Its About Q – SDG&E

Everyone agrees that training is essential! As your career advances, your training needs to keep pace. For Southern California HVAC/R company owners, managers, and technicians, the jobs of staying up to date are straightforward, now more than ever before.

ItsAboutQ is an online program

• Online programs allow 24×7 access so that the training comes to your doorstep instead of traveling to attend training sessions. Train from the convenience of your home or office with self-directed training experienced online.
• This program is not a cram course to get-you-through-an-exam. Instead, the courses and programs focus on career technical education standards (CTE) intended to upskill participants steadily. Competency is demonstrated through progressive quizzes and exams.

HVACR trade persons living or working in the Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric service areas generally qualify for the scholarship program. The courses, programs, and certification pathways are offered at no cost to qualified HVAC Southern California professionals looking to increase their skill levels through an online self-directed program with the discipline to follow through with completion requirements.

Courses and programs include many areas of study

• Electrical
• Refrigeration Systems
• Boiler, Chiller and Cooling tower technology and troubleshooting
• Commercial Refrigeration for HVAC Technicians
• NATE RTW and Certification Specialty (Air Conditioning)
• Customer Service Training

Every course qualifies for NATE CE Hours (continuing education hours)

NATE technician certification is widely required and increasing each year

The skills gap in today’s technicians is dramatically increasing. Technician capabilities have not kept up with technology advances.

• The NATE Ready to Work (RTW) program focuses on minimally trained apprentices and new hires. Through a series of introductory courses, the technician begins to gather entry-level skills.
• The NATE CORE and specialty programs are intended for technicians with 1-year of field experience and the willingness to invest the time to complete the program through to the certification exams. Technicians are far more confident upon completion and certification.
• Enjoy a 90% plus first-time pass rate on the NATE exams. The proven high pass rate for first-time examinees makes this program a natural and confident choice.

For Employers

ItsAboutQ can help you establish a training program that takes your technicians working at any level to the next steps. We hear from employers continually wondering where all of the qualified technicians have gone. There are two answers to that question:

Only the same underqualified technicians are working in the industry. With technology steadily becoming more sophisticated, the answer is that many technicians have made little to no effort to stay formally up to date, instead of relying on a combination of luck and changing parts.

More people are leaving and retiring from the industry at a time when technology advances have forced higher levels of preventative maintenance requirements and technical skills.

For Technicians and Apprentices

• ItsaboutQ is a natural choice given our massive first-time pass rate to bring you up to NATE certified technician standards. As states and energy utilities have negatively focused on underqualified technicians performing services for their rebate and optimization programs, the industry-wide demand for progressive training and certification has increased exponentially.
• Building owners now aggressively seek out the money-saving optimization and rebate programs aiming to reduce their operating expenses. Without certification, you could find yourself locked out from working on these projects.
• California Utility Ratepayers fund the Tuition Assistance Program under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. That means programs are free to qualified technicians in Southern California.