Sign Technician Family
Career series with 3 positions across 3 levels
In New Jersey civil service, Sign Technician names a 3-level progression covering 3 distinct titles.
Entry is typically through Sign Technician 1, advancing through the ladder toward Sign Technician 3. Pay across the family spans $43,934 to $75,954, around the 12th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 8 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Transportation.
Sign Technician commonly advances into Sign Maker and Training Technician.
Positions in This Family
- SIGN TECHNICIAN 2 (41841) $47,916 - $69,346/year
- SIGN TECHNICIAN 1 (41842) $43,934 - $63,341/year
- SIGN TECHNICIAN 3 (41843) $52,308 - $75,954/year
What the Sign Technician family covers
Sign Technician is a graded series in the New Jersey civil service classification plan, running 3 title codes across 3 levels. Every title in it is a state title, so the employer is a state department, commission or authority rather than a county or municipality.
Skilled and semi-skilled labor is the part of the classification plan that never moved to a degree. Qualification rests on demonstrated ability, and for a great many of these titles the operative credential is a valid New Jersey driver's license of the right class rather than a diploma. The work is also the most physically specific in the plan, which is why the specifications read as lists of tasks and equipment instead of the general responsibility language used elsewhere. Because public works, water and sewer utilities, parks and school plants each run their own yards, near-identical jobs end up as separate title codes in separate places.
The ladder, ordered by pay
Ordered by what they actually pay rather than by the number in the title, the Sign Technician rungs look like this. Here the numbering happens to agree with the pay order, which is not guaranteed elsewhere in New Jersey's plan.
- Sign Technician 3 — $52,308 to $75,954 (3 years of experience)
- Sign Technician 2 — $47,916 to $69,346 (2 years of experience)
- Sign Technician 1 — $43,934 to $63,341 (1 year of experience)
The distance from the bottom of Sign Technician 1 to the top of Sign Technician 3 is $32,021, an increase of about 73% over the entry minimum.
What each title does
Each title in the family carries its own published definition. These are the opening lines of each one, which is usually where the difference between two neighboring rungs is actually stated.
- Sign Technician 2: Under the limited supervision of a Crew Supervisor, Signs in the Department of Transportation, performs skilled work involved in the fabrication, reconditioning…
- Sign Technician 1: Under the close supervision of a Crew Supervisor, Signs in the Department of Transportation, performs various duties in the fabrication, reconditioning, installation…
- Sign Technician 3: Under the general supervision of a Crew Supervisor, Signs in the Department of Transportation, does highly skilled work in the fabrication, reconditioning…
What it takes to qualify
None of the specifications in this family names a degree requirement, which places these titles among the New Jersey positions open to applicants without formal higher education. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 3 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.
On how the jobs are filled: 3 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination.
Who actually employs these titles
8 people appear on the state payroll under 3 of these titles, at 1 agency. Transportation alone accounts for about 100% of them.
- Transportation — 8 employees
Median actual pay varies across the family, from $44,323 for Sign Technician 1 up to $69,959 for Sign Technician 3. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.
State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.
How the pay is set
Titles in this family are paid on the C-I-O salary schedule. See every step in that schedule. Bargaining is handled by IFPTE. Union contracts and rights are collected here.
Where these jobs exist
Hiring for this family runs through state service. Departments, commissions and boards fill these titles from eligible lists built by the Civil Service Commission, so the route in is an announcement and a filing deadline rather than a posting you apply to directly. What state jurisdiction means, and a breakdown of who employs what.
Related titles elsewhere in the plan
These titles sit elsewhere in the classification plan but share vocabulary with Sign Technician, which usually means overlapping duties or a related eligible list.
- Sign Technician Trainee ($42,084 to $43,847, state jurisdiction)
- Sign Maker 3 (local jurisdiction) — in the Sign Maker family
- Sign Maker Wood and Metal (local jurisdiction)
- Road Repairer 2 / Sign Maker 2 — in the Road Repairer family
- Senior Traffic Maintenance Worker/Sign Maker 2 — in the Senior Traffic Maintenance Worker/Sign Maker family
- Technician Mvc ($48,807 to $70,641, state jurisdiction)
Common questions about Sign Technician jobs
How many separate Sign Technician classifications does New Jersey have?
The Sign Technician family holds 3 title codes arranged across 3 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.
How much is a Sign Technician paid?
Published salary data for this family runs from $43,934 at the bottom of Sign Technician 1 to $75,954 at the top of Sign Technician 3. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.
Is there a civil service test for Sign Technician?
Yes for most of the family. 3 of the 3 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.
What are the requirements to become a Sign Technician?
No degree requirement is parsed from the specifications in this family, which puts these titles among the New Jersey civil service jobs reachable without formal higher education. Experience of 1 to 3 years is named where a requirement is stated.
Which agencies employ Sign Technician staff?
State payroll records show 8 people in this family across 1 agency, with Transportation the largest at 8. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.