Professional Memberships and Certifications

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DanB
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Professional Memberships and Certifications

Post by DanB »

I guess I can finally break the seal and post something. I've had my business(PDR and Glass Repair) open now just shy of two years. I am not full-time at this point.

I havent read much into professional memberships or national level certifications. For the glass repair industry. Are there any that are worth the investment?
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MichaelSmedley
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Re: Professional Memberships and Certifications

Post by MichaelSmedley »

DanB wrote:I guess I can finally break the seal and post something. I've had my business(PDR and Glass Repair) open now just shy of two years. I am not full-time at this point.

I havent read much into professional memberships or national level certifications. For the glass repair industry. Are there any that are worth the investment?
In my opinion courses and certifications are predominately designed for marketing purposes. This is not to say you could not participate in a course that is hands on and may improve your skill level.

However, Q&A certifications to me seem like a waste of time and money. For example, in my early years I performed many of these certifications courses as the repairer I was employed by fancied itself as the leader by standards. The courses were embarrassingly simply and quite pointless, we were faced with questions such as. "John wears his hard hat when he is on a job site". Then question one was, What does John wear when he on a job site? Now it is important to wear a hard hat Service 8® is big on safety and I acknowledge this point, however this is not wholesome learning.

I attended many meetings on the subject and senior management frequently discussed how much of a tight rope it was. The dilemma being that the courses could not be too difficult as the average IQ of the technicians were pretty low, some even had trouble reading. After all the course providers don't want too many to fail it may look bad, and lets not forget this is a business too.

My idea of a good course is one that has hands on practical, with advanced procedures. For example, for a windscreen replacement tech I would be much more interested in learning advanced electrics for rain sensors and electric windows on the latest European vehicles, rather than point out when John has to wear his hard hat.

Im pretty sure Delta Inc offers a free hands on course they run each month. You may want to start there.

Don't fall into the trap of doing certifications just to get the tick of approval from these industry groups. They mean nothing and are frequently run by people who know very little. It just another way to control an industry and tax it.
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ghost rider
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Re: Professional Memberships and Certifications

Post by ghost rider »

Well said, Michael. From my experience many years ago as an auto mechanic, the certifications were just another form of advertising. Easy to get, not too expensive and looks good on the front door. I was taking my certs. one time and found I was signed up for a wrong test in computerized truck air brakes. I had never read about, seen or worked on truck air brakes in my life, but after that test I was certified to repair them! If there is advertising quality in a certification and it will bring you business, go for it. But don't expect any more than that.
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