service technician

field manager

HOBART SERVICE

Management promises you the world to get you on board. New vehicle, good schedule, on call and overtime pay, etc. after a few weeks I was told I had to purchase my own tools ( not a issue on my end), what aggravated me was learning that other techs before and after I was hired received a $2k tool allowance which I did not. Overtime during the week was canceled out by making you take off early on Fridays so you did not make overtime. When on call, you have to take off a day during the week and work on Saturday so you get 40 hours and they can charge overtime to customers on Saturday but the technicians cannot get the overtime. Hobart sends you to Troy, Ohio for training 2 weeks at a time. Some instructors were awesome and knowledgeable, others were not. They had a guy from Henny Penny teaching the warewash course after he had never worked on dish machines, 2 weeks away from family wasted on that trip. Promised a good raise over and over again, only to find out they give annual raises in March of each year, if you start at the middle or last half of the year, you have to wait over a year to get a raise, I had to wait 17 months only to get pocket change. In all honesty, going to work for Hobart was my biggest regret in my career. I had a lot of customers request me because of the way other technicians act (charging for parts and not replacing, replacing parts that were not damaged, professionalism, etc.). I have yet to receive my all of my final check. Payroll admitted they made a mistake then quit responding to calls and emails about their mistake. Cost of labor attorney wasn’t worth the time and stress. Definitely a company I would not recommend to my worst enemy. Latest policy changes include removing Christmas and Independence Day from holiday schedule, gps phone tracking to account for hours worked, they will check your personal social media and threaten termination if they do not agree with your views. 

A good offered package of self-managed work load, vehicle, corporate card, and training and electrical license. Managers try to train and get you started but the company overwhelmed itself with new customers. Work and OT are plentiful. On-call is expected and fine, but can be difficult when a customer wants a quick diagnosis and repair and it’s difficult if you’re not trained on the type of broken equipment. 
I was told I would be trained by others until ready for independent work, not quite so. Factory training for one type of equipment was cut from 2 weeks to 1 and included 20+ on-line courses to complete when working before you’re “company certified” to repair type equipment. Online training courses are poorly designed and can be difficult to follow. This includes having the appropriate state licensure for electrical work. 
Acquiring hours towards electrical license is a long and drawn out struggle and you’re subject to L&I visits and fines if caught working without it. I had to push for almost a week to have a licensed tech present during a couple jobs. Shoulders shrugged when concern of licensing was addressed during an all-hands meeting, which is unacceptable given the emphasis on safety in every training course and the onboarding. 
Ranking metrics are used to evaluate technician performance and are distributed to everyone in open emails.
Technicians and managers are people just doing their jobs, but business practices make it difficult to ignore the shortcomings of corporate-supported behaviors. 


A Fortune 200 Company with 100 years of history, so they are  doing something right, just not sure that the NYC market is where they are doing it. NYC has unique demands that I don't feel are addressed properly by the head office. I work with great people, no issues with staff whatsoever. The things that frustrate me about this position are likely to never change. Not all technicians are cross trained in all equipment, so dispatching is always a challenge. Customers are demanding and quick to go above you on the corporate ladder when they feel they are not being serviced in a manner they feel they deserve. No matter how carefully planned the dispatch board is, there is something almost daily that pops up that throws everything into chaos, usually demands from premier customers or third party vendors representing large accounts, or technician absences. I have never worked anywhere so negatively impacted by employee absences. Contracts are poorly written and difficult to understand. Playing a game of catch up while running at a constant deficit is what my role feels like, and the cons way outweigh the pros in this role. To be fair, the branch is undergoing a major restructuring under new management, and I have the utmost faith that they will rebuild successfully, however this role is not one I can envision myself in for an extended period of time.

It definitely not the worst company to work for. It's a fine place if you aren't looking to make alot of money. There is not much OT and the benefits are just ok. The training that they send you to out at corporate in Ohio is fun and a great place to meet technicians from all over the US. There is not much room for advancement because there is only one branch manager for 10-20 technicians and the job does not open up very often. I particularly had a terrible branch manager out of the NH/VT/ME office and I would never recommend that branch to anyone for as long as she is still the manager. I hear some good things about other branches around the country but I cant speak on their behalf. The corporate end of Hobart is very top heavy. They started me on an installation team that covered the northeast which I loved doing, then out of nowhere they did away with that division because it was too expensive I guess. I was told that I could either move over to service or find another job. I would not recommend this company to someone young and hungry looking to make good money. If you are middle aged or older and looking to coast into retirement and have no interest in advancing or getting raises then this company is perfect.

The techs are great, dispatchers are Awesome.
Lots of driving and a lot of different equipment some old some new.  Almost always you will deal with customers when working on equipment. 

Training in ohio is amazing, the instructors are very nice and want to see you succeed. Other technicians are just as helpful all of them willing to Answer questions. There lots of different appliances made by Hobart  from dishwashers to slicers.    

Vehicles are provided for the techs.  Most are rwd Ford Transits however with the new awd transits now available they will be replacing the rwd vans when they are ready to be replaced. 

Some tools are given to you most tools you will need to get on your own if your lucky the company will get them or reimburse the cost 




 Overall its a great job however 


The Manager is very misguided when it comes to managing(extreme micro managing) She has very little respect for the techs and she can never be wrong about anything. 

The Parts Guy  is always on the managers side. He is always spying on the techs looking for something to get someone into trouble.  He is not helpfully for ordering parts or receiving parts. Dont bother asking him to look up a part on his computer, he will tell you its not his job.  



As a former field tech I enjoyed the work, I learned a lot in Electrical, Plumbing, Transmission work, Natural Gas and Networking but over all learned a lot of mechanical thinking. Management was supportive for the most part. The only down side is getting raises are slow. So don't expect to get a lot of money in your first year there. They also try to emphasize leads which is you try to upgrade equipment to a customer, recommend a contract or recommend new equipment and a sales person closes on a deal you get 5% of that sale. But for the most part 9 times out of 10 that never happens. If you are looking to gain great experience in trade work Hobart is good for this. but long term for working here you got to be patient. If your in it for just the money then only benefit here is the experience. over all don't have soft skin some techs can be rough around the edges in their teaching methods. When you are sent on jobs a lone after being trained in specific product lines it gets better. But again as compensation goes for job responsibility its slightly lacking 

● Work-life balance
We do on call in shifts every 4 weeks for one week each team

● Pay & benefits
Starting pay is 19 per hour nation wide at the time I am writing this 4.5% 401k match

● Job security and advancement
We do training every 6 months or so as a new hire with training in all areas of restaurant equipment except refrigeration that needs to be learned in the field

● Management
My manager put me on a 3 month probation period where I had to meet certain performance metrics  because other techs I was training with were saying negative things about me behind my back. And he did this without talking to me first about the things I could improve in and still has never brought it up I only know this from talking to other techs

● Culture
Other techs will talk to your service manager if they don’t like something your doing and this could result in negative consequences for you coming out of nowhere

● Overall
Easy repair work most of the time with difficult jobs every so often good culture but techs talk a lot behind each other’s back and sometimes to the service managers get involved

I did electrical for 20+ years and was ready for a change and this is perfect for me. Hobart is a huge company stretching across the entire United States and Canada. You have top notch training where they fly you to Ohio for any classes you need. The classes are mandatory and last any where from 1 week to 2 weeks away from home. You will need anywhere from 3-5 classes to be at top Tech.  pay. You stay in nice hotel where you are paid hourly & given per deim pay. Start work with 3-4 weeks of vacation, sick & floating holiday pay. If OT is your thing you will have much opportunity to do so! I started last year almost 11 months now I have approximately $12,000 in 401k retirement already. Not to mention I’m on track to make $85,000  this year which is good pay.  Believe it or not at least in Little Rock all us guys get along great we try and have lunch together at least once or twice a week.  We all have each others backs that means a lot!! 

As a whole Hobart/ITW is an awesome company to work for. A typical day for me is answering incoming calls, creating service orders, approved completed service orders, dealing with all warranty and contract claims. The workplace culture was not as good as I would want. I didn't receive the training that was promised to me. I have had to reach out to sources outside of my office to the corporate location to receive training on how to process warranty claims. I have been talked to like I am stupid and like I am bothering someone when I ask them a question. People talk over me when I am asked a question. The branch management is good in the field with the customers, but does not know how to deal with confrontation with his staff and lets a lot of things slide that in my eyes should not be per HR rules and guidelines as far as attendance goes with the other staff.

Good place to work, provide tools and training, and allow you to make mistakes, everyone seems willing to help out each other if needed. I had a good manager in Detroit and the employees all seemed to be happy with management. However the office personnel, and dispatcher were very difficult to get along with. No communication between dispatch and office staff and the technicians they were supposed to be supporting and assisting. tension between many techs and dispatch and office personnel. Management said they would address the issue but it didn't change too much. added stress to an already hard job. They worked on everything instead of having a few techs specialize in just a few things they expected you to know everything except refrigeration.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Service technician 2 salaries reported	$34.10 per hour
Field manager 2 salaries reported	$154,440 per year

Working at HOBART SERVICE: Company Overview and Reviews

HOBART SERVICE

HOBART SERVICE Ratings

Popular jobs at HOBART SERVICE

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected