Shaw UBE installers or Telus techs?
 

Hello,

My name is Andrew. I would like to get into working for Shaw or Telus as an installer. I do not have a direct background with telecommunications. I am tech savvy and have a great knowledge of computers and so forth.

Are there any of you guys/girls lurking this forum? I am just looking for some advice about how to get into this trade and what is the best way to go about it. I am 24 years old, any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks everyone,

Andrew

i work for shaw as an installer.

you have to provide your own vehicle/gas/tools/ etc. shaw provides you with all the equipment/wires/connectors.

you basically work like a contractor, you get paid by the job/install. but you are an employee, you get all the benefits of a salary/hourly employee, stocks, sick days, stats, holidays etc.

best way to go about it? apply online and get an interview hopefully. shaw does not accept resumes, online only.

i cant speak for telus, but i bet the hour salary/hourly and telus probably provides the vehicle/tools.

the pay would probably be 1/2 or a 1/3 compared to what you would make as a shaw ube.

You first need your Electronics Common Core and some kind of credentials in telecom through BCIT or of the sort.

no you dont, it would be an asset, but not needed at shaw. telus you probably need some schooling.

if they think you can do the job and have some experience, they will train you from the ground up.

personally, i had ZERO experience installing, i just had a love/knowledge about technology and they trained me from the ground up. going on 4 years now.

^^ Which city you work @ ?? I don't think you get stocks tho, or else you don't get rsp?

I work for Telus and while you dont need electronics common core it is a huge asset.

You have almost no chance getting in with Telus right now unless you dont mind going up north and working.

Telus provides training, car, gas and if you wish to go to school to enhance your skill set than free education.

I have no clue how much Shaw ube make but I'm pretty sure I dont make 1/2 of what a Shaw guy makes.

a shaw employed UBE gets all the benfits a salaried employee gets. all UBE means is "unit based employee". you get paid by the job.

the wage is great, if your fast and efficient you can easily earn $60/hr if not $75/hr

the job isnt for anyone, but for those motivated to work and have no cap on hours its great. awesome company to work for.

i know out here in sask the "telus" of sask is "sask tel". i know guys that work for the company and those guys on salary do 1/2 the work we do in one day (they make $20-25/hr), they have 3-4x the staff on hand and we do just as many installs if not more. alot of cable companies in the states pay by the job or a true "contractor" basis, meaning there is no secure employment for work, but at shaw there is.

your income will never be a concern, however, starting off may be challenging. you are looking at around $3-4k in tools required for the job, ladders, rack, meter, drills etc plus the cost of a vehicle. now at the end of the year this is all a write off, and depending on the tax bracket you fall in, you get around 30-40% of that money back which is great.

i spend around $15,000/yr on expenses for work and get back around $6,000.

bottom line for me, shaw is a fantastic company to work for. great employer, great environment, great co workers. there are alot of perks with the job. now i know that telus/sasktel are also great companies to work for. you dont really see much turn over with installers/service guys as people are doing this as a career. the people that answer phones (csr/tsr) see alot more movement as there are alot of students or part time workers.

another bonus is, there is no "part time" installer like there is at sasktel. your either full time, or your not working at shaw.

true but given that the job is a per job biases I am going to assume there will be days when your jobs take you longer than normal as well as slow periods.


While I dont make 60/hr I do always make a good paycheck without worrying about number of jobs per day. Also with OT its 2X so whenever I do OT I make around 60/hr without having to rush any of my jobs. Telus techs also get paid for selling products so times like start of school when all the students are moving closer to campus = $$$.

quick questions for Smokey here, do you guys get OT? Or commission? Pay Bonus?

I've always been curious how being a UBE works

honestly, the time it takes doesnt really matter.. here is why.

we dont just get paid by the "job". we get paid by each thing we have to do in the house. installing an outlet from scratch, wall plates, equipment, fishing wires, running drops etc.

each item we install has a code or $ value. if a call takes longer, its ONLY because you are basically doing everything from scratch.

example: you install all services in a bachelor apartment, phone, internet, cable. not really much wiring to do. 1 hour install

you install all services in an old house that has never seen a stitch of cable before. run a new service line to house, install security box, drill inside home, fish lines into the rooms that require service. 3 hour install

i typically would make 3x the wage at the 3 hour install because i have to do more work. the bonus is performance based, and not everyone gets it.

every september is when everyone is reviewed for a raise. basically for installers, everyone gets the same raise, or rate per job/code increases by X %. i think each province/region of shaw gets paid slightly different, depending on driving required/climate/type of area etc.

there is no overtime for us, we work as much as we want. the only real way to make more money is by becoming faster at installs or selling alot. we get big comission for selling any service, and i mean anything... channels, rental boxes, signing up someone on ebill, etc.

there are guys that are natural salesmen and sell sell sell, those guys do incredible well. $100-$150 in sales commission alone per day.

we do not get pay bonus', however, for the past 3 years shaw has given out semi annual bonus for the companies success and stock sharing program. now you dont have to buy shares to get this bonus. if the company meets x target twice a year, you get that bonus twice a year. and its a nice bonus to!

I'm curious to know what does shaw pay per install? Say one cable outlet ?

Sorry if I mislead anybody. I worked at Telus years ago in the wireline side and at the time, ECC was a necessary requirement but I've been out of the wireline business for quite some time. I guess the industry is changing.

curious, but what is Telus UBE position called?
Since Shaw position is called Unit Based Employee.

telus is hourly. but they don't hire or do much work anymore. it's all by contractors now, who are job based. ledcor etc.

A buddy of mine works for the Tech dispatch at Telus and claims that starting out in dispatch is a great way to get into the tech positions, especially if they're not hiring for techs at that time.

I thought Telus techs were given vehicles? When he suggested I apply to be a tech a little while back during one of their hiring frenzies, he said most major things were provided apart from hand tools...

Ledcor gives out truck, gas card, blackberry, laptop, aircard for laptop. and all tools.

don't know about telus.

I worked for ledcor for like 1-2 months then found something else. their turn around is probably pretty high. work schedule sucks ass. most of them are retards. I wouldn't let them touch my house now that I've seen some of the work. couple weeks of training and then sent out on your own to peoples houses is ridiculous.

good info in this thread, thanks much

Telus guys get van, tools, training, extra training if you want, laptops, cell and aircard all provided form us


also johny is wrong as I am a Telus tech.

while it is mostly Ledcor guys there are still quite a few Telus techs and we actually will be hiring soon

do you need any important training to get in? is networking better than experience *wink*...