My Job Part II
I do commercial real estate. Well kind of. My job as a Site Acquisition Specialist is to find locations to put cellular towers and antennas. Basically we are told by a cell phone carrier where they need coverage improvements and we find land to lease. Once we get the land secured then we obtain the necessary zoning and building permit approvals from that jurisdiction. Sounds interesting doesn’t it?
Well it actually is. I know where my cell phone works and doesn’t work. And the best part, I know why it doesn’t work in a particular area. It is hard to get mad at my cell phone provider if a call is dropped because I understand why it dropped in such-and-such area. Maybe that zoning district doesn’t allow antennas. Maybe that area doesn’t have adequate land options. Maybe funding is dried up due to mergers and acquisitions. The possibilities are endless.
When I bought my house back in 2003 I was having problems with using my cell phone in my basement. I asked one of the cell phone techs which carrier was on the tower across the street from my house. I switched to that carrier and have not had a problem since. Knowing this kind of information is very helpful.
My company works for various cell phone providers in different aspects. Here is where I toot my horn a bit. If you are an AT&T customer, you can thank me next time you are using your cell phone at the St. Louis Zoo. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you can thank me next time you are using internet on your cell phone. If you are in the St. Louis area and switched to Cricket Communications, you can thank me for having the option of a new carrier.
In a nutshell, that’s what I do. It is not what I went to college for but I found my way into this field. This next part is going to sound like an oxymoron. I make pretty good money doing this line of work. But two months after I was hired, the owner of my company was a bit drunk and told me that he would have paid a lot more to hire me. Oh if only I would have known that. A few months after that, a co-worker told me that he hasn’t worked for less than six figures in years. Well, I don’t make that kind of money either. I don’t make anywhere near that kind of money but it is good enough that I can work part-time. There are many times I think about doing something else for a living but starting from scratch would mean I would have to work full-time to make up for the amount I make now doing part-time. And well, part-time rocks. So for now, I will continue making your cell phone work.
October 1st, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Jealous of you! I have go around and tell people it’s not right to touch boobies
I can’t complain too much about my pay, but it isn’t all that. You can look up us state employees at the Mo Accountability portal on mo.gov. It’s kinda fun or upsetting to see what others make.