Tyler Godfrey is a Project Manager in our Deployment Services division, working on Outside Plant (OSP) fiber optics projects in the Pacific Northwest. He shares how he evolved from working oil fields to managing a fiber crew at Network Connex.

Tell us about your career path and what led you to your current role?

I started out working in oil fields and did that for several years but when I moved back east to Cincinnati, I got a job working for Cincinnati Bell doing copper and fiber optic installs at residences and businesses – that was my first experience working in the telecom industry. I really liked that the job was a little different every day, since each location was different. Now I’m kind of on the other side of it, getting to build the whole system before installs happen at end user locations…

I ended up moving to Idaho in 2019 to be with my wife and was hired as a technician by Track Utilities. Pretty soon I was given the opportunity to move from the field into the office to manage the projects. I joined Network Connex when Track was purchased by them and since then I’ve just been taking every opportunity I can to keep advancing as much as possible in my role and with the company.

What kinds of education or on the job training have helped you be successful in your current job?

The biggest help to learning to excel in this job is I’ve had a great team around me that is able to teach me the ropes, especially like how bid new opportunities, how to navigate the telecom field, our contracts, and all the as-built requirements and paperwork and stuff. I’ve never had to worry about asking questions—they’ve always been super willing to help.

Besides that, I just graduated this year with my BS in Occupational Health and Safety and now I’m looking to pursue PMP (Project Management Professional) training because I think there is a lot more to learn about this work and it’s transferrable across industries.

What characteristics do you think are needed to be successful in your role?

There are a few characteristics I think help prepare someone to be a project manager in the world of fiber optics infrastructure:

• Prioritization—there is a lot that can go on throughout the day and there are always challenges popping up. I’m really working on setting a schedule for myself that allows me to complete everything I need to in the time I have.
• Management skills—It’s really important to learn how to work with people, listen, and understand where they’re coming from and what they need. I’ve gotten a lot of help with this from talking with my leaders, our HR leader in the PNW, as well as with my father-in-law who works in the financial industry.
• Self-motivation—There was a lot I had to learn when stepping into this role and it’s been key for me to be willing to go out and find information, processes, or techniques that would help me get better at the job.

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

A large portion of this job is running crews and then project billing. I get a set of prints I have to go out and pre fill it and make sure units are right and then basically make sure we get paid for what we do. That’s the business as usual side. I also work on bidding new opportunities where the customer gives us a general idea of what their build plan is and we check out the project and the location then share our price for the work, keeping in mind how to price competitively and profitably. Once we’re awarded a new job, I work with a team here to sit down and try to plan out as much as we can in terms of material ordering and crew schedules because we normally have three weeks before we can start bid work, so we’re working with tight deadlines and a lot of moving parts.

What do you love most about what you do?

I’ve always been drawn to construction just because of the pace of work and that everything changes day-to-day. Every job is different and there’s always a little issue popping up—I like the challenge of that. The other thing I like is that we’re going after new work, diversifying, trying to get new customers in the door, so it’s learning how to go after that work and making new connections as well.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

We just had our first child, our son Evan, so a lot has changed over the last few months! Definitely the number one pastime is hanging out with him and my wife right now.

Other than that, I golf and fish a lot, I like fly fishing on the river and going camping. Ironically enough, actually getting out of cell phone range and disconnecting from cell towers and cell phones from time to time is really great for recharging.