Out of Construction and into HVACR

Zak left high school to get into construction, but found his path to HVACR after unstable work and a desire for something more engaging. Eight years later, he's happier at work than ever. 

How long were you working in construction before making the switch to HVACR? How did you get started? 

I was in construction for about five years after graduating school during various labouring jobs, including earthquake repairs and carpentry work.

How did you find out about HVACR? What drew you to the industry?

A friend of mine works at the company I currently work at, I asked him if there was any work going at the company. I was struggling to find passion, or even very stable work as a builder at that stage, and I had been let go from several building apprenticeships. When I asked my friend about his role, I had just been made redundant and was flirting with the idea of a career change. I asked what his job was like and when he told me about the good pay, interesting work, and a good working environment, I decided to give it a go. As they say, the rest is history.

What skills have transferred well from construction to HVACR?

More practical labouring skills more than anything, also when a job requires measuring, sawing, basic construction and structural stuff, anything like that I had a bit of a jump start in my apprenticeship. 

How has your experience in HVACR been so far?

Great! I have had a great experience over the last eight years in the industry, I have learnt a lot, made a lot of friends, worked on plenty of interesting jobs, and made some decent money being able to save for a house with relative ease.

What do you enjoy about your new role?

If anything, maybe the stability of the work as compared to the previous line of work I was in, that was a big draw for me trying out this trade.

Anything else you would like to add?

I’d like to encourage anyone out there to investigate HVACR as a career choice, no matter if you’re a high school leaver or a 23-year-old a bit lost on the next step in life as I was. HVACR is a great job that has a lot of great positives for any newcomers to the career.