Do I need outside plant experience to apply?

It helps, particularly for drilling, splicing, and aerial roles, where experience shortens the learning curve and improves safety. We are also interested in dependable people newer to the trade for laborer, ground crew, and support positions, where the work can be learned properly alongside experienced crew members. Reliability and respect for safety matter as much as a resume.

Where is the work located?

Primarily Volusia County and Central Florida, including Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, and Polk Counties, with statewide Florida capability on larger scopes. Our office is at 2174 Jungle Rd in New Smyrna Beach. Travel expectations depend on the project and are discussed directly with each candidate before any offer is made.

How do I apply if nothing is posted?

Email hello@strillacommunications.com anyway, or reach us through the contact page or at (386) 396-2033. Construction hiring follows awarded work, and knowing who is available before a mobilization is more useful to us than starting a search after the schedule is already set. Include the role you want and a short summary of your experience.

What does a bore locator do?

A locator tracks the drill head during a directional bore. Walking above the bore with a receiver, the locator reads the depth, pitch, and position of a transmitter in the drill head and tells the operator how to steer. The locator also records readings at set intervals, which become the bore log that proves each crossing met its required depth.

Do you hire for office and coordination roles?

Outside plant work needs office support as well as field crews. Project coordinators handle permits, locate tickets, scheduling, daily report processing, and closeout documentation. If you have that background in construction or telecommunications, email hello@strillacommunications.com with your experience. Specific openings are not posted on this page, so ask about current needs directly.

Not for every role, but it is useful. Moving drill rigs, vacuum trucks, and aerial lifts between job sites often requires a commercial driver's license, depending on the vehicle and trailer. If you hold a CDL, mention its class and any endorsements when you apply. Traffic control and safety training credentials are also worth listing.

What should I include when I apply?

List the equipment you have operated, the kinds of work you have done, such as drilling, locating, aerial, splicing, or conduit, and any certifications, licenses, or CDL you hold. Add your general availability and where you live. A resume is welcome but not required; a clear email listing the jobs you have worked on is acceptable in this trade.

Company

Careers

Self-performed work, owned equipment, and crews that stay together from bore path to closeout.

Strilla Communications hires outside plant construction people in Volusia County and Central Florida: directional drill operators, locators, vacuum excavation and ground crew, aerial linemen, fiber splicers, and foremen. We run our own equipment and crews. To apply, email hello@strillacommunications.com with your experience and the role you are after.

What Working Here Is Like

This is field construction in Florida. Heat, sand, rain, traffic, and early starts are part of the job, and nobody should take a role here expecting otherwise.

What is different is how the work is organized. We own our equipment and employ our crews rather than brokering the work out, so the people who start a job finish it and see the result. There is less standing around waiting on a rented rig or a subcontractor who did not show.

Work spans both aerial and underground. That means a person who wants to build skills can learn drilling, conduit, strand and lash, and splicing under one roof instead of being locked into one narrow task forever.

Roles an Outside Plant Contractor Hires

Crew composition changes with the scope, but the roles below are the ones that recur across directional drilling, aerial construction, and fiber work. Experience in any of them is worth a conversation even when nothing is posted.

Directional drill operators, comfortable steering in Florida sand, clay lenses, and a high water table
Bore locators who can track a head accurately and read a job before it goes wrong
Vacuum excavation operators and ground crew handling potholing, pits, fluid, and product staging
Aerial crews for strand placement, lashing, overlash, and aerial fiber placement
Fiber splicers and technicians working fusion splicing, termination, blowing, pulling, and optical testing
Conduit and underground crews placing HDPE, multi-duct, tracer wire, handholes, and vaults
Foremen who can run a crew, hold a schedule, and produce an accurate daily report
Traffic control technicians and CDL drivers supporting right of way work
Restoration and finish crews doing concrete, asphalt patch, sod, and grade work
General laborers supporting every crew with pits, material handling, cleanup, and site protection
Project coordinators handling permits, locate tickets, scheduling, daily reports, and closeout documents

What We Look For

Reliability first. In this trade, the person who shows up on time with the right gear every day is worth more than the person with the flashiest resume and an unpredictable week.

Second, respect for damage prevention. Locates, the tolerance zone, potholing, and stop work authority are not bureaucracy. They are the difference between a normal Tuesday and a cut fiber trunk, a gas leak, or someone getting hurt.

Third, willingness to document. Our clients buy the record as much as the construction, so a crew member who takes the photo, notes the footage, and reports the change is doing the job correctly. Anyone on our crews can stop work for a safety concern without needing permission.

Prior outside plant experience helps, and so do CDL, traffic control, and safety credentials. We are also interested in people newer to the trade who show up ready to learn and take direction on a jobsite.

How Do Field and Office Roles Fit Together?

Every job depends on both sides. Field crews build the plant, and the office side makes sure they can: permits issued, Sunshine 811 tickets current, material on site, the schedule confirmed with the client, and records ready for closeout.

On a directional drilling crew, the operator runs the rig, the locator walks above the drill head and calls depth and steering, and laborers handle the pits, fluid, vacuum excavation, and product staging. On an aerial crew, the lineman or aerial technician works from the lift while ground crew manage reels, hardware, and traffic control. Splicers often work on their own schedule behind placement crews so testing does not wait on production.

The foreman ties the crew to the office. They run the day, keep the crew safe, and produce the daily report. A project coordinator takes that report, along with photos and test files, and turns it into the record the client receives.

What Is the Safety Culture on Our Crews?

Safety here is a set of daily habits rather than a poster in the yard. Every shift starts with a briefing at the site covering the work, the utilities in the area, traffic, weather, and the specific hazards of that location.

Damage prevention is treated as part of the job. Crews confirm locate tickets and positive response before digging, use hand digging or vacuum excavation inside the tolerance zone, and pothole every crossing before a bore goes through it. Fall protection is worn in aerial lifts every time, and Florida heat and lightning are planned for rather than pushed through.

Most important, anyone can stop work. A new laborer who sees a problem is expected to say so, and nobody is penalized for stopping a task that turns out to be fine. Near misses are reported the same day so the next crew does not repeat them.

Why Documentation Matters in Every Role

Our clients pay for a record as much as for the construction. ISPs, municipalities, and general contractors need to know where the conduit runs, how deep each crossing is, what every splice measured, and what the site looked like before and after.

That record starts in the field. The locator writes down depth readings during the bore. The crew photographs exposed utilities before backfill and restoration after it. The splicer saves every test file. The foreman notes footage, delays, and field changes in the daily report. People who take that part seriously do well here, because it is how clients judge the work long after the crew has left.

How Are Skills Built on the Job?

Most of this trade is learned in the field, alongside experienced crew members. Because we perform drilling, aerial, conduit, and fiber work ourselves, a crew member can see several kinds of work and pick up skills across them as projects allow.

Responsibility grows with demonstrated reliability. A laborer who learns pit work and vacuum excavation well can move toward locating. A locator who reads ground and returns well understands what the operator needs. A crew member who runs a clean, documented day is the kind of person who becomes a foreman. Specific advancement depends on the work we have and is discussed directly.

Current Openings

Specific openings are not posted on this page. Ask about current needs by email or by phone at (386) 396-2033.

Hiring in construction follows the backlog, so openings change with awarded work in Volusia County, Central Florida, and the statewide projects we support. If you have outside plant experience, send your information even when nothing specific is listed, because crews get built ahead of mobilization.

How to Apply

Email hello@strillacommunications.com with the role you are interested in and a short summary of your experience. Attach a resume if you have one; a plain email listing the jobs you have run is equally acceptable in this trade.

Useful things to include: the equipment you have operated, the type of work you have performed such as drilling, aerial, splicing, or conduit, any certifications or licenses you hold, whether you hold a CDL, and your general availability and location.

Questions can go to (386) 396-2033, or you can reach us at 2174 Jungle Rd, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168. You can also use the contact page on this site. Every application is read, and we respond to candidates who fit the work we have coming.

Key takeaways

Strilla Communications hires field and office roles for outside plant construction in Volusia County and Central Florida, including drill operators, locators, laborers, aerial technicians, fiber splicers, foremen, and project coordinators.
Because the company owns its equipment and employs its crews, workers can see drilling, aerial, conduit, and fiber work under one roof.
Every crew member has stop work authority, and damage prevention practices such as potholing inside the tolerance zone are part of the job.
To express interest, email hello@strillacommunications.com, use the contact page, or call (386) 396-2033, even when no opening is posted.

Key terms

Directional drill operator: The crew member who runs a horizontal directional drilling rig, controlling rotation, thrust, drilling fluid flow, and steering during the pilot bore, reaming, and pullback. The operator works closely with the locator, adjusting the bore from depth and pitch readings to keep the head on the planned path.
Fiber splicer: A technician who joins optical fibers, usually with a fusion splicer, organizes them in splice trays and enclosures, and tests the results with an OTDR and power meter. Splicers produce the loss records and test files that owners use to accept a fiber build.
Foreman: The crew leader on a construction site who runs the day's work, leads the safety briefing, keeps the crew on schedule, coordinates with inspectors and the client, and produces the daily production report. The foreman is the link between field crews and the project office.
Project coordinator: An office role that supports field crews by managing permits, Sunshine 811 tickets, schedules, material, daily report processing, and closeout documents. Coordinators turn field records into the organized package the client receives at the end of a job.

Common outside plant roles, their core work, and helpful background

Role	Core work	Helpful background
HDD operator	Runs the drill rig through pilot, ream, and pullback	Rig experience in sand, clay, and high water table
Locator	Tracks the drill head and records depth readings	Locating equipment and bore tracking experience
Laborer and ground crew	Pits, vacuum excavation, fluid, material, cleanup	Reliability and willingness to learn
Lineman or aerial technician	Strand, lash, overlash, and aerial fiber from a lift	Aerial lift and pole line experience
Fiber splicer	Fusion splicing, enclosures, and optical testing	Splicing and OTDR experience
Foreman	Runs the crew, safety briefings, daily reports	Crew leadership in outside plant work
Project coordinator	Permits, tickets, scheduling, closeout documents	Construction or telecom administration

What this means for your project

For applicants, the main difference here is how the work is organized. Owned equipment and employed crews mean less time waiting on rentals or subcontractors and more time doing the work, with the same crew carrying a job from first bore to final restoration.

For clients reading this page, it also explains why our crews behave the way they do. People are hired for reliability, damage prevention, and documentation habits, which is what keeps a project on schedule and produces a closeout package that matches what was built.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need outside plant experience to apply?: It helps, particularly for drilling, splicing, and aerial roles, where experience shortens the learning curve and improves safety. We are also interested in dependable people newer to the trade for laborer, ground crew, and support positions, where the work can be learned properly alongside experienced crew members. Reliability and respect for safety matter as much as a resume.
Where is the work located?: Primarily Volusia County and Central Florida, including Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, and Polk Counties, with statewide Florida capability on larger scopes. Our office is at 2174 Jungle Rd in New Smyrna Beach. Travel expectations depend on the project and are discussed directly with each candidate before any offer is made.
How do I apply if nothing is posted?: Email hello@strillacommunications.com anyway, or reach us through the contact page or at (386) 396-2033. Construction hiring follows awarded work, and knowing who is available before a mobilization is more useful to us than starting a search after the schedule is already set. Include the role you want and a short summary of your experience.
What does a bore locator do?: A locator tracks the drill head during a directional bore. Walking above the bore with a receiver, the locator reads the depth, pitch, and position of a transmitter in the drill head and tells the operator how to steer. The locator also records readings at set intervals, which become the bore log that proves each crossing met its required depth.
Do you hire for office and coordination roles?: Outside plant work needs office support as well as field crews. Project coordinators handle permits, locate tickets, scheduling, daily report processing, and closeout documentation. If you have that background in construction or telecommunications, email hello@strillacommunications.com with your experience. Specific openings are not posted on this page, so ask about current needs directly.
Is a CDL required?: Not for every role, but it is useful. Moving drill rigs, vacuum trucks, and aerial lifts between job sites often requires a commercial driver's license, depending on the vehicle and trailer. If you hold a CDL, mention its class and any endorsements when you apply. Traffic control and safety training credentials are also worth listing.
What should I include when I apply?: List the equipment you have operated, the kinds of work you have done, such as drilling, locating, aerial, splicing, or conduit, and any certifications, licenses, or CDL you hold. Add your general availability and where you live. A resume is welcome but not required; a clear email listing the jobs you have worked on is acceptable in this trade.

Related services

Request a Bid

Ready to start your next directional drilling or fiber project?

Send the scope and we will come back with a clear, documented bid. Owned crews, aerial and underground under one contract, and a closeout package that lets you close the file.

Request a Bid Call (386) 396-2033

Most bid requests receive a response within one business day.