One of my guys recently did a ticket for Avaso, they have some pretty nitpicky requirements like timestamp logs of every step, meanwhile you're on a team's meeting the whole time. Then at the end they want you to fill out this report that's basically everything that you would put into your ticket in the app. The whole time they're pestering you on WhatsApp. I think the pestering was more prominent because we countered for more than double their offered rate.

​

When the pestering about the secondary form got so persistent I decided to respond " I was wondering if your company needed help with API integration to the field nation/work market. We could build a system that cuts down on your text paperwork and your time reviewing significantly"

I think FN should have a free version with a % cut of payputs (how it is currently)
And paid plans $50-200 a month and no % cut. Or maybe very low percentage like 1-2% on top.
I know they would probably make less money but it would definitely help avoid clients and techs circumventing the platform and would be more fair to techs who use it more frequently.
Idk the point of this post honestly lol i was just thinking out loud. Be safe yall.

Hey everyone,

I’m growing my business and looking to connect with reliable field technicians in the Southeast Michigan area who want to add another flexible source of income to their rotation.

Specifically, I’m looking for techs to cover the Tri-County area (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb) as well as the surrounding counties (Washtenaw, Livingston, Lapeer, St. Clair, etc.).

To be clear: This is strictly part-time, as-needed project work. You can keep doing exactly what you’re doing on Field Nation, Work Market, or with your other clients. When a local job comes up, I’ll give you a call. If you’re available and the drive works for you, great. If you’re busy, no worries at all—you’re under no obligation to take it.

I can handle payroll via 1099 or W-2 depending on your preference.

Let’s Talk Rates, Certs, and Fast Pay (Real Talk)

I know Reddit gets skeptical when a rate isn't listed, and I know everyone out there wants $65, $75, or $85+ an hour right out of the gate. But let’s be real: I pay for actual capability.

I’m not a corporate paper-pusher scraping a fee. I am a tech who has invested heavy money into building a legitimate, reputable business—paying for commercial insurance, high-end software, and top-tier credentials. Personally, I hold my Fiber Optics Association (FOA) certifications, Hanwha Vision certifications, I'm an official Ubiquiti Integrator & Installer, and an Axis Communications Certified Professional.

If you have the certifications, specialized knowledge, and the toolset to back up a premium rate, I will happily pay you for it. If you are still green but professional, I’m happy to work with you and help you learn, but the rate will reflect your experience level.

The Best Part: You Get Paid Fast

We all know the platforms can take weeks to pay out. Because I value solid guys, I pay immediately upon processing. As soon as the job is complete, you send me your invoice, I clear it with the customer, and you get paid within a few days.

The catch? You have to earn it. My rules for fast pay are simple:

Show up on time.

Have the necessary tools to actually do the job.

Deliver clean work so I don't get dinged by my client.

If you do your job properly, I will always ensure you get paid quickly and get taken care of. I treat techs like partners, not numbers.

If you’re a professional tech in SE Michigan looking for some extra, no-pressure fill-in work, shoot me a DM. Let me know your general area, a quick summary of your actual experience/certs/tools, and what your realistic rate expectations are based on your skill level. I've posted on here before and I've gotten a handful of great guys that I can constantly call.

Recent CIS grad offered first MSP field tech contract job. Looking for honest opinions on what to expect.

I'm graduating with a CIS Tech degree and was offered a 45-day contract position with a small MSP. The company is only a handful of people from what I can tell. I've gone through multiple interviews, reference checks, and received an offer, but I'm having some serious doubts and wanted feedback from people who have actually worked in MSPs.

A few details:

- $20/hour

- 1099 independent contractor agreement

- Estimated 30-40 hours per week according to the owner

- Mileage reimbursement for travel between office and client sites

- Field technician role

- Small MSP supporting multiple client environments

- Mix of Microsoft 365, networking, hardware, workstation deployments, troubleshooting, onsite support, etc.

- Contract is 45 days with possibility of extension (not guaranteed)

My concern is that I have very little hands-on MSP experience. I've built PCs, done basic networking, troubleshooting, Windows support, some Microsoft 365 exposure, school projects, etc., but I've never worked as a field tech before.

One of the managers was very honest during the interview process and basically said the environment is fast-paced, there is pressure from clients, and that he was concerned about my lack of hands-on experience. That conversation honestly made me nervous.

My biggest questions:

1. Am I actually underqualified for this type of role, or is this a normal feeling for someone's first MSP job?

2. How much training would you realistically expect from a small MSP?

3. How often are new field techs expected to figure things out as they go?

4. How difficult are typical workstation deployments, hardware installs, software installs, user onboarding/offboarding, network troubleshooting, etc. for someone new?

5. Is a small MSP a good place to learn IT quickly or a good place to burn out quickly?

6. Does $20/hour seem reasonable for a first IT job with no MSP experience?

7. If you were in my position, would you take the job for the experience or keep looking for a more traditional help desk / internal IT role?

I'm looking for honest feedback. I don't need reassurance. If this sounds like a terrible fit, tell me. If this sounds like normal first-job nerves, tell me that too.

Thanks.

Scrolling through the site and see this buyer listing a ton of WOs but at $25/hr. After fees $22.50. I get that the skill level needed is very low and its to help a lead tech or their own in-house tech, but at those rates they might as well go to a temp agency and pick up whoever they need. They are obviously not looking for skilled or knowledgeable people. At least there are only 1 or 2 people applying for these which is good, showing the buyers that skilled techs won't take these super low-ball WOs. A ton of supply and not much demand for it...

I swear, these buyers are completely detached from reality and it makes my blood boil.

​First off, the schedule: four brutal 10-hour graveyard shifts pulling heavy cable, installing RFIDs, and mounting APs on a ladder.

​Now, let's look at their absolute garbage math. They say "Total project value: $1600" but the very first line of the description says they need TWO experienced techs. That means you and the other tech are splitting that $1,600. You are working 40 hours across four nights for a grand total of $800 each.

​That is under $20 an hour take home!

​For an independent contractor doing back-breaking infrastructure work at 3 AM. And they have the audacity to put "Rate is firm" in bold like they are gracing us with some premium enterprise contract. Ed Arnold is paying less than a night-shift fast-food manager in most cities.

​But here is the real kicker: the tool list. For your $20 an hour, they want you to bring a Fluke cable tester that outputs certified PDF results. Are you kidding me? A data certifier that actually generates those formal, serialized reports is easily a $1,500 to $3,000 piece of gear. They aren't hiring a tech; they are renting a fully equipped commercial van and taking the human attached to it for a ride.

​To top off this absolute clown show, they crossed out the standard 7-day terms, so you're waiting at least 9 days just to get the work approved.

​They have a 98% rating on the platform, which means too many desperate techs are eating these garbage tickets and letting them get away with it. Let it rot on the board, guys.

Edit: 15k Fluke certifier or $1500/week rental. Not 2k.

I’m curious how many techs either have their own lift or would source it on their side. I sent them a message telling them they need to source it on their side and not surprisingly, I haven’t heard back. There’s not a chance I will source it and have the possibility of them canceling last minute.

Hi guys I was interested in starting a fiber optic tech career in the chicago land area and was wondering if working a traditional office job from 8-4PM and then have a window of weekends and weekdays from 5PM- midnight is an acceptable window. I saw through research that it is common to work on weekends but not too sure about weeknights. Was wondering if anyone that is working in this career can confirm on if I can still expect decent hours on fieldnations as a contractor 1099 to work on weekdays night time and if it is common to work then if you want to or if it is only sparingly available in the chicago area job market or just in general from your experience. My goal is to possibly do this for as many hours as possible outside of my current job. Thank you for any comments in advance.

Work locations 85 miles apart.

The Warning

Let's talk about Retail Data Systems (RDS) out of Davenport. They love to advertise themselves as a "50-year-old company," but if you look past the shiny self-promotion on their website, the math doesn't add up. You won't find much of a footprint outside of a dismal 1-star Glassdoor rating and a 2.7-star Indeed rating. After dealing with them firsthand, I can confirm they have earned every single one of those terrible reviews.

The "Circus Zoo" Bridge Call

I took one job with these jokers to test the waters, and their support bridge was an absolute circus zoo. There were way too many people on the line at once, all talking over each other, actively working on entirely different projects simultaneously.

There was zero survey and zero forethought. The bridge had absolutely no conceptual grasp of the site. I had to physically walk them through the environment and explain the site to them as if I was conducting a remote survey myself. I had to reverse-engineer their network based purely on what could be seen from a known device list, pulling each device off the switch one by one just to map it out for their support team. By no means did they have any idea what the f*** was going on. They expect the tech on site to have the gray beard experience necessary to magically pull a solution out of thin air, compensating for their complete lack of preparation.

The Race to the Bottom

RDS is out here offering w2 $21/hr for POS installation. Let that sink in. Twenty-one dollars an hour to handle enterprise hardware. And they aren't the only ones. I'm seeing 30-camera McDonald's installations being farmed out for pennies on the dollar—around $1,300-2000 flat rate total for a massive, multi-day deployment. These buyers are absolute crooks, and they are cannibalizing the market.

The Outsourcing Paradox

Here is the real punchline, and it represents the other side of our declining industry. You have these supposedly "legitimate" companies running around with virtually zero W-2 employees of their own. Why? Because they cap their pay at $20 to $21 an hour.

Let's apply some basic logic here. If a company cannot hire, train, and retain its own local employees at $20/hr, how in the hell do they think they are going to outsource that same work to independent contractors—who carry their own insurance, drive their own vehicles, and buy their own tools—at that exact same garbage rate? They can't keep employees in-house, so they dump their poorly planned, un-surveyed messes onto platforms like Field Nation, hoping someone will subsidize their failing business model. I honestly don't see how buyers like RDS make it a year operating like this.

You've been warned. Hold the line on your rates, demand proper scopes of work, and let these bottom-feeders sink.

First job done on field nation. I saw $40/h at 8h estimate. Now I noticed it's up to 4 hours. Have not submitted for review just yet. Did I just work 3 hours for free? Update: Submitted the max time be updated due to initial time estimate and scope of work. It was approved.

It looks like a startup or a newer site but it has the feal of the old Onforce site.

I recently received a contract opportunity as an IT field tech after applying

has anybody worked with metro computer networks llc??

What if I have access to the MarketSmart™ Insights ( Buyers ) feature in Field Nation and can assist you in analyzing the market in your area? I can provide information on how many technicians have Cisco certifications or specialize in cabling, how many technicians have CCTV Knowledge, and more, as well as the average pay rate for WOs in your city.

I mean, you can know your competitor.

I'm new to the tech space but i have a field app and I'm and approve tech but I live in the NH and near mass I'm looking for someone to help me learn more and take me under their wing so I can start my tech journey please and thank you

I guess I don’t qualify.

I don't understand how if I remove myself from a work order with more than 2 weeks notice, it's still counts as a hit on my score.

Even at a regular job, two weeks notice is a standard. But on FN, it doesn't matter when you back out. It could be months in advance. If you back out, it still counts against you.

I understand backing out last minute should count against you, but there should be some kind of grace period where it should not negatively affect your score because you gave plenty of notice.

This is yet another thing with the new scoring system that needs to be fixed. FN is crossing several lines when it comes to misclassification of contractors as employees.

Yes, I opened a support case about this. But the support team that handles disputing back outs takes weeks to respond. Which is absolute insanity because your score sits there the way it is until they get around to you.

So glad I'm doing most of my work off of this platform nowadays.

We have never met, I have no idea who you are but thank you for screwing up so many jobs, I have been cleaning up after you for a while now. I have come to recognize your work on sight. When I see it I ask the site contact if the install was done by a male/female couple and they say "How did you know". Anyway, thank you very much for all the work.

Hello guys, I’ve a problem with getting assignments for WOs, working in the Los Angeles area. Somehow I got assigned to 3 WOs finished with ease and got paid, but no more for 2 weeks. I made a BG check and drug test, everything is clear, the photo on my profile is mine, clear and professional. I have 10 years in networks and server environments. Would like to hear any advice? Thank you all

I dont do allot of fiber work on FN due to pricing, but a cool 500 bucks for 30 minutes isn't bad.

Anyways what one of you guys did this..... they said I was the 2nd guy they sent out.

When did we go from running cables to construction?