Question How do I become a carseat tech?

I've been thinking a lot about this and figured I should put my carseat obsession to good use. What is the first step to go about this? TIA

That'd be great! The first step is to go to http://cert.safekids.org/.

Wendy

wendytthomas said:

That'd be great! The first step is to go to http://cert.safekids.org/.

Wendy

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:yeahthat:

Then click on "Find a Course" on the right hand side of your screen. You can search for courses in your state or in neighboring states if you're close to a state line. Under "Course Type" chose "Certification". Hope you find something in your area. Good luck!

Thanks!

Where are you located? Maybe someone here can give you a contact local to you also.

I'm in Chicago.

mping said:

I'm in Chicago.

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There are two in Elgin, next year. However, if you happen to be closer to Rockford then Chicago, you could email Winnebago safe kids and see if they will be having a class next year.

Can someone explain what a "controlled " vs a "public" course is?

Generally, a controlled course is held for a certain population - say a hospital wants to train all of its NICU nurses. They might ask SafeKids to put on a course, but it is controlled, so only those nurses have access. *However* sometimes you can still get in a controlled course (maybe there are ten seats in that course, but only eight nurses) by emailing the instructor. Public courses, conversely, are open to anyone... just by signing up.

I may take the Joliet course in February if I can figure out childcare. I'm just bummed that I can't make a career out of this. Is there such thing as a paid position somewhere? As much as I'd love to do plenty of volunteer work, obviously being paid is a big priority.

It's not common. Mostly jobs ask that their employees become techs, they don't hire techs for jobs. Some techs charge for carseat checks (I do), but I don't know anyone who makes a living on it just via checks.

Wendy

There are paid positions - but I wouldn't hitch your star to one. Every area is different, of course, but just for the sake of example, I live in a city of 750k people (so not a small town.) Outside of people who do checks in the course of their firefighter/EMT/police jobs (which really aren't that many,) I can think of maybe eight paid CPST positions, all of which are part-time. I think a couple could be full-time, but employees have chosen to split the positions instead. And those p/t gigs range from 20-25h/wk to two checks a month. Plus, many of those CPSTs have other duties contained in those hours - generally still in the realm of injury prevention, so it ties in, but still not purely carseats.

Other areas have more positions - we have a couple of members who work at a hospital that does a check for every new baby born in their system (if I understand correctly... they can come in & correct me if I am wrong ) From reading their posts, it sounds like they utilize a team of technicians who each work just a few hours, so again, part-time.

I do know we also have a couple of members who have full-time gigs, or have the opportunity for full-time gigs - they do exist. They are just not common.

As for where the jobs are, you are looking primarily at hospitals or public health departments - and perhaps a select few retail jobs. (I know we have a couple of members who are CPSTs in retail positions.)

The other issue is one of experience/longevity. The postings I've seen around here want candidates with several years of CPST experience, CPST-Is, special needs trained, people with bachelors degrees. The CPST community is so, so small that there is a 99% likelihood that you will know not only your interviewers, but the other people applying for the same position. Once you get certified, you would likely have to spend a solid amount of time volunteering, building your skill set, and networking.

There are always exceptions - sometimes you land at the right place at the right time and can get an awesome full-time job as a newbie. But I think MOST of the time, it will be a lengthier process: build skills, build connections, wait for an opening, wait to be the right person to fill it.

Judi usually posts job openings in a thread down in the technician forum when job openings are posted - I would guess there have been maybe ten in the last year? Then again, not every position makes it into there (mine didn't,) but even twice that many jobs, annually, is a pretty small sample size.

Please know that I post that not to discourage you, but to give you a realistic picture of the CPST job market/job possibilities. I have been certified for 3.5y and keeping an eye out for CPST jobs for two or three of those. I have seen two - one which I was under qualified for (but was still interviewed for,) and the second of which I got. I work 16h/wk, the job is not entirely carseats, and it is technically temporary. (I still love it, though!!) I know both the technician who got job #1 and the only other applicant for job #2. The job2 tech is fabulous, but there just are not enough jobs to go around, and she has not been able to find a job in the field. It's really frustrating sometimes.

If you want to get certified - I'd get certified for you. Let it be known to those you work with what your goals are - ie employment as a CPST - in an appropriate manner as you work with them, and keep your ear to the ground. You might get fortunate and find an awesome gig in short order

J2 tech? The Joliet one?

No, sorry - I was using shorthand and was abbreviating it as the tech I had referenced in regards to job #2. I don't know any of the folks in Joliet, I hope they're fabulous though!!

I will edit it for clarity

I see. I was getting a little excited
I'm not traveling to Riley's

I don't think it's necessary to travel to Riley's. In all honesty - I travelled to my course, and I wish I had trained closer to home. Your CPST course is a jump start on making connections with your fellow technicians, whom you will (hopefully) be working with a lot in the future. By training out-of-area, it took me probably a good year to become a known entity - and some of the instructors still don't know me, other than in passing. I would recommend training with the coalition you hope to work with.

Note that is JMO, and not one I often see expressed on here... but it's been my experience.

The only place in my state is at Riley right now. My other option is an hour away in Illinois but I have a friend near there.

Carrie_R said:

I don't think it's necessary to travel to Riley's. In all honesty - I travelled to my course, and I wish I had trained closer to home. Your CPST course is a jump start on making connections with your fellow technicians, whom you will (hopefully) be working with a lot in the future. By training out-of-area, it took me probably a good year to become a known entity - and some of the instructors still don't know me, other than in passing. I would recommend training with the coalition you hope to work with.

Note that is JMO, and not one I often see expressed on here... but it's been my experience.

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I agree with this, if possible. As an instructor, we welcome techs from other areas, but it takes a while to get to know new techs and get a feel for how they were taught. There are often different teaching methods and regional differences in how situations are approached that vary between groups.

I've noticed. Now I shall worry about who I'll have....eventually