CPST Question

I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong area, but I wasn't sure what section this should be under.

I posted once before asking for some advice for my Forester. I received a ton of helpful information from everyone here, and since then I've been lurking and just reading/learning. I've been fascinated by the wealth of information that everyone has. Everything has been so helpful, and I'm interested in maybe taking the CPST course to get certified myself. I went to the website and read the information there about it.

I found a few posts on the forums here from folks who have asked questions about it. I have a few more curiosities, so I was hoping that a few of you wouldn't mind answering some questions for me. I just want to make sure I think this through before I spend the time going through the process, though I'm sure I would find it to be useful no matter what.

Do most of you work full time in non-childcare fields? I work full time as a banker; my spouse thinks I'm a little nuts to want this certification. I was kind of hoping to find an organization to volunteer with where my certification would be useful, but I'm not sure what types of organizations would need something like that. Do any of you do any kind of volunteering where your skills as a tech are used?

How common is it for techs to not have kids? We will eventually, but now is not the time.

Thanks so much in advance for anyone who can take the time to answer some of my questions.

I work full time as a Mom. Most techs have non-childcare jobs. Gotta pay the bills some way. In my state at least, I'd say that most techs are police officers. They need a few techs in the department, so work pays for it. I'm not sure if individuals are assigned or if they volunteer when asked; either way, few have any passion.

If you have a SafeKids coalition in your area, they probably do seat check events where you can volunteer.

I work in a non-childcare field, and while most of my CPST classmates were doing it for their job (either childcare-related or fire/police), there are many on this board that do it because we like it.

If I were you I'd try to figure out who in your area does seat checks, and go from there. It might be a local chapter of SafeKids, or a local fire department or police department, or some childcare-related organization. They may be willing to use you as a volunteer even before you are certified, and it might give you a better idea of whether or not you want to find a class and get certified. Here is a link to find CPST classes near you. The linked page also has links to find NHTSA inspection stations and SafeKids check events. If there are classes near you, you can also contact the lead instructors to see what they know about child passenger safety organizations/people in your area.

I'm not a CPST yet, but I'm signed up for a class in a couple of weeks.

I'm mostly a SAHM but I work here and there doing this and that. I have worked in child care, but most of my career has been in computer technology. I'm not doing this in order to add something to my resume. My career goal if I can ever get it together to go to grad school is to be a librarian!!

Two of my three children are way past car seat age, but I'm passionate about passenger safety (not just for children, but for everyone). I suppose getting into a major car accident when my oldest child was an infant was probably the catalyst for me, but it's only been recently that I've become aware of the possibility of becoming a CPST.

I hope to be able to volunteer in my area and make a difference. I can't think of any particular way that being a CPST will help my career goals.

I'm so glad you stuck around! It really does tend to draw you in, but of course, I'm biased, lol.

My degree is in elementary ed, so I always knew I'd work with kids in some fashion, even though I ended up teaching adults and not kids . I don't think there's a particular profile any of us fit; at some point we've decided this is our way to give back. Plus, it looks great on the resume!

In my city, the majority of techs are in outreach programs (mom & child interventional programs) or healthcare. Some are cops, very few are fire (OMG! the liability! ), some are AAA.

As the PPs mentioned, you can work through a local Safe Kids coalition, but some smaller cities might not have one and may have something run through a hospital or health department. Whoever teaches the class will know your local resources or you can check with your state's department of public safety/office of traffic safety/transportation administrator.

I really want to take the cpst course also. I don't do anything child related. I would love to do checks and help parents make sure their kids are safe.

I'm a 20 year old college student who is obsessed with car safety. I have no children. I do babysit and nanny, but I don't drive kids on a daily basis. I'm an elementary education major, so I will be working with kids in the future too.

When I took the course, I was the only person who was not getting certified for my job. I volunteer with Safe Kids and some fire departments.

If you want to do it, go for it. It's a lot of fun and you meet awesome people through volunteering as a tech. Not to mention all of the lives you save!

I'm a stay at home mom with a home business. I became a tech over 6y ago. I check with our local safekids group. Works great for me. Dh understands I just need out of the house a little.

Im just a stay at home mom to 2 kids. I wanted to do it for my kids but also because I like helping others.
When I took the class I was the only one there who 1. Was there for myself not mom job 2. actually practiced best practice myself. When we did introductions I said I was just a mom wanting to keep my kids safe and help other moms do the same. The instructor said people like you make the best techs
So I say if you want to do it go for it!!

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

I'm not a tech but I'm hoping to take the first course that I can make it to!

I have an office job, not at all child related, and no kids of my own. I just have a friend whose son I adore and drive around, which is what got me interested in this site.

Hedgefun,

I work in private equity (assuming you might work at a hedge fund?), so my job has absolutely nothing to do with being a CPST.

I took the tech class this spring. My plan is to volunteer with my local fire department to set up a monthly seat check for parents to use.

It is a nice change of pace from my day job and I like having something that lets me interact with different people than people in my industry.

During the class, people thought it was a little wacky that I did this on my own and paid for it on my own, but ultimately, I gained lots of their respect because I knew my stuff from this site.

Anyway - Feel free to PM me with questions.

I qualify for 2/3 of your caveats, but I thought I'd give input anyways.

I don't have my own kids. I do have "my" kids, nanny charges that I've been helping to raise since they were under a year... the bigs are 9.5 and 10-next-month. eek Those kids were certainly a big catalyst in my wanting to get certified, but they were not the only reason. Sure is nice to know that all of their carseats are tech-checked, though.

I have done a couple of checks through SafeKids, but I am also looking at volunteering with a pregnancy crisis center (teaching an occasional class, allowing Moms to get "credit" for attending that lets them "buy" items in their store, if I understand it correctly,) and I also want to look into helping at a shelter. The shelter had "new or gently used" carseats on their list of Christmas wants, so that's somewhere I would like to set up a relationship. I haven't really pursued that one yet.

Also, my local health department (where we have a couple of checks) -- in the county where I work, but not live, interestingly enough -- is looking into having me come out a few times a month to help with seats. They want to make sure it's ok from a liability/insurance standpoint, first.

I find that for me, having the certification is useful on an ongoing, day-to-day basis. Once I got to the point where I knew just enough to be dangerous (lol,) I would try to help in certain situations and be blown off. Just being able to add, "I am a car seat tech" to the information makes it be looked on in a whole different light. Examples are in the car seat aisle at BRU or Target, or as a parent was picking up their baby at the church nursery. I generally try not to interfere in peoples' business, but a gentle "If you have any questions, I'm a car seat tech and I'd be happy to answer them" has worked wonders. It is much more effective than simply being a know-it-all. (I speak from experience here, ha ha!)

And on a personal level... I have used it to pre-educate *my* parents. They hear bits here and there about what I do in CPS, so whenever I finally have kids, they should be fully assimilated to thinking ERF, EH, and boostering past the legal minimum are totally normal.

Thank you SO much everyone for the detailed responses and information! I may have some follow up questions for some of you soon. (It's been a long day, so I'm still sifting through everything. I think I've read the responses 4 or 5 times now and it's still all processing!)

I'm new here, but wanted to let you know I don't have kids and am becoming a tech. My husband thought it was a bit strange at first, too, but quickly realized how much I want to do it! But, I do work in childcare.