According to Shanna Leeland, NATE certification gives technicians the credibility and confidence to say that they are qualified to do any job, and this can be especially helpful to women.

What do a training engineer, an HVAC technician, an instructor, and a Russian linguist interrogator all have in common? Not much really, unless your name is Shanna Leeland. Currently a training engineer for Trane Global Controls, St. Paul, Minn., Leeland is a North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certified professional who knows the value of effective training.

FROM RUSSIAN TO HVAC

Leeland began her career as a Russian linguist interrogator in the U.S. Army Reserves. During her eight years of service, she provided language proficiency support to Combat Arms troops both as a linguist and interrogator. Leeland also spent time in college furthering her skills with language, literature, and leadership development courses.

Her heart, however, was in HVAC.

“I knew at a pretty early age that I wanted to join the industry,” said Leeland, “but my dad, not wanting to pigeonhole me in the family business, encouraged me to go to college and explore other options.”

After her military service, Leeland began working as a field service technician for her father’s company. While working, she earned multiple certifications, including NATE.

“I paraded my certificate around the office for everyone to see and then I challenged all my co-workers to prove their knowledge by taking the test.” Leeland was the first technician certified among the 125 employees at her fathers company. She proceeded to develop a performance and incentive based technician-training program that she weekly taught in-house.

As her HVAC career expanded, Leeland began developing and teaching HVAC classes to students attending Montgomery College, Rockville, Md. Her expertise allowed her to instruct apprentices participating in the college’s building trades curriculum. She also taught for the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) apprenticeship program.

In 2000, Leeland began working at her current job with Trane, as a training engineer. In this position, she designs, develops, and manages technical training content based on product development requirements and business need. She also researches and develops training according to target audience and task analysis coupled with business delivery methods, not to mention the fact that she still instructs training classes. In order to keep up with the demands of the job, Leeland started a bachelor of science degree in information technology, which she will complete December 2007.

“My tenure at Trane has evolved from teaching and designing instructor led curriculum, to learning the tools necessary to create CD based training and online e-learning,” noted Leeland. “I am hoping that someday my experience with systems coupled with my controls expertise will merge and I will have an opportunity to become an applications engineer, taking part in the research and design of future industry products.”

SUCCESS IS MORE THAN ACCOMPLISHMENT

Shanna Leeland’s instruction experience includes teaching apprentice programs at Montgomery College, Rockville, Md.

Her unquestionable success as a member of the HVAC industry is not what makes Leeland so unique. It’s her attitude. Her past experiences and current ventures evidence the fact that Leeland is willing to go the extra mile to be the best in any task she tackles. Her undaunted commitment to education also reveals her tenacity as a perpetual learner, making her a prime example to women and men in the HVAC industry.

As an educated and experienced professional, Leeland highly recommends NATE certification. “Passing the NATE exam means that you are dedicated enough to your chosen field to learn material beyond the requirements to just get by,” she commented. “NATE certification will distinguish you from your peers. If an employer were to interview two identical candidates, with the only difference being NATE certification, I would be willing to bet that the NATE certified individual would be hired.”

According to Leeland, NATE certification has impacted her career in multiple ways.

“NATE has added credibility on the contracting level and from my peers who attend the classes that I am teaching at the Trane College of Building Automation. I’ve been in the students’ shoes and can share their war stories and experiences in the trenches.”

THE FEMALE FACTOR

In the expanding HVAC industry, women haven’t traditionally gravitated toward the profession, and men haven’t always welcomed them.

Unfortunately, less than 1 percent of the 25,000-plus NATE technicians currently certified are women. Leeland, having come up through the ranks of HVAC, understands what it’s like to be a woman in a predominantly male career.

“I would encourage women to enter the industry,” said Leeland. “There is a deficit of skilled labor in the workplace and women can help bridge the shortage. Jobs in the HVAC industry are financially rewarding and come with job security.”

As with any worker, male or female, it is impossible to pursue a profession and not run into obstacles at times.

“I have found that there is a difference between the way that women and men communicate and approach identical situations,” noted Leeland. “Not to say that there is a right or wrong way to approach the same conundrum, but that there are different ways to get there.”

She encourages NATE certification as a way to prove competency to male coworkers and to the, at times skeptical, male customers. According to her, NATE certification gives technicians the credibility and confidence to say that they are qualified to do any job, and this can be especially helpful to women.

“This is an opportunity to become a role model for young women and girls who might dismiss a technical field,” said Leeland. “I chose this industry because I’m a problem solver and I must have challenges.

“NATE is a common denominator in the HVAC industry and it’s hard to discredit an industry accepted certification.”

INDUSTRY REQUIREMENTS EVOLVE

“Tomorrow’s technicians will need to have skills in HVAC principles, computer technology, and energy efficiency, as well as interpersonal savvy to interact with customers,” noted Leeland. “I would take advantage of every class offered to me whether it was online, instructor led, or virtual learning, to develop skill sets that reach beyond what was the traditional HVAC industry.”

NATE has evolved with the industry, expanding its offerings and broadening its reach.

“NATE certification is a common industry standard; it surpasses product specific knowledge,” observed Leeland. “Through the years I have witnessed its growth from a handful of testing areas to an all-encompassing diverse program that can test multiple disciplines, and it is still growing. I applaud the dedicated industry professionals that are constantly raising the bar on our industry’s standards.”