Technician (Apprentice)

Apprentice Technician — Refrigeration, HVAC & Food-service Equipment

A standing pipeline for Florida's top trade school talent.

Florida — Tampa | Orlando | West Palm Beach | Jacksonville | Port St Lucie | Fort Myers

We Recruit Ahead of Graduation — Not After

Coastline hires one Apprentice at a time, statewide, and that seat opens whenever a current apprentice graduates into a paid Junior Technician role — typically every 90–180 days.

Here's what makes us different: we don't wait for you to graduate to start evaluating you. The moment you enroll in an accredited HVAC/R Certificate Program, you're eligible to apply. We interview early and often throughout your program, and every candidate is graded against the same bar. When a seat opens, the top-graded candidate in our pipeline gets it.

If you're not the top-graded candidate the moment a seat opens, you're not out — you're on the bench, and we keep evaluating you as you progress through school. If you consistently grade as a top candidate but the seat isn't open yet, we can extend a standing offer: either pending your graduation, or locked in for a specific 30, 60, or 90-day window.

This is a single, ongoing application hub for every trade school student in Florida pursuing a career in Refrigeration, HVAC, or Foodservice Equipment Service — apply once, and we'll track you through your entire program.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

You'll be in the field from week one, shadowing and assisting on:

• Commercial refrigeration systems — walk-in coolers, freezers, reach-ins
  

• Ice machines (Scotsman, Manitowoc, and other major manufacturer lines)
  

• Foodservice equipment — combi ovens, cooking lines, refrigerated prep units
  

• Light commercial HVAC and rooftop units (Lennox, Trane, Carrier, etc)
  

• Diagnostics, preventative maintenance, and installation work alongside your mentor
  

You'll graduate this apprenticeship as a Junior Technician — not with a certificate that sits in a drawer, but with logged hands-on hours, a mentor who knows your work, and a seat on one of our service teams.

What We're Looking For

• Enrolled in an accredited HVAC/R Certificate Program — apply as soon as you enroll, don't wait until graduation
  

• Located near, or willing to work in, one of our seven Florida markets (Tampa, Sarasota, Orlando, Port St Lucie, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Fort Myers)
  

• Reliable transportation to job sites
  

• Comfortable with physical work: lifting, climbing, working in mechanical rooms and tight spaces, in Florida heat
  

• A valid driver's license with a clean-enough record to be insurable
  

• No prior industry experience required — that's the point of the apprenticeship
  

What matters more than your resume is how you show up during the process. We grade every candidate on the same criteria, and re-evaluate you as you progress through school — the strongest candidates rise, whether they're 3 months or 20 months into their program. We look for:

• Extreme Ownership — you take responsibility for your work and the people around you, no excuses
  

• Relentless Pursuit of Excellence — you want to get 1% better every day, not just clock in
  

• High Integrity — your word matches your actions
  

• Magnetic Personality — someone your future team actually wants around
  

Why Apprentices Choose Coastline

• Paid apprenticeship — you're earning while you learn, not paying for a program with no guaranteed job at the end
  

• Fully paid continuing education — including Manufacturer certifications and CFESA Master Technician certification costs, on us
  

• Real mentorship, not a manual — one Field Service Manager, one Lead Technician, one apprentice
  

• A fast, defined path — Apprentice → Junior Technician in 90–180 days, with the majority of our techs stepping into additional leadership within 2 years and leading full teams by year five
  

• Backed by the industry — Coastline is a Tier III Voting Member of CFESA and a trusted factory partner for True Manufacturing, Welbilt, Hoshizaki, Ali Group, Middleby, Spaceman, Electro-Freeze, and more
  

• Work that matters — you'll help keep restaurants, hospitals, schools, hotels, and even military facilities running. When our equipment goes down, someone's business stops. You're part of the fix.
  

The Process

This is a rolling pipeline, not a one-time posting — apply the moment you enroll, and here's what happens from there:

1. Apply below — tell us where you are in your program and which Florida market you're closest to
   

2. Central review — our apprentice program lead evaluates every application against the same statewide bar
   

3. Interview and grading — if you pass initial review, you'll interview with your local regional service manager and be graded on core values and technical abilities. We do this early and often throughout your program, not just once
   

4. What happens next depends on timing and your grade:
   

• A seat is open and you're the top-graded student → a formal job offer follows to work with us based on your school availability schedule
  

• A seat isn't open, but you're a top-graded student → we may extend a standing offer, either pending your graduation or locked in for a specific 30, 60, or 90-day window
  

• You're not yet the top-graded candidate → maybe you are fresh into your school program and another student beat you out by being deeper into their schooling with more current trade knowledge. You stay on our bench, and we re-evaluate you as you progress through school. Your grade isn't fixed — keep growing and keep climbing
  

5. Offer and onboarding — once a seat and a top-graded candidate line up, we move fast
   

One seat per region - seven seats statewide - at any given time, filled by whoever is grading highest when it opens. Apply as early in your program as possible — the earlier you're in our pipeline, the more chances you get to be evaluated.

See who you'd be working alongside: coastlinecooling.com/our-team

Coastline Cooling is a private, independently owned leader in Commercial Refrigeration, Ice Machine, and Foodservice Equipment Service across Florida, proudly serving restaurants, healthcare facilities, schools, hotels, convenience stores, and military installations.

Requirements

• Coastline hires the safest drivers to operate our Fleet Vehicles. Clean driving record is a requirement to operate a commercial vehicle at Coastline. Safety is our number one priority. Nothing is more important than returning to your loved ones every night. 
  
• Coastline hires the Highest Integrity People. Every hire at Coastline must pass a Criminal Background Check.
  
• Coastline hires people who are Legally Authorized to work in the United States. You will be required to pass USCIS I-9. 
  

Benefits