On my tax forms, my official job title is listed as a “serviceman.” Bear in mind I am a 26 year old woman, and at no point in my life have I been a “man” of any kind.
I understand it is just the archaic language from an industry that was founded well before women could vote or hold land, but I think it’s time to change the language.
I asked my dad how he would like it if all his official paperwork listed him as a “servicewoman” and he didn’t like that idea one bit. When I explained it to him like that, he agreed to change everyone’s job title over to HVAC Technician, instead of serviceman. I told him that it wasn’t for me, it was for the next generation, because we all want to encourage girl to get into the HVAC industry. It has been a Boy’s Club since always, like most construction businesses, but it’s a new dawn for equality, and we need more skilled female HVAC tech in the business .That will be easier to promote if they are being recruited as HVAC Techs and not HVAC servicemen. I have to give it to my dad, he is doing the best he can to change with the times. After all he hired me, making me the first female HVAC tech in company history. I don’t think any of the other local HVAC contractors have any female techs, either, but we are seeking to change all of that. One day I will be the first female HVAC company owner this town has ever seen.