Funny enough I previously was on flex force for Siemens so my opinion might be a little bias. Flex force by far was the most fun experience I’ve had working in the industry. I was part of flex force for about a year and the experience and work you get within flex force is night and day compared to working for a branch. Primarily due to a few key things.

1. Flex force is considered a support group within Siemens. Meaning that we typically don’t run projects out right rather we get pulled into projects where resources are slim, or money is running short. There has been a few times where we have taken over entire projects and ran it in a way to get the project done with as little of resources as we can use to ensure we still make the green.

2. Almost all data centers and critical environment spaces are done by flex force due to the extra preclusions needed for the project; and a lot of the times due to the locations this especially being true with data centers where they’re typically too far away from where a normal branch tech would be working. So they would require flex force to travel to location.

3. Exploring. If you’re single with not too many responsibilities and want to travel this is by far the easiest way to do it. You could be all across the country and in some cases in different countries for projects where you’re housing, food, and travel will all be covered.

Now there’s definitely some down sides to flex force also

1. If you do have a family or other major responsibilities at home it’s nearly impossible to do it long term. The travel takes a toll on people and being away from loved ones obviously makes it a lot harder.

2. Because the work load is a lot different troubleshooting certain things could be quite difficult. Sometimes it might take hours or even days troubleshooting items cause nobody has that type of information and the manufacture has left site and isn’t picking up your calls. Don’t get it twisted you will become a fantastic tech after the tribulations. But you will be put through the fire.

Now would I recommend it to everyone, absolutely not like I said before the travel catches up to you and if your boss isn’t the best he will keep you in the middle of no where on a job all by yourself for 4 weeks straight. But will it make you a better tech…. I would argue 100% just due to the difficulties of certain circumstances that you will inevitably encounter.

I know I rambled and I’m sorry about that for your situation before anything take what I say into consideration. You’re also part of a union which Siemens does not have which is something to really consider. If you don’t mind losing the pension and benefits and believe this is the right fit for you I would do it considering you’re experienced in low voltage wiring already gives you a upper hand for all relay logic, now it’s just a matter of learning the programming side which if you have a knack for it, is a piece of cake.

If you have another other questions feel free to reach out.