What Do Commercial Refrigeration Jobs Entail?
Commercial refrigeration jobs entail handling the manufacturing, sales and maintenance of refrigeration equipment and supplies. The job titles for this area can include salesperson, distributor and repair technician. The majority of the commercial refrigeration jobs are for repair or maintenance technicians.
Each commercial refrigeration job requires different expertise. A repair or maintenance technician requires technical training in refrigeration system repair and maintenance. Many of these technicians are certified in the state they work in. Having a certification can give a technician the opportunity to earn higher wages. Some technicians start their career by participating in an apprentice program in order to gain more experience.
A typical commercial refrigeration technician provides mechanical maintenance and repair to commercial refrigeration systems. These types of units are typically found in various restaurants, grocery stores or convenience stores. The most common industry that uses this type of refrigeration system is the restaurant industry. Sometimes technicians can be independent contractors who are hired by either the distributor or the manufacturer.
Commercial refrigeration technicians generally deal with repairing refrigeration units when they are not operating correctly or have broken down completely. The day to day job typically entails handling mechanical components of the unit. Sometimes the job entails ruling out many potential contributors to the problem of a commercial refrigeration machine before finding what is causing the problem. The technician usually orders parts from the distributor or manufacturer before the job is complete. If the technician is on the payroll of the manufacturer or the distributor, they are paid per pay period. If the technician is an independent contractor, they are paid per job.
A commercial refrigeration salesperson would typically spend time negotiating sales of equipment and supplies to restaurants and grocery stores. This can include traveling if selling the product requires face to face interaction. This type of sales position requires spending quite a bit of time on the phone.