tech talk
installers because bodies wear down, [then] they move sideways instead of up.” Often installers leverage their experience in the construction or home theater industries, hoping to get a bump both in pay and benefits.
“I blame burnout on the numbers,” Morris said. “Traditional shops focus so much on turning around inventory that you lose track of why you got into the industry. I know other shops that are run strictly by the numbers, and the employees hate it.” Pushing speed and product turnover can lead to the install
Acoustic Edge, an installer training school, offers a program that can help aspiring installers keep up with the constant technological changes the industry has faced in recent times.
“The way we found technicians prior to the 90s was get- ting people off the street,” Hill explained. “Then, when they got experience, we had those installers looking for other jobs. Hiring guys off the street no longer works like it did in the 70s and 80s.” Training a new installer at the height of the 90s car audio boom meant refining acoustic and basic electrical skills. Two decades later, the modern technological knowledge base needed to work in the bay is staggering. “The applicants sometimes got jobs and were horrified at the amount of information they had to learn,” Hill said. Being over-tasked and under-educated often means these pas-
sionate newbies leave a shop with a bad taste in their mouth; management never has the time (or takes the time) to arm their trainees with the tools they need for success. “In the old days, if you had a good installer on staff, you could team him up with someone new. They would learn and feed off that other person. It’s not so cut-and-dry anymore.”
Why Tey Leave Hearing that car audio is a passion-based industry is noth-
ing new. Given the physical and mental strain of installing, that passion can be tested over the course of months and even years. “It’s a career, not just a job,” Pirro said. While the upper end of the installation pay scale exceeds $50,000 according to the 2013 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, other 12-volt industry professionals believe installers simply don’t understand the current salary levels. “Some people are unrealistic with how much salary they want. If you can go right into a shop and make 30 to 40 grand a year doing something you love, I don’t see the problem,” Pirro said. Damon Hill of Houston’s Acoustic Edge believes installation is usually a younger person’s game. “We’re losing qualified
48 Mobile Electronics July 2014
staff cutting corners to get a job done. Enthusiasm can easily get lost in the process. Motivational speaker Steve Pavlina sums it up well: “Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you discover your purpose, you will normally find it’s something you’re tremendously pas- sionate about.” The passion Pavlina refers to often requires refining. Becom- ing an installer or increasing your installation toolbox means you’re (hopefully) feeding that passion. One of the fastest ways to do that is getting the rare – but altogether attainable – for- malized 12-volt education.
Back To (Installation) School Apart from the want ads or actively recruiting elsewhere, a source for acquiring qualified installers are the trade schools. Turn back the clock a decade and you could find nearly a dozen schools dedicated exclusively to 12-volt audio installation. These schools now number in the single digits. Are they becoming the last bastion of a lost art? Damon Hill, Owner of Acoustic Edge in Houston, Texas,
believes so. Hill owns one of the few remaining dedicated installation schools in the country. His facility teaches custom automotive interior design, fabrication with wood, Plexiglas and metal, 12-volt electrical premise, acoustic theory, box construc- tion, MECP certification, and more. His students are well sought after. Considering most of the candidates are gear-heads to begin with, their interests are fueled by education. “We typically see an 18- to 24-year-old where school wasn’t their thing,” Hill said. “They’re into cars. They may not view car audio as a viable career path, but it is for someone who dedicates themselves.” Like many other industries, formal education is a competi-
tive advantage. Investing in education may well be the deciding factor over other installation applicants who simply have experi- ence installing for their friends. It’s proof the diploma has a verifiable authority all its own, and
can often speak for itself. “We get calls for installers from all over the country,” Hill said. “They’ll even make room for them because inside of six months they’re outperforming 5- and 10-year guys.” The attraction isn’t simply the exclusivity of getting a Top Gun
rating from one of the few 12-volt installation schools in the coun- try. The skill sets acquired are geared toward the installation needs of the modern 12-volt shop. “It’s the troubleshooting abilities the employers value the most,” Hill added.
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