Career Guides
Free guides for HVAC techs and plumbers: licensing and EPA 608, getting into the trade, pay, and career paths for every role.
HVAC technicians install, maintain, and repair heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems.
See the day-to-day duties, job titles, pay, and outlook.
An HVAC apprentice learns the trade through paid on-the-job training plus classroom instruction.
What the work involves, who trains you, and how pay rises.
An HVAC helper keeps install and service crews moving: staging tools, cutting duct, parts runs, cleanup.
See the duties, pay, and certification rules.
HVAC installers set and connect heating and cooling equipment: change-outs, new construction, ductwork, mini-splits.
What the job involves and the routes in.
HVAC service technicians diagnose and repair heating and cooling systems.
What a service call involves, the truck and tools, on-call life, and the routes in.
What a refrigeration technician does, the systems they work on, who hires them, and how to get started — plus BLS pay data and open refrigeration jobs.
Commercial HVAC technicians keep the chillers, rooftop units, and boilers in offices, hospitals, and data centers running.
See the job, pay, and how to start.
HVAC controls technicians install, program, and troubleshoot building automation systems.
See the job, the skills, who hires, and what the role pays.
A boiler technician installs, services, and repairs steam and hot-water boilers.
See the systems they work on, where boiler jobs are, and how to become one.
What a sheet metal worker does day to day, HVAC duct vs architectural vs industrial work, the four- or five-year apprenticeship, and the $61,800 median pay.
HVAC sales covers comfort advisors, counter sales, commercial and wholesale roles.
What each involves, whether you need trade experience, and how pay works.
An HVAC dispatcher books service calls, routes technicians and keeps customers updated.
What the job involves, dispatcher vs CSR, pay, and how to get in.
An HVAC service manager runs the service department: techs, dispatch, callbacks and KPIs.
What the job involves, what it pays, and how techs get there.
An HVAC estimator prices jobs before they are built: takeoffs, plan reading, and labor and material costs.
See the role, the pay data, and how to become one.
An HVAC project manager runs commercial mechanical jobs: schedule, submittals, RFIs, change orders, crews, and budget.
See the duties, career path, and pay.
Plumbers install and repair water, gas, and other piping systems in homes, businesses, and factories.
The work, the license ladder, and what plumbers earn.
What a plumbing apprentice does, how the 4- to 5-year apprenticeship works, how pay rises, and the union, association and employer routes in.
A journeyman plumber is a trained plumber qualified to work without supervision.
What the licence means, what you can and can't do, how to become one.
A master plumber holds the top plumbing license: it can add permit, supervision and company-qualifying authority.
State requirements, pay and jobs explained.
Service plumbers diagnose and repair plumbing in existing homes and light commercial buildings.
Typical calls, sold-work pay models, skills and BLS pay data.
A drain cleaning technician clears blocked drains and sewers with cables, jets and cameras.
See the work, licensing, pay and the path to plumber.
A pipefitter installs and maintains pipes that may carry chemicals, acids, and gases, mostly in industrial settings.
Duties, settings, career ladder, and pay.
A pipe welder makes the welded joints on industrial and commercial piping systems.
The job, the 6G certification, routes in, and pay benchmarks from BLS.
Steamfitters install and maintain piping that carries liquids or gases at high pressure.
See the systems, work settings, apprenticeship route, unions, and pay.
Sprinkler fitters install fire sprinkler systems and many also inspect, test, and maintain them.
See the duties, pay, unions, and how to enter the trade.
A gas fitter installs, repairs, and maintains fuel gas piping and gas appliances.
See the job, US licensing rules, and pay, based on May 2025 BLS data.
A backflow tester field-tests the valves that keep contaminated water out of drinking water.
Learn the ASSE 5110 credential, pay and how to become one.
A plumbing estimator turns plans into prices: takeoffs, material and labor costs, and the bid.
See the job, skills, software, pay, and the path from the field.
A plumbing inspector checks plumbing work against the code a city or state enforces.
See the job, requirements, certifications and pay (BLS, May 2025).