Job thread

[Lantyssa]

I'll let my friends in atmospheric science know you have openings.

[Ironwood]

 

[Yegolev]

We are probably looking for meteorologist-programmers somewhere, but I see you must have been joking.

[Rasix]

Late last week we were told of an important meeting that we should attend.  It's in Tel Aviv on December 28.  I could go but every single financial approver in the management change is on vacation and good luck getting 4th quarter travel approved 4 days from Christmas. 

Israelis. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Yegolev]

I sort of want to ask what the fuck is going on in Israel but I also sort of don't.

[Rasix]

I'm bored and no one's in the office, so I'm going to interpret that as a yes.

Kick off meeting.  Some sort of "scrum of all scrums" thing because we're totally doing Agile for this release guys.  Honest.   Tel Aviv is already flying in guys from their China team and didn't tell us until it was too late to realistically get over there. Their management is a bit hostile when it comes to people outside their silo.
BRB. Updating CV.  

edit: Ohh seriously, fuck you Lotus Notes.  Apparently my emails haven't been sending for the past week and a half.  Don't put it in the sent folder if you didn't send it.

[Hawkbit]

Google's hosting a thing in March at their NYC offices, so my boss signs us up. When I got the invite, it was for a three-hour conference. So Seattle->NYC and back for a three-hour something.

Here's an idea: Maybe do it on Hangouts? I like travel for fun, not so much for work.

[Merusk]

Tech companies that don't do virtual or teleconfrence meetings have no room to wonder why people aren't using their latest gee-gaw. Jeez, even my little company has Cisco devices now and we're terrible at adopting new tech (despite throwing tons of money at my department.)

[Yegolev]

You'll use our gee-gaws and you'll like'em.

[Merusk]

Well this isn't a good thing.

IEEE agrees with the Bureau of Labor: Growth for electrical and electronics engineering is predicted to be 0% for the next decade.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3017196/it-careers/u-s-predicts-zero-job-growth-for-electronics-engineers.html

Of course this won't stop the constant "hey we don't have enough engineers, let us import them" cries.

[Chimpy]

All of those cries about "no skilled labor" are deceptively neglecting the word "cheap" before skilled. There was an interview I read a couple years ago of a manufacturing company that was bemoaning the fact that they could not hire enough certified welders. When it came up how much they were willing to pay: $12 an hour for a position that requires thousands of dollars in training (which the company in question was not willing to pay for). I am pretty sure my exam when I took it in 2004 cost my company like $750. Which was only for one process/material type.

[Yegolev]

Yes.  Working for a company that has lots of profits rolling in is important.  That is the main reason I'm not excited about working for IBM.

[Shannow]

Welp, lost my job of 14 years today. Anyone hiring in the Boston area?

[Viin]

Wow 14 years. Hopefully you milked them for all they are worth. Hey The Weather company is hiring in Boston, I think we know someone there ...

[RhyssaFireheart]

Crap, that's got to suck, Shannow.  Sorry to hear that.

-----------------------------------------------------------

I've been told that I'm only eligible for another 6 month extension and so I'll have to take a furlough this July, which sucks.  Company wants to make absolutely certain that contingent workers know they aren't really employees after all, so every two years they require them to take a 30 day unpaid furlough.  My boss got me an exemption last time I was due because what I do is so vital (but not vital enough to be really made permanent) that I couldn't be spared, but not this time.  So now she's trying to organize backup for me ahead of time and get someone else (an employee, of course) to learn what I do enough to cover for me, because she's said "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't come back" which, I'm not sure how to take. 

[Merusk]

You should take it as, "Put out your resume, we're going to fuck you on your contract this next cycle."

Sorry to hear it, Shannow. What industry?

[Shannow]

investment firm. Sales guy.

[Yegolev]

Wow 14 years. Hopefully you milked them for all they are worth. Hey The Weather company is hiring in Boston, I think we know someone there ...

Andover, actually.  I don't know that we need sales people, but if so it will be in digital advertising.

In Feb, you'll almost certainly have to apply to IBM instead of TWC, since we will cease to be a separate entity.

[Bungee]

investment firm. Sales guy.

Sent you something per PM, don't know if the field fits you though.

[HaemishM]

You should take it as, "Put out your resume, we're going to fuck you on your contract this next cycle."

This. If the company won't hire you as an actual employee and wants you to train someone to be your backup while you are gone on forced furlough, they don't value you at fucking all and will take any opportunity to shitcan you because it costs them nothing. Start looking for something else now and keep looking until you can tell them to go fuck themselves even if they bring you back after the furlough. Being a "self-employed contractor" that is for all intents and purposes an employee (except for the actual legal definition of employee) means you are a line-item on a fucking worksheet and not a real person to the company. Frankly, if I could, I'd outlaw that kind of work completely because it's fucking exploitative as hell. My wife has been stuck in this type of position for years, for many different companies and the day when they decide they don't actually want to pay you for your services because they either found it cheaper, can't afford it anymore or don't value it at all sucks monkey balls and it usually happens with no warning despite months of the company telling you your income is secure.

Also, sorry to here it Shannow. Good luck finding something.

[shiznitz]

Welp, lost my job of 14 years today. Anyone hiring in the Boston area?

General Electric, maybe, because they are moving headquarters to Boston from Connecticut.

[Yegolev]

Hmmm.  Interesting.

[Ard]

Welp, I just found out, while on paternity leave, that the VP of my company, it's original founder, put in his resignation while I was out.  I hated this guy, but at the same time he's probably the only thing keeping our parent company from shutting down our small office.  In for interesting times when I go back to work in a week.

[Rasix]

Work is driving me crazy.  We've slipped back into "nothing fucking works" territory AGAIN on this project.

I have a meeting with the executive sponsor for this project in 2 days.  I'm sure his cronies have been telling him how great everything is going and how difficult we're being.

 

[Ironwood]

I feel you.  I've had two days this week where 'walking out and not looking back' seemed to be the only option.  And it's Wednesday.

[Yegolev]

[Paelos]

I feel you.  I've had two days this week where 'walking out and not looking back' seemed to be the only option.  And it's Wednesday.

Yep, I'm getting damn tired at my job of systems just not working and everyone seemingly relying on me to fix it with no knowledge whatsoever. I'm used to having people that I trust run these things and the ability to pay them accordingly. I can't do that here.

[sickrubik]

I've been dealing with the same shit. Beer industry, at least on the Distributor side, sucks. So, finally, got a call from the County and they gave me a conditional offer, pending physical. That happens Monday. Not burning the bridge as I'll probably end back up IN the beer industry, but jesus christ, this week is making it easier to say "goodbye for now".

[Paelos]

I think the beginning of the year is when people look around and ask themselves why the hell they are doing this job again

[Rasix]

I've Been Moved.

[HaemishM]

Is that a good thing?

[sickrubik]

Either that or Rasix is turning into Milton from Office Space.

[Rasix]

I'll be sitting in the same office most likely.  I'll be on a different product in a May with a job that doesn't have a description or set of responsibilities yet.

In the meantime I get to go through crunchtime on the product I'm working on currently and then hand off my duties to a bunch of Chinese being managed remotely out of Tel Aviv.

It's what I consider a really wrong/stupid move in the effort to bring this product under a single management silo.  I'm not confident they can maintain quality with what we've seen when Tel Aviv is given free reign over QA of a product. Quality goes into the shitter time and time again for a variety of reasons.  I put a lot of effort into field quality improvement, building relationships with my peers across multiple teams, and have just undergone a lot of tool modernization in the effort to release a better product.  It's been beneficial for me as well, as I've gotten a lot of recognition for what I've done here and was probably going to be the team lead as well as architect (what I am currently) within the year.  

Now.. whatever. I've got a job.  At least the dev team is local, and they have a solid road map.  I was just looking forward to doing more with what I had, and I had NO idea this was coming.  I'm just a bit shell shocked at the moment.  

The executive meeting was rescheduled to a couple weeks for now.  That is going to be really awkward.  He's a mentor of mine and just orchestrated the move that caused all of this.

[HaemishM]

In the meantime I get to go through crunchtime on the product I'm working on currently and then hand off my duties to a bunch of Chinese being managed remotely out of Tel Aviv.

I predict that will go smashingly well.

For you. Because you'll be gone from the shitshow that is certainly going to be.

[Chimpy]

Ok, so was your old team the SVC/Storwize team?

As someone who uses/manages several hundred thousand dollars worth of them, I would like to know if the QA/QC is going (farther) down the shitter