Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us on
Did You Know, the ESCO HVAC podcast. One of the
things that we have to pay special attention
to when we're looking at the HVAC industry or
preparing for a career in the HVAC industry is
the support network that comes along with that
because it's not exactly traditional work. So
we're spending some time today with Keith Haas.
How are you, sir? Very good. How about yourself?
both sides of what we do you've been a technician
you're also a part -time educator you get to
see the challenges that you know that you face
as a technician and what it takes to have a good
support network and because when you get into
the industry there's um There's not too many
nine -to -five jobs in our industry. Not to start
with, especially. So let's talk about ways that
we can make preparations for that. You and I
were just talking before the podcast that I had
a conversation a while ago with three high schoolers
that started their freshman year doing exploratory
class their freshman year of high school. And
they went all through. Now they're in their senior
year. They're doing apprenticeship programs with
a contractor. And they're going to be graduating
high school in a few months. go out into the
field as full -time technicians and it's not
gonna be like a day at school anymore exactly
yeah it's uh it looks like it's never not never
nine to five it's always something anything can
change of the drop of a hat yeah so it's funny
too because you were talking about how young
they were i think they said there's a 93 year
old here no yeah well they're still here learning
and raised around here someplace just ran into
him smiling hidden down the hallway so it's pretty
it's pretty impressive yeah so we've got 18 to
83 yeah and that is pretty significant absolutely
all right so let's talk about like what things
do we need when we're trying to be successful
at what career that we are choosing now so it's
i think hvac is very different for every position
there's uh anything from residential service
commercial service refrigeration um each one
is very unique and different in its own way um
i think one things you have to do is find out
where you fit in into that exactly um i i started
off in residential it was good for me i learned
the basics um i didn't like the sales portion
of it right i was not great at that part yep
absolutely so moving to commercial after that
was very easy for most of that actually most
people if you tell them that some machine that
they need to make money is down they don't care
how much it costs they just say how fast yeah
when can you get it here exactly so it's a lot
easier that way um But it's really, like I said,
every position is different. So it's hard to
find that exact right mix of home life balance,
making good money, learning what you love to
do, and working on that kind of equipment. So
like I said, every job is a little bit different.
But for me, what I found was finding the right
people, right place to work for. It took me a
long time. I think I went through three different
companies before I found the current company
I'm with. I've been here for... about four years
now. Yep. But the biggest thing for me, I think
I say it is find the right people. So for me,
it was my wife probably was the first part. So
with her. What can you put up with, honey? Yeah,
exactly. Let's start there. She would love to
be home right now. Yeah, I know. She was able
to allow me to come out here in Vegas, which
is, I'm sure a lot of people can't come here
just because it's in Vegas. So that makes it
a little bit harder, but she was supportive about
it. I'm sure she would rather have me home, but
it's. it's it's awesome that you let me do that
yeah um i agree and then like just finding like
people like -minded people um i surrounded myself
a lot of like trainers educators and um there's
guys you know when you're in the field you can
go to the bar you can go to the classroom a lot
of times it was uh learning at your own pace
so i try to surround myself with people who would
help me improve help me build my career and then
kind of work my way up that way and then also
even just like some of the stuff i never thought
of like the mental health part of it that's a
lot of stress oh my gosh the hours are bad um
so if you're fighting at home you're fighting
at work it's just constant uh conflict at that
point um my one good friend jeremy he was always
telling me to you know that he would actually
like talk to me about the emotional supportive
stuff and uh more the emotional side and just
you know a lot of us are just really typical
tough guys in the trade we don't usually like
opening up about that stuff but that's changed
though right oh yeah absolutely yeah i feel that
has completely changed you know you and i grew
up in that generation where our mentors grew
up in a in a pretty rough and rugged atmosphere
absolutely right and I don't know that there
was a whole lot of productive out of that. Probably
not, no. As we start realizing the toll that
it actually takes on the mind, and especially
after we all went through things that happened
in 2020, we all started being a little bit more
sensitive to... Just more aware. Yeah, more aware
to emotional... struggles, right? And how to
actually work through those. And so I'm grateful
for it. I think it's an amazing thing that we
can, as grown men and women, have conversations
about how this is actually affecting us. Absolutely.
Before it was just, you kind of swallow your
pride and get it done. And that was it. Go get
it done. Doesn't matter how long it takes. You
know, I now look back at my career and, you know,
the types of advice that I would give is when
When you're looking at your work -life balance,
understand that you can make as much money as
you want in this field if you're willing to work
hard for it, but there is going to be some sacrifices
when you do. Absolutely. And to be upfront and
have people around you that's willing to have
those conversation, mentors, people who've got
experience in the industry that can tell you
what will happen when you do decide to make choices
like working lots and lots and lots of overtime,
even if it's for the right reasons, even if we
get bills paid or to buy that vehicle that you
now need for the teenager, whatever that actually
is, that there can be those potential consequences
when we're looking at. lots of overtime for these
nice big fat paychecks right that's all about
the balance is trying to yeah find that right
balance yeah what and so when we look at that
understanding like what the career has to offer
what that role has to offer and then i encourage
people to challenge themselves to look at what
roles can i now push myself into to get a better
job where i can potentially work less hours and
still be able to maintain I was almost 40 before
I got to that point where I was becoming emotionally
intelligent enough to actually focus on that.
My last on -call one week, 95 and a half hours.
Like we had 3 ,000 miles. Yeah. And like at that
point, it's not even worth it. I mean, you're
too tired to spend the money. You're done at
that point. Yeah, those paychecks were amazing.
But when you're not spending time with your family
and your kids are asking where you are and your
friends are asking where you are, it is not always
the best decision. And it took me a long time
to get to that point where I understood what
that was. And so I always encourage as we continue
to grow to find those places that are that. At
least a potential mix. And I've had a lot of
people not come into the field just because they
hear about the on -call. And it is bad. So there's
bad days, there's good days, just like any other
job. So like I said, about that balance and trying
to... You know, I try to work with people and
have them take a day or two of mine. I'll take
a day or two of yours. And that way around. Yep.
A little bit more spread out that way. Yeah.
And I always recommend, too, like when you're
looking at jobs, right? Maybe I'm fresh out of
school. Maybe I'm just looking at different employers.
You don't always pick the employer that's going
to pay the most money. Right. Right. Ask what
those other things are. How much overtime am
I going to be expected once I start running calls?
Be very specific about that. What is my potential
for advancements as I am here longer? What points
do I need to meet? What skills do I need to learn?
What certifications do I need to add before I
move into other roles? Because I want to be able
to look at... what this job can look like a year
from now and three years from now and that's
one of the things i wanted to touch base on is
as a educator a lot of times i hear or even just
a trainer that you know people will say that's
not my job and within reason some things are
not our job to do but just because you haven't
gotten paid to learn a skill yet or to do a job
yet a lot of people won't do that job right but
why would a contractor pay you until you know
how to do that so you have to it kind of burns
at both ends where you have to take the time
invest in yourself and learn how to do it and
then prove it you can do it in the field and
then maybe the pay comes after that but most
people will not pay you for something you're
learning to do or you know you have to do be
somewhat confident before that yeah before you
see that yep exactly yeah and that's right and
so when we look at the amount of time that we
invest in say social media alone right right
so just asked all three of these apprentices
approximately how many hours a day do you spend
on your phone? And it was pretty unanimous. It
was about five hours a day. That's a lot. So
when we think about five hours a day, what could
I do with one or two hours of that on my own
for education? Because we're using social media
for personal entertainment. And so why wouldn't
we use some of that for personal education? Yep.
And nowadays, too, there's so much of it that's
free and available on the phones, online. It's
readily available. It's entertaining. A lot of,
especially some of the people that are here,
they have very entertaining. Sort of great content.
Yeah. And there's so many different channels,
trainers, teachers, educators. uh they all put
their stuff out there for free or not all of
them but a lot yeah so at least a free sample
a trial um there's so many different opportunities
to learn stuff and i try to preach that too is
uh you know you can spend four hours looking
at cars or whatever online and uh just spend
a little bit of that time look at some of these
trainers their their material that's out there
and um It's still entertaining. You can still
get the same dopamine. You're still on your phone.
Yeah, that's it. You're still getting the same
dopamine. You're still interacting. You're still
doing things. And you're learning. You're accidentally
learning. Accidentally learning. I love that.
We actually looked at that as one of our goals
for 24. And so we actually implemented a mobile
access. So app to be able to access learning.
from the HVAC, our learning network, right? So
all of this content that we have on our learning
network that used to be used privately, especially
in schools on laptops, they can actually do from
your phone now. Tons of free courses in there,
too. And so if you're already looking for something
to do on your phone and start putting that to
use, they go. If you're on that employer, right,
you found this right job and you want to excel
in your job. Ask. All right. What do I need to
achieve to get to my next level? And then go
home and just do it. Like you said, most of the
time, asking doesn't hurt. The worst thing that's
going to happen is they say no. And the best
thing is they say yes. Exactly. For me, I had
no experience coming into the field, so I took
extra classes. I think we took two morning classes
in my previous company. So I'll take four classes,
and then I'll work the 11 to 8 shift. so a lot
of hard days a lot of you know early mornings
but um i think it really benefited and paid off
from that yeah i mean you think about what we're
learning along the way and those friends that
you're you know developing friend relationships
that you're developing in that process yeah it's
all great stuff man yeah so what else do we think
so when we're talking about building out like
that whole foundation around us right it's important
to be looking for the right the right businesses
to work for. It's important to make sure that
we're having these discussions at home. You're
going to take that new job. You better go home
and start making sure it's okay with everyone
around you if you're gone in the middle of the
night. Ask right questions about it. Yes. And
what does on -call mean? Does on -call mean that
I'm going to be out in the middle of the night?
Many of them are going to say, yes, absolutely.
Am I going to be gone on the weekend, on holiday?
Yes, absolutely. And is it one night or is it
seven nights? I mean, that's a big difference
too. It is. And that will vary between contractors
and the type of work that you do. So understanding.
those commitments are is just as important yep
yeah i truly agree another thing about the networking
part of it too is uh all most of my friends from
the from the industry we all started at one company
and we've all branched out now so i have people
at different vendors different education places
different companies and that each one has their
own skill or specialty right if you're ever in
a jam it's good to have your friends phone numbers
and just reach out quickly a lot faster than
trying to call some of the tech supports and
yeah that's it you know i was talking about that
with uh louise keller from uei earlier that you
know every person here is a specialty of something
right that's why they're here they've gotten
really good at what they're doing and now they're
giving back they're sharing it or they're learning
they're here seeking to learn and so you know
picking up on what those skills are of the people
around you are very, very significant in your
own support network. Absolutely. And the fact
that they're here, they're the educators that
are still learning. That's another thing I wish
that more of the younger generation would do
and understand is this is changing so much that
you're never done learning. It's always something
new, something different. Once you've learned
it, they've already thrown that book away, and
they're starting over. Starting on something
else. Yeah. No, absolutely. We're the same way.
We keep looking at our curriculum going, okay,
we've got some things that have been updated
in a few years, and it's overdue. Ten years ago,
you'd look at something and go, yeah, we'll redo
this every five, six, seven years, and it'll
probably have something to do. Now it's like,
okay, every couple of years, we ought to be looking
at things. I think I was looking at an old book,
and it still had mercury bulbs in it. There's
still a lot of that out there. You have to learn
the old stuff, the new stuff. everything in between
a little bit absolutely well cool anything else
you want to dive into today i appreciate the
time and yeah thank you for walking me through
this i was very nervous to speak but it's a lot
of fun i really appreciate you being here you
know sharing stories is you know one of our growth
strategies absolutely it really is you know and
be able to hear experiences that have been with
other people are a really important part of our
own personal growth thank you cool thank you
sir appreciate it