Career Advice - Fire Protection

c0demint wrote: ↑My friend suggested I post here on rfd for some career advice. I'm a graduate at seneca college for fire protection technology. I'm having troubles finding jobs within toronto that I would like. I want to avoid alarm technician and inspection as much as possible. I would like to go into design, simulation or even pipe fitting. I had another friend who suggested I just try for any autocading related jobs as my field does contain autocading experience. Although it's not 3D rendering but 2d floor plan designs.

If anyone can give me some career advice that would be great. I want to stay in toronto, thats why it's a bit hard to find something in my field cause most of the jobs are out in Winnipeg, NFL, or BC.

Here is an advice for you, NO ONE CARES what you "would like" or "would not like" , Ask yourself, DO YOU HAVE any related experience in one of the subjects you mentioned above? if the answer is no, and it probably is, GET ON THE FIRST SHUTTLE FROM SPACE, and come back to us, earth, where people not only work in Toronto, but in the entire GTA, and where people get entry level jobs, to get some related experience, to get that desired job they want, later.

^ That was a bit uncalled for.

OP just said that he wanted some advice, and outlined his goals. He never said he was unwilling to take entry-level employment to get there.

Syne wrote: ↑^ That was a bit uncalled for.

OP just said that he wanted some advice, and outlined his goals. He never said he was unwilling to take entry-level employment to get there.

Ok.....Well lets hear your advice then...

Syne wrote: ↑^ That was a bit uncalled for.

OP just said that he wanted some advice, and outlined his goals. He never said he was unwilling to take entry-level employment to get there.

Maybe... But it's the truth, and OP said he didn't want to be a tech or inspector. that's entry level

OP, you're a recent grad and you have little to no real-world experience in the fire protection industry i assume?

You're going to have to start somewhere, and getting hired for system design straight out of school with no experience just isn't going to happen. CAD operator maybe, but you're not going to design ***** -all doing that.

Find an entry level technician job at a company that actually has potential for upward mobility because you have no experience to leverage yourself into a designer role. That's exactly what i had to do and it took almost 5 years and even still I'm at the bottom of the design department totem pole.

You're not going to get handed your ideal job, got to work for it.

its tough to find a design job within the big fire alarm companys like simplex or edwards without having experience. Even harder if you dont have the techincal experience as a inspector or service technician. Id reccomend getting your feet wet as a entry level technican for a few years untill you can get in as a designer. your best bet is to apply at Onyx fire in etobicoke, $30/hr, union shop, full benefits etc. the other fire alarm companies will offer you a horrible starting wage when you have no experience right out of school.

pipe fitting is a 4 or 5 year apprenticeship. you have to find a company willing to take you on. once your signed off its $40/hr

NCDkitchens wrote: ↑Here is an advice for you, NO ONE CARES what you "would like" or "would not like" , Ask yourself, DO YOU HAVE any related experience in one of the subjects you mentioned above? if the answer is no, and it probably is, GET ON THE FIRST SHUTTLE FROM SPACE, and come back to us, earth, where people not only work in Toronto, but in the entire GTA, and where people get entry level jobs, to get some related experience, to get that desired job they want, later.

Thank you SO MUCH for that. Now I know you hate your job. I think the problem is not no one cares, if no one cared no one would answer. Obviously you cared enough to answer with such anger that I thank you for it =) I would like to know how much of my field do you really understand? This isn't some business entry level type of job. Our fields are very specific to what we do, it's more of a trade, especially in pipefitting. So if you want an entry level job, your gona need a entry level job in pipefitting. Just cause you have experience in alarms doesn't mean you can do the work in pipefitting. Some of the work might relate to each other such as alarm, inspection and consulting. Odds are you can't do consulting without inspection experience and alarms cause there are no entry level consultants.

I thank Syne for telling him off =)

and Tsat, tech is entry level to the field, inspection SORT OF but not really. Most of the time they don't want you to come in @ entry level.
My ideal job is more of a trade. There are entry level jobs as pipefitter, just hard to find and like I mentioned before alarms doesn't really give you any experience towards being a fitter.
When I say design I understand I won't be doing my own designs anytime soon. If anything i'd be CADing something someone else designed and doing small time work, which is totally fine with me cause i'll still be in that design field.
But in all honesty thank you for answering me.

Destiny, you seem to be knowledgeable in my field. Yes I already tried applying for onyx and I wasn't accepted. They're just about the only company that has good wages and and good benefits. Everything else, I've heard horror stories from my classmates about them.

I think I need to be a bit more clear with what I'm asking help for. I want to know if my field is worth staying into, or should I apply into something else when sept comes along, such as civil engineering, tool and dye, specialize in autocading or something that could be melded into my field. Or maybe certifications I can take to help me land jobs as a pipefitter or designer. I want to mention that I also loved doing simulations during my time at seneca, so i would even do that if possible, although i'm having troubles finding company's / jobs in that particular section of my field, especially at an entry level.