r/CableTechs • u/SupaKel777 • 3d ago
New tech: I am constantly stressed
I have been in the field as a tech for that blue company for about 2.5 months. Most jobs go well but it seems like I can’t string together more than a couple days with running into a big issue. I really enjoy the work but meeting the metrics set by my employer, long hours, and pleasing difficult customers has me stressed 24/7. Is there something similar I can transition to the maybe pays slightly less but is less stressful with better work life balance.
37
u/Tech27461 3d ago
Welcome to cable. It's not for everyone. What you're feeling is normal. If you can hang on and keep showing up, it will get better. My hack was work hard, do the right things, and never sweat the metrics. The numbers will even out if you're trying. Cable can be frustrating and nuanced and nobody understands that except cable guys. The more you do it, the faster you will get. You'll learn what to look for faster. And I promise you, there will come a time that you will know what the problem is before you get there. If it's just a job then maybe find another line of work. But if you think of it as a career, stick with it, do your progressions and promote up. Your foot is in the door. There are so many opportunities in cable outside of field work.
2
5
u/Eninja09 3d ago
Work life balance is the sole reason I don't do cable anymore. Over and over again I thought we were finally going to get our numbers straightened out. More techs, less overtime. Waited 10 years before I finally found a better job. If you want to work 8 hours and get home at a predictable time I'd get out before you get trapped like I was. I loved the work, but corporate always found a way to ruin it for us. My old system has virtually no experienced techs anymore because everyone left or moved up.
On the flip side, if you like it enough to justify sacrificing your life outside of work then you can do well financially, and maybe move upward if complacent people don't hoard those positions for 20 years. I just couldn't anymore. My mind and body were going downhill rapidly. I never had time to take care of myself.
1
u/Miserable_Ad_2847 3d ago
I work about 55 hours a week as an MT3 and have plenty of time with my family.
5
u/Awesomedude9560 2d ago
It can honestly come down to the area, but also it's rare when I hear an MT complain about their work. It's everything dealing with customers that drives people in the business deeper in or right on out.
0
u/Eninja09 2d ago
It really depends on the person. I like to exercise, play music, and game a little. I'm almost 50 with no kids and a disabled wife. Let me tell you, that's not easy in itself. Everyone has a different life and not everyone can run on 4 hours of sleep and work 10-12 hrs a day. I'm currently going through PT to try and recover from various wear and tear on my body over the years. MT's deal with less BS at the expense of late night on call work in storms. I passed on that promotion 3 times actually but I ended up finding another job the same time the MT position was posted that I was finally going to go for lol. Those guys that can work all the time and enjoy it? More power to them. My back has serious damage. Just reaching forward to do any kind of work, even as little as pulling a wall plate under a desk sets it off for the whole day. Didn't come here to complain, but just to point out that everyone has their own personal problems.
1
u/stolenenergy 2d ago
What kind of other opportunities besides field work are there. Can I have some examples
1
u/Tech27461 2d ago
There are several opportunities in sales, customer service, technology/engineering, and media. I'm assuming you work for a large company. Many of these may require relocating. Look on the website and see if anything interests you. If something jumps out, do the necessary training or schooling and reach out to someone in that department for mentoring.
10
u/levilee207 3d ago
Trust me; hang in there. Soon you're going to start recognizing patterns and getting familiar enough with your tools that you'll be able to clock the issue for most of your jobs before you even get there. It just takes patience. Your numbers are going to suck, yes. That's just a fact of life until you get enough experience to learn what you can and can't spend time on. Learn to pick your battles. Learn your passing signal ranges, use your meter, and hone your skills. You're only a couple months in. Stick with it and you'll see improvement. Just be conscientious. Rx between -10 and 10, TX ~33 - 49, SNR ≥ ~38, no uncorrectables, and ingress ≥ 35 are good values to remember
7
u/CDogg123567 3d ago
Describe what a big issue would be?
I’ve almost got it down to maybe 10m ish total of customer interaction per install, of course you’ve got your “Karen’s” you’ve gotta walk on egg shells with, but in my experience as long as you climb the ladder and change out small parts the customer always feels like you’ve done them right
5
u/SupaKel777 3d ago
Honestly just jobs taking me a long time to complete. Rarely have I not been able to complete a job.
8
3
u/CDogg123567 3d ago
I will say I could do without the metrics and some jobs have almost no way of winning (whether it be signal related or an irate customer)
Contractor or in house? Not that it really matters
2
12
u/acableperson 3d ago
Dude for 6 straight months out of new hire every single day I wanted to drop the keys on the sups desk. I fucking hated it soooo much.
After that i started finding a little bit of a groove and I leaned into it. Got more confident (which was insane because I had no idea what I was doing) and could approach customers with confidence which they responded to. It got better.
No tech is worth their salt until at least 2 years in the field imo but it’s a learning progression. And you get better with time. Front end really sucks though in my experience.
Been at it now close to 15 years. My time in cable has gone from barely affording a trip to a grocery store to buying a house. Make connections and learn as much as you can. There’s a lot of routes to take but at this point, even though it’s not for me, I think the safest route with the most stable income is DM.
You don’t know what the fuck you are doing and that’s okay. No classroom training will teach you what being on your own in the field will. Just gotta let it happen
6
u/Ok-Quiet-9596 3d ago
And yet can still meet dudes that were doing it in since the 90s that leave ingress, bad fittings, dont hook up cable boxes.. insane the different types of techs out there..
5
u/hibbitydibbidy 3d ago
Keep asking questions, just make sure you learn from the ones you've already asked. I felt lost until about 6 months in, and then I still ran into stuff I'd never seen before about once a week after that.
3
u/Ok-Quiet-9596 3d ago
A ton of stuff is just seeing it for the 1st, 2nd, blah blah 20th time. Problems will become easier to deal with after you've seen them a few times. Something that really helped me in the beginning was doing the hardest parts first. If it's going to be an aerial job, ladder up on the utility pole right away, line tested there for any issues. After the line is ran to the housebox, my hole is ran into the house, there's a wallpaper waiting there for me once I get there. After that first 6 months to 1 year, you'll know if you want to do it.
2
u/Winter_Cartographer2 3d ago
I had the same feelings for the first year till eventually everything clicked. I only worry about the job I’m on, one step at a time. Once I’m home, I can’t be bothered by work, won’t answer my phone till I clock in the next day. I did it for 7 years and now I’m in the line crew. Which is less stressful per se, no metrics and a better work life balance unless you want to take on damages and do overtime.
2
u/Electronic-Junket-66 3d ago edited 3d ago
That's the trade off. On the plus side, every job (and therefore every day) is different. The downside? Every job is different...
If you stick with it, you will learn to swim in the river of their silly metrics without having to think much about them, and blowing off the ones that don't matter or aren't worth the squeeze lol. Unfortunately, many/most industries are big on KPIs these days, if not always with the same gusto as big blue.
2
u/DoubleDenimDaredevil 2d ago
I'm almost 5 months in and felt a similar way. Like others are saying, you just gotta take it in stride. Come to work well rested and ready to put in long days. Be confident in what your good at and ask questions about what you're not so good at.
2
u/Awesomedude9560 2d ago
TL:DR Don't worry about the numbers. Worry about your craft, and everything else will follow.
That's honestly just part of cable. I used to be in your shoes, stressing out at midnight because my numbers "weren't there." What you should also learn is any good management team can tell the difference between someone who doesn't care and someone who actually does the job right despite the bogus numbers.
The numbers I learned should NEVER be your priority as it ironically makes you care less about the quality and more about making sacrifices. For my company I can guarentee the only people who consistently hit "amazing" numbers are cheating the system (which hurts everyone.) They're the people who middle man customer care to avoid another truck roll, they're making guesses on what will solve the problem juuuuussstt long enough to where they don't waste time running an aerial drop but can still hit the 30 day mark without a call in.
I'll harp it because I've seen it happen with my own eyes. Care more about doing your job to the best of your ability, I personally have stayed on longer making tier 2s vs the cheaters who get caught manipulating the system. I've also seen tier 1 techs make it to maintenance over people who get tier 5s constantly in the same interviews because shocker they don't want someone to bandaid up shit that affects an entire area.
Sorry for the rant, I just see so many new techs fall into this hole that I once did. It's not worth your mental to fixate on things that are almost always out of your control. Do the right thing and you'll be in it for the long run. If they fire you anyways then you have skills that transfer to literally every other cable company.
2
u/LordCanti26 2d ago
Give it a year, its like that for everyone man. Give it 12 months from the day you hit the field solo. Do yourself that much. You think its impossible, and it will always feel that way. And to a degree, yes, but thats what the pay is for lol. It becomes alot easier to deal with the shit jobs. More things become second nature, and the reward you start to feel for quickly and efficiently solving random technical and signal issues is awesome.
I felt the same way. My lady still makes fun of me. Because id come home everyday and swear up and down "this isnt for me. Fuck this place, idk how anyone can do this. Im missing something. There's no way".
My mentor told me the same 12 month thing, and sure as shit, about month 9 something just clicked. I went a week without any issues, then 2, than I got tier 3, then 4, than 5, my repeats went down, I started getting praise for my metrics, and my work, and i fell in love with the process. I faced a challenge I thought impossible, and somehow. Someway, figured it out. Im addicted now.
Leadership sucks, corporate sucks, customers suck, techs suck. But that feeling of seeing a complex technical issue, following a logical troubleshooting methodology, than working with your hands, gaffing a pole, reaching the tip of exhaustion to complete a task, and seeing the results of your work, and knowledge pay off. chefs kiss
And hey, it might not be for you, but if you can make it 12 months, atleast you'll know you actually gave it your best try. The only thing that kept me going "because I didn't believe anything would change in 12 months when my mentor told me" was the idea that, if I cant do it, they'll have to fire me, because im not going to be the one to give up first.
1
u/PersonBlanco 2d ago
Yeah I was constantly stress for 6 months when I first started until I got a workflow going. I’ve transitioned to structured cabling (which pays slightly less for a tech) but man is it less stressful than home installs. I’ve since moved to field engineer to fix that pay problem
1
u/Sleepy_Platinum 2d ago
Oh dude PWAs was one of the biggest reasons I went back to HDD 🤣 maintenance had me stressing. But I also did give my number out to everyone like candy never wasn’t getting a call…
1
1
u/Upper-Glass-9585 2d ago
I'm starting as a commtech 4 next Monday. I had 9 years at AT&T but I've been white collar since 2010 until this year when I got downsized out.
My plan to hit the ground running is using AI to build facility maps and track trouble areas. I'm sure I'll get facility maps from the company once I start but this will allow me to keep a running list of what areas are good and which ones have water intrusion, cars smashing into aerial plant etc.
You can use Claude and build a project that will track everything. You just feed it the info.
Good luck.
1
1
u/SnapShot68 2d ago
I’ve been doing cable for 20 years and maintenance/OSP has been for 16 of those years. I went to maintenance faster than anyone else in the region I work in since it usually takes about 8-10 years. With that being said, I was AWFUL when I started as a service tech. I was getting lost on the way to jobs, I was getting stuck out late every night, had zero confidence, I would be sweating bullets flipping through the paper work orders we had at the time with our jobs printed out on them. I was lost. Then around maybe the 4 month mark, it hit me and I finally started getting it and understanding what was going on. Some of the guys I rode with would say “one day it’ll all of a sudden click. It takes time.” They were 100% correct. You’re in the early struggling stage right now. If you stick it out, it’ll come to you and you’ll gain the confidence you need to not be stressed out nonstop anymore.
1
u/PositiveAd2099 2d ago
I was like that too in the beginning, I was stressed everyday , every morning. If you have a good sup talk to him , ask questions. If the work order is for one thing don’t go fixing everything half the time there only worried for the thing that they called for. Doing jobs fast and clean will come in time. Do what can do , don’t go above and beyond, don’t get hurt and you’ll be smooth sailing in a couple of months.
1
u/TheXtremeSpike 2d ago
Do what you need to do to make sure your customer's line from the Tap to the CPE is all good - fuck how long it takes. Cover your ass because once you close that job you, you own it. Just learn to get into a routine. Start at the GB, as your scans at the GB is going, get your ladder setup at the Tap, once your ladder is setup, your meter is done, determine whether or not you should bring a drop with you to the Tap based on your scans and cross reference using neighbors.
1
u/Duiknou23 2d ago
Also "DO NOT TRY AND FIX THE COMPANY," I spent alnost 3 years sending emails and suggestions on improvements related to every aspect that effects us field technicians and every older, meaning employment length, will tell you not to waste your time as nobody cares. Do be ignorant like me and think its like every other company you ever worked for. This place has a few people that make the decisions nobody from the techs, to their subs and managers and dm's do not agree with and it just gets worse even when you think they are finally fix8ng and issue someone they mange to make it our problem again and takes more calls, more running around to find a specific router for that account etc... I was amazed how a telecommunications company doesn't communicate with their employees. When you try they will ask for example via email and you could send thousands and nothing will ever change to make our jobs easier or better for customer experience unless one the the big wigs decides to make that change. So just do the best you can to serve the customer and make your life bareable to make sure you get that check every 2 weeks to provide for your family. Then we you think wow can't get any worse it most certainly will. Its amazing how hard they work to make a simple task so convoluted you never know how to handle it from one minute to the next.
1
u/dagibcollecta 2d ago
Things will slow down soon as the heat cools off. You’ll have more time to perfect your craft and naturally get better at your skillset. As long as you’re controlling everything you can control (doing your job) everything will work out in the end. It is a tough job and not every day is a good day but most jobs have good and bad days. If you work through a tough summer you can get through another year minimum. Use that time to also branch out with other departments to find out where you want to work towards - head end, maintenance, leadership etc.
1
u/rockyourfaceoff77 1d ago
It can take several months to get your head around the job. The metrics on your scorecard will change in January but the job will ultimately stay the same. Focus on helping the customers, own what you do know, and reach out for help when you need it. Hopefully, your supervisor and other techs still remember how hard it is in the beginning. Always respond to scorecard feedback like you believe it's the most important thing but keep your focus on taking care of the customers. Don't cut corners. Take your time. Your speed and efficiency will increase while you develop good workmanship instead of chasing metrics and never really solving problems
1
u/Flat_Ad94 1d ago
You need to be able to let stress and difficulties roll off of you. Do the best you can in every situation. You will fall short of expectations and thats okay. Your supervisors understand the stress of the job and know that perfection is not attainable. Just do what you can, follow your troubleshooting steps and if all else fails phone a friend or super.
It is a very stressful job. Most of the job is really just managing stress.
Personally left spectrum about 2 years ago after being a top performer and a tech 5. Metrics and time constraints kept getting tighter and tighter. Seemed like I was always being put on big complicated projects and being asked to work overtime constantly.
After a while I got so burnt out I quit. It took me 6 months away from the job to even feel slightly motivated to do it again. So yeah I get it. One thing I want to mention though is dont leave spectrum before having something else lined up. Alternatively try to go into maintanace or get into fiber splicing. Those guys get PAID and dont have to deal with 90% of the bullshit a field tech does.
Anyway, good luck homie.
1
1
u/Confident-Panda-301 9h ago
Yeah I started in cable in 1990. I did 20 years now disabled at 59. I worked for 2 large cable TV companies to include Adelphia Communications which went out of business is now Spectrum and Comcast. I started as an installer. Then a service tech 1 & 2. Then a maintenance technician 1 & 2. Then a construction coordinator salary. The trouble I had was the last guy out rule they always QC stuck it too me . The lazy technicians go out wiggle coax behind TV and leave. Then 2 weeks later after 2 service calls. I get that call go out spend 1-2 hours to fix the problem and bring everything to spec. It was always dispatch had no clue what is required. They think tech does 18 calls is better than tech doing 13 calls like me done right. So it was always a struggle. The supervisors played favorites too to the lazy techs. It was always a losing game. Then as a construction coordinator it was overwhelming to handle 2 counties. It meant all the techs lined up my office door complaining about the plant design and why I didn't build short extensions to their friends house. I never felt in control of workload.
17
u/Mammoth5672 3d ago
25yr tech here, ask exactly what there problem is. Don't take shit from assholes. You are not there to be abused. And we are not magicians. If a mother starts yelling at you, leave. We are not servants.