How a career in HVAC can provide many pathways to success

This article was written for our sponsor, Newcomb and Company

When you think of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning careers, what may come to mind is a service technician. But a number of people at an HVAC company contribute to keeping people comfortable when the temperature gets extreme. If you’re interested in a career in the field, you can choose from many pathways.

Jobs include systems engineers, installers, fabricators, sales associates, and service managers, according to Indeed. Many do not require college degrees, and average national salaries range from $55,000 to more than $100,000 per year.

The following are three examples of successful HVAC careers that local Newcomb and Company employees have.

Residential service department technician

Jonathan Whitley has worked in this role at Newcomb since June 2016. After receiving a general associate’s degree, he realized further higher education wasn’t for him. Going into HVAC was his father’s idea, Whitley said.

"He recommended a trade: something that would be around for a while, a stable career," said Whitley. "So I went to trade school for two and a half years, and finished the course there."

People who are mechanically inclined are a good fit for this job, but communication skills are also important.

A skill that has been strengthened with experience, he said, "Is learning how to listen to the way customers would explain an issue and deciphering what the actual problem may be."

A typical day features maintenance calls in the mornings and repair calls in the afternoons.

"There’s a range of what you can see," he said. "It’s almost never the same, but there is consistency, which is one of the things I do like about it."

Service automation manager

While Whitley works on the residential service side of Newcomb, Eric Fierst manages a department on the commercial side.

"All the large commercial buildings typically have an automated system that runs heat and air," Fierst said. "We maintain all those systems for our customer base."

An employee of Newcomb since 1988, Fierst said he has been working in HVAC since age 15.

"My father and brother had a business when I was a kid, and I worked with them," he said. "So it’s been my only career. I’ve always liked working with my hands. That’s the way I was wired."

On a typical day, Fierst does maintenance or repairs onsite on businesses’ automated systems, but some work can be done remotely if the systems have internet access enabled.

"Typically our work is done inside the building," he said. "We’ll try and diagnose and repair whatever the issues are with a building management system."

Some people like to build systems in new buildings, while others like to fix things that are broken, Fierst said.

"You may not know, but when you get into the field, you’ll have the opportunity to try it all," he said.

Commercial maintenance sales manager

Jennifer Wright started with Newcomb in 2003, the summer after high school graduation. That part-time job turned into a 20-year career. Wright has been a dispatcher, an administrative assistant in the commercial maintenance department, and a sales representative.

"In 2016, I was promoted to professional maintenance sales manager," she said. "I now have three service contract representatives that are under me, and I’m leading them now, teaching and training them how to prospect, create the proposals, and close. I’m also managing a multimillion-dollar contract base."

On a typical day, Wright works with her sales representatives and goes onsite to commercial buildings.

"We teach them how to cold call. I go on surveys with them," she said. "We’ll make sure we get all the information off the equipment, so we can tailor a maintenance plan for them."

Wright said the skills she has needed the most are knowing how to use Microsoft Word and Excel and being able to communicate well. She is on the phone with customers often, and when she worked dispatch, she was consistently on calls with technicians.

Newcomb and Company offers many training opportunities to employees, she said.

"You’re always learning," Wright said. "Technology is always advancing."

This article was written for our sponsor, Newcomb and Company