u/Accomplished_Car3265

Hey guys so I’m making a career transition getting into HVAC. I went to trade school for electrical and I have the slightest bit of HVAC experience from my maintenance job I’ve been doing for the last year or so.

Interviewed with a company and they offered me an installer position. I’ve read a bunch that an installer role is a really good foundation to start on, but my question to you would be how well it would translate to the technician side from a pay scale standpoint?

If I became an HVAC installer for a year or two to get my feet wet and then decided I was ready to look for a true HVAC tech apprentice role would I then have to take a pay cut since I’d be new to the tech side? Or would my 1-2 years of installer experience be valued enough that I wouldn’t have to take a pay cut at that point? Im 27 and I really can’t afford to keep taking pay cuts lol

Also do installer hours count towards getting your HVAC license the same way a standard apprenticeship would?

Hi all, so I have a dilemma. I went to trade school to become an electrician and right out of trade school I got an offer to be an overnight maintenance supervisor for $52,000 salary: 45 hours, no OT (I had 3 years of management experience beforehand). Been doing it for a year now, super chill laid back job. However I could tell very quickly that the title was given to me more just to get me in the building. All they really ask of me is to show up and not let the building catch on fire. It’s a faux title. As a result of that I’ve learned very little and I feel a heavy sensation of imposter syndrome. With raises as little as 1% per year I feel very concerned that if I stay here long term I’m gonna end up losing to inflation without adding legitimate experience to my skillset to properly compete for other positions at other companies with confidence.

My feeling right now is I feel that I need to bite the bullet right now, take a pay cut and add legitimate experience to my resume as well as my skillset and then re-evaluate my options in the future. But I want to know from you guys, would it be dumb of me to ditch my decent at the moment paying job to start close to the bottom as an electrician/tech? Should I just fake it till I make as a supervisor? Is it worth applying to other companies looking to see if they’ll take on a lesser experienced supervisor? I think maintenance supervisor/management is a solid career choice I just don’t think I can truly make a lateral move to another company with the same position given what I ACTUALLY know at this moment. Any advice would be appreciated!