Meter Reader

Your job as a Meter Reader is similar to that of a Mail Carrier. You walk up to a residence, perform a task, and walk away. You do this again and again over the course of a day as a Meter Reader.

A career as a Meter Reader means you could work for electric, phone, or natural gas companies. You use a handheld computer while you work, which is a vast improvement over the pen and paper used as recently as 15 years ago. You find the meter, take a reading, note it in your computer, and move on to the next residence.

As you work, you keep a lookout for signs of theft. You make sure the meters are working, so residents aren’t getting products without any monitoring. You also see to it that no splicing is occurring, so products aren’t being siphoned away. You report any unusual activity to your Supervisor, such as a dramatic spike in usage.

Since you’ll be walking onto people’s property, you may encounter angry dogs who would prefer that you stay away. In most cases, you can simply report this incident to your Supervisor without taking a reading. There’s no need for heroism on the job.

If clients don’t pay their bills, you’ll be required to turn off the flow at the meter. This may make people quite upset. If they pay their bills, however, you’ll turn the flow back on and you’ll all be friendly once more. You also turn on the flow for new residents, and ensure that everything is working properly.