Is being a cable technician hard?

  network cable technician salary

I have worked as both an Installer/Technician and in the office.

In my opinion, the job is not hard work. Of course that should vary depending on each persons ability.

There is a certain amount of physical labor required, which is mostly not intense. The hardest aspects of the job would be doing something like climbing a telephone pole, ladder work, crawling under a house, lifting a ladder, working in cold or hot weather, working in rain or snow depending on area.

People have asked me if I liked working in the field or the office more.

In my opinion, there are advantages and disadvantages to both, and it pretty much is a tie.

You get to work outside on nice days. You have to work outside on not so nice days.

You don’t have a boss directly watching over your shoulder. Your boss may be too far away to help quickly when you need them.

You get more freedom to choose when and where and what you eat for lunch. You may end up eating while driving from one job to the next.

You get more freedom to drive around and see more places during the day. In the office you are less likely to get stuck in traffic or get in a car accident.

I moved back into the office eventually, due to a number of issues. One of them that you may consider in your decision is that I threw my back out lifting a ladder.

Practice proper lifting and safety and most of your issues should be okay.

All things being equal, I tend to like working from home more than working in the field or in an office.

When i was brand new on the job, when analog cable was still a “thing” an asian man came up to me while i was in between jobs. He told me that they cut off his cable by mistake and asked if i can reconnect it. Being naive & want to have good customer service at the time, i went up on the roof where our equipment was located and saw that his line was “tagged” (the port was blocked by a security device) and put him back on the 8 port tap. Went downstairs and he was delighted that the cable came back on. As i was leaving the chinese restaurant, i see that there was old analog boxes that we did not use anymore but FIXED for hot cable boxes. He saw look at them and told me that he will call next time to get them changed out. He told me to order anything on the menu which i ordered shrimp and lobster and they prepared it for me and gave me 2 cans of soda. On my way back into the truck he shoves money in my breastpocket and didn't think much of it. later on i see that it was more than a $20 tip he gave me - he gave me $300 in $20 dollar bills!!

-I Was on lunch on the westside of manhattan & a spanish guy comes up to me while im in my truck having lunch. He gives me the sad story that he missed his appointment and if i can install cable in his place. He is telling me profusely that he will “take care of me” and escorts me upstairs to his apartment. He has about a dozen guests in his apartment and all of them are happy to see me and offer me food and drink which i decline since im on the job. I tell the dispatcher that im installing the equipment in his house and to activate the equipment that i installed in his apartment. As soon as the t.v. comes on, everybody is cheerful and happy claps like i performed some type of miracle. When im about to leave his apartment, he shoves a beer in my toolbag and shoves a bunch of money in my breastpocket. As im going down in the elevator, i see that he was very VERY generous $500 to be exact!! I found out from the doorman that he is a businessman from spain and he is only here for 4 months out of the year and also that FIFA world cup was playing on the tv

-The most money i got on a job was on park ave, the A/V person that was supposed to be there wasn't and was coaching me on how to use this sophisticated system that they installed in this 14million dollar duplex apartment. Told the customer that i do not or will not claim responsibility if i break or disconnect anything and she understood as she was without television for a few days. I noticed that i was our equipment that went bad and was very old and exchanged it for a new one BUT didn't have the correct type that supported the A/V rack as the company didn’t carry it anymore. The customer came back from her exercise and told her the news as i told her that her A/V person has to come back and hook it up because they didn’t think of wiring for a “future” system that did not support a DVR cable box without optical connection. The customer pulled me into the kitchen, closed the kitchen door and put her left hands on my shoulders and BEGGED me to fix her problem as she was having guests later on that evening for the whole week ( i think it was a jewish holiday) she pulls out an envelope from her waistband and says “i will give you $2000 if you fix my problem right now, TODAY!!” In the next 1/2 hour i had my co-worker come crosstown and give me the DVR box i needed and gave him $100 not knowing i was going to get more than that!! I installed the DVR box that she needed and she was back up and running, picture and sound. She was so happy that she jumped on top of me and was kissing me like i saved her life or something. She hands me over the envelope and she holds my hand as she writes down my personal number and tells me if i can call her if she has any issues in the future!!

-The best tip i got was from a annoying VIP customer that my company had and they cleared my WHOLE ROUTE for the day to deal with this ONE customer which i thought he was a prick. He was not married but had 3 cats. He had an elaborate a/v system that he had installed and i was just there making sure if they needed any more equipment and the signals were optimal for the 5 pieces of equipment that he had in his 1 floor apartment on 5th ave….. YES…. 1 floor he had the ENTIRE floor for himself!!! I was sitting and standing for most of the day and when lunchtime came he was very pleased that he had tv in every room plus his guestroom and his bathroom. I proceeded to leave via the service elevator when he calls me and tells me dont leave yet i have something for you. At this point i didnt care if he was gonna tip me $50 because of his attitude that i had to put up with, i just wanted to leave his apartment. The $500 check he wrote to me and smiled when he gave it to me and shook my hand vigorously and said “thank you very much” removed all anger that i had towards him and was replaced with JOY!!