Are there no hands-on technical jobs that pay decently?

I can't seem to find anything that would match what I want in a job... I like techincal stuff, but I love working with my hands, and I'm really just wondering what I'm supposed to do. I hate being stuck behind a desk all day. I'd much rather be driving out somewhere and installing or repairing something... but I also like the pay that my desk job brings. :-\ Idk what to do...

Any ideas?

Thanks guys, this forum is the best.

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networker050184

I've noticed that also. Its easier for a company to pay a bunch of "dumb hands" (I don't mean that offensively) a relatively small amount to go out and actually do the work while having fewer "brains" sitting behind their desk getting paid well to direct the work.

Its all about cost saving. There is no need for an expert in the field when you can pay one or two people to provide the know how to 100 field techs.

/usr

What do you currently do? What's your skillset? What are you most interested in?

You could try to get into cable installations and such.

Not to bring you down too much, but a lot of "hands on" stuff can be performed by guys with no real knowledge of what they're doing and thus often, but not always, means lower pay.

I mean, I can confidently have guys pull, terminate and test copper or fiber, without them really knowing anything at all about networking.

/usr

There is no need for an expert in the field when you can pay one or two people to provide the know how to 100 field techs.

He hit the nail on the head. Most places aren't going to have an expert out in the field doing the hands on stuff that can be done by others and guided by the expert.

sagewalkinthere

I get what y'all are saying, it makes sense. Still, I love to work with my hands... I used to work on cars as a hobby, just because I liked it.

/usr wrote: »

What do you currently do? What's your skillset? What are you most interested in?

You could try to get into cable installations and such.

I'm good with Windows XP/Server 2003/2008 and AD (and some web design and a bit of PHP). I can put together group policy and stuff. But I like hardware troubleshooting the best.

fleck

Well, you need to become a Field Technician (Geeks on Call) or a PC tech. Check out your local Computer shops, we have a bunch near by and I dropped off 5 resumes the other day. And 'decent pay' is really rather suggestive. But you're not going to make $60K doing that. Only network admins get paid 60K. And you could only be so lucky as to get a network admin job where you go to different places and setup networks. That's my dream also, not working support or something like that, but I know I'll have to start out low level somewhere.

GT-Rob

Our H&F (hands and feet) techs made a decent wage, but mainly because they worked awful hours. They had to keep a response time of 4hrs for whatever we needed them for, whenever we needed them. So their OT pay was probably $40/hr+, but they were working at 3am-7am with no prior notice to earn that.

lumbercis

Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with doing auto repair if thats what you enjoy. Have you thought about learning EFI tuning for modified sports cars with aftermarket ECU's? It's not a huge field and unlikely to make you rich. But it combines software knowledge with hands on work with the engine.

Just a thought.

apd123

I have the job you describe I do not like it you will not like it.

sambuca69

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

I can't seem to find anything that would match what I want in a job... I like techincal stuff, but I love working with my hands, and I'm really just wondering what I'm supposed to do. I hate being stuck behind a desk all day. I'd much rather be driving out somewhere and installing or repairing something... but I also like the pay that my desk job brings. :-\ Idk what to do...

Any ideas?

Thanks guys, this forum is the best.

What about Datacenter jobs?

sagewalkinthere

apd123 wrote: »

I have the job you describe I do not like it you will not like it.

Why is that? I find it interesting that you would say that... are you not a "hands-on" type of person?

sambuca69 wrote: »

What about Datacenter jobs?

What's it like to work in a datacenter? I guess I just thought those guys sat at PC's all day.

Kaminsky

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

What's it like to work in a datacenter? I guess I just thought those guys sat at PC's all day.

Not at all. Our server guys are doing hands on installation/decom/patching/upgrading/fault finding every day of the week. A lot of time to get great over time as they are asked to do stuff out of hours for the client's downtime window.

I rarely see those guys at their desk unless they are reporting on a completed job, getting ready for a new one or doing a bit of personal admin.

UnixGuy

networker050184 wrote: »

I've noticed that also. Its easier for a company to pay a bunch of "dumb hands" (I don't mean that offensively) a relatively small amount to go out and actually do the work while having fewer "brains" sitting behind their desk getting paid well to direct the work.

Its all about cost saving. There is no need for an expert in the field when you can pay one or two people to provide the know how to 100 field techs.

+1

unless you get to work to a multinational company. For example, Ericsson has an implementation team, they travel from site to site to do implementations and support.

But yeah, most of the time, what "networker" said is true.

UnixGuy

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

I get what y'all are saying, it makes sense. Still, I love to work with my hands... I used to work on cars as a hobby, just because I liked it.

I'm good with Windows XP/Server 2003/2008 and AD (and some web design and a bit of PHP). I can put together group policy and stuff. But I like hardware troubleshooting the best.

I work for a hardware vendor (Sun), and we do professional services. We do installations, implementations, and troubleshooting. I drive from customer to customer, and I like it so far...but it makes me very tired at times. You can only do so much in one day, and sometimes you get stuck at some sites for long hours, so it worn you out.

Also if you're in networking, find a Cisco partners. You can do field implementations there, with a decent pay.

kimanyd

I've set a few small businesses up with a managed voip service that I like. The guys who come out and do the installation don't have a clue what's going on. I doubt they could manually configure TCP/IP settings on Windows XP. They just know what plugs into what, and then they run a script or two that does the actual configuration.

human151

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

Why is that? I find it interesting that you would say that... are you not a "hands-on" type of person?

What's it like to work in a datacenter? I guess I just thought those guys sat at PC's all day.

We have guys who take care of trouble tickets/requests for customers. Anything from server reboots to installation and initial configuration of servers and other equipment. Our hands on guys also work in the NOC and monitor the network.

Yeah they do NOT get paid decent at all. Its a shame, hair cutters @ supercuts make more $$ than an experienced smart hands/NOC tech. Considering how much money the company bills for their efforts, its almost as if they're being robbed.

We also have techs, Like 2nd tier, who take of of all the cabling, T1's DS3's 100 MB, Fiber etc.. They also do some router configs and help the other techs when needed.

IMO, Hands on techs should be getting minimum 42K a year. But we all know companies are greedy and it seems we all accept it for getting the opportunity to do work we enjoy.

Let me just add, so that no one thinks I am trying to cause a flame war or something, These jobs are important and I know that the guys below me who do this stuff require minimal supervision/support from mgnt or more expereienced techs like myself. Sure some of the requests are as simple as powercycling a switch, but there are more technical tasks they face as well such as configuring iLo, doing a fresh install of linux, etc...

I just think its a shame that employers do not respect the skills of workers like these. But then again, the other side of the coin is that no one is making these guys come to work. I can see both sides, I guess.

I'll get to the point of the thread, Bottom line is that the real money is in the troubleshooting and configurations, not the heavy lifting or whats considered hands on..

UnixGuy

Where I work we don't do any heavy lifting, we have labors to do this.

We get support calls and escalations. We do the real troubleshooting, specially when the admins get stuck, they call us.

We do installations and configurations too. So it's not a rule of thumb, depends on where you work.

human151 wrote: »

I'll get to the point of the thread, Bottom line is that the real money is in the troubleshooting and configurations, not the heavy lifting or whats considered hands on..

bellhead

There are about several thousand of these jobs across the US. They are called telephone repair splicers. Average pay is $32 an hour plus OT. Least I ever made in a year was 80k.

sagewalkinthere

Hey, anyone here design and setup networks for newly constructed offices? I was trying to think of the aspects of work that I like, and that sounded cool. If I ran my own business designing and setting them up, I could possibly have a hand in running the cable and stuff (I really like running cable).

Ideas/thoughts?

GAngel

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

Hey, anyone here design and setup networks for newly constructed offices? I was trying to think of the aspects of work that I like, and that sounded cool. If I ran my own business designing and setting them up, I could possibly have a hand in running the cable and stuff (I really like running cable).

Ideas/thoughts?

Its possible if you could find small businesses to do it for.
Mid size companies would usually handle it themselves.

Or find one of the outsourcers they go through and try and get jobs through them. They usually use on call techs.

There are plenty of high paying tech jobs in financial services but you get worked like a dog. So while you may make 100k you worked the equivalent of 2 full time jobs.

human151

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

Hey, anyone here design and setup networks for newly constructed offices? I was trying to think of the aspects of work that I like, and that sounded cool. If I ran my own business designing and setting them up, I could possibly have a hand in running the cable and stuff (I really like running cable).

Ideas/thoughts?

Doing structured cabling, particularly in new building contruction, is quite tedious and can be messy with the lube. In my location you can expect anywhere from 13 to 20 dollars an hour depending on your experience and the company.

But imo, you dont want to do this job. Its mundane and will not firther your career in IT. As I said before, the moneys in the configurations, concentrate on that.

networker050184

sagewalkinthere wrote: »

(I really like running cable).

Ideas/thoughts?

Only one thought, you are crazy if you enjoy running cable

apd123

Disregard anything I have said in this post if you really like running cable that changes everything. Not really sure what to say other than I am glad someone does.

veritas_libertas

Correct me if I am wrong, but I hear there is good money in cabling.

Stotic

If you're really like cabling you'll be set if you get into one of the unions.

sagewalkinthere

networker050184 wrote: »

Only one thought, you are crazy if you enjoy running cable

I must be a glutton for punishment...

sagewalkinthere

Stotic wrote: »

If you're really like cabling you'll be set if you get into one of the unions.

What unions are there? I didn't know any cabeling unions existed. I'll have to do some googling and find out...

human151

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Correct me if I am wrong, but I hear there is good money in cabling.

I believe your wrong. I did cabling for about two months while I was in between jobs, and no, no good money and its very labor intensive. ANd messy, if you have to use lubricant.

Recruiters have contacted me and offered me contracts doing cabling and were willing to pay $15 an hour.

Not fun, I dont recommend it.

The unions who are involved with cabling are the IBEW and Communications Workers of America.

UnixGuy

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Correct me if I am wrong, but I hear there is good money in cabling.

no there isn't good money in cabling at all...

Ericthemaster86

I guess it really depends on what you consider "decent". In my experience, yes there is.

Ericthemaster86

UnixGuy wrote: »

no there isn't good money in cabling at all...

Generally speaking I would agree. However, specialized cabling (fiber optic), etc, can make pretty great money. The company that does our fiber work charges in the neighborhood of $250/hr. I'm sure the tech makes a decent percentage of that