Maintenance Technician: A Way Back Into The Work Force
Finding your way back into the work force in 2021 after COVID-19-related unemployment requires focus, professional oriented activities and networking. Getting back to work also requires research pursuant to who is hiring and for what types of jobs/positions. One career field showing increased opportunity in 2021 is maintenance technician.
Certain home repair and maintenance jobs require previous experience. Others allow for on-the-job training due an increase in home repair and improvement projects on the books. Are you physically fit and looking for work today? Do you know how to go about finding maintenance technician work in your area? Maintenance technicians perform skilled and manual labor in a variety of home and business settings. Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, mechanical, evaluation/inspection jobs and more are all performed by modern maintenance technicians. Read ahead for tips on how to locate maintenance technician jobs and find your way back into the work force fast.
Why Maintenance Technician Jobs Are on the Rise
A surge of home repair and improvement projects happened in 2020 largely due to many U.S. homeowners quarantining in their homes for extended periods of time. A subsequent increase in demand for skilled and unskilled laborers followed suit due to the backlog of jobs entered in the books by contractors and renovation services across the country. Some families needed to expand their homes in order to quarantine with in-laws. Some families needed to add on home-office space since the number of people working from home also rapidly increased during 2020.
Parents and children spending every moment at home for extended periods of time also put extra burdens on HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems. The demands for home repair, renovation and maintenance services outgrew the supply of service people available to do the jobs, especially with COVID-19 limiting the availability of many workers. Some jobs in 2020 spilled over to 2021. Residual home maintenance jobs combined with the normal pace of spring/summer jobs happening now mean more maintenance technician jobs are available for you today.
Maintenance Technicians - What Do They Do?
Some maintenance technicians specialize in one specific career field and/or set of technical skills, while others are well versed in multiple disciplines. The jack-of-all-trades, master of none cliché does not apply to maintenance technician positions in modern times. Many maintenance technicians working for businesses, hospitals or other corporate facilities simply have to know how to repair and maintain multiple systems. Specializing in one type of maintenance as a private contractor/sole proprietor has its benefits as well and there really is no wrong way to go about pursuing this type of career if you have the necessary time and opportunities.
Maintenance technicians are responsible for inspecting buildings and operational/mechanical systems. Maintenance technicians must also repair damaged equipment and structures including generators, walls, roofs, furnaces and more. Landscaping, painting and power washing might be part of a maintenance technician’s job just as much a keeping inventory on supplies needed/used and parts ordered. Additional types of jobs maintenance technicians perform include:
- Heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC) repair/services.
- Plumbing.
- Hanging drywall.
- Ceiling installations.
- Carpentry.
- Electrical work.
- Scheduling maintenance visits.
- Roofing, siding, gutter work.
- Home renovations.
- Water/fire damage repair.
Maintenance Technician - Requirements
One of the reasons a maintenance technician job might be able to get you back into the work force fast is the amount of on-the-job training available for new employees/workers today. A certain element of this type of work previously required experience to get experience. For example, jobs were handed down within families and among known associates and the more experience you had the more likely you were to get hired. Experience absolutely still matters in 2021, which is why three to twelve-month certificate programs are so popular. The increased demand for workers has created the need to train workers on-site to accommodate a high number of bookings and customer requests, however.
It is generally required for you have your own set of tools before starting a new maintenance technician job. Some no-experience-necessary positions provide basic tools but this is an uncommon practice. Owning your own tool belt, toolbox and tool set is a wise decision, which could make the difference between getting back into the work force or not. Vocational schools and community colleges have training/education programs for various maintenance technician careers as well. HVAC, plumbing, electrician, roofing, masonry and other certificate programs are available, all of which can potentially be completed in less than one year. Obtaining state-approved licenses in any of these particular fields requires you complete a minimum amount of apprenticeship hours in addition to your schooling. State-facilitated examinations must then be completed and passed.
How to Find Maintenance Technician Jobs Today
Maintenance technician jobs are available all across the country today. National home repair companies operating in most or all U.S. states post jobs on online job boards such as Career Builder and Monster. Indeed.com also posts extensive job opportunites for construction work, home repair, HVAC services, handyman jobs and more. While it is still possible to find maintenance technician jobs posted in local print newspaper publications, most job opportunites in 2021 are found online. Additional resources for finding maintenance technician jobs to get you back into the workforce today include:
