Job woes

[wakproductions]

Just shy of my 23rd anniversary, my company "rebadged" my position to an outside vendor. What does this mean? Well, I'm doing the same thing with the same people every day, but the new company is infamous for keeping insourced employees around long enough to absorb their knowledge and replace them with overseas or H-1B employees. So the writing is on the wall, and I'm looking at this as sort of a long term severance package until I'm officially let go. (As an aside, I have a little bit of schadenfreude about the whole situation, because the lion's share of my job is supporting customers on equipment and solutions I have two decades of hands-on experience with. They're crotchety enough now, it's going to be funny when they realize they're talking to someone who's never touched the product and is reading off of a cheat sheet.)

I've been networking a little bit using personal contacts and LinkedIn and have applied for quite a few jobs, but I just can't seem to get any traction. I've only got one official rejection, but everything else has been automated responses to the effect of "don't call us, we'll call you." As someone who hasn't had to job hop in a while, it's pretty disconcerting. Whatever happened to personal contact and actual interviews? Have they gone the way of the dodo?

I have been in your shoes before. I worked for a tech company as an engineer and one day they introduced me to a consultant from Indian consulting firm who just flew in from Mumbai. The managers outright lied to me about what he was doing by saying he's here to "help" me and take on other projects. They asked me to show this guy all the processes I've developed, and then in the following weeks more Indian guys started popping up in the emails and work assignments. My employer told me not to worry about it and that my job is safe. Then, one morning after I finished writing the comprehensive documentation for the new workers I received a call from my boss that the company doesn't need me any more for "strategic reasons".

The one thing I would suggest to you right now is to not cooperate with your employer. Either quit or sabotage the transitional effort by refusing to transfer any knowledge to your replacements. When the time comes that they do let you go, you will regret having acted cordially with them. Employers like this need to be resisted on principle.

I remember on the first day of my replacement showing up to work, the guy had no clue what he was doing and did something to the company's database that corrupted the whole thing. Unfortunately, my coworker and I were concerned about what this guy was doing and we made a special, complete backup of all the systems before he started poking around. Had we not done this, what the Indian guy did would have caused the loss of all of the company's proprietary data effectively ending the whole enterprise. Both me and my coworker regret having been conscientious and making that fail-safe because it would have taught the owners of this small company a lesson. In the end, us US engineers got screwed.

 

[JTScribe]

I have been in your shoes before. I worked for a tech company as an engineer and one day they introduced me to a consultant from Indian consulting firm who just flew in from Mumbai. The managers outright lied to me about what he was doing by saying he's here to "help" me and take on other projects. They asked me to show this guy all the processes I've developed, and then in the following weeks more Indian guys started popping up in the emails and work assignments. My employer told me not to worry about it and that my job is safe. Then, one morning after I finished writing the comprehensive documentation for the new workers I received a call from my boss that the company doesn't need me any more for "strategic reasons".

The one thing I would suggest to you right now is to not cooperate with your employer. Either quit or sabotage the transitional effort by refusing to transfer any knowledge to your replacements. When the time comes that they do let you go, you will regret having acted cordially with them. Employers like this need to be resisted on principle.

I remember on the first day of my replacement showing up to work, the guy had no clue what he was doing and did something to the company's database that corrupted the whole thing. Unfortunately, my coworker and I were concerned about what this guy was doing and we made a special, complete backup of all the systems before he started poking around. Had we not done this, what the Indian guy did would have caused the loss of all of the company's proprietary data effectively ending the whole enterprise. Both me and my coworker regret having been conscientious and making that fail-safe because it would have taught the owners of this small company a lesson. In the end, us US engineers got screwed.

Good insights. I don't know if they haven't gotten to us yet, but so far nothing has really changed. We're a small bucket of about 6,000 employees total who were moved over, so who's to say what they're focusing on first. Still got some feelers out for jobs, but nothing solid yet.

 

[maxwelhse]

I'm sorry to hear about your hard times. I've been a more frequent job hunter over the past few years than I ever wanted to be. Things have changed radically even in the past few years. The guys steering you to LinkedIn are absolutely correct. The job boards are still an "ok" place to look, but 99% of what you're going to get, especially with an IT background, are Indian job spammers. I highly recommend you use a burner email and burner phone for your job search as you'll be bothered by those guys for YEARS once they get a hold of your info. The Indian guys in particular were also nice enough to sell my info after the fact.

I do wish I'd taken the time to get the stamp basic certs like my A+ and Network+,

Don't. I've had my A+ cert since 1999 and it has netted me an entire ONE interview, ever, and the only job offer I got would have been for a terrible company that did POS support for various companies (Target, Walmart, etc) so I'd have to drive like 30,000 miles a year for $15/hr, and only on an on-call basis (so wait by the phone and hope I get to work that day). Even counting mileage, that doesn't pay to replace the car I'd be beating to death to do it. That's it, after 20 years of holding a valid A+. The $15/hr offer also came AFTER I completed 2 Purdue engineering degrees. When I first took the test I thought it would be nice to have a small IT support role somewhere when I was in college and I never even managed to get a job at the university help desk working lab hours showing people how to reboot Windows 98.

If you want to go back to school and get a degree or more advanced education than you have now, then absolutely do that, but I wouldn't worry about any certs without a degree since you have comparable experience to the certs anyhow.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

I'm am always re-assessing my direction in life. Right now I'm heading toward applied statistics and data analysis (thus all of the math courses I am re-taking in order to prepare), but I no longer etch my tracks in stone. I'm in a catch-22 right now too. I have time to complete an Applied Statistics MS or certificate program because I am only working part time, but since I am only working part time, I don't have the money to pay for it (or enough for the rest of life as it stands now). I will work it out, though.

Just a thought, have you ever done any QC/QA work? Both statistics and data analysis were used back when I did QA at a plastic injection molding plant especially for any position beyond inspector. In fact a statistics degree was a requirement for any position beyond that. Just an idea if you haven't already thought of it.

I've worked in a factory that did rotary injection molding, so I can say it's worse than that! It's better than nothing, though, by a long shot!

I've done injection molding and visited a plant that did rotational molding, but not rotary injection molding. The rotary molding the operator had to manually add the plastic pellets to the mold, seal it up, and then start the cycle. When the cycle was over he had to pop the piece out of the mold, deburr the seams with a razor knife then use basically an air powered dremel to finish it. That looked like a rough job. He was also running iirc at least 5 machines.

I have worked in and around both. And heavy foundry's as well. Some as an Employee. Others as an outside contractor working on the support equipment. Seen a lot in this life.

I used to do industrial cleaning for a while, been in all sorts of places. Steel mills, foundries, chemical plants, refineries, generating stations, corn processing, aluminum can manufacturing, etc. The most unique one was probably a casket manufacturer on Halloween. What was fun is the dispatcher didn't mention just where we were going, it was a last minute emergency call. The funniest part was a buddy was sleeping when we pulled in and didn't see the signs, we went though the doors and there was somebody wheeling a casket down the hall. Never seen a black man turn white before that day. He froze for a couple of seconds, yelled WTF, turned and bolted back towards the door.

 

[rhino]

Just a thought, have you ever done any QC/QA work? Both statistics and data analysis were used back when I did QA at a plastic injection molding plant especially for any position beyond inspector. In fact a statistics degree was a requirement for any position beyond that. Just an idea if you haven't already thought of it.

Not since a summer job in 1986! QA/QC is one of the potential jobs I'm eyeing down the road. It would certainly help if I'd had a job recently and gotten a heavyweight certification like Six Sigma, for now I'm concentrating on the general principles. I'm re-taking Statistics right now (I did mathematical statistics as part of my mechanical engineering undergrad requirements back in 1986) and looking at various applied statistic MS and certificate programs. I am also noting the Catch-22 of being unemployed allows me the time to pursue it, but I need a job for the $$$ to pay the tuition.

I have applied for some QA/QC jobs, but without recent, relevant experience and/or certifications, I have received zero responses.

I've done injection molding and visited a plant that did rotational molding, but not rotary injection molding. The rotary molding the operator had to manually add the plastic pellets to the mold, seal it up, and then start the cycle. When the cycle was over he had to pop the piece out of the mold, deburr the seams with a razor knife then use basically an air powered dremel to finish it. That looked like a rough job. He was also running iirc at least 5 machines.

I worked at the facility where the original H-C Industries (now Closure Systems International) G-28 and MP-28 winglock bottle closures and the machines to make them were designed and where they continued to build the machines for sale (with limited production of the closures at the time). The molding machines had a couple of dozen molding tools mounted on a rotating platform. Each tool was fed by big extruder that slapped a pellet of the molten closure material into a ready tool cavity it passed. During one revolution of the machine, that material was formed, cooled to solid, a liner material was added and formed then cooled, and eventually the completed closure was spun out of the tool and down a chute into a shipping box.

I did some analysis trying to determine if some cracking issues were related to the type of colorant being added to the closure material before the extruder. I did a really nice report and handed it to the engineering team at which time it was ignored. Hah!

 

[amboy49]

With complete sincerity, although being old enough to be retired carries some of its own challenges, I’m glad I know longer must suffer through the changes in the work marketplace. Although my life’s employment field had nothing to do with any personal expertise or knowledge in technology, nonetheless in the last five years I was employed the transformation of the mindset of management as a whole was dramatic. My children have told me they expect to not just have multiple jobs in their lifetime, but potentially have multiple vocations. Perhaps, although difficult, a positive mental attitude shored up by the support of friends and family is the best anyone can personally control in today’s world.

 

[rhino]

With complete sincerity, although being old enough to be retired carries some of its own challenges, I’m glad I know longer must suffer through the changes in the work marketplace. Although my life’s employment field had nothing to do with any personal expertise or knowledge in technology, nonetheless in the last five years I was employed the transformation of the mindset of management as a whole was dramatic. My children have told me they expect to not just have multiple jobs in their lifetime, but potentially have multiple vocations. Perhaps, although difficult, a positive mental attitude shored up by the support of friends and family is the best anyone can personally control in today’s world.

That's a very good point. Just this week it was noted how negative (in general) I am compared to how I was last year. Much of it is justified by events and circumstances, I need to own that I can control that small thing and improve it.

 

[PistolBob]

My brother-in-law is looking and said he had to do a hour PowerPoint presentation about himself with this small startup company. What a nightmare.

I still think having a strong network opens a lot of doors. Maybe hit up some people you’ve known for a while through your job and see what openings they might know about?

Good luck with your search.


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Anyone that creates an hour long Powerpoint needs to be sent to a re-education camp. Anyone that can sit through an hour long Powerpoint needs to get a real job.

oy vay...

Powerpoint, what a terrible way to die.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Anyone that creates an hour long Powerpoint needs to be sent to a re-education camp. Anyone that can sit through an hour long Powerpoint needs to get a real job.

oy vay...

Powerpoint, what a terrible way to die.

Agreed! And I really hate it when they send the Powerpoint slides out to everyone in an email prior to a meeting, when the entire meeting IS the Powerpoint presentation. I'm thinking, "What's the point of the meeting if it can all be presented in an email?" I can zip through the slides in an email a lot faster than the presenter can read them to us. Then again, I really don't like meetings in any form. Especially 2 or 3 hour meetings. Anything over 30 minutes or so just doesn't seem all that productive to me.

 

[rhino]

Agreed! And I really hate it when they send the Powerpoint slides out to everyone in an email prior to a meeting, when the entire meeting IS the Powerpoint presentation. I'm thinking, "What's the point of the meeting if it can all be presented in an email?" I can zip through the slides in an email a lot faster than the presenter can read them to us. Then again, I really don't like meetings in any form. Especially 2 or 3 hour meetings. Anything over 30 minutes or so just doesn't seem all that productive to me.

When used correctly, a PowerPoint presentation doesn't have enough detail to communicate the information without the presenter's lecture. It should be less detailed than an outline.

People reading PowerPoints as if it's a lecture are doing it wrong. Making a PowerPoint that you can read that way is also doing it wrong.

When I use PowerPoint, it's a partially configured canvas ready to accept the masterpiece I'm about to paint in front of my enthralled, adoring audience. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. A little.

 

[KLB]

When used correctly, a PowerPoint presentation doesn't have enough detail to communicate the information without the presenter's lecture. It should be less detailed than an outline.

People reading PowerPoints as if it's a lecture are doing it wrong. Making a PowerPoint that you can read that way is also doing it wrong.

When I use PowerPoint, it's a partially configured canvas ready to accept the masterpiece I'm about to paint in front of my enthralled, adoring audience. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. A little.

So very true. People that read them should be tarred and feathered.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

So very true. People that read them should be tarred and feathered.

In my case it's people with the federal government reading from them, and sometimes fairly high up in the federal government. Take that for what it's worth.

 

[rhino]

In my case it's people with the federal government reading from them, and sometimes fairly high up in the federal government. Take that for what it's worth.

SAVAGES!

 

[Brad69]

So not downing anyone but I assumed the IT field would pay more than 50k to start?
I heard a young lady whining about having a masters degree in education and 10 years experience making a whopping $38,000 a year.
While her husband drives a forklift at ALCOA in Newburg, IN makes twice what she does.

I place that on a background of a entry level factory worker down this way will top 50k in the first year without overtime.

 

[BugI02]

But ... but ... there's no place at Act's workstation to set your Starbucks or charge your phone

 

[KLB]

So not downing anyone but I assumed the IT field would pay more than 50k to start?
I heard a young lady whining about having a masters degree in education and 10 years experience making a whopping $38,000 a year.
While her husband drives a forklift at ALCOA in Newburg, IN makes twice what she does.

I place that on a background of a entry level factory worker down this way will top 50k in the first year without overtime.

Well, that would vary a lot depending upon what kind of IT job and where.

 

[Brad69]

I have picked up many steel coils at ACT’s workplace
It has very high rate of “manliness” you have to be kinda tough just to enter the gates!

 

[KLB]

 

[NKBJ]

Gifting prosperity via American jobs to communist China was a very real US foreign policy directive for many years.
So now let's say we're taking the B and the I out of the BRIC's.
Our jobs go bye-bye... is that a stretch?

 

[Mark 1911]

Hope things work out better for you in the long run, often how these things work out. Things always happen for a reason. Wishing you the best.