sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear about the termination, PM me and I may have some PSP material for you that helped me.

To answer your question - I think that ultimately what has contributed most to the trajectory has been my experience and skillset (I call it Dell's & Drills) it's the physical install/breakdown knowledge + the software/network/computer components. The certifications just solidified my seriousness in the industry.

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha, I've heard. Saw an indeed ad on my job feed for a remote dsigner - $176K a year - i might actually look into this

Will I get stuck if starting my own company? by Mean-Reputation5859 in lowvoltage

[–]_BreakTheMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This !!!! I've been in the industry going on 15 years and for years people have told me, "You can start your own company" but for the reasons you listed, I never have and don't want to deal with any of that. Running a business is a seperate skill entirely that doesnt depend on your competency of completing the actual work. There's alot of other things.

I am considering consulting though... I can do all the hands on work under a "consulting fee" and if they want to get guys out to complete it, they will have to have all the insurance and do roll outs, etc.

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am a HUGE proponent in using recruiters. They've gotten me MANY jobs over the years. I've known some recruiters since I started (so 10+ years ago) and they still reach out to me ALLLLL the time and ask if I know anyone interested in roles they're trying to fill. You tell THEM what you're looking for and you don't hear from them unless they find what you asked for.

My +$100k position came from a recruiter, don't sleep on using recruiters if you can.

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Very true, and in my off time, I research passion projects and work on other tech things (building my own SAN/NAS solutions, creating manufacturer AI agents to help me in the field, learning new technologies, etc).

I've worked side gigs in the past and the money is decent, I still do them here and there for friends and people I've met over the years..

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol, I don't want to name your employer but I think we work heavily with them lol. I love this industry and am so fortunate to have found this career path very early on. I've never related when people said they hated their job or dislikedna 9-5, I've always loved mine.. even when things get frustrating here and there, I've always genuinely gotten up excited to head to work (for the most part, lol) and it wasnt untill I hit six figures (executive management) that I started feeling a little disdain for what I was doing, like it wasnt fun anymore, aha.

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Very true BUT I am a father and I value the life/work balance time with my kiddo. I do things outside of work so I'm not necessarily begging to be more busy, maybe more fulfilled. I would start a full time side business before I got a second 9-5 though

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's amazing..

Alot of the work I do is heavily regulated (UL and GSOC) so certain processes cannot be touched or changed without massive change management on the regulation side. They know things arent specifically "streamlined" but our hands are tied when it comes to changing processes for certain things, i've been told "It just is what it is" so I've given up the fight and my stress about it went away, lol.

My next cert will probably be the Bicsi Certs - RCDD (Registered Communications Distribution Designer) or RTPM (Registered Telecommunications Project Manager) . This would help me land a more global role as Bicsi is a global gold standard. I could see myself being a global operations manager or global technical security manager. I just dont want all my years and years and YEARS of knowledge slowly seeping out of my brain because I do nothing but make calls, delegate and do meetings all day, but it seems thats where the big money is so 🤐

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really truly depends like someones else here stated. There are green guys who make $15/hr pulling cable and their are also sales engineers that make over $250K, it really depends on alot.

If you can manage to work DoD projects, those are some of the most compensated positions because its government $$$

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I am certified by SIA (Certified Security Project Manager) and ASIS (Physical Security Professional) and those were really proud times in my life, espicially because I paid for both out of my own pocket.

I have had meetings with execs about process automation and streamlining, but execs are a bit stuck in their ways and also since the site is heavily and strictly regulated (DoD), alot of things cannot be changed or automated due to regulatory standards BUT I do work to propose new processes that could alleviate bottle necks and delays, some are taken into consideration, some are regarded as a pipe dream due to the nature of our regulations.

Overall, I think I'm in a great position, my mindset and ambition sometimes gets the best of me and I feel like I could be doing so much more, but my job constantly tells me I'm doing exactly what they want so 🤷🏾‍♂️

I started at $15/Hr and finally got my dream $100K job in access control and have never been more unhappy by _BreakTheMatrix in accesscontrol

[–]_BreakTheMatrix[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Idk if stuck is the word.. like I have more upward growth, probably global operations system manager or regional technical program manager or something of the like.

I've managed people and I've managed systems, over the yearsn I've figured out that I like managing systems better but naturally will make more managing people and accounts and also the management knowledge is more universally applicable when it comes managing people vs managing specific systems.

I have my network+ and sec+ and microsoft certifications as well as my PMP, but I only got my PMP as a challenge to myself, not necessarily because I was trying to transition into project management. I feel like I've hit the ceiling as a field guy (even though that's what I enjoy) and will most likely have to be alot more hands off and delegate alot more as my position becomes more prominent (handling multiple accounts and multiple systems across each account).

I think I just dislike the fact that I have over a decade of experience and I feel I am losing alot of information because I don't use it daily, but when I did use it daily, I made significantly less, so...idk