I’m Sergio Cortez
Electrician. Instructor. The person who built Surge.
How I Got Here
My first classroom was the U.S. Coast Guard. Five years as an Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class. That’s where the foundation was built. After my service, I went straight to the job sites: commercial, residential, industrial. I worked my way up from the tools to foreman, superintendent, and eventually running my own work. Thirty years in the trade.
Teaching was never part of the plan. A contractor I was working with asked if I’d come to instruct at an apprenticeship school. I said yes. That conversation set a new course.
From there, I went on to teach Code Curriculum for the Skilled Trades Department at the College of Southern Nevada. I earned my credentials as an NCCER Master Trainer, an NCCER Certified Craft Instructor, and an OSHA Outreach Trainer. I currently work as a Site Inspector and serve as a Subject Matter Expert for the CA Department of Industrial Relations. I have held my Texas Master Electrician license since 1999.
In 2013, Klein Tools recognized me as Electrician of the Year for the Western Region. The following year, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Nevada named me their Instructor of the Year.
Sixteen-plus years in the classroom. Thirty-plus in the field. That is the experience behind every Surge course.”
How I Teach It
I paid for the same prep courses you probably have. What I got was two days of calculations or two days of practice tests on a computer. Neither one taught me what I actually needed: how to move through the NEC fast.
So I figured it out myself. Here’s what I found:
- Every exam question has hints built into it. You just have to know where to look.
- The NEC is always doing one of two things: describing a work process or describing a job site.
- Once you see the code that way, it stops being a rulebook and starts looking like a job you’ve already worked.
- The exams are mostly about finding references in the NEC quickly, with some math mixed in depending on where you test.
- Speed comes from method, not memorization.
I built a system around those patterns. The first time I used it on an actual exam, I finished in half the time. I thought I’d made a mistake. I hadn’t.
Every course I teach is built the same way, around how you already work, so the material clicks faster and stays longer.
Credentials
- NCCER Master Trainer
- Texas Master Electrician License, since 1999
- NCCER Certified Craft Instructor
- OSHA Outreach Trainer
- Site Inspector
- Subject Matter Expert, CA Department of Industrial Relations
- Former Instructor, College of Southern Nevada — Code Curriculum, Skilled Trades Department
- Klein Tools Electrician of the Year, 2013 Western Region
- Associated Builders and Contractors of Nevada, 2014 Instructor of the Year
Train With Someone Who Knows the Trade
Surge offers journeyman electrician test prep, OSHA certification, electrical license renewal courses, and corporate training, available online and on-site, in English and Spanish, for electricians and contractors nationwide.