1-gig,
That was a very thoughtful reply, no BS. You're absolutely right on the money (except for the part about in-house pay: those guys do it for $10/hour, not $15). I work in-house and have never worked on the other side of the fence as a contractor, so my views might be a bit biased. As an in-house employee though, I can tell you without a doubt that the days of the contractor making big money are over. I hate to say it, but Hell, the days of the contractor making ANY money are limited. I've worked for Time Warner, Cox, and Charter over the last several years and each one of these MSO's have set goals for themselves to do everything without the assistance of contractors in "X" number of years (depending on the MSO of course). These plans have dated back as long as I've been in the business, so there is definitely a plan in place to be self-supporting
With that, my suggestion to you is to do everything in your power to land an position within the cable company. Once you're employed by your local MSO, work your way through the ranks by learning as much as you can and by being "THAT" guy: the one who can be counted on no matter what happens, any time of any day of any week. Don't try to set the world on fire in the first 6 months of employment. Instead, admit that you know nothing and be a sponge. Learn as much as you can and apply what you've learned in the field. Be consistent and steady in your work. Be honest when you screw up. Don't take needless credit for things you think you did great. They'll know, I promise you. And when it comes time to move into system tech work, start the cycle all over with the additional knowledge you'll gain from that new set of skills.
This advice isn't a "game-play" move. It's just advice on how to be an honest, dependable, hard-worker. That's how I've lived my life in this business and it's been really good to me over the years. I love this industry and I love the company I work for. Every day I feel blessed that I'm able to do this job because I really can't see myself doing anything else. Every guy on this forum, even if they complain, got into this business and stayed for one reason: they loved what they did. This isn't a job. It's a life-choice. If you can embrace that philosophy, you'll do just fine.
- J_r0kk
Re: Where did the jobs go? The real anser
Member #: 66963
Registered: 3/18/2009
Posted:
129
Name:
Jay Rokk
Name:
Jim Milliken
Company:
Cable One
Occupation:
Regional Engineer - II
Location:
Louisiana
Personal:
mid 50s
Experience:
~24 years
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