Locksmith Certification

[dauce]

Certifications, in my opinion, are worthless and a waste of time, and money.

I completely agree.
Similar to University degrees. They are great on paper, but experience in the field makes you a wanted commodity.

Steve Jobs didnt have a computing degree. Neither did half or more of the CEO's of the top 500 companies listed on NASDAQ.

A university degree used to be a sign of your ability to finish something you started. Where as I still see that today as a good sign, you dont need it to get a job. You need passion, desire and a willingness to learn, IMHO

Come on now - no hate intended but your argument is statistically incorrect in a big way. Legit studies show that college graduates earn significantly more money than there highschool diploma counterparts. Also you are correct that all of those CEOs make big bucks BUT you are ignoring (or misinterpretting) the fact that they are in the top 10th of a percent in the world market. Thats like being a rockstar. We all need to dream in a big way but it never hurts to have a fall back plan. Anyways, I have gotten offtopic lol. You are correct in your last bit about needing drive and desire to get a job - this will do wonders. And I do agree (in my very limited knowledge of the locksmith trade) that these type of certifications are worthless - just run a legit business that thrives by quality work that you can back up.

Cheers,

[Capt_Tom]

I once hired a friend's brother in law, as he was "smart". He could answer the questions, and ace the tests, but was like a deer in the headlights when you opened the hood and told him to point out the distributor.

I have seen many changes since I joined the work force over 40+ years ago. "Skilled" people used to handle jobs that required skills. Now, they are being overlooked for those that are "educated". The educated people have made their rise to the top, and demand that only the educated be hired to replace those skilled people lost by attrition. The educated is now the supervisor, and has to have a skilled guy to do the work.... how many locksmiths does it take to open a door??? Don't get me wrong... If a person has the skills AND the education to be the best in a profession, then that person should be paid his/her worth. However, if a person is hired for a job because he/she is educated, but cannot perform the work that the skilled person was passed over for, the job is then held by a check grabber, rather than a performer. Educated or not...If you can do the work required to be a locksmith, you are a locksmith, if you can't, then show them your certification and hand them the bill... see how well that goes over.

[Capt_Tom]

I might ad.... If I have to have my knee replaced, I will look to make sure that the guy is licensed and recognised in the state... but you can bet that I will find out his skills before I rely on that paper on the wall. (What is his standing and reputation in the last hospital where he practiced?)

[David Swearingen]

GhostCollector is right, it all depends on who is doing the hiring. In fact, I agree with all of you except Confederate. I have applied for a number of locksmithing positions over the last few months, and practically all of them required "basic locksmith certification" (whatever that is). Almost all the companies where I applied were either hospitals or schools, not locksmith shops, which is probably why my experience differs from Confederate. I think the knuckleheads doing the hiring have absolutely no way to judge a locksmith's ability, so they cop out by demanding "certification and licenses". Even though I've worked for eight different hospitals and taught institutional locksmithing at Georgia Middle College, Central Florida Hospital won't even look at my application because I can't give them a "basic locksmith" certificate number."

[Capt_Tom]

Your statement is well written. Please understand that it is not my point or belief to talk out against educating one's self. I have been to many schools, classes, and seminars. I constantly read and study aspects of all that I am involved in. I have diplomas and certificates that cover every wall in my office, and more in boxes. My point is that many people with certifications DO consider themselves to be Elite, and to only want to be involved with, or hear from... "the Elite". I see it more from the higher education field, but can be seen in all walks of life. I am just an everyday guy. I can get along with anyone... as long as they let me.

[Squelchtone]

I once hired a friend's brother in law, as he was "smart". He could answer the questions, and ace the tests, but was like a deer in the headlights when you opened the hood and told him to point out the distributor.

I have seen many changes since I joined the work force over 40+ years ago. "Skilled" people used to handle jobs that required skills. Now, they are being overlooked for those that are "educated". The educated people have made their rise to the top, and demand that only the educated be hired to replace those skilled people lost by attrition. The educated is now the supervisor, and has to have a skilled guy to do the work.... how many locksmiths does it take to open a door??? Don't get me wrong... If a person has the skills AND the education to be the best in a profession, then that person should be paid his/her worth. However, if a person is hired for a job because he/she is educated, but cannot perform the work that the skilled person was passed over for, the job is then held by a check grabber, rather than a performer. Educated or not...If you can do the work required to be a locksmith, you are a locksmith, if you can't, then show them your certification and hand them the bill... see how well that goes over.

I couldn't agree with you more. At my last job, which was a start up in the Boston area, we had a bunch of Harvard boys who were busy high fiving each other at how smart they were in business, and for the whole company there were like 30 "VP's" and about 5 staff, including me the IT guy, the payables girl, an accountant, and the purchasing people. The "VP's" were utterly helpless at anything from making copies, to checking their voicemail box, but they sure were good at sitting in meetings on phone calls all day opining about things. At the same job, I once got pulled into the board room and had 20 mechanical engineers looking at me to hook up their Thinkpad laptop to the projector so they could start their meeting. Our society seems to also automatically favor someone who has a college degree, no matter if it is a liberal arts degree from some backwater college you've never heard of or an engineering degree from MIT, and a skilled mechanic, or locksmith, or even a plumber or electrician is treated like like a lazy stoner who drives around in his pick up truck and couldn't get anything better for work after high school.

I support anything someone does to better themselves, but it seems having a college degree these days doesn't mean the same thing anymore and doesn't carry the same clout that it did back 25-50 years ago.

Squelchtone

[ballassociates]

Having just completed the Foley Belsaw course, I actually thought it was a good overview of things one could expect to encounter as a locksmith. Also, in the case of my current employer (whom I currently support as their in-house locksmith), the certificate enhanced my resume & reputation. The course work also taught me alot. Sure, most learning in this field is from personal hands-on practice & study, but I do recommend the course to anyone starting out in this field. I, for one, am very happy with the education & support I have recieved Foley Belsaw.

[Jeremym0411]

Alabama issues an locksmith license. But in order to get that license you have to pass a certification test. The test was written like the PRP test that ALOA gives. But you have to have the certification test and certificate to get the license.

[instilocktutionsmith]

Got this in the mail. Has anyone heard of National Locksmithing Institute? They offer a 5 day course to become a Certified Facility Locksmith.

[jfw]

They also wrote the book on Safe Manipulation. I believe they publish a magazine as well. Looks pretty reputable, but I have never tried their courses. If you do go for it, let us know how they are.

[MacGyver101]

They also wrote the book on Safe Manipulation. I believe they publish a magazine as well. Looks pretty reputable, but I have never tried their courses. If you do go for it, let us know how they are.

No they didn't. The National Locksmith is not the same organization as the National Locksmithing Institute.

[Lock-Star]

I agree that certifications are mostly only recognized and appreciated among peers but there are some jobs that require you to be at least a CRL. When it comes to serving the public, though, who the heck cares what a CRL is or a CPL or any of the numerous designations that ALOA SPAI comes up with as long as you can get that lock fixed or that safe opened?
Having said that, I hope to attain those designations some day for my own sense of pride. They don't just hand those out. You really gotta know your stuff, I imagine.
I am still pretty new, though, and maybe someday it won't matter.

I will say that the 6-Day Basic Locksmithing course that ALOA offers was extremely useful to me when I first decided to learn this business. It wasn't cheap but i feel it really helped me to get a good solid grasp of the basics. The 175-200 question test was pretty thorough too (scored a 92%) and it earned me the designation of AFL (ALOA Fundamental Locksmith .. Probably pretty meaningless to most of you). I read Bill Phillips' The Complete Guide to Locks and Locksmithing cover to cover before attending and that really helped.
If you're new and you have 6 days where you can go to Dallas and pay the money and spend 8-9 hours a day in the classroom I highly suggest it.

[dll932]

In 30 years no one ever asked me for certs and there's no licensure in Ohio for 'smiths.

[smokingman]

It all depends on how demanding the shop you are trying to get a job with is.
After completing the Belsaw course ( it was just Belsaw back then) I applied at the local
shop, showing the card and diplomas to the interviewer.
The guy in charge of hiring asked if he could see the materials from the course,
I said sure , I will bring them in.
I came back with the big yellow binder and he perused it and said , that covers a lot
but there are things you will only learn from experience.
He then took me back to a work bench and showed me a long silver box, a lefebure key blank
and a warding file, and said "impression a key for that lock and we will see" .

I had never made that long of a flat key before (10 levers) but in a couple of hours
I had a working key that looked very good. ( My Gunsmithing experience with filing small parts helped )
I got the job and eventualy went independant after a few years.
The "certification" only got his attention, it was the skills that got me the first job as a Smith.
It can't hurt to have something on paper when applying, but you must pass muster to get the job and keep it.

[2octops]

I got the job and eventualy went independant after a few years.

This is exactly what happens with a lot of people that go to work for a shop. They get trained and leave.

That is why it is so difficult to get a job with an existing shop. Who wants to hire and train their future competition?

After you invest that much money and time in someone and they leave you, it makes it hard to want to hire their replacement because they will likely do the same thing.

I've trained dozens over the years that thought the grass would be greener if they were driving their own van. Now days it's easier to just form a co-op with other locksmiths in the area and help each other out as contract help when someone needs help. I do still have a couple working directly for me, but they do very light lock work and are more general laborers than anything else.