How Do I Become A Locksmith?

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       The question is asked day after day, "How do I become a locksmith?" There is no simple answer, but four options come to mind. The first option is being "born" into the trade. Many successful locksmith businesses are family owned and operated and have been for generations. The trade is passed down from father to son. This option is preferable since it is in the father's best interest to share secrets learned and passed down from previous generations to their own sons. These types of businesses are difficult to obtain employment with as the families regard their techniques and secrets as "proprietary" in most cases.

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       The second option is to be hired as an apprentice with an established locksmith. This does happen from time to time, but many locksmiths are reluctant to hire individuals off the street. The reason for this is as soon as the apprentice feels they know the trade, they quit, start their own business, and become competition. Generally this drives down rates in the area due to the apprentice lowering prices in an attempt to gain more business. This in turn hurts the entire local locksmith industry.

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       The third option is to attend a locksmith training school.  Legitimate locksmith training facilities are few and far between.  Most locksmith schools do not teach automotive locksmithing, but instead, only commercial and residential locksmithing.  The only hands-on locksmith school in the country teaching automotive, residential, and commercial is American Center For Locksmith Training located in Ogden, Utah.  They have 5, 7, 10, and 15 day in person training.  Not everyone has the time and funds to travel across the country to take a training course which can last anywhere from 5 days to several months.

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       The fourth option is to take an online or correspondence locksmith course. While these courses are reasonably cheap, the material is extremely outdated and only covers the "bare basics". For example, the oldest of these programs has not provided a major update to their training in over 40 years. While these courses teach basics like rekeying locks, they do not teach disassembly. Many locksmith hopefuls have purchased and completed these courses only to start a business and discover they were not taught what is required to do the job effectively.

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       American Locksmith Academy is the exception.  The instructors at American Locksmith Academy come from a family owned and operated locksmith company which has been in business for over 70 years.  They trained their first locksmith in 1998 and since that time have trained thousands of locksmiths from all 50 states as well as dozens of countries.

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       American Locksmith Academy is the most complete and comprehensive online locksmith program in the entire world offering certification in commercial/residential, certified automotive locksmith, Eeprom & Soldering, BMW, Mercedes, VW/Audi, Jaguar, Saab, Volvo, LandRover, and much more.  Our automotive training is so comprehensive you will be certified as an automotive specialist upon completion of your program.

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       While online locksmith training is no substitution for in person hands-on training, American Locksmith Academy is your next best option.​

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       American Locksmith Academy in Ogden, Utah is one such school, but with a twist. ACLT is a division of Key Man Lock & Safe Company. Key Man is family owned and operated by 3rd and 4th generation locksmiths who also instruct the courses. Training at ALA is almost like being "born" into the trade. ALA instructors pass on their generations of experience and trade secrets to their students. No other training program in the world offers this benefit.

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       For more information

Contact us @ American Locksmith Academy

2050 Wall Ave. Ste. 4 Ogden, UT 84401

Tel. 833-343-9359.