Career: Line Installers and Repairers
When a thunderstorm knocks out your telephone lines, it’s the line repairer who goes out and fixes them -- whether it’s stopped raining or not.
Line installers and repairers not only climb the poles that carry telephone, power, and cable TV lines, they build them and put them up, too. Whether they work on high-voltage power lines or the hair-thin strands of a fiber-optic cable, line installers and repairers make sure the grid is connected.
Line installers and repairers build and maintain the cables and lines that connect power and telecommunications networks.
Did You Know?
- Line installers use special equipment to join together fiber-optic cables (made of glass), which can carry much more information than traditional copper wires.
Are You Ready To...?
- Climb a telephone pole in a snowstorm
- Distinguish between color-coded wires
- Use insulated tools to work on a high-voltage power line
- Use a borer to dig a tunnel for underground wires
It Helps to Be...
Strong, cautious, and independent. Since you will be working without supervision for much of the time, you'll need to make and carry out your own decisions.
Make High School Count
- Take algebra and trigonometry.
- Sign up for electronics and get a head start.
- Build mechanical skills in a shop class.
Did You Know?
- Line installers and repairers often use insulated tools to avoid electrocution and harnesses to protect them if they fall.
Outlook
Government economists expect jobs for line installers and repairers to grow more slowly than the average for all careers through 2016. As more people switch to wireless communications, fewer technicians are needed. Still, job opportunities should be good because many experienced technicians are due to retire soon.
Compensation
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that electrical power-line installers and repairers earned an average salary of $54,300 in 2008. Telecommunications line installers and repairers earned $47,330.
