How Much of Your Job Knowledge Came from Formal Training

Every tech has a mix of classroom knowledge and field experience. The balance between the two says a lot about how the industry trains its workforce.

What Formal Training Covers

Apprenticeship programs, BICSI courses, and manufacturer training cover theory, standards, and best practices. You learn what the code says, how cables are rated, what TIA-568 requires, and how systems are designed. This foundation matters because it gives you the language and framework to understand why things are done a certain way.

Without formal training, a tech can learn to terminate cable and pull wire, but they may not understand why bend radius matters, why plenum cable exists, or what happens when you exceed conduit fill. The "why" is what separates a tech who follows instructions from a tech who solves problems.

What the Field Teaches

The field teaches you everything formal training cannot. How to route cable through a packed ceiling without a clear pathway. How to deal with a GC who changed the schedule without telling you. How to troubleshoot a cable fault when the tester says pass but the system says otherwise.

Field experience builds speed, efficiency, and the ability to adapt. No classroom can simulate working in a 130-degree attic or pulling cable through a 20-year-old building with no as-builts.

The Real Answer

Most experienced techs will tell you that 70-80% of what they know came from the field. But the 20-30% from formal training is what makes the field experience productive. Without the foundation, you are learning through mistakes instead of building on knowledge.

The Bottom Line

Both matter. Formal training gives you the framework. Field experience gives you the skills. The best techs invest in both and never stop learning.

Find low voltage projects in your area. LVN Signal tracks permits and bids so you can stay ahead of the competition.