Finding Success in Your First Plumbing Job

You may have chosen plumbing as a career because it is more interesting than a desk job. Maybe you’ve always wanted to work in the plumbing field. No matter your reasoning, it is a great industry and will make you stay on your toes because it is always changing, becoming more technologically advanced.

However, there are a few aspects that will not change much, if at all. These aspects include customer service, safety, and on-the-job skills. Having a working knowledge of each will take you far in your plumbing career; understanding them before your first plumbing job will make it go much smoother.

Keep Customers Happy, Keep Business Coming

Customer service is still relevant. Some companies focus on cheap labor, others focus on innovative technologies, while other businesses pride themselves on the quickness at which the job can be finished.

However, if they aren’t focused first on keeping customers happy, they will lose them and any potential referrals. Keeping a customer happy doesn’t have to mean bowing to their every whim--it means being honest, arriving at the agreed upon time, and performing the plumbing job to the best of your abilities.

When you do these things, you develop a long-lasting business relationship in which the perks are new referrals. It is also necessary to mention that mistakes will happen. Regardless of how or why the mistake happened, it needs to be fixed. Owning up to it, apologizing for the inconvenience, and fixing the problem will keep you in the forefront of your customers’ minds next time they need a plumber.

Dirty Doesn’t Have to Mean Dangerous

Dirty jobs often get a bad reputation for being dangerous jobs. Truth is, they don’t have to be. If you are mindful about wearing the proper personal protection equipment, incidents should be few and far between.

Personal protection equipment can consist of gloves, eyewear, hard hats, back braces, respirators, and even shoe covers. Gloves and protective eyewear are important to guard against burns, and rashes, as well as bacteria that could be present. Hard hats and back braces are often needed when working in and around construction sites while installing plumbing.

Respirators might be seen as overkill but these will protect your entire respiratory system from harsh chemicals and toxic fumes that can be emitted from sewage or natural gas pipes. Finally, shoe covers might not seem like they are protecting you, but keeping your shoes clean and dry could prevent contamination of customers’ homes and your vehicle.

Learning by Doing

Some skills possessed by plumbers are innate. These may be the ability to quickly perform arithmetic, great dexterity in the hands, or strength needed to hold and carry equipment. Other times, lessons will be learned as they are happening.

This can be figuring out to plunge the sink before you remove the trap or using a camera phone to see into small, inaccessible places. In other instances, you may need to know how to cut a pipe with a string because your saw won’t fit. Keeping these tips in your mental bag of tricks will come with time and practice, but will take you far in your career!