[karl_r]

would anyone switch from construction to maintenance? What are the pros and cons? I'm looking for a position with a school and was wondering how rewarding is to be a maintenance and what to expect on a regular working day

 

[FrunkSlammer]

Ask Ponyboy, he's a maintenance man.

 

[ponyboy]

Ask Ponyboy, he's a maintenance man.

THE maintenance man. Get it right.

 

[Awg-Dawg]

Ask Ponyboy, he's a maintenance man.

You beat me to it.

Good jokes are hard to come by around here.

 

[FrunkSlammer]

^^^^^^^^^ That is the face of job satisfaction.

 

[ponyboy]

Naw man that's my ram. Named him kid rock. I got a gang of farm cats all named kid rock too

 

[five.five-six]

Ask Ponyboy, he's a maintenance man.

THE maintenance man. Get it right.

 

[brian john]

To each their own, but would I do it NO WAY IN HELL.

I can't think of a place I have worked with maintenance electricians where they would be busy enough for me.

 

[ScooterMcGavin]

I'm a power plant maintenance electrician/tech. I love because there's always something breaking and the pressure to fix it when the plants down makes it exciting. If I was a regular building maint electrician I would have eaten a bullet already changing lamps and resetting circuit breakers would get real old pretty quickly. Going from construction to maintenance will be a huge culture shock, it certainly was for me. But once you become institutionalized you get used to it.

 

[dronai]

I'm a power plant maintenance electrician/tech. I love because there's always something breaking and the pressure to fix it when the plants down makes it exciting. If I was a regular building maint electrician I would have eaten a bullet already changing lamps and resetting circuit breakers would get real old pretty quickly. Going from construction to maintenance will be a huge culture shock, it certainly was for me. But once you become institutionalized you get used to it.

Scameron, I could get into your kind of job. A lot of maintenance guys are mechanics as well, Welding and fabrication, Plumbing, Hydraulics, pneumatics, etc.

I did it for awhile at the airport.

 

[backstay]

I was a maintenance electrician for almost twenty years. Trouble shooting when the mill is down and it's thousands of dollars an hour is head rush and ego stroking. But sadly the management changed and I could no longer stay. Now I work for myself. Going from construction to maintenance, I don't know? I saw guys try it. Most went back to construction.

 

[ScooterMcGavin]

Scameron, I could get into your kind of job. A lot of maintenance guys are mechanics as well, Welding and fabrication, Plumbing, Hydraulics, pneumatics, etc.

I did it for awhile at the airport.

We've got mechanics that do all the heavy duty work and dedicated welders. As they always say we just come in and hook up a couple of wires when the real work is done.

 

[glen1971]

Depends on what you like doing... I got out of construction cuz I was tired of working on the road and actually wanted to sleep in my own bed.. I also got tired of the stress and the pi$$ poor work ethic that lots of the younger generation have.. And with it being so busy now, they know they can't get fired..Or get fired for long...

I think you need to know how to build before you can be a decent maintenance electrician.. Lots of plant start-ups and commissioning helped make me a better maintenance electrician today...

 

[toctami]

Worked out great for me. Last couple years in construction I was always worried about being laid off. Now I do building maintenance for a public transportation company. Get paid more than I ever have, will never be laid off and have great benefits. It is a very different world than construction. And I don't do strict electrical work, some days I'm a plumber or an HVAC tech or a mechanic. I sometimes wish I got to do strictly electrical work but I don't miss construction at all.

 

[qckrun]

Just switch

 

[ponyboy]

Scameron, I could get into your kind of job. A lot of maintenance guys are mechanics as well, Welding and fabrication, Plumbing, Hydraulics, pneumatics, etc. I did it for awhile at the airport.

That's the problem with some company's idea of a maintenance electrician, what they really want is jack of all trades maintenance guy.

If I look through the classifieds in my area and see ads for maintenance workers it usually reads as follows- "looking for someone with experience with electrical troubleshooting and construction skills. Hydraulic and pneumatic control work. Welding certificate desirable. A CDL would also be nice so you can push snow for us in the winter and drive the lo boy from building to building."

This is bullshít. They expect all those things and probably want to pay you as much as a bottom tier JW. What you want to look for is a maintenance electrician job

 

[99cents]

It's winter. These days I could toss this construction BS for a cushy school maintenance gig in a heartbeat. Ask me the same question in June and I will give you a different answer.

 

[Big John]

...If I look through the classifieds in my area and see ads for maintenance workers it usually reads as follows- "looking for someone with experience with electrical troubleshooting and construction skills. Hydraulic and pneumatic control work. Welding certificate desirable. A CDL would also be nice so you can push snow for us in the winter and drive the lo boy from building to building."

Seen a lot of those ads, and they always kill me. You get someone who is competent and skilled in four different trades, you damn well better be starting them at $150,000 a year. The people sitting in cubicles slapping those descriptions out got no idea.

I liked being a maintenance electrician because you do get the opportunity to play with hydraulics and mechanical drives and do some occasional half-assed welding. But that don't make me a hydraulics guy or a welder.

 

[Haxwoper]

Seen a lot of those ads, and they always kill me. You get someone who is competent and skilled in four different trades, you damn well better be starting them at $150,000 a year. The people sitting in cubicles slapping those descriptions out got no idea.

I hate to say it John, but in reality they find people who fill those rolls just fine who are willing to work for meager wages.

 

[ponyboy]

I hate to say it John, but in reality they find people who fill those rolls just fine who are willing to work for meager wages.

And then you get stuff like bolts being used as fuses happening.