Much like the technology itself, a career in fiber optics has an “unlimited future,” Brian Stading said sitting down with us for an interview.
Stading started as an installation technician just after AT&T was broken up, before fiber became a preferred form of connection, and worked his way up through various roles in the industry. He is now the CEO of a fiber company called Lumos.
“I would tell anybody, if you're not interested in going to college, go be a fiber tech. You can make a great living,” he advocated. “A fiber tech can make well over six figures easily nowadays, and I don't see it stopping anytime soon.”
From Stading’s standpoint, anyone can flourish in fiber who's ready to learn and adapt to the industry. “Some of our best fiber techs never had any experience in telecom before. They just have the aptitude for it.”
Turning curiosity into a career
Training as a telecom technician today looks a lot different than it did back when he first started, Stading explained — echoing the words of another fiber fiend who spoke with Broadband Nation.
“Nowadays, you basically have got to be willing to learn on the job, you gotta be able to do some self-study, do your own research,” he advised, noting that people with strong self-motivation are the ones who often thrive.
He said frankly that many “companies just can't afford to send you to four weeks worth of training anymore,” but he added “there definitely is a progression path for people that want to grow.”
This may look like investing in additional third-party learning from certifying bodies like the Fiber Optic Association (FOA) or community colleges in partnerships with your employers.
Lumos, as an example, has worked with schools like Gilford Technical Community College and Blue Ridge Community College for apprenticeship programs and involvement in career fairs. They also offer their own internship program.
Additional training will also become clearer as you learn more about the specific specialties that interest you. “You start out as a fiber splicer or fiber tech, then you start moving into higher levels. You move into the applications; you move into firewalls and routers and network management and things like that,” he described. As these career avenues develop on the job, specific training and certifications may unfold a path for advancement.
"There's all kinds of training materials that we have, but somebody's got to be interested in going and doing it.” He added that willingness doesn’t only apply to the technical learning curve, but also the customer service qualities of working with households and organizations while you install or repair their networks.
Learning on the job will be an ongoing quality of the career, and for that reason Stading doesn’t recommend it to people who don’t like change.
“If you're looking for something that is going to be the same forever, this is the wrong industry for you. It's constant change, and you got to be willing to grow and evolve and continue to learn,” he detailed, adding that there will be uncertainty and consolidation to navigate. “It’s a very rapidly changing industry in general.”
But even with the inevitable uncertainty of a fast-paced world like fiber, the technology has become an integral part of the how the world works — and that means so have the technicians who understand and manage it.
“Fiber splicers are in high demand, and they make a tremendous amount of money. It's well above living wages what you can make as a fiber tech,” he said.
Even above the pay, Stading spoke admiringly of the workers themselves and the way they show up to connect communities. “They're amazing. They're just amazing human beings, what they do and the care that they put into their job.”