Licensed to Death

 

I swear these days everybody wants to see a license before they'll let you do anything. It doesn't matter if you've been doing the work for twenty years, solved problems nobody else could figure out, or trained half the people on the jobsite. The first thing people ask is, "Are you licensed?"

Meanwhile, I'm standing there thinking, "I taught the licensed guy how to do that."

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against licenses. I actually went through the process. I studied. I took the classes. I paid the fees. I sat through enough paperwork to qualify for a second career as a professional form filler. I passed the tests. I did everything they asked.

Then somehow I still got denied.

That's when I started wondering if the goalposts were mounted on wheels.

It's a funny feeling when you know how to do the work, prove you know how to do the work, pass the tests showing you know how to do the work, and then get told you still can't have the piece of paper saying you know how to do the work.

Apparently experience is great right up until someone asks for documentation.

What gets me is seeing people who have the license but couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag without calling three supervisors and checking YouTube twice. Yet because they have the magic card in their wallet, they're somehow the expert.

Meanwhile, you've got guys out here who can troubleshoot problems, build solutions, train crews, and keep projects moving, but they're treated like they don't know anything because a government office hasn't blessed them with the proper stamp.

Sometimes it feels like you're being penalized for trying to better yourself. The harder you work, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more requirements show up. Every time you clear one hurdle, somebody rolls out another one.

It's almost like the reward for gaining knowledge is being handed more paperwork.

I've reached the point where I have enough certificates, cards, training records, and continuing education documents to wallpaper my garage. If qualifications were measured by the weight of paperwork alone, I'd be running the entire industry.

But despite all that, I keep learning. Not because somebody requires it, but because I take pride in knowing my trade. At the end of the day, a license doesn't solve problems. Knowledge does. Experience does. Hard work does.

And if we're being honest, most of us know at least one person who proves that every single day.

So I'll keep improving myself, keep learning new skills, and keep doing quality work. If another license comes along, I'll probably chase that too. Not because I need another card in my wallet, but because nobody can take knowledge away from you.

Even if they can somehow deny the paperwork.

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