Who you work for can make or break a job, and that’s especially true when it involves scaling hundreds of feet in the air, all over the country. Tower technicians, more than most, need an employer who values safety more than speed — because corner-cutting at ground level is one thing, but at 200 feet, it's life or death.
Brendon King is a second-generation tower climber. As a 14-year-old, he watched his dad go from “prison to $400,000 a year” working in the tower industry. “From that point forward, I wanted to climb towers,” he told us in an interview.
King’s father, who managed to take a blueprint reading class in prison to then building his first tower site before he was released, made his son wait until he was older and “had cleaned his act up” to start climbing towers. Today, King sees why — tower work is risky for anyone still finding their footing.
When he was 18, King did grunt work for a crew from his father’s company, doing everything they needed “just to get a taste of the industry.” After two weeks, “they asked me if I wanted a job and handed me a $2,400 paycheck," he recalled.
Today King has over a decade of experience in the industry, working across 28 different companies and contractors — big and small — as a project manager, top-hand foreman, quality manager and more. Across them all, his latest employer, Pearce Services, has easily been the best.
“It's the only company I've ever worked for owned by a financial group that cares more about safety than the bottom line,” said King.
Pearce started in HVAC and has only entered the tower market in recent years. They have kept the operations small and easy to manage, according to King, which has made it an incredible working experience. “When you hear a company say, ‘We're like a family over here,’ normally you run the other direction," he detailed. "The thing is, Pearce doesn't say that. They just do it.”
The commitment and care for the crews’ safety and well-being should come first — in words and actions.
“I’ve worked for all the major corporations... this is the most serious I’ve ever seen [safety] taken,” he noted. “They’re not scared to spend money on making sure you have what you need... If I hit my manager up and I tell them, ‘Hey, I need a new rope.’ Within two days, I have a new rope. There're no arguments.”
While there have been efforts for more standardized safety practices to be implemented in the industry, for workers on the ground like King, it can feel like more talk than actual changes.
“Most situations on the tower, you know it's it looks good on paper but it's not applicable,” he explained referring to some industry practical assessments on safety. “It's a tough spot, because some people, they take safety stuff really seriously, and some people don't. It really all depends on who you're with that day, and what the company is like.”
Because the company is ultimately responsible for a climber's safety, it's essential to work with the right employer, he noted. “A lot of companies will fly you to a training program and sit you down and go through [safety protocols],” but at Pearce, “you have a safety director in each market that comes and sits down hands-on with you and says: hey, do you have any questions?”
Top tips for job seekers
When it came to getting a job as a rookie (or “tower turtle” as another climber coined), King said the biggest thing to remember is “a closed mouth doesn’t get fed.” Show up with “half a bucket of common sense” and a willingness to speak up and learn.
That said, he did share a few tips for job seekers to avoid getting in with the wrong contractor.
1: Do your research
His main advice: do some research. Google class action lawsuits against companies you are looking at applying for and see what history is there.
2: Stay wary
When it came to larger companies, King advised to stay wary and make sure the company’s commitment to safety goes beyond a mission statement. Though vetting small companies is just as important, the smaller budget and resources can come in the form of less formal training.
3: Join online resource groups
Avoiding companies hoisting red flags can also simply come down to joining the right communities online. Social media platforms host a number of groups to get current and honest information from climbers.
King acknowledged that may take weeding through some simply “disgruntled” workers blowing off steam to find genuine complaints and issues to take into consideration. “If you see patterns in complaints or online reviews, run away,” King advised.
4: Talk to industry vets
This can also be a chance to reach out directly to someone who’s clearly an industry veteran, “preferably a respectable worker,” who can give you tips or insights about the company you’re looking to interview for.
“We have an unofficial internal network of people that we accumulate over the years,” he added. “The industry size allows one well-placed phone call to pull one person's work history or a company's history."
That small network can make it easier to make personal connections and get a foot in the door — and onto a tower.
Interested in learning more about a career as a tower technician? Check out Broadband Nation's Jobs board, training portal and Learning Center.