i'm not knocking unions. i believe in a voice for those that are paying the ceo's jet fuel bills. what i'm saying is that you are right. a contract installer is getting the shaft. but you can do well. the turn over rate is incredibly high. the promise is 800 to 2000 a week. the truth is it takes someone special to make that happen. i've always said that a cable guy has the talents to do many other things. it's a game to be played. it's not a job. every sub, every prime is someone to work. and so is every job. you have to know how to count your hand without moving your lips, and say something without being specific. you have to make miracles happen daily. jobs that have notes that they will take half a day have to be done in 2 hours, which might only be 10% of your day. gas and materials have to be reserved at all costs, and you have to smile at every customer. but you say you haven't made 500 gross in a week. i've beat that it in a day. i've been a supervisor, a router, and a qc manager............all at the same time while doing at one point 7 jobs in 3 different counties, the closest of which was an hour from my home. the mso tried to hire me as their install manager. 1 year into my career. i don't have 3 years experience in this field i just realized. i've been saying 2 years experience for over a year. i guess if you count the 80 hour weeks that's true. my point is that not everyone can handle this job. as a matter of fact very few can. my previous experience was needles and prison. it taught me something and when i fell in love with a wonderful woman dumb enough to marry me and have my child (now children) i knew i had to take a bs promise and make it happen. and that's what i do. i make it happen every day. i had a job that was rescheduled 13 times today (never seen one go THAT far), i got it done knowing that it didn't HAVE to be rescheduled once. it got done. that's how you make the money and how you get the good jobs. you make the impossible happen. that's your job as a contract installer. to hear you talk and say that you've worked 3 places in 4 months tells me you aren't cut out for this. there is no union. it's tough every day, but if you can love beating everyone around you, then you can make good money. if you just want to do your job, go inhouse, make 12 an hour and you'll do better.
This is CABL.com posting #189134. Tiny Link: cabl.co/mXmI
