<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>Sorry, William. You have to be the Executive Director of a non-profit or similar to get a month vacation. If you’re a NABCEP Certified Installer, it is catch as catch can. (I can attest to that.) However, there probably aren’t a lot of out of work NABCEP Certified Installers.<BR>
<BR>
In all seriousness, one thing that gets lost in some of these discussions is that the relative value of ANY certification varies depending upon where one is in the food chain, so to speak. I’ve worked in distribution, in design and integration, and now in technical publishing. As an employee, I’ve found NABCEP certification super valuable. It has distinguished my resume from others. It sets a floor for my value in terms of compensation. In fact, when I worked for an installation firm, we had automatic pay raises for NABCEP Certification.<BR>
<BR>
If you’re an owner of an installation firm, I think it’s a very different scenario. Your past work is the best part of your resume. It’s a lot easier to sell your company to future customers based on your long list of past happy customers than it is to explain to them what in the world NABCEP stands for and why they should care. I think it can be a selling point, but if your not an employee the value in NABCEP is definitely more symbolic and intangible. <BR>
<BR>
We all see a lot of mistakes that get made in our line of work. NABCEP represents the industry’s own desire to set and strive for a higher standard. It’s not the boogey man. It’s not “The Man.” It’s your well intentioned colleagues. <BR>
<BR>
That’s my experience and my 2 cents,<BR>
<BR>
David Brearley, Senior Technical Editor<BR>
<I>SolarPro</I> magazine <BR>
NABCEP Certified PV Installer ™<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On 6/2/12 9:34 AM, "William Miller" <<a href="william@millersolar.com">william@millersolar.com</a>> wrote:<BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>Colleagues:<BR>
<BR>
I have been debating in my own mind the merits and demerits of applying for NABCEP. I see below the conclusive evidence that I should become certified. If NAPCEP installers get to take month long vacations, I'm all in.<BR>
<BR>
William Miller<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
At 07:17 AM 6/2/2012, you wrote:<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>The only person who would "officially" respond to Wrenches posts about NABCEP would be Ezra Auerbach, the Executive Director. That's part of his job, to be the public face for the organization. I have forwarded a few of these posts to him, and have gotten back a robo-response that he and his wife are away on vacation and will respond to emails upon return, I think around the end of June. <BR>
</SPAN></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'><BR>
<HR ALIGN=CENTER SIZE="3" WIDTH="95%"></SPAN></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'><BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT>
</BODY>
</HTML>