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Training & Careers
You have the interest? We'll provide you with education and experience.
If you are ready to begin a career in the building trades, we are ready to help you down that road. And because we want you to develop a career and not just "get a job", we're committed to guiding you into your chosen profession.
But how do you gain the knowledge and develop the skills you need to excel in a trade? Every tradesman takes similar steps in becoming a qualified craftsman. Following is a summary of the steps each tradesman takes in creating their career...
1. Pick A Professional Path
In which trade would you like to work: plumbing and pipefitting, electrical, or sheet metal?
Here are some descriptions of the types of work completed by craftsmen in these professions.
Plumbing & Pipefitting Professions
- Welders permanently join pieces of metal with metal filler, using heat and/or pressure.
- Pipefitters and Steamfitters lay out, assemble, fabricate, maintain and repair piping systems carrying water, steam and gas.
- Plumbers install and repair pipes, fixtures and other commercial plumbing equipment used for water distribution and waste water disposal.
- Medical Gas fitters install the most critical portions in today’s hospitals. The technically trained specialists install lines to unique specifications in order to help medical professionals save lives.
- Refrigeration technicians are on the front lines to diagnose problems and make repairs on air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment.
Electrical Professions
- Electrical construction industry professionals include electricians and residential wiremen.
- The types of electrical work includes power and lighting grid systems.
- Advances in the industry have created the need for motor control and programmable logic control specialists.
- Building Automation Systems, once seen as a construction perk is now industry standard. Electricians develop unique systems to make sure the lights go on and off at specific times. Packaging systems, manufacturing systems, refining systems are a few of the specific applications.
- Linemen work on backup power generation systems as well as uninterruptable power supply systems.
Sheet Metal Professions
- Architectural Sheet Metal includes brass and copper ornamentation, columns, skylights, signs and metal ceilings, and downspouts.
- Journeymen fabricate and install heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
- Sheet Metal workers also test, adjust and balance HVAC components.
- Sheet metal welders fuse different types of metal using the latest technological processes.
- Service work performed by sheet metal professionals include the installation, maintenance and repair of equipment that conditions air.
- Sheet metal craftsmanship is everywhere around you in office buildings, churches, store fronts, shopping malls, hospitals, schools as well as apartments and homes.
2. Complete Your Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships are industry-driven and industry-sponsored training programs. While specific coursework varies, the apprenticeship training includes an average of 8,000 hours of paid on-the-job training and fifty college credits of related instructional training. Many apprentices earn both their Journeyman’s certificate from the trade union as well as an associate’s degree from a local community college as a result of their training.
Electrical apprenticeship programs include five years of paid training. Sheet Metal apprenticeship programs will include anywhere from four to five years of paid education, depending on the level of certification being attained.
3. Become A Journeyman
Successful completion of your on-the-job training and classroom studies result in a Journeyman Certificate and a two year degree from an accredited New Mexico Community College.
Certified Journeymen do their work right the first time- every time- as a by-product of applying mastered methods to every task they tackle. Their practiced processes have maximized their productivity and efficiency in the workplace.
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