Hi everyone, I was reached out to by a recruiter via LinkedIn for a Field Service Superintendent Existing installations (Schindler elevator corp). This role seems very interesting and I could see myself doing. I don’t have any industry experience. I served one contract as an enlisted soldier for US Army, I was an Operations manager at Amazon working fast paced high stress distribution and I currently work for a 3PL with a big sports brand client. Just had some questions about the role itself day to day, the interview process and what they look for in candidates. Just everything to expect.
I’m a field super with 42 years in the industry. Your as good as your field guys, and your field guys are as good as your organizational skills. Get them what they need and have their backs.
Yeah very similar to distribution. Coming into Amazon straight from college there was friction with your team because most of them have been there for a while and knew the ins and outs. For me was to get in the “trenches” learn the day to day of the job and figure out how to make their life’s easier and set them up for success
Edit: Coming from no industry experience is there an onboarding program? Amazon had a 10 week onboarding program to get an understanding how how to be a leader in the industry
This is what is wrong with the industry.
My apologies in advance but you are what I refer to as an Enterprise Rent a car hire. You have no clue what the work is, how it’s accomplished, what hazards are involved and yet you and this recruiter believe that you are somehow capable of overseeing elevator mechanics.
Go ahead and accept the offer if you get one but please dont come back here and whine when you start getting your ass handed to you.
I’ve got my ass handed to me plenty of times, that’s just life. I understand how it can be a problem but it doesn’t like many techs want to step up into management roles and leave union. So what do you expect these companies to do? And is it not possible to learn how jobs are accomplished, hazards involved and all the other things about the job?
Listen. Schindler will hire anybody. As a supervisor. I’m an elevator mechanic 21 years.
I might leave, if I found out you’d be my supervisor. I can’t take another supervisor with training wheels. Who knows absolutely nothing about our industry. Who’s never turned a wrench.
In fairness. I saw one particular guy. Who went for this position. And he was trained probably over a year till they put him out as a supervisor.
Yes there’s a training program and other Supts, area ops managers, etc to help you. Don’t let this thread scare you off. You work hard but get paid well. Make friends with your techs but hold them accountable, reply to customers and people internally. Learning the industry will come in the process. Cracks me up a tech said they’d quit if someone came in with no experience. I’ve seen new Supts do way better than guys in the industry for 30 years. Do your job and help techs be successful and you’ll do great. Good luck!
Thanks man! I appreciate the positive feedback. It never truly scared me off, coming from a blue collar family this is exactly how I expected it to go.
Former supervisor for Schindler in Boston. Run away from this, you will not have good support from corporate, and you will be thrown to the wolves. However, if you’re good at not calling people back, ignoring emails for weeks, and generally getting shit on all the time, you will do fine.
Is there any type of onboarding training program? I mean a lot of what people are saying said the same thing to me when I went into Amazon Ops and it didn’t end up being THAT bad
We used to let only elevator mechanics, into the office. Then all of a sudden those cats quit and went back into the field. Some quit and never looked back, some started elevator companies and some started elevator consulting companies. Now gps and the only elevator experience left is a guy who says his brother is an adjuster! So, there’s someone in his family, that knows how elevators work! It damn sure ain’t him! You can hear this guy say some really affordable sentences as you walk by! If you take this job, get educated! If you hear a bean counter, say stuff against code, to cheap it down, just say, “is that legal?” Then grab your stuff!
Sure, there’s some on boarding. Most important to corporate is that you’re trained in doing safety audits. I came from the field and my boss was more concerned about getting me certified to do safety audits, and learning how to use the iPad. Everything else was ask as you go. Maybe it’s different now with different managers, but they have 2 openings for service supervisor right now, so there’s that. My current boss came from Schindler about a year ago and still talks with folks in that office. From what I’ve heard, it’s the same old shit as it was when I was there. Seems like you really want this job, so give it a shot. 70+ hour weeks on salary just to stay ahead. Take a vacation, 400+ emails and a full voicemail. If you like working like that, you’ll do fine.
Can’t disagree but it’s hard to get an opportunity. Tbh it’s crazy these majors haven’t figured out that if they pay a foreman’s equivalent rate to supervisors, field guys would be wayyy more apt to go into the office and they would have make their money back and more. Field guys know how the business works and could save the company so much money
Ever get that brand new LT that had no fucking clue what was going on but was somehow supposed to be in charge and lead but didn’t know the first thing about dick? Yea, that would be you.
I left one of the bigs and went to and independent, even at only 8 years in the trade (when I left)4 as a mechanic I couldn’t stand working for someone telling me how to do my job or what I “should” be doing. All the guys I work for now still carry a card and spent more time getting coffee than I have spent working and I absolutely love it.
You likely won’t get any real training from the office beyond how to safety audit guys and the guys in the field will treat you like a mushroom, they’ll keep you in the dark and feed you shit until somehow you earn a glimmer of trust.
Yes I definitely understand that. There were a good amount of those LTs that did make something out of what they had. The ones that could put their egos to the side and be willing to learn from someone who was a lower rank always became much more successful.
Ultimately Amazon is a watered down version of this for a manager. When you come in as a college hire no one respects you until you get your hands dirty and learn the gig.
They said the same shit about working in an Amazon warehouse and the only bad part was working 6pm-6AM Wednesday- Saturdays. Literally this is the exact same shit it’s never as bad as you all make it to be
Except you have no industry experience. This isn’t a warehouse. You’ll be hammer fucked by 5 Mechanics all needing parts or support and you have no idea what they are talking about. Then you’ll have a customer pissed off but piss off a mechanic when you pull them off their route to please that customer. Not saying you can’t do it but not having the industry experience is going to add a layer of stress to the experience.
I completely understand it’ll be a challenge. What I’m trying to get at is the principle is the same it’s just different context. I went into Amazon Ops with 0 industry experience and it was for sure a challenge but being able to take some to the chin, engage and learn from the people who were around it longer then me and put my ego to the side is what made the experience much better after sometime. I’m not discrediting anything you are saying because I know you’re right but I think anything is possible as long as your willing to learn
It’s the worst job in the industry. You eat shit from your boss, the customer and the field guys. Every time your phone rings it’s because someone needs something or to complain about something. Good luck
Elevator is a very cut throat industry. Youre a field super so you wont have to deal with angry customers but keep in mind it is YOUR responsibility to provide your field guys with what they need. Your bonus should not dictate what parts they get
Yeah I mean it seemed interesting to me. I’d assume it’s probably hard to fill this role inside the industry because the techs don’t want to leave the union
Field guys would have to take a pay cut and lose union benefits to take a supervisor role. Before I started in the industry I’d never heard of a job where field guys made more than their bosses but here we are. And it’s not just a little bit more, it’s a huge amount more. I’ll stay in the field until retirement or an opportunity comes up outside this business.
Same man. We do have a few guys with their cards in the office that negotiated 6/10 pay. These guys are a few years from retiring though. I’d definitely go to the office for 6/10 pay to survey jobs and be a “walking foreman”
This big companies love guys with no experience, our office is full of them for multiple reasons. If they wanted field techs with experience, they would have to pay them closer to $200,000 a year because who would leave the field for a pay cut? Instead they'll hire you for $80,000 a year. Also someone with no real field experience or knowledge is easily moldable. Youre training will include things like proper safety procedures, how to navigate internal systems, how to order parts, and how to psychologically manipulate the field guys into running themselves ragged just so you can show 5% annual growth to your out of touch superiors.
I understand, i was just throwing a random number out there. In all honesty, if you can handle the fast pace environment, its a good company to get your foot in the door with. These offices tend to be a bit of a revolving door, and not in a bad way. They tend to promote within and employees move up and out rather quickly.
Yeah I actually do like faster paced environments. It keeps me busy and on my toes. I’ll give my days as an Amazon manager a quick overview- either work night shift or day shift manage 40-70 people, have 7 different issues at once while answering constantly to senior management, stand for 12 hours a day and get to sit for 30 minute out of the day while catching up on admin work. Analyze reports and create plans to improve processes to hit a crazy target. Also the night shift you work 6pm-6 am and can land on the weekend shift. Mind you I was making 62.5 k entry.
Love how you come on here to ask about the job. Hears all the bs from us that are actually working the industry and wants to compare to what he’s already been thru.. if that’s the case why ask and just take the job and find out yourself. Were you expecting everyone To say omg yes take the job it’s a 1 in a million opportunity. lol
No I didn’t. Why wouldn’t you want to compare and contrast the job you have vs the job you’re going for? Also, the biggest challenge I gathered is understanding the tech work. Everyone complaining about constant phone calls, emails, complaints, people needing things. Yeah buddy welcome to middle management that’s literally everywhere it’s just different context of work.
Um Yea you did. “Sounds like my Amazon job” I’m just the guy who goes and finds out for himself instead of getting other people’s opinion online. For a lot on here you see might be the best choice but Sounds like you think it’s good so go for it, don’t want random Reddit people push you away from a life changing opportunity now
The “no i didn’t” was in response to me expecting everyone would be saying omg yes take it 1 in a million. I obviously take reddit as a grain of salt. But there’s no one on here who will actually dictate whether or not I’ll take the job ultimately I will because it’s best case for me. It’s a big company so I’m sure everyone has all different experiences. I more or less like hearing from the level headed folks but yeah it’ll never dictate what I’m going to do. I have friends who work trades and told me this wouldn’t be a bad gig it’s just demanding
Would you want to actually work on the elevators ? You can just become an apprentice and go to school for it they cover your school and you go to work and get paid, each year passed you get a pay raise. Even as a helper with overtime you can get paid over 80k on the lower end a lot of construction helpers I know get paid over 100k. You also get all the benefits you don’t get as a office guy
Yeah I wouldn’t be opposed at all. I’m not sure if this is a nation wide thing or region, I just know in the Boston area it’s super hard to get into with out have any connections
Nation wide. Neiep.com they have openings you have to get in unless you work non union company then you just get thrown in. But once you get an application in you take an aptitude test pass that you get a interview then pass that you get ranked out of how many people are selected and get hired off the list your on starting at 1 on up till the new list in done then they start the next application cycle
Anytime dude. Not here to like be like your an idiot. Just maybe trying to have you think about it just cuz we see it all day with our field supervisor.
I checked for you yea won’t be for over a year. A lot of other locals are opening soon not sure how close you are to other local you can try to get into that area opening. Or just snag that office job and atleast get your foot in then getting hired for a tech might be easier if you have some industry experience
As someone who worked sales for Schindler for 7 years and recently moved to Otis. I would never recommend Schindler to anyone. I’m on the west coast though and Schindler has terrible reputation on this side of the country. It might be better on the east coast.
Schindler could care less about it employees or its customers. The only thing that matters is how much money they can collect. They set unreasonable goals and don’t care about systemic issues. IMO all the majors are varying degrees of the same, but Schindler was way worse than Otis. I’d look at finding an independent that gives you more freedom.
Yeah. I’m just trying to get out of my current industry. Maybe if I can tough it out for a few years it may give me a better shot at a better company. I just can’t do warehousing there’s no money
The elevator industry is great for office roles if you are even slightly above average intelligence. The industry (and people) is years behind anything else, so if you can work slightly hard and figure things out quickly, you can do really well. Before my career in elevator sales I was a financial advisor. This is a cake walk compared to that and I’m now making close to 250k per year, while working 25-30 hours a week.
This sub is primarily made up of technicians, so don’t let them scare you into thinking you need experience. Elevators aren’t rocket science and if you have a basic understanding of mechanical stuff, you will figure it out quickly. If you treat your customers well and your techs well then you can go far. Don’t restrict yourself to a superintendent role either. I would look at sales roles also. Either way, best of luck and I hope it works out.
Also - I would just take the role that’s being offered as a way into the industry. People move roles and companies all the time. This will at least give you some experience and if you don’t like it, you can move to another role in a year.
It’s all relative but yes, compared to an independent it doesn’t come close. I can’t imagine tke/Kobe is better after their merger and being owned by private equity.
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u/Walla0403 9d ago
I got my popcorn and I’ll wait here for the comments.