AT&T Premises Technician Pay?...

I wish you the very best Tx pt girl. I understand your gratitude after being out of work for so long. I too was out of work for many months before landing a prem tech position last year. I still say folks should only take this job if they have no other options.

AT&T finally won and forced me to quit. I couldn't take it any longer. The condescension of the managers, the micro-managing, the calls at home on my day off, the constant threats of discipline when you are four out of five stars... it all became too much.

The last week did it for me. I grew tired of grovelling at my manager's feet every morning, having to explain why I didn't meet efficiency the day before. I called my manager after getting no jobs from UVDC. He gave me some training courses to take. However, he comes to me two days later to fuss at me about time not dispatched on a job. My GPS is on the right side of the wheel instead of the left. The shoulder strap on the iPad case is too long. A napkin is loose in the cab of your truck. The DVR crapped out, but you're getting repeated. Grown men were given assigned seats at the new office. It all adds up.

They crack the whip at your back every morning screaming for you to get off the lot and then want you to paint on a Joker smile when you're at the customer's house. Here's a novel idea to improve surveys -- don't stress people out before they even get in the truck in the morning and they'll be more relaxed at the customer's home. Stop telling people ad nauseum that they will be fired if they don't the most obtuse things, like breathe in accordance with the Smith System.

It all came to a boil when I was dispatched on an iNid even though I was never trained on it and didn't have the equipment on the vehicle to do the job. Best of luck to you all. To say this job isn't for everyone would be a gross understatement. If you are into sadomasochism, this may be a perfect fit for you.

Whats the pay in illinois, should i take this job?

we have been getting alot 10-12 boxes lately, in fact the same 12 stb job has been jepped 4 times already since last week even though we including our manager told her she can only have 8 max.... well thats not what sales said.... then they treat you like a dumbass. Sales associates are lying scumbags and then we get stuck with the survey. the southeast also seems to be the toilet bowl for cpe, i spent more time the other day swapping out 5 boxes on a 4 box install--yes 5 than it took me to do the entire easy ass homruned install. come to find out we just figured out per a tier2 agent that black and silver stbs and dvr's dont work good if at all together. First we heard hell Ive never even seen a black box till this month and all of these are the "ntf" disaster recovery refurbs that work maybe half the time. Funny thing is that out in my homegarage truck I have 15 black dvr's and not one silver and all silver regular stbs. Work performed correctly???? I think not. Thanks att glad we know more than you. some overpaid lazy fuck missed the boat on this one. This company and its shithead lazy do nothing peoples will get what they deserve. I think its funny as hell that they lost millions and millions in that T mobile deal yet nickel and dime us to death.

Hey guys, thought I might share my hiring experience thus far. Around December the 15th I applied online and I took my skills test by the 22nd of December. I waited until about the 7th of January and a staffing manager called me to setup the RJP, so that was setup and I went on the 14th I think it was. I got an e-mail a few days later saying everything went well and that a staffing agent would call me within three weeks to continue the process.

Its been three weeks, but at week two I called the staffing agent back. She was very nice and explained that the hiring in my area wasn't her duty and that she was just helping out another staffing manager. We spent a good 20 minutes on the phone and she tried to reassure me, but in the end its a waiting game. I e-mailed her again a few days back and she said that the hiring was taking longer than expected, but job offers were in the process of being made in my area. There are eight positions available in my area, so heres to hoping I snag one.

There is a lot of negative floating around about this job and I can understand that. I don't want to be one of the guys that gives in to poor treatment and pushes big corporations to think that it is okay, but I also have twins on the way and the job market isn't looking too good right now.

I hope some of my information helped out, but I do have a few questions that hopefully someone can answer.

Are the area managers that do the RJP usually the ones that select the qualified candidates and make the job offers?

Is there anyway to get in touch with the hiring managers?

I hear that you are on call, does that mean that during scheduled time off that you can't plan an out of town trip?

Is there any chance that prem techs might be allowed to port over to other positions in the near future? Anybody know the salary cap for Louisiana?

How hard is it to get take home use of your truck?

Will the hiring managers let you know if you didn't get the job?

Thanks in advance for any questions that might be answered.

Hey, Everybody.
I live in Saint Louis, and I applied online for a Premises Technician position over here yesterday (2012-02-09).
This morning, I received an e-mail scheduling me to take the tests on 2012-02-17.

In the same e-mail, there was this message:

"The weekly starting rate of pay for this position ranges from 490.00 TO 653.00. Actual starting wages are based on verifiable job related experience/education."

I think it's cool that they actually gave me a heads-up on the salary, but in reality, that information is useless because it says absolutely nothing about how many HOURS I should expect to work weekly.
$490 for 30 hours/week is fine.
$490 for 60 hours/week is a NO-GO!!!

What do yall think?
Are there any fellow Saint Louisans reading this right now?

@ Future ST L PT,
"Weekly starting rate of pay" always means 40 hours. So those numbers are the minimum you'll make based on your experience. I don't know of any Prem Techs that work only 40 hrs.
During the Realistic Job Preview the managers will let your group know of some of the expectations of the job. Safety, Customer Service, and OVERTIME.
What they don't tell you about is the number of jobs they'll expect from you each day. As well as the 100% efficiency they now demand. Which means that after so many days the customer can not initiate a "callback" for any reason otherwise it screws up your efficiency numbers. Often times it may not come down to anything you did or didn't do.
It could be a bad piece of equipment or the customer tried to load some software for little jimmy and messed things up on there computer system. It aint fair sometimes.
In my time working construction jobs or telecommunications there ends up being two groups. The lazy jaded sneaky ones and those that care about the kind of work they do.
@ LSU Prem Tech,
Is there a possibility of moving to a different position within AT&T? In the near future: Probably Not. In the distant future: Maybe.
What are the chances of taking a company vehicle home? Slim to none.
Because I'm not new to the workforce I think it's worth it. To each their own. AT&T is a good place to increase your skill set while bringing home good money. Every job has it's "stuff". AT&T is no different.

Technorcal wrote:

@ Future ST L PT,
"Weekly starting rate of pay" always means 40 hours. So those numbers are the minimum you'll make based on your experience. I don't know of any Prem Techs that work only 40 hrs.
During the Realistic Job Preview the managers will let your group know of some of the expectations of the job. Safety, Customer Service, and OVERTIME.
What they don't tell you about is the number of jobs they'll expect from you each day. As well as the 100% efficiency they now demand. Which means that after so many days the customer can not initiate a "callback" for any reason otherwise it screws up your efficiency numbers. Often times it may not come down to anything you did or didn't do.
It could be a bad piece of equipment or the customer tried to load some software for little jimmy and messed things up on there computer system. It aint fair sometimes.
In my time working construction jobs or telecommunications there ends up being two groups. The lazy jaded sneaky ones and those that care about the kind of work they do.
@ LSU Prem Tech,
Is there a possibility of moving to a different position within AT&T? In the near future: Probably Not. In the distant future: Maybe.
What are the chances of taking a company vehicle home? Slim to none.
Because I'm not new to the workforce I think it's worth it. To each their own. AT&T is a good place to increase your skill set while bringing home good money. Every job has it's "stuff". AT&T is no different.

Thank you, Technorcal.
You've just rid me of my worries.
I've had a horrible situation happen to me in the past where a company had given me partial information.
$490 before overtime is fine with with me, especially since that's almost twice as much as what other jobs offer in my area.

LSUPremTech wrote:

I hear that you are on call, does that mean that during scheduled time off that you can't plan an out of town trip?

You aren't on call, but your schedule can change in a day's notice. You probably won't have time to plan an out of town trip unless you take vacation. Most of the year you will be working 6 days a week, 10 - 12 hours a day. During the couple months a year when you only work 5 day weeks, your days off probably won't be consecutive, like a Sunday and a Tuesday off.Everyone who is on the outside says that the money is good and they would love to do your job. The truth of the matter is that everyone is constantly fighting to work less because you just get fed up with both the customers and the company constantly bitching at you about things that just don't matter.

The company may even spring for a paid trip out of town. After 6 months, or whenever you hit tenure 3, you'll be at the bottom of seniority and will get sent out of town to work in some crap hole for a month at a time. The reason for going to the crap hole won't be for a natural disaster, but rather because turnover became so great in that city that they need more techs to keep up with the repairs from all the shitty installs. Good luck. I've been trying to leave this company for years. Maybe i'll get lucky this year.

Grunt wrote:

<quoted text>
You aren't on call, but your schedule can change in a day's notice. You probably won't have time to plan an out of town trip unless you take vacation. Most of the year you will be working 6 days a week, 10 - 12 hours a day. During the couple months a year when you only work 5 day weeks, your days off probably won't be consecutive, like a Sunday and a Tuesday off.Everyone who is on the outside says that the money is good and they would love to do your job. The truth of the matter is that everyone is constantly fighting to work less because you just get fed up with both the customers and the company constantly bitching at you about things that just don't matter.
The company may even spring for a paid trip out of town. After 6 months, or whenever you hit tenure 3, you'll be at the bottom of seniority and will get sent out of town to work in some crap hole for a month at a time. The reason for going to the crap hole won't be for a natural disaster, but rather because turnover became so great in that city that they need more techs to keep up with the repairs from all the shitty installs. Good luck. I've been trying to leave this company for years. Maybe i'll get lucky this year.

What incentives do they give for going out of town?
Like, do they give per diem, time and a half, or pay for food?

They pay for your hotel and you get $30 per diem. Time and a half is still after 40 in a week. Nothing special, except you get to be away from your friends and family for a month.

Y'all better listen to Grunt! He is on point with everything he said.

Oh my goodness.... quit your complaining. Lot of people would be glad to have a job. No one is ever promised a "rose" garden. That is why it's called work.

Is it possible to be glad to have a job, but still refuse to be demeaned, belittled, disrespected and mistreated?

I don't see too many people on this forum complaining about the actual work. I find that far more comment about how they are treated.

Indeed, no one is ever promised a "rose" garden, but they expect a little better than an arid desert.

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2012/02/1... .

This whole uverse situation is another example of why the middle class is being squeezed while those at the tippy top continue to see their slice of the pie expand.

Per the above article there is a AT&T is eliminating 750 union jobs. They defend themselves in part by saying they are creating more jobs on the Uverse side. Problem is the Uverse jobs lack the pay, protections and/or benefits of the jobs that used to exist at AT&T.

If AT&T has record profits why do they need to squeeze folks like this.

Its not immigrants that are stealing jobs, its the executive suit in these corporations who are hording more of the revenues by squeezing the workforce and/or sending jobs overseas.

I don't know how to fix it, but hats off to those who at least are trying to raise the issue. This isn't class war or if it is its not against the very top, its the other way around.

Wallplate wrote:

Is it possible to be glad to have a job, but still refuse to be demeaned, belittled, disrespected and mistreated?
I don't see too many people on this forum complaining about the actual work. I find that far more comment about how they are treated.
Indeed, no one is ever promised a "rose" garden, but they expect a little better than an arid desert.

well said i worked for att for 13yrs b4 being laid off. when i 1st started there they treated you well and it was like a family, then they did an about face and started to treat everyone very poorly. i loved the work hated the upper management and their mentality that you're just a # not a human being. i think thats why most people who work there bash them. the churn rate for the prem tech job is very high b4 i left we used to see new hires almost every 6-12 months and then they would slowly disappear. when i left i think there were only about 6 of the original techs left in the garage i worked out of.

Wallplate wrote:

I wish you the very best Tx pt girl. I understand your gratitude after being out of work for so long. I too was out of work for many months before landing a prem tech position last year. I still say folks should only take this job if they have no other options.
AT&T finally won and forced me to quit. I couldn't take it any longer. The condescension of the managers, the micro-managing, the calls at home on my day off, the constant threats of discipline when you are four out of five stars... it all became too much.
The last week did it for me. I grew tired of grovelling at my manager's feet every morning, having to explain why I didn't meet efficiency the day before. I called my manager after getting no jobs from UVDC. He gave me some training courses to take. However, he comes to me two days later to fuss at me about time not dispatched on a job. My GPS is on the right side of the wheel instead of the left. The shoulder strap on the iPad case is too long. A napkin is loose in the cab of your truck. The DVR crapped out, but you're getting repeated. Grown men were given assigned seats at the new office. It all adds up.
They crack the whip at your back every morning screaming for you to get off the lot and then want you to paint on a Joker smile when you're at the customer's house. Here's a novel idea to improve surveys -- don't stress people out before they even get in the truck in the morning and they'll be more relaxed at the customer's home. Stop telling people ad nauseum that they will be fired if they don't the most obtuse things, like breathe in accordance with the Smith System.
It all came to a boil when I was dispatched on an iNid even though I was never trained on it and didn't have the equipment on the vehicle to do the job. Best of luck to you all. To say this job isn't for everyone would be a gross understatement. If you are into sadomasochism, this may be a perfect fit for you.

Hey Wallplate, I was a PT in Raleigh for about 8 months in 2009-10. It was the worst job I had in my life. I can sympathize with all the comments made on the forum. I tried hard at that job, but it wasn't good enough. I got wrote-up three times over productivity and repeats and was told that a forth write-up was going to lead to being sent home (for how ever many days - I don't remember). A fifth write-up, I was told, may lead to termination. I had enough of that, resigned, and found another job. I do not miss AT&T one bit. The stress, aggravation, micromanaging and belittling by the supervisor was not worth it. Best wishes finding another job. BTW, this is my first post - I worked at both Industrial and Nowell Road.

I had a friend who is working as a PT in Raleigh too but I havent heard from him in a while. His name is Kiah. Do you know him?

You are correct ex att guy. There is very high turnover for prem techs. While in training we were told that turnover in the SE was around 47 percent. During one of my ride along weeks I ate lunch with my manager and told him what the instructor had told us. The manager indicated that turnover was actually higher than 47%.

exrlghpt, you certainly understand what's being said on this forum. It truly is one of the worst jobs I've ever had, from the standpoint of how employees are treated. I sure hope to find a job soon, but when I worry about it, I just think back to my days at AT&T. I think about getting to a job at 4:30 that is a split level house with the nid on one side and the cable box on the other. Splitters in the crawl space and no furniture moved. 5 boxes, internet and phone and the guy is some game wizard who just has to have the rg in the most difficult place so he can connect all his game systems and computers. Two boxes come up in disaster recovery. The first RG you install is defective. You're trying to deal with that mess and running into all kinds of headaches, but you get calls every half-hour wondering what's taking so long.

Being told the shoulder strap on the iPad case is too long. My gps is a half an inch too high on the window. You are expected to get your equipment the night before, but if you're off you have no choice but to get it the morning you come back. However, being off is not a good excuse. I could go on and on.

Here's another question for anyone who's willing to answer.
If we are tasked to go out of town, will we have to drive our personally owned vehicles to the other city, or will AT&T fly us out there or give us a rental car to drive to the new location?

I'm about to take the test tomorrow thurs. 16 of feb. they say the pay is between 500. and 650. a week. can anyone tell me what it top off at.