Building things that weren't there
Sign & Awning Installation
You put a business's name on the building. Channel letters, monument signs, awnings, LED retrofits — part electrical, part fabrication, part crane work. It is a small trade nobody talks about, and the people in it are almost never looking for work.
A day in it
- Shop first — load the sign, the raceway, and the bucket truck.
- Site survey done last week, so the mounting pattern is already known.
- Set up cones, get the bucket in position, and check for overhead lines before anything goes up.
- Raceway mounted and leveled, then the letters go on one at a time.
- Wiring back to the disconnect. Low voltage or line voltage depending on the sign.
- Power it up at dusk to confirm every letter lights.
- Owner comes out and takes a picture of it. Every single time.
What it pays
- Starting out
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- Median
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- Experienced
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We have not finished checking this occupation (SOC 49-9096) against the published May 2024 wage release, so we are not printing a number yet. When it is verified, it goes here — exactly as the government published it.
There is no clean SOC code for sign work. BLS scatters it across SOC 47-4099, Construction and Related Workers, All Other, plus electrical and sheet metal codes. The figures above are 47-4099.
How you get in
- —On-the-job with a sign company. Almost nobody trains for this in advance.
- —Aerial lift and crane certifications, plus a CDL for larger installs, raise your pay fast.
- —Electrical knowledge is what separates an installer from a helper.
- —The Mustard Seed covers lift certification, CDL training, and tools.
What you need before you start
- —Heights and bucket trucks.
- —Awareness around overhead power lines. This is the real hazard of the trade.
- —Travel — installs go where the customers are.
Someone doing it
Photograph, first name, age, and three or four sentences in their own words — to be supplied.
What it turns into
Lead installer, then service manager, then your own sign company. Sign service and maintenance contracts are steady recurring money.
Want to talk to somebody doing this?
Two fields. A person reads it and texts you back.