Where do Ex-Copier tech's go ?

[sx633]

After 25+ years in this game I've seen salaries driven steadily down by the big companies and small companies trying to squeeze every last bit of work out of me for peanuts.
I've had enough of the high mileages and needy customers but I can't retire for another 15 years !
Does anybody have any ideas as to what might be a good new career path for an Ex-copier tech ?
Do you know anybody that has successfully transferred their skills to another industry ?
There must be something out there that could take advantage of the multiple skills that we have built up over our careers surely.
Comments would be welcomed. :)

[emujo]

If you've used the last 15 years or so to expand your skills into the IT side of the business, then maybe leaving the industry is not the answer, there are many open slots for "professional services". The MFP side of this business is becoming secondary, if you can setup and install the "solutions" provided by companies like ECopy, NSI, Phoenix etc, then you can work for just about any major retailer as they all are trying to leverage their machines to grab a slice of this pie, and it seems that once you get your foot in the door, you can easily go from company to company as needed. The manufacture/dealer has learned that it is much more lucrative to have there own people sell, install, and maintain these solutions then to give 90% of the earnings back to the vendors. If you have not brought yourself up to date on this side of the industry, then I fear you may be left behind with the guys that never thought the carburetor would go away. Emujo

[copiman]

I have been in this for 30 years. During this time, I have learned a lot about the connectivity side. I am currently in school (night classes) studying Network specialist program. This will not only give me a degree, but it will prepare me for certifications as well. Our technology in this business is moving very fast and with the intergration to networks and computers, we must adapt.

Here is a situation I was envolved with recently. We have a customer that buys printer cartridges from us. They have a copier with another company. They replaced the hard drive on one of their PCs. Prior to this they were scanning to the PC. The dealer they use for service could not help them. They asked if I could help. I was able to get the copier scanning. Guess where they are going to get their next copier from.

If you develope your IT skills you can stay in this business and make more money. Or, you can make an easy transition to the other side.

[JR2ALTA]

IT companies will not hire a copier tech who dabbles on command prompt and understands Windows sharing.

Just as our industry is competitive more so is the IT industry with tens of thousands of Computer Science majors graduating every year with not only Bachelors but Masters Degrees.

I would suggest POS systems,CCTV surveillance, ATM technician something like that

[doug94550]

The US Department of Labor lists our career field as a "Field of Critical Need" with existing manpower being in excess of 10% below actual need. Additionally, they also project that between now and the year 2020, the need will increase an additional 15%.
Now add in this, the recent recession caused the wholesale reduction of techs in the field to the minimum required to get the job done. Those techs who were laid off, for the most part, have gone elsewhere.
The old guys are retiring. There goes that brain trust.
Lastly, when was the last time you saw an entry level technician? On my last team, our most junior technician was 12 years into the field. Think about it, almost all of the entry level workers are going into IT and bypassing the actual repair of the machines.
What all of this is leading to is a point in the near future when guys like us who know how to work on these machines and make them work will be very popular. The IT guy may be very good at what he does but ask him to put in a feed roll and he will most likely reply, "I don't do that".
The corollary is what is currently happening in American Manufacturing. Good luck at finding a competent machinist. They are very few and far between. And when one is found, bidding wars take place to get them. Here, a good machinist will bring down 90,000 a year.
In a very real sense, the same thing is beginning to happen with our field.
Since the beginning of the year, I have been contacted by 10 headhunters. One of them led to my current position with Lexmark. During all of these interviews, the one thing that constantly came out is that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to the IT side of the business. Oh sure, I can enter addresses and the such, but my forte' is in the repair of extremely sophisticated electro-mechanical devices. And you know what, they all did not care about my lack of IT skills. They all needed someone who knew how to work on these boxes.
For myself, I have 10 years to retire and I have no plans for leaving the field. If what I have just experienced is any indication, the future is going to be very interesting.
Doug

[JR2ALTA]

How do you like working for lexmark?

[HP:guy]

I'm at that age to old for a paper route to young to retire.
I would recommend moving to the IT side of the business, however you are only trading one set of problems for a different set.
Hang in there and look for a niche you can happily fill.:)

[sx633]

The US may be in "Critical need" of engineer's but here in the UK it's a different story. Oh and by the way I am fully qualified to install and configure uniFLOW, E copy etc. That's what I spend most days doing. It's just that UK employers do not appreciate these skills. You have to be in Finance or banking to make money in this country. Either that or just have Ten kids and live on benefits. (Welfare).

[JR2ALTA]

@sx633

Same in the states.

Every job i've had the boss says "learn this skill" rarely is there a pat on the back much less entering a new tax bracket

[Jules Winfield]

I got a job in IT, but I had to go back to school to get the proper education. On the job training setting up copiers on customer networks just won't cut it in the IT world, however if you have printer knowledge in addition to IT knowledge you will look good to potential employers. Trust me...

[blackcat4866]

In my experience there are two types of employers of copier technicians:

1) the ones that pay an insubstantial wage to a fair days work.
2) the ones that pay a very good wage to own your soul.

If there is something in-between I'd love to try it for a while. =^..^=

[Jules Winfield]

In my experience there are two types of employers of copier technicians:

1) the ones that pay an insubstantial wage to a fair days work.
2) the ones that pay a very good wage to own your soul.

If there is something in-between I'd love to try it for a while. =^..^=

Huh...

I've only ever heard of the ones that pay an insubstantial wage to own your soul....

cultural differences

[Iowatech]

If you want to do something else, you might try learning a new trade using the free courses available. Like this:
MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials (http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm)
Crap, I've got like four or five more links like that (in case I ever crash and burn), but I can't find them right now. Sorry about that. Still, they are out there. And they are free.

[krm]

After 25+ years in this game I've seen salaries driven steadily down by the big companies and small companies trying to squeeze every last bit of work out of me for peanuts.
I've had enough of the high mileages and needy customers but I can't retire for another 15 years !
Does anybody have any ideas as to what might be a good new career path for an Ex-copier tech ?
Do you know anybody that has successfully transferred their skills to another industry ?
There must be something out there that could take advantage of the multiple skills that we have built up over our careers surely.
Comments would be welcomed. :)
It's hard to get rich as a tech. Th big companies and most of the small ones use you to enrich themselves. It's the way it's always been. You have two options in this business: Find a small company with a good owner who does not have family hanging around. Negotiate a contractual buyout of the business after an agreed upon number of years. He/she gets an all in employee and someone with a purpose. You get a chance at a future. This difficult to find, but not impossible. Option two: Start or buy a business.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

Mine is an alternative view which may or may not apply to specific individual, or country. It is the option of 'Thinking out of the Box'. Do we all have to die as techs repairing copiers? Why not reinvest your earned income from the employment into other businesses? Personally, I am now thinking and planning seriously to move into 'Small scale' commercial mixed farming. I intend to plant pine trees, fruits, rear goats, turkeys, ducks and guinea fowls...all these on a 10 acre piece of land. This will mean that I must relocate to rural area, for which I am ready. With increasing world population, the demand for for food and timber is ever on the rise. I hope to reap more benefits than from repair of machines, for which I can now feel both my mental and physical strength are now on the decline.

[emujo]

IT companies will not hire a copier tech who dabbles on command prompt and understands Windows sharing.

Just as our industry is competitive more so is the IT industry with tens of thousands of Computer Science majors graduating every year with not only Bachelors but Masters Degrees.

I would suggest POS systems,CCTV surveillance, ATM technician something like that
Although I do a little more than "dabble" with command prompts....I would be out of my mind to think I could step into a medium/large IT company role and expect to survive, I do not have those necessary skills. I was pushing the gent into a more lucrative field within the MFP industry. A good working knowledge of AD/LDAP, scanning and document management, Different OS and sever platforms, and maybe a network + cert would be all that is needed to very easily roll into a solutions implementer. These are software packages we install with their IT support in most cases. When you are dragging 50, it's tough to be on your knees replacing copier parts, much nicer to be in a nice shirt/tie, in that 68 degree server room. Emujo

[RollingROARANDA]

The US Department of Labor lists our career field as a "Field of Critical Need" with existing manpower being in excess of 10% below actual need. Additionally, they also project that between now and the year 2020, the need will increase an additional 15%.
Now add in this, the recent recession caused the wholesale reduction of techs in the field to the minimum required to get the job done. Those techs who were laid off, for the most part, have gone elsewhere.
The old guys are retiring. There goes that brain trust.
Lastly, when was the last time you saw an entry level technician? On my last team, our most junior technician was 12 years into the field. Think about it, almost all of the entry level workers are going into IT and bypassing the actual repair of the machines.
What all of this is leading to is a point in the near future when guys like us who know how to work on these machines and make them work will be very popular. The IT guy may be very good at what he does but ask him to put in a feed roll and he will most likely reply, "I don't do that".
The corollary is what is currently happening in American Manufacturing. Good luck at finding a competent machinist. They are very few and far between. And when one is found, bidding wars take place to get them. Here, a good machinist will bring down 90,000 a year.
In a very real sense, the same thing is beginning to happen with our field.
Since the beginning of the year, I have been contacted by 10 headhunters. One of them led to my current position with Lexmark. During all of these interviews, the one thing that constantly came out is that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to the IT side of the business. Oh sure, I can enter addresses and the such, but my forte' is in the repair of extremely sophisticated electro-mechanical devices. And you know what, they all did not care about my lack of IT skills. They all needed someone who knew how to work on these boxes.
For myself, I have 10 years to retire and I have no plans for leaving the field. If what I have just experienced is any indication, the future is going to be very interesting.
Doug

This is a very interesting observation; it explains for the most part why I have so much respect for the senior service technician: I can implement managed solutions all day everyday, but when the machine breaks, I'm out of luck without the 20+ years of experience each of our service techs have!

[RollingROARANDA]

I was pushing the gent into a more lucrative field within the MFP industry. A good working knowledge of AD/LDAP, scanning and document management, Different OS and sever platforms, and maybe a network + cert would be all that is needed to very easily roll into a solutions implementer. Emujo

In my company, senior service guy with 20+ years experience is more valued than the IT kid.. But the person who has both? They're playing on a different level. That's the guy I want to be someday...

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

In my company, senior service guy with 20+ years experience is more valued than the IT kid.. But the person who has both? They're playing on a different level. That's the guy I want to be someday...

ROARANDA, You have the correct vision of the industry's future, Carry on!. The 'Hard paper Industry' is in kind of 'upheaval' at the moment. The move to the 'paperless office' is slowly but surely becoming a reality. Improved technology is driving the machines towards very high reliability, more user friendliness and less maintenance. Reading 'off computer screen' as opposed to hard copy seem to be the preferred trend of the current and more possibly the future generation. The constantly and rapidly changing IT field is 'extorting a heavy toll' not only on the hard copy industry but also the techs who have to constantly update their knowledge and skills to keep abreast of these changes. Upgrading your skills to become a 'HYBRID' tech is the only sure way to keep relevant in this field now and in future. Good luck.

[blackcat4866]

Even if it's not copiers, there will always be electro-mechanical devices in need of fixin'. =^..^=

[kingpd@businessprints.net]

I suppose some of us start e-commerce sites and use some of the old skills to fix the shit that breaks down until we can get big enough to hire dedicated people to do that for us.

Actually I've been trying to learn how to write programs, learn about linux and different programs...it's really overwhelming! But I think I will be better off in the long run. Someday I'd like to have our own onsite dedicated servers and write our own coding so I think even hardware like copiers, printers, along with the new stuff I'm trying to cram into my brain will benefit me in the future.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

I suppose some of us start e-commerce sites and use some of the old skills to fix the shit that breaks down until we can get big enough to hire dedicated people to do that for us.

Actually I've been trying to learn how to write programs, learn about linux and different programs...it's really overwhelming! But I think I will be better off in the long run. Someday I'd like to have our own onsite dedicated servers and write our own coding so I think even hardware like copiers, printers, along with the new stuff I'm trying to cram into my brain will benefit me in the future.

''Overwhelming'', is the right word to use in this instance. It is indeed ...'really overwhelming'.

[logrady2331]

In the last twenty five years I have worked everywhere from one tech mom and pops to mega dealers and have done it all form street tech to GM. I work at a smal company now and do all the IT stuff myself. Granted, it isn't break-fix on servers, just scan to e-mail, scan to FTP, SMB, IP printing,etc. I do install swithes, hubs and cabling when needed. I get half the IT install fee that we used to pay to our third party IT provider. In short, I learned what I had to know to be able to do the IT part of it and I am better off for it. I have been offered three different positions at some big companies here and have turned them all down.

[Hansoon]

Granted, it isn't break-fix on servers, just scan to e-mail, scan to FTP, SMB, IP printing,etc. I do install swithes, hubs and cabling when needed.

Yep that's exactly the my scope of work too. But I'm still afraid of servers though I know I'll have to start with it one day.

Is it really that complicated?

Hans

[kingpd@businessprints.net]

It's like anything, once you start to get rid of the "unknown mystery" of something it starts to make sense and you get more comfortable and better at it.

There's a free linux based operating system called unix that I was curious about that's used to basically make a network storage device. I thought it would be complicated but once I saw a 15 minute video on youtube by a network person I realized that it was actually quite simple and not that big of a mystery.

I recommend typing questions you have in search engines or on youtube and looking for videos. For me seeing something is easier and once I start to see how something works, it ends up being easier to understand and that mystery fear factor goes away.


Yep that's exactly the my scope of work too. But I'm still afraid of servers though I know I'll have to start with it one day.

Is it really that complicated?

Hans

[Jules Winfield]

There's a free linux based operating system called unix.

Linux is based on Unix, not the other way around...

[kingpd@businessprints.net]

haha...see the details are in my head I just haven't properly indexed them yet.


Linux is based on Unix, not the other way around...

[mattchall]

I have been an Electronics Technician for just shy of 30 years now. Started out as an audio/video bench tech and have done pretty much everything form CATV installs to network support. Most of my years were spent working on office equipment; Olympia typewriters, Brother, HP and Lexmark printers and MFP's. After the demise of the VCR and the proliferation of disposable equipment in the early/mid 2000's, I felt my career was in an unrecoverable tailspin, so I started taking courses in, and playing around with, Linux based systems and web design. Nothing really came of it as the starting wages were even lower than what I was earning servicing printers, but the knowledge and experience gained would later serve me well. In 2010 I found a job supporting the Canadian Military at Kandahar Air Field, AFGHANISTAN, servicing everything from pagers to copiers to CCTV systems; pretty much all the types of equipment I had worked with over the years. It was by far the most interesting and challenging year of my work life, and next to raising my kids, the most important thing I have done. On my return, I figured I would have it made, however, the worldwide economic slump proved me wrong. I found work almost a year later earning less than I made before I went over. The job did provide me with another learning experience as I became involved in supporting Nortel/Avaya small business phone systems as well as CCTV surveillance systems for a chain of tire stores spread over western and northern Ontario (a very large district to cover; 12 hour drive one way on some calls). I came to the conclusion that if I was to start making a decent wage, I would have to relocate to the oilsands in northern Alberta, once again taking far from home. I managed to find work with a division of Xerox where I am embedded with the IT department of one of the oil companies; the money is very good and I have the respect and trust of the IT team, as well as all the support and backing I could wish for from Xerox. I consider myself very fortunate as I am well aware of the issues facing our trade in these times. I would have to stress, as others have stated here, that IT skills are imperative; get your A+, Net+, PDI+ and CCNA. IT tech despise working on hardware, as a rule, so if you can act as an interface between the server/application level and the MFP devices, you should be OK. I have to admit that being away from my kids (and my grand daughters!!!) is hard and can be very lonely at times, but I am glad I made the decision. I play bagpipes, and have joined the local Legion pipe band, so I am starting to meet people here, and have also started flying lessons, a lifelong dream which I can sort of afford now (it should take about a year, I hope). Keep learning, improve your skill set, look for opportunities that may not seem obvious and be prepared to sacrifice a bit, and you will find your niche! Good luck and Illegitimum non carborundum!!!

[Dixie]

Feel for your predicament buddy, but its not much fun being a printer at the moment either. I worked as a book printer for 25 years, then the company closed... thanks to short sighted publishers going to the far east for cheap prices. Now have a konica 6500 and a 2 col litho plus some finishing kit and it sure is tough trying to make it pay. But I will make it pay and hope better times return! Good luck to you.

[kingpd@businessprints.net]

True true, certifications can be the deciding factor many times in who gets the job. I recall a time or two over the years where someone got a position instead of me just because they have already taken the certification test or passed at least one part of a multi-part exam. A rare few employers were just like, here's a test problem just fix it, or if you can do a,b,c; then you get the job. Those were the cool ones and not too many of them out there. I remember two potential employers that had made up some kind of homemade "test" where something needed to be done in excel. I was excel certified at the time but if you've ever used excel you know that it's a pretty intense can do a ton of stuff program. The people there had been using it since the dawn of time and could run circles around me, and knew all the shortcuts too. I'd say now-a-days, most people should be pretty good with Microsoft Office, you never know when you'll need to do something with it; even if it's making an office document print properly on the machine.

[kingpd@businessprints.net]

A couple years ago we partnered with a local commercial printer where we'd broker some deals with them. Real nice people, gave us decent pricing and commissions, and had a cool setup. Whenever I'd go in they seemed to always be busy but just a few years later they shut down with little notice.

Being in the printing industry is definitely tough right now. I'd say for about 90+% of the printers out there, there's always someone who can afford to charge less or do it quicker but not necessarily better. Unfortunately it seems to be an industry that is trying to recover from too many printers and too many customers that are only looking to pinch a penny.

I think you need to be in a specialized niche' printing market, something rare that not too many people do, then just do that or it seems you need to be one of the big players with the largest most technologically advanced presses to make gang runs and supplies the most efficient; otherwise it seems dismal that you're going to survive.

It's a tough predicament because you don't want to be the guy that competes on price alone but it's hard to say no to any order that will keep the press running and maybe make a little bit of money on. Unfortunately then that customer knows that you will discount your offering to that low price and may hold out or get someone else to match it. This then puts pressure on the printers which puts them in a position to put pressure on the copier dealers.

It's a tough world out there!


Feel for your predicament buddy, but its not much fun being a printer at the moment either. I worked as a book printer for 25 years, then the company closed... thanks to short sighted publishers going to the far east for cheap prices. Now have a konica 6500 and a 2 col litho plus some finishing kit and it sure is tough trying to make it pay. But I will make it pay and hope better times return! Good luck to you.

[Ctl-Alt-Del]

there is no such thing as an "Ex-Copier Tech", you just keep doing this shit until you die or go to prison. I hoping for prison so I can get some time off away from the family.

[RollingROARANDA]

Yep that's exactly the my scope of work too. But I'm still afraid of servers though I know I'll have to start with it one day.

Is it really that complicated?

Hans


No. Think of servers as a host PC whose OS is on steroids. To learn it, I'd suggest getting an ISO of a server OS and getting a PC that has enough horsepower to run virtual machines; then, you could practice Active Directory, folder sharing, deploying shared printers, etc. And the beauty of it: you don't have to worry if you make a mistake, you could always restore to the last good snapshot.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

there is no such thing as an "Ex-Copier Tech", you just keep doing this shit until you die or go to prison. I hoping for prison so I can get some time off away from the family.

OK, let's call it ''Veteran Copier Techs''. I can agree with you that this job is so tempting, that it's difficult to run away from it. But as the saying goes, ''even the best actor must exit the stage at some point''.

[doug94550]

How do you like working for lexmark?
Now that I have been here for a bit, not too impressed.