certified Home theater installer?

If your son has the entrepreneurial spirit, it could be a career. He's going to have to be his own boss though. We that do this sort of thing for a living either have ourselves, or hire people with these qualifications/certifications:

1. Electrical Contractor

2. Programmer

3. ISF or SMPTE display calibrator

4. HAA small room acoustic calibration and treatment

5. THX Level I or better yet, Level II certified installer (Yes, they have certification programs for home theater too, and THX will only certify the client's theater if all equipment is certified, as is the installer)

6. CEDIA best-practices training on most aspects of residential low voltage installation

7. System integration designer: Engineer, or knowledge of engineering practices are vital here

With those things under ones belt, it is possible to do the quality of work expected by the clients that actually pay for nice systems. Unfortunately, every out-of-work electrician, alarm guy and cable wire stringer is now a "home theater expert" so the key is to take a professional approach to the business, and always be far better than the competition. This may not get him every client available, but he'll keep the ones he gets for life.

It's important to be capable of more than just home theater to attract the better clients. In addition to dedicated theater rooms, my company does whole house integration where all the TVs, the music system, computer network, lighting control, HVAC, kitchen appliances, pool and spa, surveillance system, security system and more are all controlled and managed from any TV, computer, touch panel or even an iphone, at home or while away from home. The things we do today can be seen in the new "Home of the Future" attraction located in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. Disney chose to use the same control system we use. We also design and install sound reinforcement systems and stage lighting on the performance theater side, as well as elaborate board rooms, sports bars, etc...

It is possible to make $250k/year or more working long hours on and off the job. He will never be completely out of school, and his industry will be changing almost daily.

If he is industrious, engergetic and easily bored, this might be a good industry for him. (those were my initial qualifications) If he's just excited because someone is going to pay him $18/hour to pin plasma TVs on walls, he's far better off in college.

There are a couple of professional organizations you can research:

ISF - Imaging Science Foundation - group trained in video display and image technology. These are the guys who calibrate monitors and televisions to conform to standards.

CEDIA - Design Group for installing home theaters/whole house sound.

THX - Hire and train techs to go out and certify commercial movie theaters and electronics stores to conform to THX standards for sound and video.

In general - installers work for higher end electronics stores to do 'invisible' installs in homes or to design & build dedicated home theater rooms. This means a lot of carpentry work as well as electrical.

Also - many people want wires put in walls for basic Plasma TV installs, and others want speaker wires run in the walls for 'neat' appearances and stores like BestBuy have "Geek Squad" people who can do this basic stuff. You might encourage your son to try one of these jobs first so he gets an idea what the business is like.

I love hooking things up and making things work - but it is very different to do a hobby vs a business. Encourage him, but get him into the industry quickly to see if it is a job he would like.

I suspect that presentation and presence counts as much as certification when it comes to success. Play golf with the right people, have an attractive storefront and professional website, be a presence at home shows, work with architects and developers and do installations in show homes and display suites. Persuade local media (print, TV) to feature you as an expert on new entertainment technologies. ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) certification is one qualification I'd look for. If it's less common than CEDIA certification, it may help funnel business your way.

certified home theater installer

Their are jobs, but I don't know about professions. If he is interested in home theater you may suggest he take a look into electrical engineering. Instead of installing the systems he could be on a team that builds them.

Who wants to just install them!

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/basics/269953-...

This thread has some ideas.

The nice thing with an electrical engineering degree is that he would make enough to actually build his own home theater.