low voltage technician

communication technician

safety coordinator

superintendent

cable technician

IES Communications

I should have realized that something was amiss when I felt like the job was too good to be true and the interview was too easy. I was attracted by the decent pay and nice benefits and was told by the managers many things I wanted to hear to convince me to take the job.

IES Communications could be a decent company to work with, but within a few months of working there, I came across many red flags and increasingly faced hostile working conditions and bullying from mangers. For those that work in the administration jobs, there is little training and you are basically on your own after two weeks. Three weeks in, I accidentally asked my supervisor a question that I forgot I already asked earlier and she screamed at me and threatened to fire me, eventually passing me off to another supervisor in the area.

Within those first few months other odd things happened. An entire department quit on the same day, for example. The promises of having the ability to work from home and always having a 40 hour work week with overtime were taken away. Project managers regularly have to go on disability for stress related issues, many of whom never return after or take less stressful jobs in the company.

After talking to technicians, I learned the promises of getting raises was a lie and workers often don't last more than a few months, usually because they get better offers elsewhere. The company regularly brings up the issues of high turnover but fails to account for why workers leave so quickly and suddenly, often pinning it on lazy individuals with low work ethic.

My last few months there became increasingly hostile as the stress brought the local project manager to a breaking point. He regularly shouted at me and belittled me, using language and gestures that were inappropriate. Technicians were increasingly becoming angry and negative, shouting at each other and quitting on the spot. 

At the breaking point myself, I contacted HR to get advice on what to do, but the contact went against my wishes and went to upper management, who then decided I was too much of a problem. Within a week of asking for help, I was given notice of my termination.

Save yourself the brain cells and your sanity. Avoid IES.

When I first started this job i was bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to learn and work hard and try to excel in a field i had never previously had experience in.  in the very beginning it was pretty good, most days were pretty normal and relaxed, but to my surprise there really wasn't anyone available to teach me, i could typically rely on my coworkers to at least give me the basics i needed to make it through the day. in the beginning days i couldn't help the feeling that many people in my team had no real idea what exactly they were doing and ultimately many of us were simply being set up to fail. this became readily apparent when a short month or so after i started the project we were working on effectively completely collapsed like a dying start and ultimately we lost the contract. this effectively became a running theme for several months as i was moved to another project i heard tales about other projects collapsing either due to incompetence, management or both. indeed what i began to notice during my time here is that scarce few people in upper management actually have "it" the qualities needed to be a leader beyond just seniority and years of experience or "who you know", indeed many people in leadership in this company are only there because of who they know.  during my time here what started as an exciting new possibility for a potential career ultimately became a drag and a chore, it entered that phase where just coming in to work everyday was like "oh god why?" 

 I suppose other reviewers have summed it up more or less and it pretty much boils down to this, IES communications routinely teeters between relative stability to complete dumpster fire, when things are good? its actually kind of ok, but when they are bad? its real bad.  others might say that this is a good place to get your foot in the door but is it worth the hassle? in my opinion no, there are far better paying competitors that are worth pursuing even if it takes a little bit longer for you.  This company is ultimately a complete mess that if you ask me? is going absolutely nowhere.

My experience with this company has been disappointing across various aspects:

Worst Management:
The management at this company falls short of expectations. Their decision-making and leadership style contribute to a negative work environment.

Worst HR Responsiveness:
The HR department, unfortunately, has been non-responsive. Attempts to communicate or seek assistance have been met with silence, impacting the overall employee experience.

Worst Team Dynamics:
The team members and management has different ways of training and handling the new member thus, setting the newbie to fail every time.

Worst Supervisor:
The supervision I received fell short in providing the essential support and guidance expected from a supervisor. While my team was enjoyable, and we shared great camaraderie, the supervisor's response in crucial moments was disappointing. When the need arose for their intervention and support, silence prevailed, leaving me to navigate challenges alone without the expected assistance.

Overall, my time with this company has been marked by various challenges stemming from management issues, unresponsive HR, poor team dynamics, and inadequate supervision. These aspects collectively contribute to a less-than-ideal work environment. 

A negative experience with my previous company hasn't diminished my worth as an individual. I maintain a belief that there are still positive work environments offering excellent opportunities for growth. While this particular situation may not have been favorable, I trust that everything occurs for a reason, and more often than not, for the better.

Each day depends entirely on who is in charge, and how many people are at the specific site. If your site has double digit workers, expect poor time management, and oversight. With single digit sites having a wide range of expectations ranging from breakneck speed, to relaxed, leaving consistency to be HEAVILY desired between every single lead. 
The lowest form of manager is a lead technician, which can range from someone leading a group on a larger project, to running an entire site for a smaller, or slower one. This makes for a strange mix of experience for each one, as well as massively different work ethics, and practices, making each project a mildly uncomfortable experience of the first day at the office of a job you know well. 
This is not to include the blatant disregard to safety regulations when it suits whoever is in charge, ranging from something nearly impossible otherwise, to just for convenience, and lack of proper equipment, despite availability.
That isn't to say everything is horrible, and doom, most of the job is fairly straightforward after initial planning, with the odd conduit being a hassle, and the coworkers are generally at least not unfriendly.
The hardest part of the job tends to be fixing something long since run, terminated, or otherwise installed. This tends to be just from the roughness of a construction site, or poor planning.
The best part is the almost entirely optional overtime, making for great extra pay, and you rarely stay for the entire time, unless it is prescheduled, in which case it is okay, but at least you get extra pay still.

The company is a great stepping stone into the industry. Not a place to advance, unless you have family in upper management. The company core values are not reflected in the field at all. Safety is good. Having basic material such as harnesses/yoyos, electrical tape, lifts, fish tapes, basic hardware, and patch cords are impossible to find or obtain to complete the necessary work. Been told to pull screws from another LIU to use for a new install. One time was given instructions to dig through dirt to obtain self taping screws. The company as a large turnover rate. During the six years I was there they lost over 12 good leads and had lost over 30 or more techs. As a foreman the proper tools and resources are not there and it makes the job that much stressful. Project managers have no respect. Been told before that no one cares what i say or think. Been told my personality sucks, later was joking, when they saw it had bothered me. They talk down to you. And seeing anyone hire up them a PM is like seeing a unicorn and them to acknowledge or saying hello, is unknown. I am for ever in debt for the experience, but forever happy I removed myself from one of the most Toxic companies and work environments.

I worked in a couple of remote offices over two decades.  PMs are incentivised to reward the stockholders and make the books look good. This takes place at the expense of field workers and quality workmanship.  The field workers do the best they can to please the customer and support each other but that orphan feeling will not go away.  Upper and middle management are often absent in the field and unqualified people are left hold responsibilities.  Every once in a while a good PM comes along only to leave after burning out or finding a more supportive organization.  For a morally vapid self-serving person who is gifted with compartmentalization and schmoozing corporate, this is a great place to work as they climb the ladder stepping on others and throwing people under the bus. 

Perhaps the fun position of being with IES with the now nigh near defunct San Antonio branch, was your fellow coworkers who all knew their stuff and got to work generally quick. It's perhaps the better part of it when you don't have to deal with any bit of management.

To say the least, it was like a mixture of stew where you have all the ingredients you need, ( such as your workers and materials ) but yet somehow, the roast still comes out poorly because the instructions kept changing or parts of the instructions given to you were ultimately a mixed bag. When you'd ask questions about said issue, suddenly it's the ingredients fault. Not the instructions. ( If you missed the rhetoric, the higher management blamed good workers, even going so far as to replace said workers despite their genuine love and care in the trade ).

So overall, it's a nice place to work. Maybe even get your feet going on the ground. The pay was okay-ish for a start, but once you start growing, good luck getting any pay that you deserve of the so-called San Antonio branch. The only way to survive this place is to jump when you need to. Come back when other options dry up or if you're up to travel a few hundred miles to maintain actual pay and good work. Maybe you might find something better that I missed only being here.

Cheers. 

Management has been promoted due to family ties/nepotism. Your bosses are 95% white. People with zero industry experience or any kind of management experience in leadership/management roles. No trust or freedom as an employee/technician. Managers hold grudges and constantly pick on and push people out. Work environment is full of drama and constant grief. Writeups happen for the first time a mistake happens or you're late. Management does not hold themselves at the same standard as employees. Mangement regularly breaks the very rules they have zero tolerance for from technicians. The environment you work in is extremely hot and humid both in summer and winter. Temps regularly exceed 80°f and 50% humidity. Place is full of petty rules and inexperienced micromanagement. Revolving door of technicians and temps. Toxic environment.

Great place to work if you want to be treated like you are in prison. Most people with any field experience or knowledge will quit within the first few months once they realize this company is a meat grinder. Most of the leads are severely under qualified for there position. Actually was told by a superintendent the OT I made as a lead would make up for the lack of hourly payment increase with position advance. Not a recommended job for someone with real field experience. They choose to promote people from other sites with little to no experience to save a buck and it shows projects are double to quadruple done because of that fact. They could get twice the workload completed with half the current staff if they treated there employees honestly and actually appreciated experience (experience in this field is number 1 followed by work ethic) not a job you want if you are good at what you do you will leave feeling underappreciated and degraded daily. However if you have little to no experience are very timid and are satisfied with being treated like a child you'll be a supervisor in 5 to 7 years no prob.  

Load truck based on site needs.  Use Google Doc to determine what parts need picked.  Usually there is no part number to utilize in finding parts.  Without understanding of the parts, finding them requires lots of guesswork and asking around.  Coworkers get impatient when you are lost and waiting for direction.  Management is impatient when driving and they are critical when taking longer than they expect.  Sites are slow to unload your truck and somehow that is your responsibility to speed them up.  Working in the warehouse is challenging with very little direction or training and you either need to guess how to do things or get a very brief instruction from coworkers and management.  It's one of the harder jobs I've ever tried to learn and this is coming from extensive background in inventory management and driving.  I feel like I am incompetent in the eyes of management, being blamed for many things beyond my control.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Low voltage technician 156 salaries reported	$31.16 per hour
Communication technician 104 salaries reported	$26.33 per hour
Safety coordinator 162 salaries reported	$40.48 per hour
Superintendent 176 salaries reported	$40.98 per hour
Cable technician 153 salaries reported	$23.76 per hour

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