Help Entering the Fire Alarm Field

Hi everyone. I hope I’m putting this topic under the correct section of the forums, but I’m hoping someone here on the forums can clarify a couple crucial questions that I have about entering the fire alarm field. Right now I’m preparing to enter my sophomore year of college at Geneva College and am working on obtaining an electrical engineering degree. My plan is to use this degree to design and engineer building fire alarm systems for a career. However, I have noticed that it would be critical for me to have actual experience in the field rather than just reading from a textbook. I would like to become a Level I Technician at some point before my engineering career in this field, however, I’m lost as to what steps I need to take to get there. From what I understand (correct me if I’m wrong about this) I need to be a technician’s apprentice for three months before I would even be eligible to obtain my Level I certification from NICET. The problem is that after endless searches, I have not found any technician’s apprentice/helper positions here in Western PA. I know this seems like a rather dumb question - but do I call companies in my area to see if they would offer an apprenticeship? I’ve never done any of this before, so I am not entirely sure how to go about this. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help to steer me in the right direction and outline the steps I should be taking, as again, I’m not too sure as to what I have to do and want to make sure I’m doing things the right way. I would really appreciate it. Thanks again.