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TNVC announces a FULL 10 YEAR Warranty on all TNV-PVS's and 5 year TNV-Sentine! I'm going into an interview Thursday morning for a contractor company that does installs for DirectTV.

The internet is making me rethink this job. This particular business will train and certify me, but I use my own vehicle. Should I fo or not? I like working hard, and don't mind physical labor, my truck is fuel efficient and big enough, and I already own most of the tools I would need. The guy I talked to today seemed very straightforward and legit.

He who transplanted sustains. A job is a job in this economy. At the very least it will be something more on a resume. I have a friend who's done cable installation for the past 14yrs. He likes it, the pay's not great, but I think he gets some benefits. He works for the local cable company but they also hire contractors to keep up with the demand.

I've known a couple of them too. Granted none of this is sattelite, but it's similar work. The main difference would be setting up the dishes. When I was living at home I put a couple different dishes on my moms roof.

It is kinda rewarding to do the kind of work where you can see your accomplishments at the end of the day, and hopefully some grateful customers. I spent alot of time doing deliveries with my personal vehicle for jobs, you can write the miles off on your taxes at a pretty good rate.

I do not have a license to kill, but I do have a learner's permit. I feel like I'm living the movie "Idiocracy" with this administration. I have the satellite installer out once. The first guy was not comfortable on a ladder and didn't want to put the dish where I wanted. So let's start by asking are you good with heights, ladders, etc? The sent a second guy, but I have to wonder how long that first guy lasted. Ive heard from people who've done it that most of the time they get back charged for all the equipment.

So that nice a week got widdled down pretty hefty. The guys who put my dish in a loooong time ago refused to not mount it on a pole.

Didn't want the dish on the house. He kept arguing about it, finally came out and said he didn't want to use the poles because they cost too much. Or something along those lines. It's a job, but it does sound like you can get screwed over pretty good by the company. I did it for several years both in house and as a contractor. I'd suck start my before I would ever go back.

You will work from sun up to well past sun down You will work every single weekend and holiday. You will work six days a week even if only scheduled for five. You will not have a life, family or otherwise. You will deal with the most ungrateful, sadistic customers in the most horrid conditions you could ever imagine. Great money is possible. There are however 's of ways for them to fuck you and they don't use lube.

You will earn every dollar on your check and then fight your employers to give it to you. Then you will fight to keep it. I worked for at least a dozen contractors in my time none stay in business for long. Only one of them was close to honest and decent to work for. He stayed in business for three months. Ask me any questions you may have OP but my advice is to find something else.

Stocking shelves at Walmart would be preferable. Originally Posted By jatobi: Originally Posted By fxntime: Sorry to disapoint you, but you will probably be installing receive systems, not satellites as your title says. If you really are installing satellites, that would be cool. Just remember that the air is very thin at 26, mi. Originally Posted By GrahamD: I would just as soon make you cry as make you laugh, both are equally entertaining to meme!

Originally Posted By LePew: How much is this like real life? The guys I have briefly spoken to about it, seem to like the freedom a bit but realize it's a shitty job where they had to bust ass all the time When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth Until I get to them. Now shut up about EMP. Do you get a or a W-2 at the end of the year?

If you get a at the end of the year, then I assume you are being treated like an independent contractor, so you will be responsible for paying your own income taxes, social security, and medicare.

Originally Posted By KarlRichter: So you're saying this broke ass kid in night classes should take that comfy 37 hour a week job Hertz is offering me, at like 12 bucks an hour?

The woman goes, "it's only seasonal, yp the jobs initially for five months. I want to pay my rent, bills, and feed my cats while I got to school. We had one here got so pissed at his job he ran his van into a tree. It sucks in this economy, but that sounds too crappy for me to put up with. Now I'm looking at frickin best buy.

Moral of the story: It'll pay the bills but you might really hate dealing with the customers. I know a few guys that do it, they quit companies often or say they're getting out of it but keep going back. Originally Posted By SEKE: I was a comcast contractor for a while, and knew a few satellite guys.

Both jobs suck royal ass, but working for the cable co had one giant benefit Not paying for my material. Satellite guys had to buy their own cable spools, fittings, splitters, etc. Depends on how they roll it. That's what you'll make in three years after they bump you up a few levels, and you find all the ways to scam the system. You will have no life.

I woke up at 6am, out the door by 6: From there, they had my jobs lined up, some of which were another 40 miles away. Be at the first house by They spread the jobs out through the day so that you wouldn't miss too many. The latest I ever arrived home was 4am.

I still had to work the next day. My girlfriend at the time left me within 2 months. I think I spent four days with her after starting that fucking job. My friend started nailing her. My last day on the job, they tried telling me that I fucked up some woman's hard wood floors in a room that I never stepped foot in. They wanted me to pay the whole bill, rather than our insurance deductible.

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I told them to cram it and walked off the job. TL;DR, Don't fucking do it. Originally Posted By morningwood Depends on how much of a go getter you are? How well you deal with asshole customers that want everything for nothing and just how good you are in general with every type of person under the sun. The business was once an almighty money maker but as all others have, it's succumbed to new economy and Dish, Direct, Hughes, etc It ultimately depends on the retailers you do business with as to how fucked life will be but I have had great experiences with my locals and a few Cali companies that contract me for all their MS commercial work.

If I was just starting out like now I'd say no but I would love for it to come back around so I can go back to living life well instead of hanging in GD half the day For reference I do Dish Network, DIrecTv and Hughesnet.

I would try and get a tech job at a cable company there.

Being a contractor sucks and benefits aren't that great. I work for time warner as a tech and i love it. Great benefits, company truck, guaranteed 40 hours a week and decent pay. Oh also free cable and Internet. Originally Posted By gene5: AR AK Handgun Precision Rifles Armory Training General Outdoors Archery Hometown Industry. Newsletter Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.

Advertising Information Team Memberships Join the NRA Discussion Forums Help Privacy Policy DMCA About Us. The poles cost money, the concrete cost money and you have to trench cable which can eat into a already 15 hour day.

Some places allow their techs to charge extra as pole mounts are not included in free "standard" installation. Other places don't and usually you're better off to burn a job than do one for free. The little mast that goes on your roof is free. It sucks for the customer but Dish and Direct have never had a method for compensating their contractors for pole mounts or other non standard set ups. Depends on the tech.

DIRECTV Salary | PayScale

Helps to have a "hook up" on materials though. Turn over rate is very high. I trained at least in the time I did it they paid extra to train newbs at most shops. Most horror stories from customers about bad techs comes from the fact that in any given shop half the techs have less than one month experience.

My favorite was watching newbs shit their pants around tax time. Never saved a receipt, never logged a mile or set back a dime for taxes.

Suddenly they find out they are not in fact getting a refund but owe You should try truck driving for a few years. Worked my way up to server. At a four star in NYC. I've played that game, trust me I'm applying at restaurants too.

Been a bartender too. That's about it I'd jump on the Hertz job if I were desperate. You can kiss night classes goodbye if you take the installation gig. You will never get off work in time to make it to class. That is a promise. We had one here got so pissed at his job he ran his van into a tree Way back in the day when I first started I worked for a regional service provider. That was before Dish had in house service techs. RSPs were like huge contractors that were the end all be all of their territory.

Dish sent all the work load to them and they farmed out the excess to sub contractors. I could write a book telling you how shitty working for then was American Digital Systems based out of Tulsa OK.

Long story short I worked there for my first year and a half and had a nervous breakdown on my last day. My actual last dispatched job was at 6pm but nobody ever went home at the end of the day. You would close out your last install and if it was at a decent hour dispatch would dump more work on you. Often a job or two from some other tech who was way behind. So I drove two hours to this place only to be screamed at by some trailer trash on arrival who were furious because their installation was set up for between 8am - 12pm.

It was cold late December , it was pouring down rain. I was going to have to put a pole a good feet out from the home and trench that cable all the way to the trailer before I ever started inside. It was probably going to be midnight before I got out of there and then I had a two hour drive home. To make matters worse the fat shrew of a woman who lived there kept following me around calling me every name on the book for arriving so late.

This went on for a few minutes and I just snapped. I told the cow if she did not get the hell out of my face I was going to fucking kill her and her whole trailer load of welfare checks. I tossed all of their equipment out of the back of the van across their yard and drove off. Got almost home and stopped at a bar. Drank my ass off for a few hours and abandoned their van in the parking lot, walking the rest of the way home. Obviously this cow had called Dish after I left and dispatch had tried calling me on the company phone over times in those few hours but I turned it to silent and left it in the van.

The next morning I called the GM, told him where their van was and to go to hell. Addicted to the money. I did that several times too before I finally managed to pay off the bulk of my debt and leave for a lower paying job while going to school. I'm in a much better place today.