The Auto Glass Safety Council™ (AGSC) held a free regional training course in April in Texas, and now has another scheduled for this October in Baltimore, to be held as part of Auto Glass Week™. Standards committee chair and industry expert Bob Beranek, president of Automotive Glass Consultants in Sun Prairie, Wis., is teaching the courses.
“We felt that if we could help the technicians pass the certification exam it would help the industry in two ways,” says Beranek. “It would increase the number of certified technicians, which would give the consumer more confidence in our replacements, and we could improve the knowledge the technician needs to perform competently.”
While the certification program has been a long-standing, popular one, this year’s approach is a bit different for the AGSC.
“In the past, certification was put upon the tech to find and study the material,” says Beranek. “Now we are helping the tech through a presentation and lecture to basically give them the answers to the test questions. After all, isn’t it our goal to have a more informed and competent technician? If we help them find the answers, we will achieve that goal.”
Beranek says so far, the industry response has been positive. “We have only had one training course so far but we are encouraged with the feedback,” he says.
For those thinking of taking the course this October, Beranek offers the following advice.
“My advice would be to not miss it,” he says. “It is an opportunity to learn what is on the test and [obtain] help in passing it. There is always a benefit to study before an exam but our course is designed to reduce the amount of cramming necessary to pass the exam.”
The Baltimore course will run from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on October 9. After the course, participants are encouraged to view the Automotive Glass Technician Competition from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The certification exam will then be conducted from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The cost for technicians who work for AGSC Registered Member companies is free and $49 for those who do not work for AGSC Registered Member companies. Also, as a special incentive, companies that become AGSC Registered Member companies by the date of this training can sign their technicians up onsite to take the training and test for free (the $49 will be credited back once deducted from the total AGSC registration fees). All fees include both the training and examination.
Those interested in attending can register online at http://agsc.org/baltimore/.