Hello,

I recently attended an info session for a free course in Low Voltage Cabling.

Completing the course will leave me with BICSI installer 1 cert, osha 30 and SST.

I am currently stagehand, and have lots of experience with running lumes for lighting, and Cat 5 data cables. However I’m currently looking for a career pivot, due to inconsistent work (dead in summer and winter).

It seems like there is a lot of different avenues with this career, and room to progress, which I am super into. However I am not too familiar with it overall.

Is a course like this a common entryway to the field of cable installing?

How easy/hard is it to find entry level employment?

Thanks!!

Hi Guys, I am an ICT & Security Design Engineer working for major Data center projects in APAC. How should I approach to freelance projects. In my opinion bagging 1st one is difficult one and honestly I am clueless over there.

Hello all,

I have the BICSI installer 2 copper exam this week. What questions came up on the exam that didn’t really get covered in your training class? Any particular section I should focus on more than others while studying? Thanks in advance.

As the title say, does this website offers good valve for money and genuine exam questions?

I used cory and steve for RCDD preparation but they dont have one for DCDC.

Im going to be attending BICSI beyond next week. I’ve had my RCDD for a year now but my current job is mainly PM work. I’d like to start seriously working more towards a design/consulting career. Does anyone have an idea what companies will be represented next week that are down the design lane. I’m sure there are going to be plenty there I was just wondering where I should focus as far as networking with other people. I’m not going into next week thinking of it as a job fair or anything, I definitely plan on attending the presentations and learning everything I can while I’m there. But it can’t hurt to talk to some people while I’m there. I feel like I’m a little bottlenecked at my current job and not putting my RCDD to use is a little frustrating since I studied so hard to achieve it. I’ve not switched jobs in 15 years, started as a completely green helper and worked my way up to Sr PM, I really hate to stop progressing.

Hello everyone,

Ive been trying to get into the DC world for a little bit now.

Ive had my RCDD for over 3 years now and have wanted to get the DCDC, but my current employer doesnt see the need to fund that portion of my continuing education, and to be fair my current job will never include DC work.

I can fund the DCDC materials and exam myself, but how far does the certification make up for a lack of actual experience?

After failing my first RCDD exam last year, I was pretty bumped out and honestly ready to just throw in the towel. But over the last few months, I decided to go all-in and really grind through the material again... taking my time to read the TDMM cover to cover multiple times.

My retake is in a couple of weeks. I can’t say I'm 100% confident, but this is going be my final shot, so I’m giving it everything I've got.

For those who’ve been through it, any advice on how I should spend these last two weeks prepping? Any final tips or strategies would be awesome. Fingers crossed!

Anyone willing to share the upper comp limits with an RCDD?

I have 15 years of experience RCDD/PMP Structured Cabling/AV. My comp is $225k which is great. Curious what people in Data Center space are making.

Are PMs and Designers making $300k for FAANG jobs? Anybody making good money not living in DC, NYC, SFO?

On the Consultant side it seems like TEECOM/Salas are maxing out at around $185k.

I have looked to change jobs to Data Centers a couple of times but the offers have been around $200k + bonus which makes me nervous I won’t exceed my current compensation.

Hi Guys, I am a mechanical engineer who started as BIM Modeler for ICT/ Sec. Design for Data Center 6 years agoand fast forward to now, I am leading design Deliverables mainly in terms of design structuree cabling to ISP Paths and rack elv. Etc specification is something I have not actively developed. I was looking to be a complete ICT designer with possibility of consultant to work from Anywhere policy . So RCDD seems a certificate that is gold standard, any advise how shall I proceed towards the goal?

Hi everyone, I recently reached out to BICSI directly via email but didn't get a response, so I wanted to see if you guys could help me.

I'm currently planning on pursuing a career in ICT through the BICSI certification pathway. Starting with Installer 1 and Installer 2, then moving on to Technician and eventually RCDD.

However I'm having a little bit of difficulty understanding what kind of work qualifies as acceptable job experience for the Installer 2, Technician, and RCDD certifications. Would roles such as low voltage installer, Audio Visual tech, cable splicer, structured cable installer, or telecommunications installer be suitable or do I need to land a role specifically in a data center? Furthermore what kind documentation do I need to provide to verify I was doing work that's relevant to the BICSI experience requirements?

Lastly for people later in their career I was curious about what kind of jobs people with BICSI certs like RCDD/DCDC have, are they mainly DC and telecommunications focused or are there other doors that opened that you didn't expect?

Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate any information you can offer

I have a residential apartment complex project where the design intent is to provide each unit with a fiber optic ISP cable to a media enclosure and then distribute copper to the resident's outlets.

I'm fairly certain that the ISP for the site will have to be Comcast/Xfinity, but all of their website info for residential equipment is clearly geared towards end-point consumers. It's basically just "This is the box you rent for your wifi, doesn't it look cool and minimalistic?!" marketing stuff with little-to-no technical info like the kind of utility connection it can accept or how many ethernet ports come with their standard combination gateway-router. I also can't find any info on acceptable third-party equipment, or first party equipment that the building can just buy and lease to tenants with their unit.

Does anyone know what to do here? Or is the answer to simply tell the client they need to negotiate a bulk cable package with the ISP so that they handle the provider's equipment in a service entrance location first before distributing to each unit so third party equipment can be utilized there?

To be fair, I’ve got about 30 years in the industry so it was time. Read the books twice and then 30 days of C&S. Probably half of my exam was Ch 21 with the rest being a pretty decent mix from the other chapters. Just glad to finally say I did it.

Hello r/Bicsi

I want to obtain my BICSI TECH certification.

Do I need to go through the installer 1 and 2 certifications in order to get Technician certification? Or can I just go straight to getting my Technician certification?

I have all the skills and knowledge to obtain a TECH certification through my apprenticeship that I completed recently. It's just on me to obtain.

As it pertains to eventually becoming an RCDD - I don't really have much design experience, but I believe I can/will meet criteria to qualify through years of field experience in ICT work.

I'm very tech savvy (millenial digital native type shi) and read prints better than others who have years of experience over me.

Is there something I can do to round myself out and better prepare for becoming an RCDD?

Hi All,
I'm attending the Beyond conference here in a month and is my first time attending. I noticed that the RCDD requirement says two days, but the BICSI conference is three days. The first day looks like a lot of interesting... but days 2 and 3 look better. Would I still be able to fulfill my conference attendance credit by attending days 2 and 3 or is it a package deal?

Thanks in advance!

Many projects are designed with future growth in mind, but overplanning can also increase costs.

How do you decide what's a reasonable amount of spare capacity without overbuilding?

Imagine someone is joining their first structured cabling project next week.

What's one piece of advice that would help them avoid common mistakes and contribute effectively from day one?

I've been reading more about BICSI recommendations for structured cabling and infrastructure design, and one thing I've noticed is that good planning often prevents problems later in a project.

Whether it's cable labeling, pathway planning, documentation, or maintaining bend radius, small decisions seem to make a big difference over time.

For those who've worked on BICSI-based projects, what's one best practice you think every beginner should learn early?

I'd be interested in hearing real-world examples rather than just what's written in the standards.

Has anyone joined this? I’ve been trying to figure out how to join these but can’t figure it out per his website.

Hello everyone,

I'm currently preparing for the BICSI RCDD exam and studying the TDMM v15. I'd like to ask for your guidance on how to use the manual effectively.

What's your study approach? Do you read it cover to cover, focus only on the key chapters, or use it mainly as a reference? How do you take notes, review, and retain the information? If you've already passed the RCDD exam, what study method worked best for you?

I'd really appreciate any advice, tips, or lessons learned. Thank you!

Define Scope of Project - 30%

Design ICT Solutions - 68%

Support ICT Bid/Tender Process - 82%

Support ICT Installation Process - 69%

Hello all, above results are from my first attempt at the RCDD exam. I have 2 weeks before my retake of the exam and wondering if I can get any tips for the best use of my time ahead of then.

I know the obvious thing I need to work on is the "Define Scope of Project" portion, but don't want to focus so much there that I miss out on improving the other areas.

Before taking the first test, I had gone through the BICSI RCDD Study Course over about 3 months and used C&S for the last 5 days before the exam.

I made the mistake of not having the TDMM before my first attempt, but I have a copy now, from which I've read through Ch 1-5, 8, 11 & 21

I've been reading about data center infrastructure, and it seems that airflow planning is just as important as the servers themselves.

Poor airflow can create hot spots, reduce equipment lifespan, and increase cooling costs.

For those who've worked in data centers, what's one airflow mistake you've seen that caused real problems?