Foley Belsaw| Anything to beware of?

1) Too late now but... You didn't pay the first price they gave you did you? They usually drop the price a couple of times if you don't "bite" right away. I've heard of them dropping the original price by half. 2) They will teach you the basics. Don't fool yourself by thinking that once you finish their (or anyone elses) course that you will be an experienced locksmith, ready to set the world on fire. If you go to work for someone, don't expect to get paid very much at first (you'll still have a lot to learn).

If you try to start your own business, make sure you join a local association and get to know your colleages. You _are_ going to need their help.

Good luck

Bobby

Next thing.... all the Belsaw graduates I've met proudly proclaim themselves "certified locksmiths" but not one can tell me what certified means. Their usual answer is "they do it right through the course".

Well, you'd be wise to know what certified means, and what it allows you to do.

Mr. DeWeese is right about the rest of it. My Dad and I took the Locksmith Institute course, and that taught us about 6-10% of what I needed to know right off the bat. And I keep learning.

To repeat what we've said in the FAQ:

"Certified" generally means "Someone handed you a certificate" -- in other words, it generally means you completed a correspondence course. It's pure marketing. Ignore it.

If you want competence testing, ALOA runs some nice tough tests which you aren't likely to pass unless you've been working as a fulltime locksmith for several years and/or have Seriously Studied for them. They also cost a significant amount for testing fees, which is itself a legitimate way of screening out those who aren't serious about the profession.

It means nothing. It allows nothing. It just means the folks who run the course know your name and may or may not be willing to admit that to other suppliers.

It means the same thing it's meant everytime you've made this statement. That they have a certification from FB that they passed the FB course. Just like you receive a certification for virtually any course or exam you take. I don't think it's meaning could be anymore obvious. How valuable or not a certification it may be is another matter, although in many cases it will at least allow the certification holder to buy from legitimate suppliers when they might otherwise not be able to do so.

So why don't you explain it?