The duties of a Termite and Pest Control Technician include scouting a customers premises, consulting with customers regarding potential treatment options, and clearing areas that are littered with debris related to work. Pest control technicians are also hired to perform site visits to buildings and surrounding environments in order to assess the population and infestation levels of the pests.

Pest control technicians telephone clients to determine specific pests that are plaguing the customers property, determine best courses of action, and apply necessary chemicals. Then, a pest control technician will use a combination of traps, poisons, chemicals, and other products to eliminate the infestations in the clients property.

Employers hiring for this position favor candidates with the ability to work well on their own and solve different types of pest infestations. When looking for pest control workers, employers seek candidates who possess strong organization skills, attention to detail, customer-service skills, and sufficient physical endurance to climb up a crawlspace and up several flights of stairs. Pest control workers generally survey buildings for signs of pests, determine treatment needs, and estimate their services costs to customers.

Pest control technicians need to be able to adapt chemical mixes based on the size of a batch needed to complete the work, for example, turning one gallon of pesticide into an appropriate formulation for making one quart. Technicians are required to provide a report to their employers detailing chemicals used and locations of application. As mentioned earlier, every state requires technicians to have certification, but requirements differ from state to state.

Working with dangerous gases, or on larger-scale operations, or as a certified pesticide applicator, requires significantly more time and training than becoming a pest control technician. Requirements can include taking classes on pest management from community colleges, technical schools, college extension programs, or pest control training centers.

Attend educational courses covering state and federal laws, licensing, information regarding pesticides, safety with pesticides, emergency procedures, pest control techniques, and formulations of pesticides. It contains 11 chapters of extensive information on pest control, state and federal laws, pesticide labels, pesticide applications, and safety measures.

Another type of pest control application worker is the fumigator; this individual uses gases to deal with a particular type of insect or a large-scale infestation. Applicators work with a wider variety of pesticides, working with more severe pests like termites, and also fumigating homes to deal with larger-scale infestations. Some also repair structural damage caused by termites, and construct barriers to keep pests away from food sources.

Although the most common pests are scorpions, cockroaches, rats, ants, bedbugs, ticks, and termites, some pest control workers also remove birds, squirrels, and other wildlife from homes and buildings.

A pest control worker is responsible for baiting and setting traps by hand, or applying common-use powders, sprays, or fogs to control common pests in one or a few types of environments (e.g. Technicians frequently travel to clients homes or businesses, working indoors as well as outdoors, to eradicate unwanted home guests.

You’ll work on homes, businesses, restaurants, and wherever our customers needs are for a pest-free environment. Use your creativity and your knowledge to eliminate pests and protect property further from them, and come home satisfied every night knowing that you helped someone to keep their property safe and beautiful. As an independent contractor, you will spend your days traveling to appointments and meeting with clients to evaluate their pest problems and determine treatment plans.