Your in a tough situation if your good at what you do and your hard to replace then advancement is unlikely,you are doing what they need you to do and its tough to advance.I went through this for years as a lineman and although I made foreman and had my own crew I still wasn't getting nowhere so I decided to quit aerial construction during a layoff, took a huge paycut,went inhouse as a green tech and am now what the company refers to as Chief tech after many more years and am stuck again. After 20yrs in the business I often wonder did I choose the right career to achieve the elusive Great American Dream. I got out of construction right after the big 450mghz rebuilds if I had stayed I would have been in on the 750 and 860 rebuilds and probably would have made some good coin if and I stress if I had got in with a good company. I can only say that this type of work has provided an honest living albeit through very hard work and now some pretty high stress levels,I believe that to get a break into the real money in this industry its a coin toss, you just gotta be in the right place at the right time and take some major chances with your stability i.e. be ready to move and hope like hell the new job you take follows through with their promises,trust me they usually dont. I've always said a molehill becomes a mountain when it fills out a job app and a mountain becomes a molehill when it gets the job. Like you I have heard it all from prospecting employers just to get you on the job and then everything changes only after you spend every last dime moving just to get to the job.My advice is to learn all you can about the industry and be prepared to move often,unless a position is created or someone above you quits advancement is unlikely. If I was to do any contract work I would likely get into sweep,activation and noise suppression as it pays well and you can do it with just a few men and not alot of outlay in equipment but again contract work is also cutthroat and feast or famine.In the downtimes you could do stuff like trap changeouts, tap plate changeouts,or install installs. Good luck its high stakes poker!
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