Job searching again

**Mike** · 08-04-2010, 02:10 PM

knowing how government contracting works, i would not be surprised in the least.

.RJ · 08-04-2010, 02:15 PM

I'm surprised that they didnt escort you back to your desk with a box and then shove you out the door.

HAULN-SS · 08-04-2010, 02:54 PM

I think he meant disappointed to hear I was leaving. I told him the reasons - mostly BS, about an opportunity that I couldnt wait on, especially since my program is moving physical locations (springfield, next year), and this company offered me a spot closer to home, with the potential of being able to work in Winchester. I dont see how anyone could blame me for taking it. I didnt tell him anything about the jump in pay and benefits. I figured I'd give the same BS reasons in a letter to them I am going to type up later today.

It would be really unwise for them to escort me out before I have a chance to submit all my work to subversion, with documentation. It could literally set someone back a year. Part of the reason I gave them a MONTH notice practically - so I can tie up loose ends and not burn bridges. I wouldnt mind working on this program again, if I move closer sometime in the future

Kaan · 08-04-2010, 03:02 PM

.RJ Wrote:I'm surprised that they didnt escort you back to your desk with a box and then shove you out the door.

rofl... i've seen that happen. Hell i thought it was going to happen to me when i handed in my resignation letter at my last company.

Evan · 08-04-2010, 04:49 PM

some companies just take it personally and get all butthurt. when I left my first job (after 2.5 years) at a very small ~15 person company where everybody was friends, I thought my manager was going to cry. After I gave my 2 weeks, nobody at the company talked to me and I got no farewell lunch or anything, despite the fact they knew that the work I was doing there was shit and left so I could learn

Maengelito · 08-05-2010, 08:15 AM

Evan Wrote:some companies just take it personally and get all butthurt. when I left my first job (after 2.5 years) at a very small ~15 person company where everybody was friends, I thought my manager was going to cry. After I gave my 2 weeks, nobody at the company talked to me and I got no farewell lunch or anything, despite the fact they knew that the work I was doing there was shit and left so I could learn

Who can blame them? They got to know you for 2.5 years, they probably had a party as soon as you walked out the door.

Apoc · 08-05-2010, 09:18 AM

I don't think I've ever gotten a farewell lunch, unless you count the "Lets all go out to lunch because half of us won't be here tomorrow" lunch. Read into that what you will...

**Mike** · 08-05-2010, 10:54 AM

Had I stayed at my old job (3 years ago), I would have been laid off this week. I always had doubts on whether I had made a good move... No more Tongue

HAULN-SS · 08-05-2010, 11:04 AM

Interesting you said something about that. My manager today called me in for a meeting, basically to discuss options that may keep me around - closer work space, more pay, promotion, blah blah blah. I think that at some point you have to just take the chance to leap to the next place and hope it is going to work out. I wonder if thhis probably ends up being the case more often than staying put because of what-ifs.

Apoc · 08-05-2010, 11:09 AM

Amusing. What managers seem to fail to understand is that once you've started interviewing, it's over. If someone told me they were leaving, I'm not naive enough to think that throwing whatever at them will keep them around for longer than 6 months.

The thing that would be a flag at your current company is they're moving the offices. They had to think that would be a catalyst for people leaving, right? They should have gotten out ahead of it.

HAULN-SS · 08-05-2010, 11:24 AM

Well it was originally supposed to be New Mexico, which I probably would have moved there over springfield. They scrapped the NM plans because they thought springfield would save the labor force. I guess this is true for most people, but for me, it takes my hour commute one way to 2 hours probably, unless I wanted to get in at some ungodly hour. I think they are surprised mostly that I found something so fast. But as I told them I would be an idiot to wait until the last minute next year to try to find something, when a good opportunity has come up now.

It's kind of funny how management is still a little clueless. He started talking about having to find a position a level up in another program to "probably meet the 15 - 20% your new job is probably offering you" which I know is BS, because my pay band at my current level goes plenty high. He just doesnt want to spend the money I think. Also it was significantly more than that, so unless they pull some magic out of their hat it's likely a frivolous activity they are engaging in last minute. I have refrained from being the "in your face!" guy by telling them about the better pay/benefits because I always thought that was a kind of cheap tactic. Either pay me on your own, on my merits, or I am leaving. This wouldnt have been an issue if events 6 months ago had gone more favorable, instead of blaming "The bad economy" for everything.

HAULN-SS · 08-31-2010, 02:25 PM

2nd day at new company. Bamboozled..bait and switched =\ details to come

Kaan · 08-31-2010, 03:07 PM

oh this should be good!

Sijray21 · 08-31-2010, 04:37 PM

HAULN-SS · 08-31-2010, 08:32 PM

So basically I am doing the exact opposite of what I want to be doing. At least temporarily. I was told I was going to be doing algorithm design for modeling and simulation software. Flipping sweet..cause that's what I love to do. The main reason behind this is because i am more of a math guy than a programmer - at least as far as what I enjoy. So on the first day, I notice I am in a cost estimation group - my first red flag. At best this is doing some kind of stochastic models or some other statistical shit that I hate (not real math), and at worst it is workforce planning. It's workforce planning. This is about the shittiest kind of simulation stuff out there, in my opinion. Forgetting all that, the cost estimation algorithms were already written and this is basically just a data in/data out job. That being said, I am going from writing low level C, to a job where I will be writing groovy/grails stuff for a site to collect stats from resumes that can be used for the cost estimation tools.

I was basically all fired up about this, and so I went to them to ask "wtf" because there were a few other issues going on, regarding who the customer is and such as well, which matters a lot to me, and affects my career. I got some info that basically I am considered "on the bench" working this internal-ish program. Supposedly this is to make me more marketable to check off the box "knows java" whenever a contract job comes up that is more along the lines I am interested in. I was told this will probably be in the couple to two months time frame. All I know is that instead of putting me right on a contract where I could jump in and go to it, they are paying a lot for me to learn a new language and style of programming I have never done before. I can kind of see the "make him marketable" angle that they are talking about, because a lot of times a job will be posted with java as a requirement, even if its only 10% of the job - but its never been a problem before (i know enough to get by). It will be interesting to see how long I end up on the bench here working this internal project.

WRXtranceformed · 08-31-2010, 08:50 PM

Sounds like typical new guy low on the totem pole stuff. I wouldn't stress over it unless you end up doing that stuff for a lot longer than expected.

HAULN-SS · 08-31-2010, 09:03 PM

I might think that, but it doesnt seem like they have nearly as much modeling/sim stuff that they led me to believe..IF a spot opens up any time soon, I think I will basically be on their fledgling team

CaptainHenreh · 08-31-2010, 09:04 PM

HAULN-SS Wrote:I might think that, but it doesnt seem like they have nearly as much modeling/sim stuff that they led me to believe..IF a spot opens up any time soon, I think I will basically be on their fledgling team

Sounds like a good way to step in and run their modeling/sim stuff.

When life hands you shit, you make shitade.

Evan · 08-31-2010, 10:58 PM

yummy.......shitade...? :vomit:

if youre going to bail, the sooner the better, and just leave it off your resume. what really sucks is if it turns out that their "2 months" line is bullshit and you wait 2 months and youre still writing resume scrapers. then youre fucked since bailing after 2 months doenst look good.

if you had other good options that you turned down to take this job then it might be time to give them a call to see if they are still looking.

Steve85 · 09-01-2010, 08:56 AM

If you were willing to move to NM check these guys out in North Lake Tahoe. They developed Solver for Excel and I use their super twin-turbo solver add-in that allows 8000 variables. Check out their products, it seems right up your alley. No direct careers contact on the site though.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.solver.com/about3.htm">http://www.solver.com/about3.htm</a>

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