Short answer: We are formalizing our apprenticeship into a structured program: a supervised onboarding period with milestone assessments, EPA 608 certification prepared for and taken during the program, safety training front-loaded rather than treated as paperwork, and a defined bar you clear before running calls independently. The formal curriculum is still in development. What happens today is already real: you are hired at $18 to $24 per hour with no HVAC experience, you ride with technicians and install crews, we support you in earning EPA 608, and helpers who develop quickly reach technician pay within their first year.
Most HVAC apprenticeships are not programs. They are a job where a new person rides along and hopefully absorbs something, with no curriculum, no assessment, and no definition of when they are ready. Whether someone develops depends almost entirely on which technician they happened to be assigned to.
We have run it that way too, and we are fixing it. Here is what the program is becoming, what is already in place, and what we have not finished.
Key Takeaways
- Entry requires no HVAC experience. $18 to $24 per hour from day one, with uniforms, tools, and PPE provided.
- Safety comes first, not last, with heat illness prevention treated as core curriculum in a 115 degree market.
- EPA 608 is prepared for and taken during the program, not left as your personal homework.
- Supervised work with real assessment before independent dispatch. A bar you clear, not a date you reach.
- Both trades. Cooling, heating, and the plumbing and water heater fundamentals we also service.
- The formal curriculum is still in development. The structure below is what we are building toward, not a finished document.
The Principle Behind It
An apprenticeship should answer one question: what does this person have to be able to do before we send them to a customer alone?
Once you ask it that way, most of the design follows. You need a list of capabilities. You need supervised repetitions on real work, because nothing else builds judgment. You need someone assessing whether the capability is actually there. And you need the honesty to say "not yet" to someone who has put in the time but has not cleared the bar.
That last part is the one most programs skip, and it is why "graduating" from most apprenticeships means so little.
The Shape of the Program
The structure we are building toward moves through phases. Each phase is defined by what you can do at the end of it, not by how many weeks have passed.
Phase 1: Safety, orientation, and the language of the trade
Safety first, and in this valley that means heat illness prevention as core curriculum rather than a poster: the progression from heat exhaustion toward heat stroke, recognizing it in yourself and in the person next to you, and the fact that sweating that stops is an emergency sign. Plus ladder and rooftop safety, electrical safety fundamentals, and personal protective equipment.
Then orientation to how we work: the documentation standard, our dispatch and inventory systems, and what a finished job looks like here.
Then vocabulary. This sounds trivial and it is not. A new helper's first weeks are dominated by not knowing what things are called, which blocks everything else. Naming the components and knowing what each does is the foundation the rest sits on.
Phase 2: Cooling fundamentals with supervised repetitions
Residential air conditioning diagnosis and repair, learned on real calls with a technician, not in a classroom. The refrigeration cycle stops being abstract somewhere around the point where you have seen enough systems, and there is no shortcut to that.
Assessment here is supervised work on real jobs, evaluated by the technician you rode with.
Phase 3: Refrigerant handling and EPA 608
Preparation for EPA Section 608 certification built into the program, and then you sit the exam. We support helpers in earning it because a helper who cannot legally handle refrigerant is limited in what they can learn, which slows everything down for both of us.
We push people toward Universal rather than a single type. The extra study is modest and it removes every future limit on what you can work on. Our EPA 608 guide covers how to study and what the exam actually tests.
Phase 4: Heating
Gas and electric heating, combustion basics, safety, and the diagnostic patterns specific to heating equipment. Las Vegas winters are mild, which means heating work is concentrated and you need to be competent when it arrives.
Phase 5: The customer half of the job
The part of this trade that gets treated as optional and is not. Explaining a failure to a homeowner in language they understand. Presenting written options without pressure. Documenting with photos. Handling someone who is stressed, out of money, and suspicious because of a bad experience with another contractor.
We assess this deliberately, including through practice and observed work, because a technically excellent tech who cannot do this half will struggle here.
Phase 6: Plumbing and water heater fundamentals
We are licensed for and service plumbing as well as HVAC. Water heaters, drains, and the fundamentals give you a broader skill set than a cooling-only technician, which makes you more useful on any given day and more valuable for the rest of your career.
Phase 7: Independent, with review
Running your own calls, with ongoing job quality review rather than a hand-off and good luck. Support does not stop at graduation. Dispatch, leadership, and senior technicians remain reachable during the workday.
What Is Already True Today
Because a program in development is worth nothing if the present is not solid, here is what happens right now, before any of the above is formalized:
- You are hired with no HVAC experience at $18 to $24 per hour. Requirements are a valid Nevada driver's license, the ability to pass a background check, physical fitness for fieldwork in the heat, and a genuine willingness to learn.
- You ride with technicians and install crews from your first week, on real work.
- We support EPA 608 certification.
- Uniforms, tools, and personal protective equipment are provided. Health insurance is available to full-time employees, and paid time off is standard.
- Manufacturer training access as a Lennox Premier Dealer, including for helpers working toward technician status.
- Advancement is capability based. Helpers who develop quickly reach technician pay within their first year.
Our honest first 90 days post describes what this actually feels like, including the confusion phase in weeks two through six that makes people quit right before it clicks.
What We Have Not Finished
Being straight about the gaps, because you will find them anyway:
- The written curriculum and assessment rubrics are in progress. Today, more of this lives in the heads of our senior technicians than in a document, which is exactly the problem we are solving.
- Mentor training. Being a great technician does not automatically make someone great at developing a helper. That is a skill and we intend to teach it.
- Formal registration status. We hire and train directly rather than through a registered apprenticeship program. If you want the difference explained, see our comparison of Nevada entry paths.
Who This Is For
Honestly assessed:
Good fit: someone with no HVAC experience who is reliable, curious, physically capable of attic and rooftop work in Las Vegas summers, and willing to be a beginner for a while. Adjacent trade experience from construction, electrical, or solar accelerates it. So does hospitality experience, more than people expect, because composure with stressed customers is hard to teach.
Poor fit: anyone with a medical condition that makes heat exposure dangerous, anyone with a serious response to confined spaces, or anyone who needs to feel competent quickly. The physical demands post is deliberately unflattering so you can rule yourself out before we both invest months.
Apprenticeship Program Questions
Does The Cooling Company have an apprenticeship program?
We hire and train helpers and apprentices directly, at $18 to $24 per hour with no prior HVAC experience required, and we are formalizing that into a structured program with defined phases and assessments. The formal curriculum is still in development; the hiring, training, ride-alongs, and EPA 608 support are active today.
Do I get paid during the apprenticeship?
Yes, from day one, at $18 to $24 per hour, with health insurance available to full-time employees and paid time off. This is a job, not a school you pay for.
How long until I run calls on my own?
Until you clear the bar, not until a date passes. That depends on how quickly you develop, whether you earn EPA 608, and what you can demonstrate unsupervised. Helpers who develop quickly reach technician pay within their first year.
Do you pay for EPA 608 certification?
We support helpers and technicians in earning it. Specifics vary by role, so ask directly on your phone screen and you will get an accurate answer for your situation rather than a blanket promise.
Do I need trade school first?
No. See our trade school versus on-the-job comparison. Trade school is a legitimate accelerator and it is not a requirement here.
Is this a registered apprenticeship?
No. We hire and train directly rather than through a registered program with defined hour requirements. Both are valid paths, and the tradeoffs are covered in our Nevada entry paths guide.
What happens after I become a technician?
The ladder continues: senior technician, lead technician, then field supervisor or operations leadership. We are also building the Ascent Program for the leadership side of that path, which is likewise still in development.
Apply With No Experience
If you are reliable, curious, and can handle the heat, we will teach you the rest.
Start your application. It takes about 10 minutes and no HVAC experience is required. See all open roles on our careers page.
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