It's been quite a week my friends...
Let me start off with a story.
Most of you know that my husband, Valentino is a service tech with 22 years under his belt in the HVAC industry, most of which with the same company.
When I made the decision to leap into the field and started training for the EPA course, word got out around said company pretty quickly, as you can imagine a girl getting licensed was hot gossip.
Around that time, I reached out and asked whether it would be possible to get a job there (this would be a second job for me in the same field but full time) after I was licensed. The response from the service manager went something like this...
"Wow, I'm so proud of you, that's so AMAZING... Your application had better be on my desk the SECOND you pass the EPA test."
He then went on to rave about putting me under his Natural Gas and Oil licenses (he's a proctor), and how I'd "better hurry" as they needed someone with my knowledge ASAP.
As promised, I turned in the application the day after I passed the test. In the meantime, said 'boss's wife applied for an office position within the company and was overlooked. This was 3 months ago now.
Since then I have reached out a few times a week to check the status of my application, spoken to the boss, and been given a different reason every time as to why I've not been interviewed, even though I was promised the job.
Today I heard that 2 men were hired as service techs, so I called again. The company isn't aware that I know they hired two men last week. I kept it that way and I was told the following...
"I'm sorry we've just been so busy I haven't had a chance to speak to the owner and VP about your application yet, and conversations need to be had, but hang in there I'll try to make that happen this week we just haven't had time for interviews."
When I asked what conversations needed to be had, and finally mentioned the other new hires, the response was.
"It's just a little different than hiring a 'normal' tech as you can imagine and I promise will have those conversations this week."
Normal? I'm somehow abnormal because I'm a woman? I was devastated. This is the company I've been ready to work for since day one. The company my family has shown decades of loyalty to. The company that I was told was THRILLED to have a female tech with my credentials working for them.
Now I'm faced with something I never really thought about even as the Women's Ambassador for an HVAC school.
Discrimination in the hiring process. I have turned down 4 jobs while waiting for this company who, seemingly, were ready for the IDEA of hiring a woman until the time came to ACTUALLY hire a woman.
There are a couple of points to this story...
First, discrimination is very real, but from what I've seen, not commonplace. 4 companies were ready to hire me at upwards of 26 dollars per hour regardless of my sex and the company I work for now encourages women in trades and fully values me which is INCREDIBLE AND PROGRESSIVE.
Second, don't set your sights on ONE company. Make sure your skillset and personification are VALUED and that you're paid what you're worth.
LAST AND MOST IMPORTANT: UTILIZE SKILLCAT'S JOBS PLATFORM
SkillCat offers job placement, help with getting hired, and TONS of training and simulations.
Sometimes, especially for women, we need a little push to show employers our worth and SkillCat invests in that worth wholeheartedly and will help to match you with a great job. DON'T ALLOW ANYONE TO DEVALUE YOU BASED ON YOUR GENDER, OR ALLOW THEM TO DISCOURAGE YOU FROM WORKING IN THIS FIELD.
They're still learning, and without us making that push into this industry, they will have very little reason or opportunity to continue that learning.
BE KIND HVACHICKS- That's what sets us apart<3
~*Jennifer