Job thread

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, that kind of stuff is deliberately meant confuse you.  My wife's last job did this, and she still to this day has no idea what her actual salary was.  Odds are that the only places that are doing this are actively trying to fuck you over.

[Yegolev]

Total Compensation is a thing to consider, but I'd put my own value on things rather than let the corp do it for me.

[01101010]

Total Compensation is a thing to consider, but I'd put my own value on things rather than let the corp do it for me.

This is really the rub of the whole thing. Companies will always overvalue perks. One of my perks is I can take classes here and only have to pay 3%. My kids can go here for free. I have no need to take classes and have no, nor will be having any, kids. So while that is a great value, it is completely lost on me.

[Yegolev]

Right.  I've given up on a degree, after seven years of college and little to show for it other than being "well-rounded" which is not useful outside a trivia tournament.  So I'd likely not ever work for a university because of that.  Now, if they give me lots of vacation days, or if the workload is easy, that's another thing.

[croaker69]

A quick dash through salary.com makes me nervous about getting a raise ever.  Of course, I'm not really sure what the correct term is for what I do.

These days I like Technologist.

What a hilariously douchey term.

That's part of the appeal!

[Paelos]

One of our clients wants me to interview for their controller job today. We'll see how that goes.

[Signe]

One of our clients wants me to interview for their controller job today. We'll see how that goes.

If you get it I will start calling you Sir Topham Hatt. 

[Ingmar]

*drama intensifies*

Now I get to manage transitioning a bunch of data and IP to a 2nd company that bought one of our divisions, while trying to figure out how to divide our facilities use (mostly stuff like power) and work with an overseas IT department, because the division is still going to be sharing space with us for 3 years. On top of probably taking over as security manager, transitioning to a new boss, and dealing with the network guy leaving. I'm not doing it entirely alone, but if one more person leaves...

Definitely asking for more money.

[Salamok]

Total compensation is pretty much the only way to look at a state job without becoming seriously depressed.  I have a pension (don't be a hater!), I accumulate vacation and sick leave at a fairly rapid rate, I am awarded comp time on an hour for hour basis (self documented and no pre-approval needed), no one ever questions any time off I take (EVER), my workload is as heavy as I make it, the bar is set so utterly and ridiculously low that I couldn't possibly ever see myself contributing so little as to ever be in danger of being considered "non productive".  This is pretty much the only time in my life where I have felt like I was in total control of the whole self+family+work balancing act and I suppose I can convince myself that that + the aforementioned perks is worth the extra $60k+ a year I am not earning.

[Yegolev]

That's a tough one.  I will submit that you can't put a price on serenity.

[Chimpy]

Right.  I've given up on a degree, after seven years of college and little to show for it other than being "well-rounded" which is not useful outside a trivia tournament.  So I'd likely not ever work for a university because of that.  Now, if they give me lots of vacation days, or if the workload is easy, that's another thing.

The guys in a job like mine on this campus who don't have a degree (thus are civil service, not academic professional) get 25 vacation days (to start goes up to 28 after 6 years), 12 sick days, and 2 floating holidays a year. You can bank up to 2 years worth of days before you stop accruing. Oh yeah, their work week is 37.5 hours instead of 40 as well.

[Abagadro]

Total compensation is pretty much the only way to look at a state job without becoming seriously depressed.  I have a pension (don't be a hater!), I accumulate vacation and sick leave at a fairly rapid rate, I am awarded comp time on an hour for hour basis (self documented and no pre-approval needed), no one ever questions any time off I take (EVER), my workload is as heavy as I make it, the bar is set so utterly and ridiculously low that I couldn't possibly ever see myself contributing so little as to ever be in danger of being considered "non productive".  This is pretty much the only time in my life where I have felt like I was in total control of the whole self+family+work balancing act and I suppose I can convince myself that that + the aforementioned perks is worth the extra $60k+ a year I am not earning.

Woooooo, public employment!  I'm basically in the same boat although I am a political appointee so could get shown the door if the winds change significantly.  The flexibility/benefits/control aspects are really, really, really nice.

[Lantyssa]

Yeah.  I didn't mind not getting corporate pay when I worked at the university because low stress was worth it.

[Strazos]

Total compensation is pretty much the only way to look at a state job without becoming seriously depressed.  I have a pension (don't be a hater!), I accumulate vacation and sick leave at a fairly rapid rate, I am awarded comp time on an hour for hour basis (self documented and no pre-approval needed), no one ever questions any time off I take (EVER), my workload is as heavy as I make it, the bar is set so utterly and ridiculously low that I couldn't possibly ever see myself contributing so little as to ever be in danger of being considered "non productive".  This is pretty much the only time in my life where I have felt like I was in total control of the whole self+family+work balancing act and I suppose I can convince myself that that + the aforementioned perks is worth the extra $60k+ a year I am not earning.

Woooooo, public employment!  I'm basically in the same boat although I am a political appointee so could get shown the door if the winds change significantly.  The flexibility/benefits/control aspects are really, really, really nice.

Ooo, these are super fun conversations.

So after I receive my yearly within-grade increase, I should be grossing a hair above 6 figures. I also have a pension, and my ghetto 401k (thift savings plan). There are other plusses:

+ don't pay for housing overseas
+ change jobs every 1-3 years
+ live in interesting places, meet interesting people
+ accrue 6 hours annual leave and 4 hours sick leave per pay period (26/year)
+ tenure = excessively difficult to fire without cause. Basically immune to vagaries of the economy, no real threat of being downsized short of possibly congressional action?
+ get to learn languages for work

But...there are minuses

- housing is chosen for us. Sometimes it's really, really bad. And you have no real recourse
- basically have to find a new job every few years
- leave your new friends behind every few years; difficult to establish long-term relationships
- move your family and everything you own every few years
- some places we have to live/work blow lots and are not interesting
- most places we live in outside of the US are not to US standards, and are significantly more dangerous (ebola, Mexican narcos, civil wars, etc)
- if you have a shit boss, good luck taking leave. Also, you don't necessarily have good places to take said leave in some countries
- have to learn languages for work
- Congress prefers to think you do nothing and are some sort of waiting security threat. See: logjam of US Ambassadors in SFRC, delays for commissioning/tenure/promotions due to lack of Congressional action

I'm sure I'm missing things, or that there are certain things I just don't care about (ie - local schools). No one's job is perfect.

[Salamok]

Feds pay higher than states, but then again I never have to worry about being relocated.

[Torinak]

Total compensation is pretty much the only way to look at a state job without becoming seriously depressed.  I have a pension (don't be a hater!), I accumulate vacation and sick leave at a fairly rapid rate, I am awarded comp time on an hour for hour basis (self documented and no pre-approval needed), no one ever questions any time off I take (EVER), my workload is as heavy as I make it, the bar is set so utterly and ridiculously low that I couldn't possibly ever see myself contributing so little as to ever be in danger of being considered "non productive".  This is pretty much the only time in my life where I have felt like I was in total control of the whole self+family+work balancing act and I suppose I can convince myself that that + the aforementioned perks is worth the extra $60k+ a year I am not earning.

Woooooo, public employment!  I'm basically in the same boat although I am a political appointee so could get shown the door if the winds change significantly.  The flexibility/benefits/control aspects are really, really, really nice.

Ooo, these are super fun conversations.

So after I receive my yearly within-grade increase, I should be grossing a hair above 6 figures. I also have a pension, and my ghetto 401k (thift savings plan). There are other plusses:

The TSP is one of the best savings programs around. Few private-sector 401k plans come close to its options or exceptionally-low costs.

[Strazos]

I say ghetto just because of the name.

EDIT:

Feds pay higher than states, but then again I never have to worry about being relocated.

That's not normally a concern with most federal positions, as they operate under the civil service model - basically, you're in the job until you retire to apply for something else.

[Cyrrex]

Strazo, I'm sure I've read this somewhere, but what EXACTLY do you do?  My impression of what I thought you were getting into seems to have been off, it actually sounds like a cool gig.

[Abagadro]

He's an International Man of Mystery.

[Signe]

He used to be just a boy.  I don't know what happened?   

[Yegolev]

The guys in a job like mine on this campus who don't have a degree (thus are civil service, not academic professional) get 25 vacation days (to start goes up to 28 after 6 years), 12 sick days, and 2 floating holidays a year. You can bank up to 2 years worth of days before you stop accruing. Oh yeah, their work week is 37.5 hours instead of 40 as well.

That's looking good.  I'll not discount universities if I find myself looking again.

[Nebu]

So after I receive my yearly within-grade increase, I should be grossing a hair above 6 figures.

Proof that getting my PhD was a monumental waste of time. 

[Yegolev]

I usually assume you are doing work which is important to society in the long run, even if such things don't pay well.

[Nebu]

I usually assume you are doing work which is important to society in the long run, even if such things don't pay well.

Funny how the people helping society (teachers, researchers, defense attorneys, social workers, etc) get paid like crap, isn't it?

[Cyrrex]

But just think of all the extra love we have for you.  You cannot put a price on that.

[Lantyssa]

More importantly, we won't, so we don't have to pay them for it.

[Trippy]

I usually assume you are doing work which is important to society in the long run, even if such things don't pay well.

Funny how the people helping society (teachers, researchers, defense attorneys, social workers, etc) get paid like crap, isn't it?

It's the American way!

[Yegolev]

I usually assume you are doing work which is important to society in the long run, even if such things don't pay well.

Funny how the people helping society (teachers, researchers, defense attorneys, social workers, etc) get paid like crap, isn't it?

It's either funny or several chapters in my unwritten philosophical treatise, which I can't get around to writing because of needing a job and having a wife.

My wife will sometimes boggle that more than one of the great minds in human history died broke and alone.  I just have to point out that their contributions may have been incredible but no one at the time was willing to give them any money for their ideas.

[Salamok]

I usually assume you are doing work which is important to society in the long run, even if such things don't pay well.

Funny how the people helping society (teachers, researchers, defense attorneys, social workers, etc) get paid like crap, isn't it?

It's either funny or several chapters in my unwritten philosophical treatise, which I can't get around to writing because of needing a job and having a wife.

My wife will sometimes boggle that more than one of the great minds in human history died broke and alone.  I just have to point out that their contributions may have been incredible but no one at the time was willing to give them any money for their ideas.

Even with access to excellent funding there are examples of truly great minds that were just horrid when it came to monetizing their ideas (god I sound like a schill for some douchebag overcompensated salesperson), for example Tesla had excellent funding on numerous occasions but somehow was miraculously horrible at monetizing his ideas.

[Strazos]

He used to be just a boy.  I don't know what happened?   

I became a man-child in a suit with disposable income.

ie - US foreign service officer.

[Strazos]

So after I receive my yearly within-grade increase, I should be grossing a hair above 6 figures.

Proof that getting my PhD was a monumental waste of time. 

Eh, there are huge trade-offs. And I'm not going to cure cancer or anything like that.

Besides, money ain't everything.

[Nebu]

Besides, money ain't everything.

I'll PM you an address where you can send the checks.   

[schild]

I like it when Straz says that before a donation drive.

That said, when do you get your Chalupas, Strazos?

[Merusk]

Even with access to excellent funding there are examples of truly great minds that were just horrid when it came to monetizing their ideas (god I sound like a schill for some douchebag overcompensated salesperson), for example Tesla had excellent funding on numerous occasions but somehow was miraculously horrible at monetizing his ideas.

Tesla had no interest in making money. He wanted to pursue the idea and raise mankind up. Nothing more, nothing like Edison's lust for personal power.

Money does not represent such a value as men have placed upon it. All my money has been invested into experiments with which I have made new discoveries enabling mankind to have a little easier life.
As quoted in "A Visit to Nikola Tesla" by Dragislav L. Petković in Politika (April 1927); also in Tesla, Master of Lightning (1999) by Margaret Cheney, Robert Uth, and Jim Glenn, p. 82

The real problem with celebrating genius is something Raph's begun exploring. Most people aren't recognized as such until the establishment is dead and another generation can review it without fear of their personal power falling because of it.  Be it real as in political, economic or military power, or imagined like the art critic.

[Strazos]

I like it when Straz says that before a donation drive.

That said, when do you get your Chalupas, Strazos?

I was going to say that they don't have chalupas here, but then Wikipedia informed me that they are indeed a thing here, though they don't resemble the cherished Taco Bell chalupas of my youth.

They're also mostly found in some of the states pretty far south of me in Mexico. However, they have tasty and cheap taquitos here, along with all other manner of "real food."