If you are in a Groundhog's Day rut and each day is essentially the same, it's time to break out of the trance.

You would have to be from Mars to not know of or remember the HBO hit show “The Sopranos,” which featured an inside look at some of the alleged New Jersey mob figures. One evening while watching a rerun of the show, I began to wonder, “What if Tony Soprano was your HVAC sales manager?”

There are natural systems in our American society that we just follow. We stop at red lights, go at green lights, and we certainly don't negotiate prices at the local food store. But what if you were born and raised in India, or China, or another country where bargaining was an everyday tool for feeding your family?

Becoming a familiar face will enable you to land that first job.

Taking the right first steps and doing the right research will get you closer to landing that first job.

This series will provide the basic steps for how to get that first entry-level job in HVAC -- and job search success for any student who actually followed through with the advice given has been very impressive.

There’s a day to honor administrative assistants, a day to recognize bosses, and even a day to champion teachers. But what about those folks who show up when the toilet is overflowing, or the a/c quit?

To help service technicians with lead generation, I make it a habit of riding along with them on heating service calls in the winter, plumbing service calls all year long, and air-conditioning calls in the summer. My service technicians have become experts in the fine art of replacement lead generation when dealing with heating or air-conditioning issues.

Contractor licensing in the U.S. is indeed frustrating. In an age where HVAC, electrician, and plumber contractors like everyone else need to be able to move to where there are jobs, they usually hit a brick wall.

My name is Mike O’Grady and I like my name. I think it’s easy and kind of cool. I’m pretty lucky to have an easy name. I met a man this summer with a pretty challenging name to pronounce. His first name was Robert; I’ll spare you the last name. Even if I spelled it you would have no clue how to pronounce it. Robert told me stories about growing up and going to school.

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