My father owned the local HVAC company, and he came home complaining about his new HVAC recruit.
He said the new HVAC recruit was the worst HVAC technician he had ever met.
He couldn’t figure out how he had passed the certification exam. I asked why he didn’t just fire him instead of putting up with him. Dad said the guy showed a lot of promise but he was stubborn. He graduated at the top of his class, and he thought that made him perfect. Book knowledge was important, but it was also important to be hands-on knowledgeable. He said it was like the kid hadn’t touched an HVAC system, and all he knew was what the books said. Dad asked if I had any ideas. Although I didn’t work for dad’s HVAC company, I helped him out if he needed it. I offered to give a couple of hours of my off time, to training the new HVAC recruit for him. He thanked me for my help and introduced me to the kid the next day. I remembered him in last year’s class. His dad was an HVAC technician, and he thought that made him different. He didn’t think he should need to study. I showed him what it was to be an HVAC technician and made him work. Six weeks later, he wasn’t cocky anymore, because he learned he didn’t know everything, and he still had a lot to learn. Over the next year, he became an integral part of dad’s HVAC company, and dad couldn’t thank me enough for taking the kid under my wing.