From the “How NOT to do it!” Department:

When I was young, it was a lot easier to get into running heavy equipment. On-the-job training was the usual way to learn, and even if you had a certificate, no one ever asked for it. As a result, there were “opportunities”, even if you had never seen the machine before!

My “opportunity” came when I was looking for a job in the Canadian North as a welder. My business had just gone under, and I was desperate for work. I found myself in Edmonton, Alberta…, in February. It wasn’t a great time to be looking for work – partly because the economy was bad, and partly because I was freezing my tail off as I slogged around to the various hiring halls.

After two very long weeks of searching, no one held out no promise for a welding job, but one personnel guy asked me if I’d ever ran a forklift. Of course, I said, “Oh yeah.” He said, “Well, you’d better have, because you’re going to be loading planes, and if you hit one of them, we’re both going to be looking for work!” I nodded wisely to show that I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Now…, I didn’t lie! He didn’t ask me if I knew how to run a forklift, and he never asked if I ever been trained – he only asked if I had ever run one.

I had…, on a sawmill job years earlier, when I needed a piece of plate steel for a conveyor I was welding up. The forklift was idling in the yard, forks in the air, and a perfect piece of plate was directly ahead of it about two hundred feet. The operator was no where to be found, so I jumped on board. After a few minutes of jamming gears and pulling levers, I got it to move. Did I mention that is not the way to learn?

I drove straight ahead, dropped the forks to the ground, and man-handled the steel onto them. For some reason, the forks wouldn’t go back up (??), so I found a chunk of rope, tied the steel to the frame, and dragged it back to my project.

Bad idea – I was written up by two unions: labour for moving a piece of lumber that was in my way, and operator’s for.., well, you know.

However, in that February morning in Edmonton, it allowed me to truthfully answer that man’s question, “Have you ever run a forklift?” I got the job, and two days later found myself on the shores of Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories, where it was REALLY cold! And where my lack of equipment training got me into even bigger trouble.

More on how not to learn to run heavy equipment later…,

If you want to operate heavy machinery in the U.S. then you should seek national certification. It will help boost your career in so many ways.

The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) was set up specifically to provide heavy machinery operators a way to get certified on the equipment they operate daily. Due to a shortage in heavy machinery operators and no standardized way to test the ones who are working, a need developed to maintain a standard operating practice that would let employers know they have the best skilled workers on their crew. That’s where national certification came in. Today, the leading construction companies in the world recognize NCCER and ATS is at the forefront of providing safe heavy equipment training.

All ATS schools are accredited by NCCER. That means when you get your diploma from the ATS Heavy Equipment Training School, you are qualified to work anywhere that heavy machinery is in operation. No one can question your skills.

Founded in 1995, NCCER is a not-for-profit agency. When you graduate from an ATS school, you’ll be qualified to work on any equipment any where. It doesn’t matter where you went to school. Your skills will be known as first among the class. And the National Registry of graduates qualified on heavy equipment will be available to employers so that your skills and background can be checked, making it easier for you to get the job you want.

If being a heavy equipment operator is in your future, you’ll want to be certified by the National Center for Construction Education and Research.

Finding the right heavy equipment training school means being able to experience higher earnings and a more comfortable life style. When you do just a basic search on the Internet for the phrase “heavy equipment school”, you can find a wide variety of choices. Some of the choices that came up on our search were:

1. NAHETS
2. Redstone
3. Westwood
4. ATS

NAHETS has a lot of good features about it, it is certified and accredited. They also have nationwide training centers, but the problem with them is that they tend to have huge classes. This means that when you’re training with that heavy equipment training school, you are going to be spending quite a bit of time watching others train. This is not so with ATS. With us, (ATS) we have one on one training. We keep our classes small on purpose, so that each student can get the maximum out of the time that they are training with us.

Redstone college offers you a degree in construction management. This means you’re probably going to be studying for 3 or 4 years before you’re able to go out and do anything with that skill. On top of that, they require that you have a GED to enter the program. With ATS, you don’t need that. You can start at any time, right from where you are.

Westwood College offers you a degree in construction management too. Again, you can count on a few years of study before being able to go out and benefit from your training. Do you have 3 to 4 years to learn before you can make some real money?

ATS makes it super easy for you to get your training in the shortest amount of time in our heavy equipment training school. We have training centers all across the nation, and guess what? We also know that you’re anxious to get your training so you can make more money.

We have made it easy for you to get started with career loans, financial aid, grants, job placement and more. We are nationally certified, so when you complete your training with this heavy equipment school, you can proudly show your credentials.

Don’t waste your time with some unknown school or with a school that just doesn’t have that personal attention. Get the maximum benefit for your time, energy, effort and money. Call us today at 1 800 383 7364 or write to Associated Training Services, 7190 Elder Lane, Sun Prairie, WI 53590. You can even email us at admissions@equipment-school.com.

Your future is important, so if you have any questions about our heavy equipment training school, feel free to call us, and we’ll also send you a FREE DVD and brochure.

You may have asked yourself why you should get certification. One of the best reasons to get certified is because with certification, you have an official way to show off your training and your skills. It tells your prospective employers that you are serious about your career and that you have made the effort to get certification in your training. So how can you get certification?

First, you want to deal with the financing. Your certification has to be financed. Many people are able to finance themselves, however, if you’re not able to do so, then you can get financial aid. All you have to do is apply for financial aid with the loan institution. The process is simple and straightforward. You can also get a loan, and if you have good credit this should be easy as well. If you think you may need a co-signer, then by all means do so.

Next, you’ll get the training. Training takes a bit of time. You won’t be able to do it all in one day or in one week. If you’re training for your certification, you may not be able to work the same hours on your job. If you’re working full time and have a family, then you may need to consider how you are going to work your schedule so that you can still keep your life running smoothly during your certification. You’ll want to think things over and decide whether it is in your best interest to keep working full time, and to study full time. Perhaps you can study part time and work full time, or work part time and study full time. Weigh out the pros and cons of each decision and then compare them to each other. The last step is going to class on a regular basis. It’s not just paying for certification. You have to actually do your training. You won’t automatically pass just by paying for the certification, you’ve actually got to do something with it. In order to attain your certification, you will have to put in some major work, but the pay off at the end of your certification is huge. It means that you can get better paying jobs, better benefits, increase your income and experience more freedom. It means living a more comfortable life than you are living now, and that’s always good, right? If you have any more questions about certification and how to get started today, send us an email or call us today!

There are literally hundreds of reasons why you should get certification, today we are not going to go into those so much as we are going to look at some of the steps that you will need to take to ensure that you can get certified. The focus will be on the technical aspects of getting certified more than the positives of getting certification.

Step 1. Financing – Your certification will need to be financed; many students finance themselves, however, if you are not in a position to do so, you will need to consider financial aid. The process for applying for financial aid is relatively straightforward. As long as you have a good credit rating or a guarantor, you should be accepted.

Step 2. Training – Training takes time, you will not be able to work the same hours if you are training full time for your certification. You will need to decide whether it is in your interests to work full time and study part time or study full time and work part time.

Step 3. Going to Class – Just paying for your certification training does not mean that you will necessarily pass. Attaining your certification can be a lot of hard work. The pay off is at the end when you can get a better job and live a more comfortable life.

If you have any questions about any of our certification programs, please contact us at Associated Training Services.

Do you need certification to be able to operate a piece of machinery? The answer to this question is no. If you go to a lot of farming areas, you will see people operating equipment without certification. Chances are that they have spent their lives around heavy equipment and know a great deal about its operation. Were they to train, they would learn a thing or two, but basically they would have a very good understanding of the workings of the heavy equipment that they have been using. If you are operating equipment on your own property, then you don’t really need certification, but it is always good to have. If, however, you want to operate heavy equipment off your property, then you absolutely must have certification.

You need certification if you want to use heavy equipment anywhere else. All the skills in the world will not help you get a heavy equipment job without certification. It doesn’t matter if you have been operating equipment for many years, without that piece of paper, you have less claim to the salary and benefits from your years of training than someone who graduated from a training center yesterday. Their certification makes them legally qualified to operate the equipment; not having it relegates you to unskilled labor. Now, if there were ever to be a shortage of skilled workers in your company, you might be in line for training, but there is no predicting if or when that would ever happen. So why not get that certification?

A lot of people put off getting their certification because of the cost and time that are involved. There is no way around it, certification costs money. Look at it from a business point of view. Here at Associated Training Services we need to hire teachers, we need to purchase and maintain equipment, we need land for our training centers and we need an administrative staff to help everything run smoothly. If you go to any training school around the country, it is the same story. Training for heavy equipment is going to cost. On the other hand, it does not take all that long for the training to pay for itself. Once you bite the bullet and actually do the training, you can then start moving on and earning a lot more money. The sooner you train for your certification the sooner you can earn a higher wage.

If you are interested in training with us to obtain your certification here at Associated Training Services, please feel free to contact us. We look forward to helping you take the first steps towards your certification and entering more rewarding employment.

Life can be tough without certification. If you have been living without certification, it is a fact that you will know about all too well. Sure, some people manage to get by and some even do very well, but for the bulk of the population that has no training, life is very difficult. If you don’t have certification, then chances are that you will have experienced what it is like to live from paycheck to paycheck. What can certification give you?

• Peace of mind! This might seem like a somewhat abstract concept, but it isn’t. All jobs are stressful to a certain extent, certification won’t change that, but it will make life a lot easier and that goes a long way to making people happy. Imagine if you could wake up every morning and feel confident that you will have a job to go to next week. Not everyone has that luxury, but people with certification often do.
• Stability – Certification will allow you to stay in one job long enough to work your way up through the ranks. You can enjoy a career as opposed to an endless string of jobs.
• A sense of achievement – It takes guts to get out there and do the training that you need for your certification. After you go through the process, you will have a wonderful sense that you have accomplished something that not everyone can do.

If you are interested in obtaining some heavy equipment certification, please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services

If you want to make the most out of your heavy equipment training then you need to put it to use straight away. This might involve some hard decisions, but is worth it in the end. If you are working somewhere where the opportunities to advance are limited, sometimes it is better to move on rather than wait for an opportunity to find your. Your heavy equipment training and certification is an enormous asset in the job market and will make finding your next job a relatively straightforward process.

Reasons to Change your Job

• Not enough opportunities to put your training to use.
  This can be particularly frustrating and it will cause your skills to dull. What’s more, it is a waste of all of that effort that you put into honing your skills.
• Not enough pay.
  If you are spending your time and money on training and your company is not upping the ante, find one that will. Do your research and find out what heavy equipment operators with your level of training are earning and find somewhere that will give you at least that.
• Lack of Security
  If you see people fired for punitive reasons, or you feel that your company might be in financial trouble, you might be better off to find a company that holds onto its employees.
• Poor opportunities for advancement.
  If your dreams for the future are bigger than your place of employment can offer, consider moving on.

With the training that you receive at Associated Training Services you can enjoy a competitive place in the workforce. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to find a job that puts your training; you don’t have to settle for second best.

Once anyone has spent a few years without certification as an unskilled laborer they tend to think that life is as good as it gets. While many unskilled labor jobs can be enjoyable, you can make great friends, meet people and have a pleasant working environment; you will almost certainly be lacking in job security and financial stability. Certification gives you these things, but what should you be certified for? What is involved in obtaining certification? Is certification expensive? How long does it take to get certified? These are all questions that many people who are considering getting certification want to ask and rightly so.

While there are many types of certification that one might get, we are going to talk about the type of certification that we are familiar with. Heavy equipment certification, truck driving certification and carpentry certification are all offered by us here at Associated Training Services. If you are already in construction or a related industry, you might have wondered how the heavy equipment operators got to where they are. There are essentially two ways that you can go about obtaining your heavy equipment certification, one you can hope that someone up top in your company will see your potential and train you. That is unlikely but for some heavy equipment operators it did happen. The alternative is to take matters into your own hands and get certification at one of our schools. Whether you are interested in heavy equipment, truck driving or carpentry, the process is much the same.

The length of time that it takes to obtain your certification will depend on your schedule. It is a relatively quick process that can be done over a short period of time if you train full time. It takes a little longer to get certification on a part time schedule, but then training is set up so that you can work and train at the same time. If you are interested in finding how long it will take for a particular type of certification, please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services and ask about the specific course that you are interested in.

Certification is not cheap, especially if you are training in heavy equipment. We realize that it is tough for some people to afford and in order to help them with this we offer financial aid to qualified candidates. There is no way around it, working in machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars is always going to add up. Still our prices our affordable when you take a look at what is involved, the professionalism of our instructors and the extra earning potential that you will have once you have obtained certification.

If you are not certified, don’t put it off any longer. Certification has changed many lives for the better and it can do the same for you.

When you have been in this business a while you get to meet all kinds of interesting people looking for heavy equipment certification. Some of them come from very different walks of life, but their reasons for wanting heavy equipment certification tend to run along similar themes. I decided to put together a top ten list of things that certification can change for you. This list is by no means all inclusive and some people will order it differently, but here it is nonetheless.

Top 10 Reasons for Getting Certification

1. Make more money – This is not about being greedy, it is about making a living. The wages you earn with heavy equipment certification are much higher than you earn as an unskilled laborer.

2. Stable employment – Anyone who has worked as an unskilled laborer knows that such jobs are temporary, no matter how good at a job you are and no matter how hard you work.

3. Working conditions – Certification will give you work that has better working conditions.

4. Sustainability – When you are twenty-five, heavy labor can be a lot of fun. Try doing the same work at thirty-five, then try doing it at fifty. Some people can manage working like that without certification, but it takes its toll. With certification you are doing a job that you can keep doing at just about any age.

5. Career opportunities – Certification will give you career opportunities that do not otherwise exist. Imagine, having an actual career, where you know that the job that you have today is the same job that you will have in six months.

6. Long-term prospects – With the security that you get from a career and from stable employment, you can start planning ahead and doing things. Wouldn’t it be great to get a home loan?

7. Employment opportunities – Sometimes we want a change. Heavy equipment operators are in demand and you can get work all over the country.
8. A change of lifestyle – Your certification will allow you to break into types of work that you might not have considered in the past. How about changing the pace and scenery and going into mining, doing landscaping, forestry or any other of a number of different jobs that you can do with your heavy equipment certification.

9. Something new – For many people getting their heavy equipment certification is a chance to do something new. They might not have even been in construction or any other related industries before. Heavy equipment is great because the certification is relatively easy to get and does not take a long time. After a short training process, you will be ready to begin your new career.

10. Job satisfaction – Your heavy equipment certification will have you doing jobs that are more interesting than merely providing labor.

If you are interested in obtaining your heavy equipment certification, please do not hesitate to contact us at Associated Training Services.