I need a little bit of guidance as far as becoming a fire alarm technician goes. I have been trying very hard to get into the field for the past year to no avail. According to NICET, I have to work as a technician’s apprentice for three months before I can even be eligible to take the exam for a level 1 certification. The problem being is simply this - a fire alarm technician’s apprentice/trainee job is almost impossible to find, especially where I live in western Pennsylvania. I have been searching for over a year for a job like this with no luck. I need to get into this field soon as I am currently attending college with the intentions of becoming a life safety engineer/fire alarm systems designer, and having a technician job on my resumè is a huge plus for this career. So my question is simply this - what steps should I take to get into this field successfully? Should I contact local alarm companies to ask about apprenticeships? If anyone could guide me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
The immediate problem I see, is you are still in school. Unless you are taking night classes, it’s going to be hard to find a company that will accommodate a daytime school schedule. Most are not going to want to hire someone to only work a couple of hours a day.
But let’s say that’s not an issue. If you want to get your feet wet into the field, I would start out in a small “mom and pop” local company verses a larger one. Look for a security company that dabbles in fire alarm, most do a small percentage. Pay and benefits may not be the greatest, but they are usually more willing to hire someone green. You are looking at starting out as a “helper”. It’s more of a play on words, companies will shy away from someone talking “apprenticeship” especially if they are non-union.
Another thing to look into is starting in inspections verses installation/service. Mid to large sized companies will have a dedicated inspection department that do nothing but testing of alarms. The work is not as involved, but gives you practical experience in the field. Again, start out as a “helper”, generally no experience is required. If you pick up on things, when they need help on the service side, offer to help out the service techs and go from there!