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Working in Refrigeration The people involved in bringing cold or frozen food to your table have a wide range of roles, for example: Engineers design cold stores to ensure that food is kept at the right temperature and remains cold when transported. This is a highly specialised technical role, and people usually have to go to University to study for a degree as well as having lots of experience. Chartered Engineers are members of the Engineering Council.

Technicians install and maintain refrigeration equipment; they are known as service engineers. If a freezer cabinet in a supermarket breaks down, the valuable contents might spoil, so technicians have to be 'on-call' to respond to emergencies at a moments notice. Service engineers tend to have a lot of experience gained through apprenticeships or training schemes with their employer. Qualifications can be taken as evidence of their knowledge: NVQ in England and Wales, SNVQs and SQA in Scotland. Technical Sales Staff tend to be known as Sales or Applications engineers. They will talk to the client and work with refrigeration engineers who design the system and implement the project. Consultants are contracted by large companies to give advice on how best to transport, store and display refrigerated items. They make use of expertise from privately funded research organisations or government bodies, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or the Department of Health. Training Options Engineers and technicians trained in refrigeration and air-conditioning are much in demand. Careers can include: Sales Technician, Service Engineer, Design Engineer. There are three main routes into the industry: Training at a local college or university HNDs in Refrigeration Technology give a good practical knowledge and understanding of refrigeration and air-conditioning engineering for Service Engineer level careers. GCSE passes are normally needed to join such courses. A degree in Engineering will also cover refrigeration and heat pump technology is some depth and can lead to work in designing large refrigeration-based engineering projects. Entry to such courses is normally at 18. Apprenticeships Modern Apprenticeships are now available with small and large companies. Under this arrangement your employer will train you and offer practical experience on the job. This may include your undertaking a National Vocational Qualificiation (NVQ, or SNVQ in Scotland) which is based on a portfolio of evidence of your knowledge of refrigeration. Apprentices can be taken on from the age of 16+. You can find out about local employers taking on apprenticeships through your local College offering S/NVQs or your careers adviser. The Institute has a list of colleges which offer refrigeration courses which might be useful as these colleges often have good links with employers in the area. Trainees Employers will often take on a trainee to learn the trade. These are less formal arrangements that apprenticeships, and may not include support for nationally recognised qualifications. You can learn a great deal from experienced colleagues and in-company practical training courses. Most people working in the refrigeration industry will eventually take some sort of City and Guilds certificate however. This is a skills test which certifies that the person is a responsible handler of refrigerants (the chemical mixes which make the refrigeration and air conditioning work). What it's like working in refrigeration:
Peter O’Prey is a 20 year old student of Refrigeration. He is employed by Montgomery Refrigeration Ltd.
What do you do? I install, service and commission commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. What attracted you to this job? What first attracted me to my job was the fact that there's lots of work and not enough skilled people to carry it out. What do you most enjoy about it? The dealing face-to-face with customers and the satisfaction of doing a good job and proving to myself to be good at my job What do you enjoy least? The jobs which are trivial, eg, water leaks on cases What training do you have? I have acquired: City & Guilds part 2&3 (207) City & Guilds (257) Technicians 1 & 2 ARC Apprentice of the Year 1997 & 98 What do you see yourself doing in 10 years' time? I see myself in an office job working on designing plant and also technical back up to service engineers. What advice would you give to someone interested in a career in the refrigeration industry? I would advise someone interested to take up training courses on refrigeration and also to experience hands-on working with equipment, as to gain a full understanding of refrigeration you have to hear, see and touch.
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