Good afternoon all.
I am looking for a bit of advice or recommendations on the best path for entering into the industry, especially on the solar side of the industry, and specifically within Canada. I am currently a 15 year licensed aircraft maintenance engineer. I have been thinking about a career change for a little while now, but especially with the massive slow down in air travel recently due to COVID, I am really serious about it now. I have a moral obligation to my current employer to stay with them for at least the next 8 to 10 months. So I am trying to figure out what if anything I could or should be doing now with this block of time to prepare myself and improve my chances of finding a good first job quickly when it is time to switch.
I have a huge interest in renewable energies of all sorts. But hydro and wind are not a common thing in my area. So that has me leaning towards solar. I am not against doing general electrical to get my ticket, however if I could start in solar right off the bat that would be a lot more preferable. I have quite a bit of transferable skill in ac and dc systems, generation, storage, distribution as it relates to aircraft. And although it doesn't officially transfer over and I would have to start as a first year apprentice, I do feel like knowledge and skill wise, I would probably be marketable as at least a 2nd year or greater. For sure there will be a bunch of first year type things that I obviously don't know as they will be different from aviation. But I think my skills should transfer fairly well. So with that I don't know that any electrical specific pre-training would be a hugely beneficial use of my time. However I am curious about some of the solar specific trainings that are available, and if any of it would be beneficial.
Does anyone have any info or experience with the various courses that are out there and available. And would any of them be beneficial on a resume? Here are some of the courses I found that I am curious about. But also if there are other recommendations that would be great.
Basically my goal is to take the next 8 to 10 months to do as much as I possibly can to make myself as marketable and as appealing to potential employers. And Hopefully not embark on something that costs me a few thousand dollars but does not benefit me at all.
Thanks everyone.
I am looking for a bit of advice or recommendations on the best path for entering into the industry, especially on the solar side of the industry, and specifically within Canada. I am currently a 15 year licensed aircraft maintenance engineer. I have been thinking about a career change for a little while now, but especially with the massive slow down in air travel recently due to COVID, I am really serious about it now. I have a moral obligation to my current employer to stay with them for at least the next 8 to 10 months. So I am trying to figure out what if anything I could or should be doing now with this block of time to prepare myself and improve my chances of finding a good first job quickly when it is time to switch.
I have a huge interest in renewable energies of all sorts. But hydro and wind are not a common thing in my area. So that has me leaning towards solar. I am not against doing general electrical to get my ticket, however if I could start in solar right off the bat that would be a lot more preferable. I have quite a bit of transferable skill in ac and dc systems, generation, storage, distribution as it relates to aircraft. And although it doesn't officially transfer over and I would have to start as a first year apprentice, I do feel like knowledge and skill wise, I would probably be marketable as at least a 2nd year or greater. For sure there will be a bunch of first year type things that I obviously don't know as they will be different from aviation. But I think my skills should transfer fairly well. So with that I don't know that any electrical specific pre-training would be a hugely beneficial use of my time. However I am curious about some of the solar specific trainings that are available, and if any of it would be beneficial.
Does anyone have any info or experience with the various courses that are out there and available. And would any of them be beneficial on a resume? Here are some of the courses I found that I am curious about. But also if there are other recommendations that would be great.
- "Solar Installer Canada's" CSA course
- "Solar Installer Canada's" Online Bronze certificate course
- "Solar Energy International's" Online Courses (their in person courses look great, but I foresee travel out of Canada for the next while not being an ideal option.
- "Gridworks" in person 3 or 5 day training courses.
- "University of Alberta Faculty of Extensions" Renewable energy series courses
Basically my goal is to take the next 8 to 10 months to do as much as I possibly can to make myself as marketable and as appealing to potential employers. And Hopefully not embark on something that costs me a few thousand dollars but does not benefit me at all.
Thanks everyone.
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