Careers in Comms Cabling

“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” – H.G. Wells

Jobs for Lucid trained cable jointers & testers

There is currently strong demand for well-trained cable installers, jointers and testers. If you have trained with us in the past, please get in touch and we can give you details of appropriate jobs and employers. If you are not one of our trainees then we cannot vouch for you and will not put you forward for any of these positions.

If you want to train with us, get appropriate qualifications from UK awarding bodies, and apply for some of the positions where there are shortages, then we can advise you on what job type, course and career path may be best for you.

We can not guarantee jobs, but we are honest and we have helped many people pursue successful careers in the datacoms and telecoms cabling field.

Is the Comms Cabling industry booming again?

No – not quite, but after the extremely sharp crash in 2000-2001, the industry had only just started to recover and not yet reached boom levels in 2008. This, coupled with an increasing demand for broadband in all areas of life, meant that the telecoms industry didn’t crash nearly as hard as everything else in 2008, and is has now quietly started growing again.

Since 2010 the demand for qualified fibre-optic cable installers and testers has been variable with some companies doing very well while others have found their markets affected by the recession. Recently we have seen a very strong demand for qualified staff, and we have had a marked increase in requests for staff with cabling qualifications gained at Lucid.

Overall we feel the prospects for getting employment as a newly-qualified cable jointer or tester are still good, but more than ever, the quality of the training is paramount. It is also clear that the requirements for formal qualifications and certificates is on the increase, in line with all other areas of industry.

Careers in fibre optics and communications cabling

High quality training can open up a new career or provide a boost to an to an employee, both personally and in their career.

Whether you’re interested in a career boost, or looking to start a new career in communications cabling, we’re here to help. Firstly we can discuss with you what training and qualifications may be most beneficial to you and/or your organisation. For those looking for a job after their training we can provide some starting points for your job search, and possibly put you directly in touch with an employer in your area who is seeking additional staff. This is where our reputation for thorough, quality training helps with many employers in our industry. Lucid will help ensure that our vocational skills training is the key to winning and avoiding catastrophe in your career in cable communications.

Can we guarantee you’ll get a job in the communications cabling industry?

No, and anybody who says they can is most likely a conman, but we know that our trainees do find work, normally very quickly, after training with us. How quickly you find work as a cable splicer, tester, planner or project manager can depend on many factors including where you are based and how far you will travel for work.

Work placements?

For most areas of the comms cable industry, work placements are simply not practical, for a variety of reasons. To start with, the work is often done on secure sites, where arranging access for an extra person is not trivial. Then there is the consideration that any errors or additional downtime can be extremely expensive. For most installers, it works out that having a person on an work placement means added costs for them even if it is unpaid, and they still have to pay the person supervising you, who could otherwise do the job better and quicker. So we have not been surprised to heard quite a few stories of people on work placements who spent the entire time practising floor sweeping and coffee making!

Lucid does not offer work placements as routine, but if you want to do voluntary work in the communications cabling industry in order to gain experience, then we may well be able to help – we have close ties with several community FTTH projects, which are much more likely to be able to arrange work placements or volunteering, where you are not just cleaning-up after somebody else.

State of the fibre optics industry?

The telecommunications industry went through a huge downturn in 2001, and for two years we were advising potential trainees against spending their hard-earned cash on cable training when there were very few jobs around. The telecoms industry had only just started to recover and not yet reached boom levels in before the next downturn in 2008. This, coupled with an increasing demand for broadband in all areas of life, meant that the telecoms industry didn’t crash nearly as hard as everythingelse this time, and is now quietly growing again. Since 2010 the demand for qualified fibre-optic cable installers and testers has been variable with some companies doing very well while others have found their markets affected by the recession.

Recently we have seen a very strong demand for qualified staff, and we have had a marked increase in requests for staff with cabling qualifications gained at Lucid – Employers are complaining to us about a shortage of trained people to recruit.

In addition to this, fibre is finding new markets as it is used increasing for sensors in specialist industries, such as the oil industry and aerospace industry, and not just for communication. Increasingly optical fibres are being used as sensors for strain and temperature, with distributed sensing using optical fibres offering many advantages over traditional sensors. Despite this the communications cabling industry is likely to be the main driver for more trained cable installers, jointers and testers for the coming years

Overall we feel the prospects for getting employment as a newly-qualified cable jointer or tester are currently good, but more than ever, the quality of the training is paramount.
It is also clear that the requirements for formal qualifications and certificates is on the increase, in line with all other areas of industry.

FTTH and rural community projects…

If you read our blog, then you will see that since 2010 there have been some significant developments in efforts to ensure that all areas of the UK get a reasonable broadband service delivered. For rural areas the latest model is that of Government assisting in getting a high-speed broadband fat-pipe or super-highway to a central point in the rural community, with this point being termed the ‘Digital Village Pump’ (DVP). The local community would then be tasked with organising what the telcos have traditionally termed the ‘last mile’, but what house-holders often think of as the ‘first mile’ of the network.

Through the efforts of a dedicated band of enthusiasts, including Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith and the borders, this model has been adopted by government with the first trial, pilot projects due to go ahead in rural regions of the UK. At the October spending review chancellor George Osborne announced £530 million of government funding to enable these pilots. If communities show they can work together to provide a network and services, then this model could be rolled out across the one third of the UK where the large telcos would not find it cost-effective to build the local fibre optic distribution network. The opportunity for individuals and small installers to gain work and help in these projects should be a boost to employment in the communications cabling industry.

FTTH in the North West

Things are moving quickly in the North West now, with several community broadband projects getting off the ground and planning networks. The requirement will be for civils contractors, pole erectors, cable splicers, cable and fibre blowers, and some fibre testers. Although communities are preparing to do as much as they can themselves, they will need skilled people to help with some tasks, and the backhaul cabling will most likely be carried out by professionals under contract. If you live in or near Cumbria and would like to be part of one of the teams building the next generation of broadband access networks, then you might want to look into fibre optics training.

Investing in people

A common attitude with some employers is that “we don’t train staff because they’ll leave for more money elsewhere”. Occasionally this may happen, but when this myth is investigated it is found that the best people leave because they are not seeing any investment in their skills. If you as an employer invest in training your staff, you should find their loyalty increases along with their confidence and quality of work.

As an investment, good training can often have a very short pay-back time. The pay-back for technical training can be through increased orders as clients have more confidence in you, jobs done properly first time so less costly re-work, and less time recruiting as staff are more loyal. Additionally at Lucid we like to show a range of equipment and methods so you know what alternatives exist. This approach on one training course led to a client recouping the cost of the course four-times over before the course had even finished! There are no guarantees with investments, but many Lucid trainees have told us that their training with us was one of their best investments – perhaps it’s an investment that could work for you too?

Filling your job vacancies

Although we can help your company find skilled staff, we don’t advertise your jobs and we don’t work as a recruitment agency. We will help you find staff by putting you in touch with skilled Lucid trainees. If you would like us to help you find skilled staff such as copper cable jointers, fibre splicers, testers or supervisors who have already been trained at Lucid, then please contact us. There is absolutely no charge for this service, so you will not be faced with any agency fees.

Communications Cabling Job Agencies

If you would like to have details of Lucid trainees who are looking for jobs, then let us know and we will put our trainees in touch with you. There is no charge for this service.

Careers with Lucid

From time to time we have positions within Lucid to fill, and these are listed below.

Trainers: we are not currently recruiting further trainers, however our position can change quickly and we will look to recruit trainers with specific skills when the need arises. We do not ‘hire and fire’, so we only recruit when we are confident that a position is sustainable. If you’d like to work for Lucid you’ll need to be a high calibre trainer or engineer. In return Lucid provides a package of benefits commensurate with your status. If you send a CV, then this will be filed and reviewed when we have an opening. All communication with Lucid over possible jobs with Lucid will be treated in the strictest confidence.