Finding true pros like CMS these days is a treat...the thirst for knowledge and the best practice is a true blessing in an industry full of amatuers.
As my grandfather and father used to say; "
Any job worth doing, is a job worth doing right." In my opinion, if you are not constantly challenging yourself, your industry, area of expertise, pushing the envelope, pushing your comfort zone, reading, reading and more reading & questioning even "
well accepted" practices, you're simply not doing your job, in any field..
Doing my job well, in the white collar world, MBA yada, yada, yada, is what
financially allowed me to walk away from it at a young age & go back to doing what I really enjoy, and making a
lot less money, and that is boats.
In regards to the marine industry, the ABYC has made some strategic changes recently that will help to create a stronger, better & more competent field of techs.
A lot of this drive came from existing techs, yards & builders trying to hire new techs and finding out they essentially knew only enough to barely get by, even after passing the test. They passed the test, could talk the talk, but when you hired them and handed them a tool, & an actual task, they had no real understanding of what to do. More importantly, if they did know how to connect the dots, they had little understanding of the
why behind what they were actually doing.
This exact scenario happened to me, and it was actually Landing School graduate, not just a "
test passer". I reached out to guys like Ed S., Charlie J. and more inside the ABYC only to find out I was not alone in my experience, and the ball was already rolling.
The ABYC is now requiring a minimum of 2 years physical and documented field work experience, and passing the test, before you can be an actual "certified tech". A great move!
The certification testing is also required to be re-taken every 5 years. On top of this the ABYC is now also requiring CEU's or continuing education units so techs will have less ability to become lazy. All in all it's a move in the right direction..