Anybody in Chicago area willing to let me shadow them?

[Angel Moreno]

I have completed all courses on MST and have started my own business in Waukegan (1 hour north of Chicago). I have completed about a dozen calls and done fairly well but realized I would benefit from shadowing an experienced tech. Was hoping to be able to shadow someone and offer my assistance as well as financial compensation for anyone willing to let me sit along on service calls. 

[Adirondack Bob]

Hi Angel,

Congratulations on completing the MST courses! Not an easy task-

Hey, What I think you need is Confidence and and a way to find the information you need as a fast as you can-

Tech Sheets, Service Manuals- right here- if you can't find it ask- load them on a tablet or laptop so you can grab them quick in the field.

The night before and the morning of the service calls go over any Tech Sheets, Service Manuals or Bulletins- know how to put the appliance into diagnostics, how to retrieve error codes and how to troubleshoot the specific problem that is happening and disassembly. 

KNOW THIS APPLIANCE IN AND OUT BEFORE YOU EVEN WALK IN THE DOOR- 

Some service manuals are over 100 pages- that's alright- just focus on the problem at hand.

I use YouTube a lot for parts that I haven't installed before- lots of times there is a video- I like Matt from Appliance Parts Pros- 

One cool thing is a Barcode Scanner app on your phone- scan the barcode on the parts box or bag- click on Google search and hit videos- I'm almost embarrassed to say I've used this technique in a few customers homes with the volume turned down when I couldn't figure things out.

I set aside 2 hours every morning to get my schedule set and pre diagnose the days calls- 

In today's world, the first tool I pull out of my bag is my tablet- put the unit into diagnostics and let the appliance tell to you what it "Thinks" is wrong- then just focus on that.

If you have the drive Angel, I think you will be alright.

I'm going to Follow you so I can keep my eye on you.

Good luck Pardner!

 

 

[Thirstytech]

On 5/23/2019 at 6:14 PM, Angel Moreno said:

I have completed all courses on MST and have started my own business in Waukegan (1 hour north of Chicago). I have completed about a dozen calls and done fairly well but realized I would benefit from shadowing an experienced tech. Was hoping to be able to shadow someone and offer my assistance as well as financial compensation for anyone willing to let me sit along on service calls. 

Since you put it out here, I will offer my opinion: you are approaching this situation backwards. 

Get a job with an existing service company, preferably one that does warranty work and is very busy. Your expertise will come from running 10 calls a day, week after week. You'll get some training along the way, learn from other techs, learn to talk to customers and present estimates. Most importantly you'll get a paycheck while you learn.

 My .02