Watching your employer slowly slip into bankruptcy.

[Dinner]

Yeah, they lost their 8A status which is a government set aside for a disabled vet owned business so they lost a good chunk of their work. They have their current contracts but they aren't winning that many new contracts to replace the old ones with so they are slowly getting less and less work.

Luckily I have an interview today and tomorrow with two different companies. If all goes well then I will soon be working for one of those two. Wish me luck.

[pchang]

So

They are no longer owned by a disabled vet? How did that happen?
[monty python mode]
I got better
[/monty python mode]

[GePap]

Originally posted by Asher

If you can't do, teach.
If you can't teach, work for the government.

Oh, how cute.

Not surprised though you cound't come up with an original thought.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Asher
If you can't do, teach others how to not do

Fixed.

[RGBVideo]

I hope you'll get a good-paying job from an oil company, those student loans can turn pretty dicey if the interest rates keep going up.

[Dinner]

Re: So

Originally posted by pchang
They are no longer owned by a disabled vet? How did that happen?
[monty python mode]
I got better
[/monty python mode]

It is only valid for a certain number of years and it must stay under a certain number of employees in order to qualify as a "small business". They tried to get sly and open up additional divisions under a different name claiming that those were different companies so that they really were still a small business. No dice. No more government set asides for them so now it is sink and swim time and it appears they are sinking.

On the upside my interview went very well yesterday. It looks like I might have a new job or failing that I have another interview today. The job market is currently very good for geologists. High oil prices and lots of government spending on cleaning up bases closed in the 1990's means there is plenty of work out there. More work then there are geologists so wages are rising.

[MikeH]

This will teach companies not to employ you.

[Japher]

@Mike

Oerdin; the same thing happened to my the company my wife worked for a while back. It really sucks, but at least it ain't you bankrupting a company... even though Mike is blaming you.

[MikeH]

You think this is just a coincidence?

Before this he was in Iraq, and look how that turned out!!!

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Japher
@Mike

Oerdin; the same thing happened to my the company my wife worked for a while back. It really sucks, but at least it ain't you bankrupting a company... even though Mike is blaming you.

Have you profited from the Boys Club yet?

[Dinner]

I went to an interview at another place today. It didn't seem to be that good of a fit since my experience is mostly in CERCLA work as well as military base closure type stuff while this company mostly deals with developer type issues. Geotechnical, surface water run off, and similiar type stuff. The government work is much, much higher margin and I would prefer to stay in the high margin work. The developers want people to work their asses off for pennies while most of the government contracts are cushy cost plus contracts.

In Geology about the only thing which has better pay and benifets then CERCLA work is the petroleum industry and the reason the oil companies pay so well is because working conditions suck. You end up spending large amounts of time in the middle of now where (like Alaska, Alberta, or Saudi Arabia) so they have to pay top dollar to keep people. CERCLA and BRAC work is a happy medium paying 90% of oil work but with none of the down sides. It's steady while oil is boom & bust, you tend to work in big cities and don't have to travel unless you want to while oil is mostly travel in remote locations, and you get to go home each night while in oil you might not go home for months. The main upside to oil is the extra pay up front but also the stock options; it sure would be nice to have some options on ExxonMobile right now.

[Dinner]

Who am I kidding? I will not be jumping over to be a mud logger in Lousiana or the North Slope. I'm going to stick to my environmental work and be happy that I am working a 8-5 in a city of my choosing.

[:) Smiley]

Originally posted by GePap
That's why i work for government. It hardly ever goes bankrupt, and if it does, well, everyone is screwed.

For a moment I forgot that Oerdin wasn't working for the gov't anymore...

[Kuciwalker]

[PuddlewatchHQ]

If you knew they were having problems of this magnitude

, why didn't you leave earlier?