William Bahrt ⋅ Sequim, WA Arizona Public Service Company ⋅ 15 years experience

Charles,
First of all, thank you for your service. Secondly, while I do not have a background in fiber optics, I do know this. You would do yourself a favor if you would go to the companies that hire people in your desired fields and ask them what they require. You are correct in questioning the value of one course. Most providers require more than this. But if you take the time and effort to contact the employers and ask them for advice in this topic area, you will find that many will be glad to talk with you.

William Bahrt ⋅ Sequim, WA Arizona Public Service Company ⋅ 15 years experience

Charles,
First of all, thank you for your service. Secondly, while I do not have a background in fiber optics, I do know this. You would do yourself a favor if you would go to the companies that hire people in your desired fields and ask them what they require. You are correct in questioning the value of one course. Most providers require more than this. But if you take the time and effort to contact the employers and ask them for advice in this topic area, you will find that many will be glad to talk with you.

George Hernandez ⋅ La Porte, TX International Cooling Tower ⋅ 20 years experience

If you want to enhance your fiber optics training, become a journeyman electrician, get paid more and retire at an age you can enjoy life for all the hard work you put in. This 5 year OJT training opportunity will get you into the industrial/commercial construction industry. You can get training, a full time job, benefits, and start an account for retirement all at the same time.

Register on www.helmetstohardhats.org, then look up the electrician training opportunities in your area, since this is a national program.

If you run into a wall call Lisa Ford in Washington DC, who covers the entire US for electricians at 866-741-6210.

Seth Lynch ⋅ Plano, TX Hewlett Packard ⋅ 15 years experience

Charles,

If the course offers a FOA (Fiber Optics Association) certification it is on the right track. There are specific certifications for Outside Plant (OSP), Termination, and Splicing as well as other specialties. If the course gives you certifications in one or all of these, it is likely less expensive than other commercial classes.

If it follows the BICSI curriculum and allows you to take the BICSI Installer 1 test, it is worthwhile as well. BICSI is the industry credentialling standard for cabling system design and installation.

Even with these credentials, you will really need 3+ years of field experience to get positions at larger vcable and telco companies. You'll likely need to start with a subcontractor to one of the cabling or telco companies then prove yourself with the good relationship skills of dealing with customers and also get very technically competent. The initial entry certifications are table stakes to get entry level jobs, so if you want to get into this field, it's essential you take this type of course as long as it follows those general industry standards. From a community college, I suspect it will.

Neil Serafin ⋅ Easthampton, MA Telecommunications ⋅ 40 years experience

Time Warner Cable will hire you if you have experience in fiber. Since you do not have any experience, I would contact local contractors who work for Time Warner Cable. I saw fiber contractors in the Raleigh Craigslist. Contact them if you want to get on the job training in Fiber. They may hire you..show enthusiasm and a passion for learning a new technology. Splicing and terminating fiber is a great thing to master....certificate training in my experience does not lead to a job. Contact me for more info..Wimax and coaxial are areas you should master also.