What does it mean to be a CFESA Certified Technician?
A CFESA Certified Technician sat in a class with approximately 20+ other techs of various backgrounds and listened to an “instructor” speak on everything from a model number to overall operation. If you’re lucky, you actually got to touch the piece of equipment and maybe even take off the panel… at the end of a very long day or week. The instructor will give the answers to the certificate test in hopes that in return you give him a good review so he can keep his job.
A CFESA Master Technician had to take specific tests to evaluate their skill of industry standard knowledge and troubleshooting. I am a Master Technician in Refrigeration, Electrical, Gas, and Steam. I was able to excel in the master technician certification tests not because of CFESA training, but because I went to Trade School and spent 2 years learning with actual hands-on experience. At trade school, I graduated top of my class and competed at State level, winning 3rd place. I am a huge advocate for trade school education in this field.
I originally obtained CFESA certifications because corporate companies require it. Companies pay thousands of dollars a year to put a sticker on the side of a vehicle so you will think they actually know what they are doing. The truth is – despite how many techs they have, only one needs to be a Master Technician to put a CFESA sticker on everyone’s vehicle. The majority of companies do just that and tell the less knowledgeable techs to call the Master Technician if they have any problems.
My trade school education and 15+ years of experience is something that you can trust.