Job thread

[Selby]

And unlike the vast majority of university research, working in a national lab pretty much guarantees that some effort will be made to weaponize your work.

Not necessarily.  Los Alamos, yes.  The other labs that specifically have claims against DoD or weaponized research?  Not so much...

[Torinak]

And unlike the vast majority of university research, working in a national lab pretty much guarantees that some effort will be made to weaponize your work.

Not necessarily.  Los Alamos, yes.  The other labs that specifically have claims against DoD or weaponized research?  Not so much...

Which labs have that kind of claim? Do they also claim that no work done there will be weaponized at a different national lab?

The closest I've heard of is when a specific grant isn't directly aimed at weaponization, but its result may (or will) be used that way. A tale from a former prof was that his group had a project for AI planning and logistics optimization algorithms for international disaster relief efforts, and once they started to show results they were re-purposed into bomb delivery planning. The prof was OK with that, but used it as a cautionary tale about what national research lab work is like for the people in his seminar who didn't want their work weaponized.

[Ghambit]

Los Alamos is still a DoE lab (of which there are like 12?), though it does obviously have DoD ties.  The vast majority of work here is cutting-edge energy or climate-based work, but you'll find work in literally every aspect of sci-eng.  You've obviously got nuclear non-proliferation and storage stuff, but those budgets have been parred down over the years for the sake of tech. commercialization. They've still got a $2B annual budget.     More than double Argonne's.  It's one of the reasons they can afford to have their employees go "off piste" with a new idea and one of the reasons I targeted it.  My mentor has like 12 different projects going, each with intern hires.  They hire like 1500 students a year here, it's ridiculous.  Nothing like NASA, which tries to maximize with very little budget to play with and also requires supreme focus on very particular projects.

That said, I probably don't get here w/o having done DoE stuff last summer in DC.  That appointment was strictly professional development at the administration level (as in cabinet).  You meet people in high places.  You brown-nose.  You learn the ins-and-outs.  You then take that knowledge and network out into the world and parlay it into something else.  If all goes well here, I'll have a better academic base from which to work with.

Anyways, I highly recommend people in anything STEM take a look at working for a national lab.  The pay won't be as competitive, but the benefits outweigh that and many times you're more free to work on what you'd like to, especially if you're bringing viable research with you.  If you can stay attached to a Uni. while here, more the better... because there are articulation agreements that make you more attractive to both orgs.  Our physics chair, for instance, works here in the Summers and brings interns with him from the Uni.

After I start hopefully I can talk more about what I'll be doing, but not sure yet.  If it's not a clearance, it's an NDA.  That does not breed good innovation imo.  Hopefully the dynamic changes... but it'll be slow-going.  As for weaponization, that risk is apparent at any lab with a somewhat open research policy.  Los Alamos is not immune to that.

[ezrast]

One of my bosses sent me an email reprimanding me for not adhering to a company policy that he himself has admitted is bullshit.

I'm planning on quitting next week anyway.

Time to get sassy.

[Fabricated]

I got promoted finally which is nice. We lost a couple people (not to the work environment ironically; one had his former employer literally come back begging for him and offering him ridiculous concessions, the other was a student who took an internship that will pay for his tuition so that was a no-brainer) and we were already shorthanded so we just hired like 6 new people who are basically all starting at once. Which will be hilarious to watch I imagine.

[Torinak]

One of my bosses sent me an email reprimanding me for not adhering to a company policy that he himself has admitted is bullshit.

I'm planning on quitting next week anyway.

Time to get sassy.

Don't burn your bridges until you have a replacement job in hand, unless the old environment is just that toxic. Once you're at a new job, you can always call your old manager and deliver as much sass as you want.

A former colleague of mine did just that. He quit and joined us because his team at his previous company hadn't shipped any working products in three years, despite being a "top priority" and "strategic project" for the company. Once at the new company, he shipped significant production code in his first week, and made sure to call his old manager to bitch him out about all that was broken about the his old company compared to his new gig. Maybe not terribly professional, but he said it was one of the most fun things he's ever done.

[koro]

My job finally laid enough straws on the camel that now I'm actively looking for something new.

Unless you like a shit parade of increasingly terrible manufacturing jobs (second shift only), there is nothing in South Carolina for someone without a bachelor's degree, and there are a number of starting positions that require a fucking master's and 5+ years of experience for $30k a year.

Hopefully I can find some shitty office job to at least get my foot in the door and back on a normal human's sleep schedule, but at this rate I might just have to drop down from full-time with benefits to some part-time gig and start going back to school.

[rattran]

Maybe Cheddar needs a lackey or houseboy. Or you could get the hell out of South Cackaslackey.

[Cheddar]

Maybe Cheddar needs a lackey or houseboy. Or you could get the hell out of South Cackaslackey.

We are hiring in Elgin.  www.verizonwireless.com/careers.

CS and tech support call center work.

[koro]

Which Elgin? There are two, and they're like forty miles apart.

There's actually a boat-building company out of Charleston opening up shop here in an old Renfro plant that shut down about a decade ago, and they do brisk sales to people around here who go out to Lake Wylie and other places. They're going to be holding a job fair in the first week of July, so I might hit that up.

If not, I might jump on one of those Verizon jobs.

[Cheddar]

Which Elgin? There are two, and they're like forty miles apart.

There's actually a boat-building company out of Charleston opening up shop here in an old Renfro plant that shut down about a decade ago, and they do brisk sales to people around here who go out to Lake Wylie and other places. They're going to be holding a job fair in the first week of July, so I might hit that up.

If not, I might jump on one of those Verizon jobs.

NE side of Cola.  Off Spear creek church rd (exit 82 of I20).

[Ghambit]

My job finally laid enough straws on the camel that now I'm actively looking for something new.

Unless you like a shit parade of increasingly terrible manufacturing jobs (second shift only), there is nothing in South Carolina for someone without a bachelor's degree, and there are a number of starting positions that require a fucking master's and 5+ years of experience for $30k a year.

I get more than that as an undergrad intern and really, I'm still struggling (I don't have an S.O. to leech off of).  You serious?
And the last time I dipped into manufacturing (medical of course), an A.S. tech. degree was all that was needed to pull that kind of salary.    Yah, time to either move or change sectors.

[Draegan]

So that new job I took up back in September? It's not going as well as I either hoped or was led to believe. I don't want to go into any other details but the opportunity pipeline is incredibly low. The functionality of the company is a little less that what is desirable. And there was some, what I guess I can classify as office drama that really says a lot about things as a whole (it's not a big company). I'm currently have 2 kids and my wife is out of work for the next year as a choice and I don't see things getting better in the short term and a good portion of my income goes away after the first year ends (it was a bridge between startup and getting your self up and going) soon.

All of the sudden a new opportunity arises that gets me thinking.

Anyone ever leave a job outside of retail or hourly work inside the first year of employment?

[Reg]

I left a job doing Y2K consulting for an insurance company after 2 months when a much more interesting opportunity presented itself. I just left them off of my resume and pretended to have been unemployed for that 2 month gap.

[Rasix]

edit:  <removed extraneous venting>  My new boss isn't filling me with confidence.

[Chimpy]

Have they sold off your division to Lenovo yet?

[Rasix]

It's probably being worked into the TPP. 

[Paelos]

edit:  <removed extraneous venting>  My new boss isn't filling me with confidence.

First version was better.

[Rasix]

Yah, it was.  But it was probably too much info.  Right now he's participating in a rather sensitive meeting on speaker phone with the door wide open.  People are questioning our worth, better put it on blast.  

edit: I'm putting together a spreadsheet that could be interpreted as signing my own professional death warrant.  Neat.

[Tannhauser]

Welp, just got laid off after nine years.  Not only me, it was a bloodbath, 3 out of 8 in my dept. gone. Five others as well, Engineers, supervisors, buyers, lost more salary than hourly.  So, for the first time in 20 years I'm unemployed.  Not bad for a Quality Engineer in the Manufacturing sector I guess. What do?

Anyone recommend good daytime TV? Is the Price is Right still good after Bob Barker?  Is there a modern Rikki Lake show?  I feel like salving my wounds in white trash scuffles. 

Anyway, updated my resume and have submitted it to three openings, two in Nashville.  Other than the traffic, that's a great town. Compares with Atlanta for 'Mad Max' daily 'Witnessing' on the freeways though.

Any city recommendations?

-In the South
-Coast would be good, not mandatory
-Progressive
-At least 70k population; I like rubbing elbows or a small hamlet close to said 70k town

[Viin]

What kind of manufacturing?

https://www.hondajet.com/careers/  (Is North Carolina the South or the North? I always get that confused)

[Chimpy]

Is there really anyplace in the south that can be considered "progressive"? 

[HaemishM]

Is there really anyplace in the south that can be considered "progressive"? 

Beat me to it.

[Lantyssa]

Tampa Bay.  Houston.  I can't recommend Nawlins because they're their own kind of political beast.  Maybe Baton Rouge.

[Viin]

Tampa Bay.  Houston.  I can't recommend Nawlins because they're their own kind of political beast.  Maybe Baton Rouge.

Houston? Really? When I think of Houston I think of oil barons and strip clubs, the epitome of conservative corporate America.

[Paelos]

Is there really anyplace in the south that can be considered "progressive"? 

Beat me to it.

Atlanta.

[Trippy]

Tampa Bay.  Houston.  I can't recommend Nawlins because they're their own kind of political beast.  Maybe Baton Rouge.

Houston? Really? When I think of Houston I think of oil barons and strip clubs, the epitome of conservative corporate America.

Houston has changed a lot. It's very ethnically diverse now when you include the surrounding areas.

[Lantyssa]

You get issued a pony and a cowboy hat upon moving here, too.

Houston does have a lot of pro-business conservative types, but it's also a huge melting pot since it draws people from all over the world.

[MrHat]

You get issued a pony and a cowboy hat upon moving here, too.

Houston does have a lot of pro-business conservative types, but it's also a huge melting pot since it draws people from all over the world.

Also a melting pot of the nice heat + bayou goo.

[Strazos]

Soooo, press conferences - not the most fun I've ever had, but I didn't set myself on fire so I think I can count it as a success.

[Lantyssa]

Also a melting pot of the nice heat + bayou goo.

He said Coastal.  That describes everywhere along the Gulf.

[Paelos]

Soooo, press conferences - not the most fun I've ever had, but I didn't set myself on fire so I think I can count it as a success.

ALL IS WELL!

[Trippy]

Soooo, press conferences - not the most fun I've ever had, but I didn't set myself on fire so I think I can count it as a success.

Did you start a war? No? Then pat yourself on the back.

[CaptainNapkin]

Nashville.  Other than the traffic, that's a great town. Compares with Atlanta for 'Mad Max' daily 'Witnessing' on the freeways though.

Live north of town, get a job on the outskirts of the loop and you'll have basically no traffic. 35 miles each way takes me 30-35 minutes in, 40-45 home. Being from New Jersey I laugh when folks down here talk about traffic, or laugh that they live south of town and work on the opposite side. A little planning goes a long way.

Good luck on the search regardless.

[Tannhauser]

Thanks guys, Baton Rouge and TB are good ideas. Same goes for Atlanta and Nashville, but I would need to carefully choose my home location there.  I have 11 weeks of severance pay so not going tits up just yet.