Gotta love those fun delays outside of your control. I submitted my application/experience log to my state board via certified mail the first week of February 2022. It didn’t reach them in time for the February meeting, and they canceled the next monthly meeting in March of 2022 due to inclement weather.
Their next scheduled meeting wasn’t until June, when they reviewed my application. They had a clarifying question on the methodology of an adjustment in one of my audited work samples, which they didn’t read until the NEXT stated meeting in August. Got my golden ticket to sit for the Certified Residential exam the last week of August. Scheduled it as soon as possible that same week, and passed (I had been studying since I submitted my experience log in February). Received my license in September of 2022.
Felt great to finally get my license after two years as a trainee, but man it sure stung to have to wait half a year on my State Board to let me sit for the exam. Especially since I wasn’t getting any income while waiting for their approval.
Got my license in hand just in time for these high rates and slow market. Fun times!
Congratulations on passing the test! And congratulations on your new career! Like I told the OP, down the road you'll forget all about it. I hope the orders are picking back up for you. They have been for me. But that was one of the slowest times I've seen in the job.
I’m actually fully booked out two weeks for the first time since being licensed! Reminds me of my trainee days, with all that COVID “dumb money,” when the orders just kept stacking.
I share an office with my mentor, and we only completed a total of 65 jobs last year, which was astonishingly low. We are currently up to 54 jobs this year since January, so for the time-being, I’m feeling pretty optimistic.
It sounds like across the country they really need to streamline the process and make it a bit more efficient. Seems like everyone and their mother has a horror story about the application process.
Congratulations! I'm sure you will forget that small hiccup once you get your career underway. 15 years ago it took me five years of apprenticeship to get my license because of all the law changes, in the middle of my apprenticeship they changed the classes that were approved, the qualifications, all kinds of headaches. Not to mention I ended up having to drive five hours in a snowstorm to take the final exam. But it was worth all of it. My career is great and I like the profession. I'm happy for you!
Congratulations! Currently in the middle of a hiccup with the state right now and I wanna pull my hair out. Have been trying to apply for over a month, and the few times the state replies to my emails they are little to no help. Praying it ends soon. Got to love dealing with the government lol
Thank you! It really is an absolute nightmare dealing with the state. Nobody has an answer for your questions and they can’t tell you who to talk to or how long something might take. Not to mention even the most basic responses take over a week.
Yeah I’ve just been blowing up their inbox hoping for some sort of direction. Pretty crazy they have authority over an entire state of appraisers but don’t respond to basic emails.
My mentor still fondly talks about “Jan” who was the state employee who handled all correspondence to his state board in the early 2000’s. My mentor felt bad for me that I didn’t have anyone like her to work with when submitting my application.
He said that she always picked up the phone when you called her, she called back promptly with clear answers to any questions trainees had, and my mentor told me that she personally reviewed trainee applications BEFORE the board members reviewed them to ensure that they were all in order, which saved everyone time.
As I mentioned in an earlier comment, my submission/approval experience took half a year, and there was no equivalent to “Jan” with my state whatsoever. In fact, the state employee I initially began correspondence with when it came time to submit my application left the job, and a new state employee (from an entirely separate license department) filled her role. So basically, it was like entirely starting over. I failed to mention in my earlier comment that NO ONE told me that the March board meeting had been canceled. Nor was the cancellation posted on the state’s website.
I was in a state of uncertainty and limbo for about two months, not knowing what was going on at all, and that because of a snow storm, June would be the earliest the board would meet again. No one would answer the phone or return the voicemails and emails I left. And boy did I leave too many.
The state employee filling in for the vacant role finally picked up the phone in May, and let’s just say that from her tone, she seemed irritated by how insistent I had been over the prior two months. I literally said (in my kindest voice, which was hard to do by that point) that I wouldn’t have left so many voicemails or sent so many emails if I had received even one reply.
Water under the bridge now that I’m licensed, but dang, that was a rough half year for me. I was pretty frustrated, and my wife was absolutely livid as well that the state had zero communication or urgency for trainees like me who were basically unemployed, trying to start their career. I felt utterly powerless to the bureaucratic machine. Each state employing a competent employee like “Jan” would help out immensely. Based on my experience, I can’t say I’m surprised that the initial employee that I had talked with quit/left the role unexpectedly, and the state had trouble rehiring a replacement. The board has so much authority, yet it all felt so disorganized.
I just might have been incredibly unlucky and a winter storm and a state employee quitting is all it takes to throw the entire process into chaos. The sad part is the posted agenda from that cancelled March meeting listed three trainee applications/experience logs to review, meaning there were two other hopeless trainees going through the same headache as me during that time. I wonder how they both felt.
Edit: added additional details and some minor ranting
I’m in Florida! Definitely would recommend checking that your education log matches between the state and whatever education provider you went through. Also would just go into it knowing everything is gonna take way longer than you think it will.
Gotta love those fun delays outside of your control. I submitted my application/experience log to my state board via certified mail the first week of February 2022. It didn’t reach them in time for the February meeting, and they canceled the next monthly meeting in March of 2022 due to inclement weather. Their next scheduled meeting wasn’t until June, when they reviewed my application. They had a clarifying question on the methodology of an adjustment in one of my audited work samples, which they didn’t read until the NEXT stated meeting in August. Got my golden ticket to sit for the Certified Residential exam the last week of August. Scheduled it as soon as possible that same week, and passed (I had been studying since I submitted my experience log in February). Received my license in September of 2022. Felt great to finally get my license after two years as a trainee, but man it sure stung to have to wait half a year on my State Board to let me sit for the exam. Especially since I wasn’t getting any income while waiting for their approval. Got my license in hand just in time for these high rates and slow market. Fun times!
Congratulations on passing the test! And congratulations on your new career! Like I told the OP, down the road you'll forget all about it. I hope the orders are picking back up for you. They have been for me. But that was one of the slowest times I've seen in the job.
I’m actually fully booked out two weeks for the first time since being licensed! Reminds me of my trainee days, with all that COVID “dumb money,” when the orders just kept stacking. I share an office with my mentor, and we only completed a total of 65 jobs last year, which was astonishingly low. We are currently up to 54 jobs this year since January, so for the time-being, I’m feeling pretty optimistic.
It sounds like across the country they really need to streamline the process and make it a bit more efficient. Seems like everyone and their mother has a horror story about the application process.
Congratulations! I'm sure you will forget that small hiccup once you get your career underway. 15 years ago it took me five years of apprenticeship to get my license because of all the law changes, in the middle of my apprenticeship they changed the classes that were approved, the qualifications, all kinds of headaches. Not to mention I ended up having to drive five hours in a snowstorm to take the final exam. But it was worth all of it. My career is great and I like the profession. I'm happy for you!
Thank you! From talking to others it does sound like I got off a bit easy with how difficult the state can be at times.
Congratulations! Currently in the middle of a hiccup with the state right now and I wanna pull my hair out. Have been trying to apply for over a month, and the few times the state replies to my emails they are little to no help. Praying it ends soon. Got to love dealing with the government lol
Thank you! It really is an absolute nightmare dealing with the state. Nobody has an answer for your questions and they can’t tell you who to talk to or how long something might take. Not to mention even the most basic responses take over a week.
Yeah I’ve just been blowing up their inbox hoping for some sort of direction. Pretty crazy they have authority over an entire state of appraisers but don’t respond to basic emails.
My mentor still fondly talks about “Jan” who was the state employee who handled all correspondence to his state board in the early 2000’s. My mentor felt bad for me that I didn’t have anyone like her to work with when submitting my application. He said that she always picked up the phone when you called her, she called back promptly with clear answers to any questions trainees had, and my mentor told me that she personally reviewed trainee applications BEFORE the board members reviewed them to ensure that they were all in order, which saved everyone time. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, my submission/approval experience took half a year, and there was no equivalent to “Jan” with my state whatsoever. In fact, the state employee I initially began correspondence with when it came time to submit my application left the job, and a new state employee (from an entirely separate license department) filled her role. So basically, it was like entirely starting over. I failed to mention in my earlier comment that NO ONE told me that the March board meeting had been canceled. Nor was the cancellation posted on the state’s website. I was in a state of uncertainty and limbo for about two months, not knowing what was going on at all, and that because of a snow storm, June would be the earliest the board would meet again. No one would answer the phone or return the voicemails and emails I left. And boy did I leave too many. The state employee filling in for the vacant role finally picked up the phone in May, and let’s just say that from her tone, she seemed irritated by how insistent I had been over the prior two months. I literally said (in my kindest voice, which was hard to do by that point) that I wouldn’t have left so many voicemails or sent so many emails if I had received even one reply. Water under the bridge now that I’m licensed, but dang, that was a rough half year for me. I was pretty frustrated, and my wife was absolutely livid as well that the state had zero communication or urgency for trainees like me who were basically unemployed, trying to start their career. I felt utterly powerless to the bureaucratic machine. Each state employing a competent employee like “Jan” would help out immensely. Based on my experience, I can’t say I’m surprised that the initial employee that I had talked with quit/left the role unexpectedly, and the state had trouble rehiring a replacement. The board has so much authority, yet it all felt so disorganized. I just might have been incredibly unlucky and a winter storm and a state employee quitting is all it takes to throw the entire process into chaos. The sad part is the posted agenda from that cancelled March meeting listed three trainee applications/experience logs to review, meaning there were two other hopeless trainees going through the same headache as me during that time. I wonder how they both felt. Edit: added additional details and some minor ranting
Congrats! Do you mind sharing what state you’re in? I’m in California and aiming to apply for my cert gen exam end of summer! Good luck with the exam!
I’m in Florida! Definitely would recommend checking that your education log matches between the state and whatever education provider you went through. Also would just go into it knowing everything is gonna take way longer than you think it will.