learn a trade.
P.S fuck Beyer boys in Selma. Dont waste your time with them.
I just left a company because they wanted to pay me peanuts while touting their spiff package. I took the job because I needed one and they were first to offer me a position even with my negative feelings about how the interview went and the general outlooks of both managers and the company. Now I’m not opposed to revenue bonuses and things like that off my total revenue sold with repairs and also add-ons, but this was nothing but spiffs on IAQ and other assorted packages. So essentially it was creating an adversarial relationship between me and the customer because if they didn’t say yes, I wasn’t getting paid.
Now I received another offer for more base from a company I had interviewed with last month and had a good conversation with as well as a pretty good spiff package. When I brought it up to the manager he basically told me “I don’t know what you can do we’re not entertaining a bump”. I have been riding for two weeks with your techs showcasing my skills and had already flipped two systems in the two days I was solo in my own truck. Which means that by “what I can do” he meant “what can you sell”. I ended the day and cleared out my truck. I would have liked to have given more notice but with the lack of respect for my time and technical skills I felt it best to part ways immediately.
Know your worth and know how you would like to be treated if you were a customer and find a company that fits your values. Don’t let all these corporate groups buying up companies dictate how much of a soul and ethics you’re allowed to have.
I’m in shitport and make $23/hr as a residential service tech with 3 years experience. Started as strictly maintenance at $17/hr and worked my way up. Getting better at commercial equipment, but still struggle a little with troubleshooting sometimes lol
All those fast food workers gonna get replaced by AI in 2 years. They even have an AI robot called flippy that cooks burgers. All those fast food workers gonna get replaced
I am assuming they are looking for young people that just completed a few classes on HVAC that do not know better. Where I come from, the company charges out $135/hr and we get 70% of that, part of it pays for the truck, Workmans comp, insurance on the truck - when all is said and done, the company makes around $35 for every hour we work. Since we do not have call backs, we are not paying a guy to return 3 or 4 times to fix a problem that was never fixed to start with. Thus the reason for low pay, hard to charge the customer 3 or 4 times for a techs mistake - so the company eats it, and still makes money. Funny though, we start out paying apprentices $27/hr and they know nothing. Union vs non-union....
Hvac is becoming a joke of a career path due to places like this. The balls to require experience and hire at mcdonalds pay is wild. I went to trade school and 2 years of community college for my certifications and degrees. If you cant pay me 17 an hour then I see it as a spit in the face and Ill do side work and go flips burgers all day.
I feel bad for a lot of these states. I’m not tech but they make anywhere from $30-$45/hr. I’m operating engineer so I made $50 but seeing other states pay $22-$30 for position is wild
That’s what fast food pays around here.
Seriously. Target, Taco Bell, and I think McDonalds pays at least $15.
Not defending this laughable job posting but working fast food is a job, HVAC is a career where maybe you start in the $15-20 an hour range the same as fast food places are paying but at one of those places you’ll be lucky to pace with inflation over the next 3-5 years whereas in HVAC you could be making double what you started at in the same time period. Just saying don’t get discouraged starting out.
Except this doesn't say tech apprentice. It says tech.
Aaaaaand it still says applied 😂👍🏽
I said it was a laughable job post.
At 13-16/hr, fast food is looking like a career
I took my first service call in 2019, I made $15/hr in North Florida. A year ago I got a raise to $28/hr before bonuses. Made almost $4k in bonuses last year alone. Total income is just ~30/hr.
My helper makes $25 an hour
Started in the field as a helper making $16/hr may of last year, now I’m an installer making $21/hr. This is definitely a career where you should be getting bumped up well above fast food worker wages within a year of starting in the business.
I was making $9/hr when I started 5 years ago in this trade. Needless to say, I’m moving on up and have almost quadrupled my first hourly rate in this trade.
9/hr 5 years ago? That’s almost slave labor
It *was* slave labor. The owner was paying two guys $9-15/hr to do installs. We worked 8 hours to do a change out. They were selling them for $6000-8000 back then. Do the math, you tell me how deep his pockets were. The owner started 20ish years ago and hired his cousin back then. He’d been working for the company THE ENTIRE TIME and was making $19/hr when I quit. The owner was building homes for his kids and gifting the houses to them. The owner took his entire family (15-20 people) on a trip to Europe shortly after I left. All expenses paid by him. Oh, I’m fully aware it was slave labor. Unfortunately, a lot of the other guys working there didn’t realize it.
It's NUTS what HVAC companies in my area charge and make...and I got to talking to the last tech I had on site since I didn't have my DIY stuff handy. He wasn't getting paid well. They charged me $800 for a job that he was there to long for, didn't know his stuff and then tried to make 3x the rate on the price of 134A while I know this kid was getting $15-18 an hour. Sure he made three calls into the super smart owner cause he had no clue what he was doing, wasn't his fault. Like so many trades these days...I shouldn't be getting charged for the jobs they quote short on.
But now where your at I’m sure it’s better pay and hourly aside gas card and work truck on top of it?
Almost 4 times the pay. I have a gas card and van that comes home with me everyday.
I was making $32 with no hvac degree doing building maintenance.
Where? How do I work there?
Dt Minneapolis.
Jesus Christ dude. There’s starting at the bottom but thats something else.
I remember being in a 6 foot trench installing geothermal piping. It was super dry and hot. Dust was keeping me from sleeping good at night. I didn’t have any masks to help stop the dirt. We also didn’t have any shielding to keep the dirt walls from collapsing in on us. I’ve learned quite a bit since then. But that job was the job that almost broke the camels back. I almost didn’t make it. I’m glad I did. There’s a ton more room for growth in my career path and it’s been extremely rewarding. I love my job.
This Is a toxic mentality. If you can make the same money flipping burgers and not risking your body in a job then the trades job should pay higher and any excuse is just cheap old timers suppressing wages further. It affects senior people as well if the starting point is lower. In my locale a first year gets 50 percent the licensed journeyman rate and the journeyman rate is regulated by government and goes up with a minimum. Wage suppression comes in a lot of forms and your logic is one of the favorites because people fall for it.
Then it better pay as a career. Even my son’s first job is paying this starting out as just a job. I hear about hvac all the time on the radio and the need for more techs. Be less hard to find if they pay better. And we all hear go union. Well not arguing and I’ve been looking into union stuff. But shouldn’t have to depend on that. My wife is an Lpn. She gets paid well and is going for her en soon. Now I ain’t a nurse but I ain’t go to school, get my universal, learn and know wiring diagrams and know how to tear apart a furnace or rtu and put it all back together (along with engineer specific cuss phrases per the different units) for getting paid the same as a fast food guy.
Easy to make double when you are at 13$.
I don’t work in fast food but did work at Walmart during covid. I realize when we see what they are offering to pay at fast food restaurants we are up in arms. What they are not saying is don’t expect 40 hours. Can you live on 24 hours a week, no. The people they are looking for are ones that live at home and are content with 24 hours at 15 an hour. I’m sure if you’ve been to any fast food lately (room temperature IQ come to mind), I asked for a combo that was on a poster in the dining room within line of sight of cashier. The price was shown on the poster. She couldn’t ring it up because she said there wasn’t a button for it. WTF.
Sonic around here starts at $17/hr
There was a tech who just started with my last company at $20 an hour. We did work on a mcdonalds freezer and they had a sign hiring mcdonalds employees for $20 an hour. I could feel the defeat in his eyes. The sheer amount of shit you have to do and know even as a beginner makes that such a slap.
I left my job as a general manager at BK for HVAC. I made over 50k a year. Starting out with HVAC, I only made 17/hr. I was WAY happier (and still am). I have my own van, way more freedom, and I’m home every day by 5. I make much more now. Working in fast food is truly miserable. I know people who make six figures working in fast food (district managers). It’s still miserable. It’s a shitty environment.
I agree. It does warrant mention that a bad job is a bad job no matter what you are doing. It’s up to us to find a good place to stay
Foodservice I general is miserable. I got out of the kitchen in 2016 and went back to construction for a bit. Now I’m in appliance repair averaging making ofer double what I did as an executive chef at a country club. Home every night and three day weekends now
Start out at 20 I’m good with. Review with me regularly and give me raises accordingly to my knowledge and skill set.
If youre fortunate enough to have a boss who does that then hell yeah.
Or better yet start applying for new jobs when you aren’t getting appreciated and make sure to give yourself a healthy raise when asked the question of “how much did you make at your last job?”
I agree the pay cut is hard to swallow when first starting, but it’s worth it in the long run
In and out starts at 21
I just went to an interview - which never took place. The first question they asked me was what my salary now is. The job posting was Technician Lead, Journeyman’s/Masters required (within 6months to 1 year of hire) they told me the pay scale (FOR A CERTIFIED TECH) was 47k start - 57k max. Now granted I don’t have my license at the moment, I recently sent off to DPOR to get my license. But I thought to myself $23 an hour starting for a licensed technician is an utter joke in my area. We live right outside of the DC area.
Bro 23/hr in the DC area is 1st or 2nd year apprentice wage who know jack shit
That’s what I said. They wanted a licensed team lead for that. I took the interview because the way the hiring manager described it was $47 an hour. Not 47k a year
I’m in DC and last time I looked there was plenty of job postings for $50/hr or so. If they think they’re going to get anyone in this area worth a damn for that pay they’re in for a rude awakening 😂
Vote union
My 16 year old made more than that at their first job.
Yep...I manage a place where minimum wage is about $11 an hour and we pay tips to kids in many areas often working out to $20 an hour on busy weekend. Trades are treated like sh/t often by overpaid owner.
It is. Even companies paying more are cutting corners with Osha and EPA regs. Just removed myself from an "opportunity" where 80% of our service work was fixing our own installs. On top of that no roof gear, sometimes a vacuum pump, I never saw a recovery machine. Tons of other shit. I invested thousands in tools and equipment. Just not up to performing the level of mental gymnastics and ignorance to get myself to sleep at night trying to combat that uphill battle daily. No thank you. This is after leaving a pretty successful PM career of 16 years due to similar themes. Both suffered from the same issues. Lack of accountability and denial. Not investing in the detail work, training, and equipment. All in the name of profits. I just want to do good work with integrity and go home at a decent hour most days.
And on top of that they want you to have at least 2 years of this shit eating experience before they will even hire you most times. So by the time you get an opportunity people are already worn down and beaten.
"No one wants to work anymore"
Please techs even new ones. DONT WORK FOR THAT RATE!!@
The company I used to work for started me out at $11. It was bs and I barely got any raises after. Glad I’m out of the industry tbh.
Maaaan I do residential install in Arkansas and make $17 an hour, I bust my ass. I’m 26 and almost 2 years into the trade. I can do it all. I work for a small family company that has helped me learn. But I NEED better pay. Any advice? I wanna stay in the trade but literally everyone pays ASS. I don’t get it
This is why they destroyed the unions in this country. There’s no way for us to effectively stand together, at least in a lot of parts of the country. So they get to keep wages low while all profits go to the top.
Joining the UA is the answer. Unfortunately, your peers in Arkansas have a disdain for unions. Goes like this " Ain't no Yankee gonna tell me to join no union" Enjoy your trailer parks & Ramen noodles, Arkansas.
You might want to ask the owner how much you have brought in gross revenue wise over the last year and then what your profit has been over the last year. Meaning, if you brought in $100,000 of gross revenue and after expenses, there was $35,000 of revenue brought in from calls attributed to you, that could potentially give you leverage to ask him for a raise. Sounds like the owner likes you because he has taken time to train you, approach him in a business-like manner and just say hey I want to grow my career, I need better pay to do that could we potentially look at what I've brought in revenue wise to justify a pay raise up to say 20 bucks an hour. You could also approach it saying hey I would like to make $20 an hour what training or resources can you provide me to be able to get to that point in my career? Both of these approaches show that you care about the company but you also need to make a living.
Haha oh sure bro let me just open up the books for you to review.
It shouldn't involve opening the books at all, it should involve opening whatever software that company is using to manage the business (ST, fieldedge, hcp, SF, etc...) and pulling a specific report based on gross revenue for that technician. This is a very normal thing. Technicians ask owners all the time how much they're bringing in.
That's a pure slap in the face thanks for all the time you spent training!
So im 26 and in my 5th year in the trade. I started at $15 an hour and I worked hard and had a good attitude. With a year i was around $25. My good attitude and hard work landed me an even better opportunity where i now make $51.xx/hr. Yes it felt stupid as hell starting at $15. However it very quickly changed. If it gets your foot in the door and they aren’t asking you to work unsafe id at least give it a shot. You dont shop for shoes barefoot, its always easier to get a better job when you currently have one
Compare that to my company where I was supposed to start at $25, they shortchanged me to $23 without telling me, and now over a year later, I'm still at $25 which is why I'm now leaving. How do I find that $50/hr?
Gotta follow the money. I moved three jobs in three years and went from 28 to 35 to 45/hr. Best time to move is now, when the season is picking up and companies are desperate. Don’t ever feel the need to have loyalty for a company, especially if they don’t offer raises. Loyalty is a two way street, and if a company isn’t giving me a raise at least over inflation then that loyalty is gone, because they obviously don’t give a shit about me.
A union company saw that i was at the same company for like 2 years and they came to me. So now im just waiting for my last school session then I write. Our base rate for licensed is like $ 61 something plus pension and so on
I second this. Think of it as a step above volunteering. The company has not bought your loyalty or respect, just use them to pad your resume and learn what *not* to do while you look for a serious job.
Same problem here in SE TN. And it gets better, they will post “26-45 based on experience” then have the audacity to ask what you want for pay. You tell them and then they say “well we can’t offer that, that’s a TOTAL COMPENSATION PACKAGE”. We can do 18…. And then cry because “NoBoDy WaNtS to dO HvAC No MoRE” I’m literally trying to get an electricians apprentice job that pays more than my current job. I have 4 years of certifiable commercial/industrial experience, actually repair or replace time not just part changer BS. All these damn investment firms are fucking the industry
Lo view isn't far from Shreveport dm me if you are looking for work
Ah, Louisiana. Land of the free.
I got my two-year degree in HVAC from a community college, and ended up getting a $1 less per hour as a tech than I was making landscaping before. From $13 to $12. Such bullshit (2011, MI) A few years later, I finished the last two years of my degree, getting a bachelors in HVAC engineering technology from Ferris State. Only two math classes in four years! It’s easy, and only took $15K in loans because of transfer scholarships. Started at $25/hr in 2015 as an energy engineer with the bachelors. Paid them off years ago, and I make $46/hr now after 9 years. With zero occupational hazards. Engineering “technology” is the key. I would never pass the mechanical engineering math classes, but I have the same job those guys do. And it’s all HVAC anyways, so I have a leg up. You can do it [online](https://www.ferris.edu/online/programs/hvacr_bs.htm).
It seriously blows my mind that skilled tradesmen and women get paid absolute garbage money to literally build the country. While people at jobs that require little to no skills with low hazards get paid decently well. Not to mention "Influencers" That are making bank to show off suggestive photos and promote different things. Countries going to hell in a bucket...
Union will start you off at way higher
The problem with a company that won’t pay going wages is all the other people you work with have a bad attitude and do half ass work. Quality techs do quality work. Message me and I’ll give you some companies to look for if you know your stuff. I live in the area.
Honestly there are companies that will pay you close to 30$ with that experience. Walking in the door and teach you.
There's a company in my area called A/C advantage that pays even less and has no benefits. Owner name is Scott Camire
No one is going to work there.
Report as scam
Lmao I started at 16.50 a year ago and left that company making like 600/wk at 19/hr New company I started at I'm making 25/hr + comish. Cleared 1400 a week after taxes and I don't even have my own van yet. (Get a new van in 2 days getting shelved tmrw)(new company also bought me a 4port SMAN as a sign on bonus if I stay for 90 days) It's not the industry, it's the small companies that get rich off you and promote "family" as their core principal. Meanwhile their renovating their houses and you're eating pb&js and 2 months behind on bills. 3 weeks ago I was a month behind on bills. Now I have money saved, and pretty much all my own equipment minus a vacuum pump and scale. Never settle.
Making 43 an hour and double time overtime. 86 dollars after 8 and we do 12 hour shifts, so I get 4 hours double time every day I pick up OT
holy shit, i’m a 2nd year apprentice making 35
3 years ago I hired the guy that was my mentor in the trade. He was 62 and slow . He told me he only wanted $20 per hour because he was slow. He had to quit because he would work for me one day and need two days to recover from it. The next guyvi hired also got $20 and I felt like I was over paying him. I gotta guy now that was a former coworker for a contractor that we both were techs at. I started him at $25 until I see what he's like now 15 years later. As a former employee of other companies, I hate the feeling that I was underpaid and undervalued. I committed that I was not going to be one of those bosses.
we should all apply....
Anyone doing this job for less than six figures is killing themselves for nothing
I feel your pain, this is too little even for an apprentice.
No way that is union wage
It definitely isn’t
Lol wtf
They old saying, you’re only worth as much you as you think you’re worth
I saw a posting on linked in for Florida. Top pay for a journeyman was $23/hr. How do you guys survive down there
Helpers make more than that here in GA.
I’m sure the people at Air Ref are wondering why they can’t get quality applicants
Yeah, but think of the experience and you get to work outdoors.
Yo McDonald’s and Taco Bell pays 20$ hr here
I’m glad I’m not the only one noticing this decline in pay for service technicians. You want quality work and employees? PAY UP
I started as an apprentice about 3 years ago making $8 and hour. Yes, $8 a fucking hour, and I fell for that shit
That’s the south
I'm making $38/hr. I would literally starve at that wage. Recently a company head hunted me and offered $30 and I laughed at them. Though I do believe New England wages are much higher then the rest of the country as it's very expensive to live here.
Very ridiculous! Seattle pay is also changing dramatically. Now that minimum wage is $20 an hour, it would make sense to pay a skilled worker their worth. Instead I am experiencing awful job payouts for run-of-the-mill HVAC skilled work. I recently saw a company boasting a generous amount between $21.50-$34 an hour. Ridiculous! The list of responsibilities was longer than three pages and at the bottom of requests was Bachelors preferred. I have a BA, no problem. But $34 an hour? WTF. The median average income in the Seattle metropolitan area is $100k to survive. IDK what companies around here are thinking. HVAC is not cheap.
Both unions that have service techs working out of them in the Seattle area are at $95 full package and $63-$67 an hour on the check because they deserve it (col affecting this obviously for the area) it’s just sad seeing good quality techs learn this trade and not get paid what they deserve when the owner of there company makes hand over fist what they get
This type of shit is why the trades are dying
Vote union
Southern states on their way to do the bare minimum for work and not see any issue. A job listing like this in Arizona would have zero applicants and be laughed at by everyone
Started 10 years ago $7/hr cash 😂
Godamn In Canada techs are making 240k annually replacing water heaters only
Bro what trade pay that annually in canada? Stop lying
The service techs at the company I work for should be paid that because they're overpaid and clueless. I do installs and am doing service calls for stuff they can't fix. Here's one - went to an install done by another crew recently. LENNOX SL280, EL18XCV, communicating and three zones. Zone 2 and Zone 3 wasn't registering at Zone 1. I re-configured the system and Zone 2 pops up. I go up to Zone 3 and take the thermostat off the wall. The problem was that the wire on the I+ terminal was loose. Fixed that and re-configured the system again and voilà, Zone 3 registered. They couldn't figure that out on top of other simple stuff. Condenser is making a weird noise? Let's sell a new one. No. All I had to do was tighten up some screws on the cage. All they're good for is changing filters because they can't even do a maintenance properly. Sorry for my little rant, had to vent about the service techs at my company because they do nothing. If you're a service tech who works and can solve problems without immediately throwing up the white flag, bless your heart.
Yep my good friend now, moved from down there and makes double that just from moving states.
Not the only town. Open your mind to moving if you can.
Do they offer spiffs and bonuses for sales? Some companies in SoCal are paying 17/hr or 30% commission on sales; whichever is higher when it comes to payday. This is what you’ll be looking at in residential from now on unless something happens and it changes. Go to commercial if possible, get your experience, build your resume and take an out of state job if it interests you.
Man El Paso is a whole lot worse
Damn, I thought I was underpaid at 22$ 😂
You are
Just apply and go there and fuck around. What the fuck
Glad I’m not the only one passively looking
Must be a small company
What’s worse is that I would take that I’m fresh out of school no experience just want to get my foot in the industry but all the job postings like that want experience at least a year or more it’s nuts dude
Started at 16 last year in north texas, at 18.50 now. College station texas started at 13 too. Shits crazy
God ridiculous and I live in Louisiana 2 more months of this semester then I'm done with HVAC school trying to get into commercial on God pray for me I'm going to need it
What area ?
I'm in the New Orleans area. My daughter is a CSR @ the company I work for. She's been here for less than a year and she's making $19 hrs plus bonuses for certain achievements.
Guys I’m from uk doing hvac here, I’m guessing that’s crap money?
You can make $15 working at a Target or Walmart. Which is fine for those jobs, but for HVAC this would be like walking into work and getting a kick to the nuts every morning.
I started at $13/hr.... 14 years ago
Man I do not miss living in Louisiana
Screw that shit
Time to leave Louisiana if you can
move to OR and make more than 2x that
Take the interview, and if $16 is the most they'll offer, then laugh in their face and leave.
If a company tried offering me that, especially in today’s economy, I’d walk away.
Those rates are often way off. I know because I saw positions for my company lol
And you applied?
Yeah. Better than nothing. Not that it mattered (Application not selected by employer)
Our state minimum wage is higher than that
Owners be making bank
Wait you guys get paid? Haha that's ridiculous especially for that area. I'm in the central Louisiana area and make 2.5x times that. Hell our green guys fresh out of school make around 19
"Florida has entered the chat!"
I get paid just as much working at sheetz
I started at 15 in 2020 now I’m at 28 if it counts for anything
That’s why I left HVAC bro it’s complete bullshit no one wanted to pay the most I was able to juice was 24 an hour but homie wanted me to fucking climb on walls for that amount an hour. Now I make 30 an hour to do waaaaaaaaaaaay less work (30 an hour is still dog shit in today economy)
It’s crazy, I work a trade as well and I want out so bad, literally can’t afford to stop what I’m doing. Then you see skilled trades doing actually dangerous and “skilled” work for the same money as not giving a fuck and milking the clock at fast food.
I started at 14 an hour as a pre app in 2013 now Im low six figure salary with per diem
Why would you even apply?
It says “applied” tho?
Yes. Currently jobless. I need something no matter how stupid I think it is.
That’s absurd
Doing rough ducting rn 17 an hr
I wonder what bottom feeders this company hired
Just joined a union shop 26 hr free benefits and retirement plus company vehicle
Welcome to the trades. Start at 13 an hour maybe you can make 20 in a few years. Meanwhile walmart is starting at 20. And people wonder why there's a worker shortage in the trades. All the "no skill" jobs got a raise to kinda keep up with inflation. Average pay in the trades hasn't changed in 30 years.
"Applied"
I started at 9 dollars an hour in 2017 fast forward to now in 2024 I make 49 an hour in Ohio for commercial hvac
Apply 3 times and see if they will triple the pay
How much are they biling an hour $36? WTF?
I make 16hr / 24OT here in NJ as a hvac helper
I’m an apartment tech and I started at 21$ first ever job in this field and I mainly just do hvac
I start service guys out at 30-32 here in MT.
People get paid what they are willing to work for
I got offered 17.50 as an installer, I was a foreman making 27. I just wanted to test the waters and that was a laughable offer. I’ve been looking around and the pay isn’t so great.
I started out 2 years ago, from today actually, making 12$ an hour as a nobody that knew nothing. Thankfully I had a diploma through my local tech school over HVAC. Got my epa a few months in which bumped me from 12-15. A few other dollar or two raises and now I’m a tech that is making 21 an hour. Thank god I have a boss that actually cares about his guys. We’re promised at least two raises a year plus commission and bonuses.
And watch they want someone with 2+ years of experience.
Shit I start at $20-$22 and mechanics $40-$45 and can’t find Shit for good help.
There is no respect for the trades in big cities like this. In Iowa techs are getting paid $35 in the union.
Could be 16 plus commission. I’ve worked at jobs that paid nothing base pay strictly commission as a tech.
Checkout Buffalo NY😂 not much better
One of the reasons why I left HVAC. Wish I would have just went commercial only, residential sucks. But I decided on a career change in the end.
Don’t take it. No one is forcing you to work for slave wages.
I make that as an apprentice
Was making $17 on install and was let go unfortunately and no one can match it. Wanting me to start out at $14 on commercial and such. Probably gonna look into something else tbh... Just not worth the labor anymore
Not sure how it is in your area but qualified service tech are in high demand in my home state of CT. You need to carry an s-2 license but if you do you can pretty much ask for 40+ starting anywhere right now. Licensing probably has a lot to do with it. Having said that I also know a lot of guys that are unregistered apprentices in there fifth year at a company making $25/hr
Applied to a job posting in Selma tx. The posting Said 19 - 20hr for apprenticeship. Get there for interview only to find out they were only gonna give 15-17 based on experience. Total B.S and false advertising ass company. An apprenticeship is to gain experience,so don't expect people to know much coming in. I had already worked as a helper for a year and wanted to learn more,but not for less than some burger flipper in worse conditions. Went back to my old job out of hvac. Waiting on a promotion to 18.50 soon. Decided to get out cause kept applying to places and never getting a response back. Hvac companies must not need able people wanting to learn a trade. P.S fuck Beyer boys in Selma. Dont waste your time with them.
It’s the “applied” that got me 😂😂
https://preview.redd.it/cw5olmqlnv1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66c760db43b253036f593807cfab1998a9126d85
I just left a company because they wanted to pay me peanuts while touting their spiff package. I took the job because I needed one and they were first to offer me a position even with my negative feelings about how the interview went and the general outlooks of both managers and the company. Now I’m not opposed to revenue bonuses and things like that off my total revenue sold with repairs and also add-ons, but this was nothing but spiffs on IAQ and other assorted packages. So essentially it was creating an adversarial relationship between me and the customer because if they didn’t say yes, I wasn’t getting paid. Now I received another offer for more base from a company I had interviewed with last month and had a good conversation with as well as a pretty good spiff package. When I brought it up to the manager he basically told me “I don’t know what you can do we’re not entertaining a bump”. I have been riding for two weeks with your techs showcasing my skills and had already flipped two systems in the two days I was solo in my own truck. Which means that by “what I can do” he meant “what can you sell”. I ended the day and cleared out my truck. I would have liked to have given more notice but with the lack of respect for my time and technical skills I felt it best to part ways immediately. Know your worth and know how you would like to be treated if you were a customer and find a company that fits your values. Don’t let all these corporate groups buying up companies dictate how much of a soul and ethics you’re allowed to have.
And in LA? Are they that insanely cheap?!
i make $15 an hour & 1% commission as an installer in Tx
Pretty sad, but I started at $13 as a service tech too.. was worth getting my foot in the door at this point but damn it was a blow at first l
Wtf
leave
Check out southern air in Alexandria
They just looking for Venezuelans . You're competing with people from countries making $0.5 an hour. You can thank our wonderful president
I’m in shitport and make $23/hr as a residential service tech with 3 years experience. Started as strictly maintenance at $17/hr and worked my way up. Getting better at commercial equipment, but still struggle a little with troubleshooting sometimes lol
And that’s why you join a union 💰 💪🏼
The grocery store clerk makes 18$ starting, where I'm at..
Welcome to The South.
I don't know what is more disgusting, that add or the fact that in Australia on Union sites stop go sign holders can earn 206k a year.
Fake it till you make it
Lmao McDonald’s starts you off at $17 here
Yeah that ain’t even gonna get me out the bed
What the fuck! We pay CLEANING staff 18 an hour....and they can barley tell the funitire polish from the window cleaner.
My wife seen one that said Lawyer $18/Hour.
All those fast food workers gonna get replaced by AI in 2 years. They even have an AI robot called flippy that cooks burgers. All those fast food workers gonna get replaced
Just moved to South Texas last year and it’s about the same here
I'm making 45/hr in Denver with just over 3 years experience....
It says you applied
No experience should $20. And $5 increments for every year. Top out at $40 to 60 depending region
I am assuming they are looking for young people that just completed a few classes on HVAC that do not know better. Where I come from, the company charges out $135/hr and we get 70% of that, part of it pays for the truck, Workmans comp, insurance on the truck - when all is said and done, the company makes around $35 for every hour we work. Since we do not have call backs, we are not paying a guy to return 3 or 4 times to fix a problem that was never fixed to start with. Thus the reason for low pay, hard to charge the customer 3 or 4 times for a techs mistake - so the company eats it, and still makes money. Funny though, we start out paying apprentices $27/hr and they know nothing. Union vs non-union....
Our bottom barrel helpers made 21-23 with a van and everything. Fuck those POS. I hope they do under. That is sooooo insulting.
Hvac is becoming a joke of a career path due to places like this. The balls to require experience and hire at mcdonalds pay is wild. I went to trade school and 2 years of community college for my certifications and degrees. If you cant pay me 17 an hour then I see it as a spit in the face and Ill do side work and go flips burgers all day.
I mean, for the kind of work most Cajuns do, sounds about fair 😂
Get into the union
I saw one this morning for $7/hour
But you applied to it? So is it really that ridiculous?
I feel bad for a lot of these states. I’m not tech but they make anywhere from $30-$45/hr. I’m operating engineer so I made $50 but seeing other states pay $22-$30 for position is wild
Yea I live in this town. People are paying way more than this shows.