AHL: Low-Voltage Life: Skills, Careers, and Certifications

Chuck shares insights from TechFest 2025 and answers critical questions about career advancement in the low-voltage industry while tackling common misconceptions about fiber termination practices.

• Transitioning to project management requires developing computer skills, understanding project tracking tools, and learning to read scopes of work and specifications
• Developing soft skills in delegation, communication, and time management is essential for advancing from technical to management roles
• Moving into design roles benefits from AutoCAD/Revit training and understanding blueprint symbols and documentation standards
• Stay current with industry technologies through manufacturer resources, trade shows, podcasts, and committing to learning one new thing daily
• Generalists typically have more job flexibility than specialists, making them better suited for various career advancement opportunities 
• Certifications open doors for job opportunities and project bids while boosting credibility with contractors, architects, and clients

Join me tomorrow at 10am for my keynote speech on bonding and grounding at TechFest 2025!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and TechFest Update
• 3:30 Fiber Masks and Acronym Challenge
• 5:17 Transitioning to Project Management
• 11:37 Moving from Technician to Designer
• 15:03 Staying Current with Industry Technologies
• 21:47 Getting Noticed for Career Advancement
• 29:10 Learning Industry Terminology
• 31:53 Specialist vs. Generalist Career Paths
• 34:30 Value of Certifications in Career Growth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low-voltage industry connects. Hosted by Chuck Bowser, rcdd. We're here to empower installers, designers and industry pros with the tips, stories and best practices you need to stay ahead. From copper to fiber, standards to innovation, this is the show that keeps you plugged into success. So grab your tools, turn up the volume and let's talk cabling.

Speaker 2: 0:36

Wednesday night, 6 pm, eastern Standard Time. That can only mean one thing Live after hours with your favorite RCDD. You know that's me Don't even try to pretend like I'm not your favorite RCDD Coming to you. Live from Nashville at TechFest, techfest 2025. Today was the first day. Got to sit in a lot of great classes today One on networking not computer networking, but how to network with people. One with Bayer from host of the security podcast on security. One from Kevlin talking about how to up your social media game man, and lots of stuff, lots of stuff this week.

Speaker 2: 1:30

If you're not in TechFest in Nashville, why aren't you? You should be here, right? So yes, as pointed out in the TikTok feed, yes, I am a keynote speaker. I am speaking tomorrow at 10 am talking about bonding and grounding. Bonding and grounding that's my subject matter.

Speaker 2: 1:53

So I always start off with what are you drinking? I have absolutely nothing to drink. I was sitting there working on the computer, do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do, putting on the final touches for the speaking session tomorrow, and I just realized, oh my gosh, it's 25 minutes until showtime, oops. So I don't have a drink, I don't have water, I don't have a Zevia soda, I don't have a hot cup of tea, although they might have a coffee maker tea here in the hotel room. Maybe I should go look at that. So what are you drinking? Tell me in the chat box what are you drinking. Oh, and let's also go ahead and do the podcast. I mean the acronym challenge. The acronym challenge for tonight? Tj's in the house. Are you back from Hawaii? Tj Nice. So the acronym for today is NIC. What does that acronym mean? Nic Go ahead and tell me in the chat box. I'll give you a few seconds to figure it out. Nic what does that acronym mean? It's something that has not so much to do with cabling, more so with computers. Tj's heading to a race.

Speaker 2: 3:09

Kalen gets 10,000 points because he answered it correctly. He said network interface card. There we go. It said NIC N-I-C network interface card. Very good, so that's what we plug our patch cord in, or equipment cord that gives us connectivity to layer one, the physical layer. So that's what that is.

Speaker 2: 3:29

Let's go and go straight into the questions. Lots of questions this week was focused on on career growth, but I do want to talk about one question that I got on LinkedIn. I got on LinkedIn and TJ. Maybe you can help with this one.

Speaker 2: 3:48

Somebody asked should you wear a mask when terminating fiber? You know, like the mask so you are not breathing on it. And I can tell you right now, from all the classes that I've taken, from all the classes that I've given, from all the classes that I've given, from all of the books that I've read on code standards and best practices, I've never seen nobody requiring you to wear a mask. Safety glasses yes, right, as TJ's pointing out mask. You know, I even reached out to Lee Renfro, a well-known fiber instructor running the classes. He just taught a set of classes in Hawaii. Tj was there teaching with him and he said, yeah, I never heard of that one. I even reached out to a couple manufacturers who make fiber optic cabling pre-terminated fiber optic cabling thinking maybe because they do it in a maybe like in a clean room environment, and even they don't require a mask while terminating fiber. So my answer is going to be no, you don't need a mask. If you want to wear one, yeah, go ahead, ain't going to hurt nothing, but there's nothing really to be gained by doing that. So there you go.

Speaker 2: 5:06

So the first question I have for tonight came from Rachel on LinkedIn, and Rachel is asking I'm a level two tech, thinking about moving into project management. What should I be doing right now to prepare for that shift? Now, she said level two tech, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's doing tech stuff. I know people who have tech certifications that are project managers. So I'm just going to assume that Rachel is. How can you blow the air-made yarn away from? With a mask on. That's a great point, daryl, great point. So I'm assuming that Rachel is coming from the field. Okay, so she's looking to get into project management. Those are different skill sets, different skill sets. Now.

Speaker 2: 5:57

So, first off, what I've found, especially dealing with a lot of technicians they're great at terminating fiber. They're great at terminating fiber. They're great at terminating copper, they're great at testing copper and fiber. But I found that the vast majority of technicians which is kind of hard to understand, especially in today's environment their computer skills are lacking. So, number one, if you're not already good with a keyboard, take a typing course. Learn the home row right. Asdf, jkl, semi, everything revolves around that.

Speaker 2: 6:36

Some people say well, why should I learn that? Because it's going to help you type faster, right, help you type faster, and then that way you might want to get comfortable with project tracking tools like ms project or smart sheet. Maybe even take a course from your community college on ms project or smart sheets, because you're going to need to know those. Even a lot of your smaller companies they may not track their projects in MS Project but maybe you should because it's a better way to track a project. I've been with companies that track in the MS platform and I've been with others where they track the projects just from pulling financials every week. The financials doesn't really give you, doesn't really predict into the future, just kind of get. That's like driving to a to an accident looking in the rear view mirror, right, you don't see. Tj's got a great suggestion the RTPM course from Big C, absolutely, absolutely. So if your company will pay for that course, maybe go ahead and look at that. And that was actually one of my suggestions too, by the way. The RTPM class is fine-tuned for low voltage, so that's really going to be due. Then you need to learn how to read and interpret a scope of work specs and Gantt charts Okay. Scope of work specs and Gantt charts Okay.

Speaker 2: 8:05

Now, a lot of people I say this all the time, but people they think I'm crazy when I say this. Now listen up. Words have meanings. They have meanings. Pay attention to the words in the documents Should, shall, may or must, bonding and grounding, certification, qualification, verification those words have various and there's others. Those are just the ones I can list off the top of my head. And if you don't, if you misinterpret it, you might do the wrong thing.

Speaker 2: 8:35

And as a project manager, your performance is going to be based on the ability to bring a project in on time, on schedule, under the labor budget, under the material budget and with a happy customer. And if you fail any one of those four, you're going to find some problems, some huge, huge problems. Maybe, since you want to kind of get involved more in doing project management, maybe talk to your boss, maybe your project manager, and ask them if you can sit in and maybe even assist on kickoff meetings, or maybe even doing site walkthroughs, and then ask them, not during those meetings, ask them afterwards why did you do what you did? Why did you do it that way? What's the benefit of that? You're really asking them to mentor you, asking them to mentor you, and that's okay, mentoring is good.

Speaker 2: 9:30

And then another thing, too that you need to understand is becoming a project manager, you're going to have to develop your soft skills, your soft skills and the technicians. We're great at the hard skills, again terminating and testing cabling, pulling cables, installing support systems but soft skills like delegation, communication right and time management, those are the three big ones. The three big ones you need to know right. Here's the thing. I've seen this happen more than once. A technician coming out of the field becoming a project manager. They get frustrated because the crews that they're project managing aren't working or getting the job done as fast as they can, right. So what do they do? Instead of delegating to them, they jump in and do it for them. That's the worst thing you can do, the worst thing you can do. And communicate, learn communication skills. Okay, I've said on more than one occasion, even though we work in the communications industry, we suck at communicating. So practice those communication skills.

Speaker 2: 10:36

Practice writing emails clear and concise. You know some good tips for writing emails is you know, writing emails clear and concise. Some good tips for writing emails is short subjects and then when you write that email, if you're asking a question, write the question first and then give them three, four, five sentences on the background as to why you need that information. A lot of technicians, a lot of project managers, a lot of customers. Our time is valuable valuable and time management skills. I mentioned that too.

Speaker 2: 11:04

Time management skills you're going to be managing probably multiple projects on different phases of the project. Some projects are going to need more time up front in the beginning. Some are going to need less time. You're going to be doing lots of things. Time management skills there's some great resources on the internet for that as well too. Just make sure that you know this is one of my failings. I admit I suck at this. Right Calendars. Calendars are really good.

Speaker 2: 11:34

Question number two this comes from Mike on Instagram. He says I love the field but I want to become a designer. How can I make that jump? So I will tell you this kind of almost the same thing with the project management. You know, maybe start getting print and documentation at the beginning of every job, taking them home at least a couple to three, four days before the job, looking through them, reading through them, understanding them. But you can really do yourself a lot of help by taking some AutoCAD courses or maybe even Revit courses at your local college, because a lot of the documentation is going to be coming out in that form.

Speaker 2: 12:17

So you might get asked to do red lines or as-bills. You'd have to read those prints, understand them. What do those symbols mean? Hey, here's a trivia question for you. So you might get asked to do red lines or as-bills. You'd have to read those prints, understand them. What do those symbols mean? Hey, here's a trivia question for you. Tell me in the chat box, if you're looking at a set of prints and you see a triangle and the triangle is half-filled, what does that mean? What does that typically mean for most jobs? If you've got a blueprint that's got triangles and the triangles are half filled, so they're half white and half whatever color that the thing's printed on, what does that typically mean? Because, as a designer, you're going to need to know that. You're going to need to know that 10,000 points for TJ, one data, one voice that's usually the correct answer. But you've got to keep in mind that's kind of what most people will do for voice and data drops on a blueprint. But it's always good to make sure that you look at the legend on the prints because sometimes they could be something different. They can be different right?

Speaker 2: 13:19

Also doing the design. You know Bixie has some design courses you can take. Go ahead and take those as well. Again, kind of expensive. You can also take the FODI class. They've got some design stuff. Light Brigade just came out with a bunch of fiber certification classes and design classes.

Speaker 2: 13:41

Manufacturers sometimes will offer design classes and a lot of manufacturers will also help you design. So why not ask them to do a design for you? And if you're buying their products, they won't charge you for the design typically. So ask them to do the design for you and then, during the process, make sure to ask lots of questions. All right, make sure to ask lots and lots of questions. And then why not try to get a mentor? Did you know that right now and I just did a post on this telecom guys in the house Bixie just opened up. No, they didn't just open it up, but they're pushing again, accepting applications for mentor and mentees in the Bixie Mentoring Program. So go to bixieorg slash, I think it's mentoring. But if you do the old Google search on Bixie Mentoring Program you'll find that application. So they're accepting them and all you got to do is just be a Bixie member. Other than that, that's the only cost. Great resource, great resource. Next question came to me from Facebook. This came from Nina B, and they want to know what's the best way to stay current with technologies and changes in the low voltage systems.

Speaker 2: 15:03

Read cable installation in maintenance magazine. That's step number one. Step number two all of the manufacturers Fluke Softing, viavi, all the cable manufacturers, all the connectivity manufacturers have YouTube channels. Subscribe to them. Sign up for their emails. Some of them even do newsletters. Sign up to them and read them, don't just let it fill up space in your box. Read them. Read them. Attend free webinars. Bixie's doing a webinar. I think it's in Tampa today and tomorrow, or maybe even tomorrow. Trade shows I told you I'm in Nashville at TechFest. This one's not free but it's cheaper than a Bixie conference. Lots of great resources here. Go to the Bixie conferences. Go to the Bixie Beyond in Vegas coming up in four months, five months, something like that. That's a great way to stay current in the industry.

Speaker 2: 16:02

Also, listen to industry podcasts. I don't want to plug let's Talk Cabling, but yes, jay, who's in the house? Yes, so yes, obviously, listen to my podcast, let's Talk Cabling. But there are other podcasts. Like I told you, bear was here from Security Today podcast. He was here teaching. Like I told you, bear was here from Security Today Podcast. He was here teaching and we've been doing the whole come on the show and then trying to coordinate and stuff. I'm going to try to get him pinned down tomorrow. Maybe, if I can get my DJI microphones working, maybe I can do a live recording right then and there. That would be kind of cool, wouldn't it? Yes, lots of great podcasts out there.

Speaker 2: 16:40

The manufacturers also do podcasts. Well, I don't call them podcasts, I call them training things. A podcast you do more than three times or four times a year. A podcast is you do at least one show a week all year round, right? So there you go and then try to set up to take one free training course a year. There's other resources too Bright Talk. Bright Talk has free classes that you can take on telecom, so there's lots of ways to stay current Telecom guys.

Speaker 2: 17:09

How do you properly bond a rolling network cabinet? That is a great question. So, again, you're going to run a bonding conductor, a minimum of a number six, from the bus bar to the rack, I mean to the rolling cabinet. The best way to do that is just first find out how far out is that rack going to be rolled away from the wall and then make sure that you leave that much slack plus a little extra and a way that they can control and can cool it back and put it inside the cabinet. And a way that they can control and can cool it back and put it inside the cabinet. But that's going to put some stress on the bonnet conductor when you attach it to the rack. Scratch paint off the rack, use paint-piercing washers, two old lug connectors, bolt them down. Also, because it's a rolling cabinet, maybe even tie wrap the bonding conductor, maybe six inches down from the bonding conductor, from the connector, so that way when it does get moved, if it does get moved too far, it doesn't create a stress on the connector.

Speaker 2: 18:12

Does that answer your question, telecom guy? I hope that did so. Let me see here in the chat. We do have a message here in the chat. Thank you for the mentor email. Absolutely, absolutely. I did send that out to all my people on my email list. By the way, did you know you can go to let's Talk Cabling and sign up for my email list? You'll get an email once a week from me about the latest podcast coming out. Sometimes I do multiples, but very rarely so.

Speaker 2: 18:40

Daryl, the RCD, says I had the pleasure of educating a two-star general on the difference between grounding and bonding. Absolutely, I'm teaching that tomorrow and that's one of the things. The first thing I'm going to cover is the difference between grounding and bonding, because they are totally different. Next question came to me from Jaden on YouTube how is it important for ongoing training after you get certified? After you get certified, I'm going to tell you right now.

Speaker 2: 19:07

Technology does not stand still. Our industry moves at the speed of light, literally the speed of light. Right, and the way that we do things install cabling, test cabling, new technology coming out, the cabling for new stuff coming out. Your certification remember this, and I guarantee you TJ would confirm this your certification is not the finish line, is not the finish line. You need to be a constant learner in this industry. Why do you think I go to these events like TechFest? Why do you think I go to Bixie conferences? Why do you think I watch webinars? Because I am not. I am not.

Speaker 2: 19:55

Knowledge is a funny thing. The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. You've got to be a constant learner. Got to be a constant learner so that certification is not a finish line. So what does keeping trained manufacturers change the process on the way to terminate their stuff? Testing, fluid, softening, aev they all change their stuff all the time. You've got to stay up with it.

Speaker 2: 20:24

Keeping trained, especially if you're running a small business let's say you're I know a lot of people like to watch my show are their own little companies. Keeping current helps you stay billable Billable, and that makes your company more valuable. Right, and it's going to help make sure that those customers are going to be more confident because you know what you're talking about. And by taking on training you can also maybe even take on new roles. If you're working for a larger company where you're not the owner, because you're learning, you might be able to take on that project manager role or that design role, like the questions were asked earlier. And staying, staying, staying.

Speaker 2: 21:06

I sat in a class today Fiber 101. I knew Fiber pretty well, but I sat in the class because you never know, you might just pick up one new thing. In fact, here's your challenge. Here is your challenge Learn one new thing every day, one new thing every day, and what you will find is all that knowledge will start to kind of come together like a snowball and that snowball will start rolling down the hill, start getting bigger and bigger and bigger and then one day you'll be like man, I actually know a lot of stuff. I actually know a lot of stuff.

Speaker 2: 21:39

Next question this comes from Reddit. It says I am a great installer, but how do I get noticed for promotion? Without sounding arrogant? That's a great question. First off, what makes you think you're a great installer? And I'm not saying this to say that you're not a great installer, but I've had people come up to me many times to say, chuck, I'm a great technician, I'm a great installer. And they might think they are, but maybe they were trained wrong. Maybe the person who trained them didn't know the correct way, the way per the codes, per standards, maybe somebody taught them wrong. That's my first question. How do you know that you're, how you're, a great install? That's my first question. And without sounding arrogant, my dad said that, always said that arrogance is not based in truth. Not based in truth. If you are good and you talk about, hey, here's why I'm good and you can back it up, that's not arrogance. That's not arrogance. So my points are so how do you get noticed for promotion.

Speaker 2: 22:52

Let your work speak for itself. You know there are certain skill sets that will take you a long way in this industry and have nothing to do with pulling, terminating or testing cable. Show up early. Show up early. Don't leave any loose ends. Always hit the deadlines. Ask questions. Be willing to do whatever your boss tells you to do. If your boss says, hey, I don't have anything for you to do, go sweep the closet. Go sweep the closet. Let your work ethic speak for itself. And then maybe even ask your supervisor right, hey, give me some honest feedback. What areas am I lacking in? Where can I grow? And then, once you, this is going to be hard on you because you know especially that happens to me all the time.

Speaker 2: 23:44

I don't take criticism very well. Constructive criticism is different. Criticism I don't take very well. But when someone gives you that, learn how to act upon that. This podcast is a perfect example of that. I've said this again more than once. My whole podcast journey is because my day job sent me to go make some corporate videos and I did such a horrible job they couldn't use any of them, any of the videos. So I felt so humiliated I said, okay, what can I do to become better? And I kind of researched it, came up with some things to do. And then do it Keep a brag book.

Speaker 2: 24:27

I used to do this. I used to keep a book with pictures of all my frames that I used to build. Used to do this. I used to keep a book with pictures of all my frames that I used to build. And in today's environment, you got Instagram, you got Facebook. I will tell you this and you know if you're taking pictures on a job site and you're posting them online, make sure you have permission to take pictures on a customer's site before you do that. Make sure that when you're taking the pictures, pay attention to what's behind you. Make sure there's not an IP address on a hub, a router, a switch or some kind of identifying information that could help hackers get into their systems.

Speaker 2: 25:07

Ask that first right, first right. Maybe even offer your supervisor right. You offer your supervisor to maybe train new hires. When learning, you teach and teaching you learn. Again, as an instructor, I learned so much from teaching people because I'm talking to people. People challenge what I say sometimes, and I love when people challenge what I say when I'm teaching because it forces me to go look it up and see if I was actually right or wrong. So why not do that? Okay, so those are your tips. Question number six let me check the reverse side, because somebody came in here. Can you convince my boss to buy a new top spec Versa? Oh, I love that question. I love that question. Yeah, yeah, call Versiv, they could probably do that. So this one comes from Alex. On TikTok I see terms like MPTL, poe++, wi-fi, 6e, all thrown around. How do I learn this stuff without going back to school? Thrown around. How do I learn this stuff without going back to school? What's wrong with going back to school right, Don't waste the money on fluke?

Speaker 2: 26:20

LOL, wait, hold on. Are you saying, don't waste the money, buy a fluke TJ. Or are you saying, don't buy a fluke, go for soft. Oh, softening for the wind, there you go. Softening does make a fantastic tester, a certifier. They make a certified, but there are some other ones out there too that make good ones too. So Fluke is one of those. Fluke is the old Xerox. Nobody ever got fired for hiring Xerox, right? The Softing MP? Yes, that's their new tester. That's a great tester too, by the way. I love the fact that it can take pictures.

Speaker 2: 26:59

So, getting back to Alex's question, how do you learn all these terms without going back to school Again? You should be learning one new thing every day. I've already mentioned YouTube. I call it YouTube University. Right, there's lots of vendors out there, you know. Again, if you want to learn like Fiverr, look up John Bruno on FIS, fiber Instrument and Sales. Free two-hour fiber training course. Fiberuorg has lots of great information. All the manufacturers have them. Attend them, listen to them. Y-t-u, I should get a shirt made up with a university logo YouTube University. That's what I should do.

Speaker 2: 27:30

Yes, ask questions on the jobs you know. Ask your supervisor why we're doing it that way? What's the advantage of doing it that way? Just don't ask so many questions that you become that. It impedes you from doing your job. The FOA yes, tj, thank you. Fiberuorg Free online fiber training.

Speaker 2: 27:51

There's lots of things you can do. Here's the problem. Most technicians are tactile learners. Tactile learners yes, we can read through a book, we can read a TDMM, we can read an RTPM manual, we can read code standards, but we really learn when we put our hands on stuff. So the best class that you're going to find is a class that's combined lecture and hands-on, lecture and hands-on, and I personally feel I personally feel that classes with somewhere in a range of 40 to 60 percent hands-on are the best classes for technicians. Technicians, right, constant research yes, yes, yes, don't forget your study groups. In about 30 minutes, my wife's text message yes, I am doing a live stream right now. Woman, right now I'm doing a live stream. How come you're not watching the live stream? My wife's not even watching my own live stream. This one comes from Samantha Came to me on LinkedIn Is it better to specialize, like Fiber only, or stay a generalist?

Speaker 2: 29:13

Oh, this is a fantastic question and here's why I was talking to the senior editor at Cable Installation and Maintenance Magazine right before vacation and we're talking about maybe doing some collaboration stuff. And he asked me. He says to me, you know, I've known you for five years but I don't know what you specialize in. And I told him I don't specialize in anything. I consider myself a generalist.

Speaker 2: 29:42

I'm like when you get a headache or you get a pain let's say you started having headaches Do you go straight to the neurologist? No, you go to your general doctor, first your regular doctor. They're going to look at you and then they're going to recommend a specialist. That's me. I know a lot about a lot of things, but I don't know everything about everything, if that makes sense. So I think it's always going to be better to have multiple skills.

Speaker 2: 30:10

Because here's the problem you can run into if you become a specialist, like, say, you only do fiber only, what are they going to do with you when they have other things and they don't have any fiber work to do? You might have to pull cable, test cable, certify cable. You might have to put in some single pair of Ethernet. You might have to do some PoE. You might have to program some hubs, routers or switches. If you could only do fiber Now. Granted, it's a great way to open a door. Open a door, learn one task.

Speaker 2: 30:41

I did this with my homestead. A lot of people look at me and say, chuck, how did you become so good at farming? Well, first off, I don't consider myself good at farming, but farming. But what I did was I picked one skill, one skill to learn every year. First year was how to do um layers. The next year was how to do meat birds, next year's how to do pigs, next year's how to do goats. Next year was how to do um sharpening knives. So every year and I do the same thing I look approach low voltage, the same way you, the more you know, the better you're going to be as far as financially finding jobs. So generalists are also better suited for, because at some point now don't get me wrong there are some people who just love staying in the field, and that's okay, I get it there are some people that the natural progression is to get out of the field, maybe become a QA inspector, a trainer, an estimator, a project manager, just something like that. Well, generalists are really good for that. Specialists they're not quite so very good at that. So there you go.

Speaker 2: 31:43

Last question this one came from Twitter. Twitter, okay, all righty. Do certifications actually help you grow your career or are they just expensive pieces of paper? They are expensive pieces of paper. They are that. A good certification is going to cost you money, period. But you know what costs more than that? Not knowing, not knowing. So certifications, again, they're not.

Speaker 2: 32:16

As I answered to the couple answers ago, it is not the finish line. It's not the finish line. A certification, literally sometimes, is just going to open the door so you can bid a project. It's going to open the door so you might be able to apply for that job, whereas they may not let you apply. Because you might be able to apply for that job whereas they may not let you apply because you don't have that credential or that certification. Because many jobs, many customers, especially government jobs, oh wow, there you go. This is not a case for listen to this Daryl the RCDD, a close friend of mine his son was studying for his RCDD.

Speaker 2: 32:55

He got his RCDD I think it was like three weeks ago or four weeks ago, something like that and he just told me in the chat box his son got a $50,000 raise after passing his exam. $50,000 raise. That's not getting a new job for $50,000. That's $50,000 on top of what he was already making. You know, darrell, I'm going to be quoting you for the next 10 years because of that. That's absolutely great, absolutely great. So, yes, so getting a certification is going to open up doors and it's going to boost your credibility with general contractors. It's going to boost your credibility with architects and electrical engineers and clients. Those are the people that you really they pay attention to that stuff.

Speaker 2: 33:35

Today's world is acronym hungry. Acronym hungry. What do I mean by that? How many times have you gotten somebody's card? I have business cards in my pocket because I'm at TechFest and you look at that person's business card and you see their name. Then it's got RCDD, tech, rtpm, osp, drm. You know, dcdc, mouse, today's environment. We are acronym hungry and when you get into dealing with professionals like electrical inspectors and electrical engineers, they like seeing that kind of stuff. They are expensive to get them but they will pay for themselves back and you know it also elevates your game. It elevates your game. Henry's in the house. Is that my buddy, henry the Bixie TDS, nice, nice, okay, people, it is 635. I've got an RCD study group tonight, so I'm going to have to sign off for now. So until next time, everybody remember knowledge is power.

Speaker 1: 34:46

Thanks for listening to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low voltage industry connects. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with your crew. Got questions or ideas for the show? Chuck wants to hear from you. Stay connected, stay informed and always aim for excellence Until next time. And always aim for excellence Until next time. Keep those cables clean, your standards high and your future bright. Let's Talk Cabling Empowering the industry, one connection at a time.