As the second semester of the 2021-22 school year rolls on, local students who are starting to plan for the summer may consider applying for a new break-time option that could help them launch technically-oriented careers after graduating high school.
The opportunity, through TDS Telecom — a company that provides phone, internet and TV services — is a paid Field Service Technician internship.
After successfully piloting the intern program in 2021, TDS decided to run it again in 2022, said Missy Kellor, associate manager-communications.
Blake Steinmann, who was the Monroe market TDS intern in 2021, enjoyed his experience enough that he decided to continue working with the company even after the summer ended.
Steinmann, who had just graduated high school when he started his internship last year, first extended his three-month internship into a six-month training and then accepted a full-time position.
“I like helping customers,” Steinmann said. It was the customer service aspect of the job that helped him decide that being a field service technician would be a good fit for him.
Steinmann, like other TDS Telecom interns, rode along for a job shadow throughout the summer, said Field Service Technician Doug Drane, Steinmann’s mentor, who showed him the ropes of the line of work.
“Towards the end he was able to basically help with installs and some troubles and kind of go through the actual work that I do,” Drane said.
Since the field service technicians complete so many varied tasks, there is a lot to learn for an aspiring member of the crew.
“You’re doing something different every day,” said Chris Ferguson, manager of TDS Field Services in the Monroe area. One day you might be working on a computer and helping set up in-home equipment, and the next you may be spending your hours outside going from one pedestal to the next slicing cable and cleaning up.
Some of what the field service technicians do is scheduled in advance, and other times they are responding to unexpected situations that arise, Kellor said.
“Day-to-day is … fun because you can do anything really,” said Drane. “It’s not the same thing every day.”
The position is generally well-suited to those who like to have diverse responsibilities and are mechanically and/or technologically inclined, said Ferguson.
For high school students who are unsure of what they want to do after graduating but are considering pursuing a technical field, this is an opportunity that allows them to “jump right into (the workforce),” Ferguson added.
The internship gives participants the background to prepare to be field service technicians, he said. It also helps them gain knowledge they might use in the future, regardless of what career path they end up pursuing.
Not everyone knows what’s involved in being a field service technician, Kellor said. The internship provides an introduction to the position and gives students the benefit of learning from people who are seasoned in their telecommunication-oriented roles.
“It’s a great opportunity to show a younger generation that you can learn from the ground up,” Kellor said. “You can start and you can learn and grow with a position and grow with a company, as well.”
The internship is also good for TDS, Kellor added, because “it’s nice to have the fresh take” from participants, who can provide new perspectives on how to do things.
Sometimes younger techs, such as Steinmann, can show field service technicians with a couple of decades of experience ways to complete technical tasks in fewer steps before they have even gone through training on the technology, Ferguson added.
Bringing interns on board the team is also beneficial for TDS Telecom since it’s currently expanding during this time when many employers are “having difficulty finding … qualified employees of any sort in almost every aspect of business,” Ferguson said. The internship is helping TDS build its growing workforce.
The internship program as a whole went well enough in 2021 that TDS decided to expand it from accepting 12 interns then to seeking 40 across the country in the summer of 2022, Kellor said.
The posting for the 2022 Monroe market Field Services Internship is available at https://external-telecom-teldta.icims.com/jobs/18744/field-services-internship/job?mode=view.
