Engineering Grad Looking for work -- Where are the Jobs???

Engineering Discussion Board 12-27-2002 ^ | FR Post Christmas 2002 | Various

[vannrox]

.





I've lived in 35 states over the last 20 years. My wife divorced me after the last layoff. I have been unemployed since February. I have been laid off 15 times in the last 20 years. Yea. I'm dealing with it.

I am in the process of a divorce.

I lost my car.

I can't afford my medicine.

My eyes are going bad.

I am in bankrupsy.

I had to sell all of my guns.

My unemployment ran out.

I am living with my mother right now

I had to move from the Boston Area to west nowhere.

The IRS is auditing me.

And I am working part time at Wendys. - 5 hours a week. (low seniority.)

My first reaction when you wrote..."deal with it" was anger. But, you know, I am dealing with it.

I only have one wish for you. I wish, I pray... I plead to God above that you get the chance to stand in my shoes. Because you don't understand the implications on either a personal level, or on a community level.

yea. I'm alive. And yes there are benefits. I get a free lunch when I work 8 hours in a day. I have a somewhat healthy body. The walking to work is certainly building up my body.




.

[vannrox]

.


Oh, and one last thing....

I attribute all my temporary woes to the actions of the greatest Dictator of the US of all time...FDR.


.

[AppyPappy]

Then why aren't we ALL unemployed?

[garbanzo]

Nor did we get here by using labor on foreign soil at the expense of Americans...

Yes we did. First we imported slaves. After we ended slavery, we started to import vast numbers of Irish and Chinese workers. In the south, Jim Crow created a pool of cheap and powerless labor. After that ended and after the early wave of European and Asian immigration ended we began importing labor from Latin America, which is essentially where we are now.

[Mr. Bird]

I'm sorry to hear your situation is not pleasant. However, I wasn't attempting to kick the downtrodden, or deny the fact that there are people in distress in this country. I was merely talking about H1B's and the misconceptions people have about the program. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Bird

[USMMA_83]

You are blaming your total ineptitude, and lack of social skills on Indian programmers and engineers? Yeesh!!!

[USMMA_83]

Your woes are a direct result of your shortcomings!

[Incorrigible]

Ack!  Take it easy on the guy!

He may need a drill sergeant but I think some counseling may be in order right now.

[USMMA_83]

I am too old school for that "counseling" crap, but I'll avoid offering him my options.

[Alberta's Child]

Excellent post.

I happen to be a civil engineer in the 25-35 age group, and I am very fortunate because there simply aren't a lot of people in my age group competing to replace those 45-55 year-olds you mentioned. It's actually a little scary because civil engineering is a field where even a mediocre professional can be very successful.

[Alberta's Child]

Wish I'd stayed with Pre-Med and become a Doctor.

Yeah, but then you'd be a burnt-out doctor complaining about how many hours you have to work to make up for the lower fees that HMOs pay you.

[Pragmatist]

Amen brother!
I'm 34, an industrial engineer, and I've been underemployed for almost 2 years. For the last two years, I've worked for an electrical company wiring houses, general construction, and a restaurant (general construction and restaurant work being particularly detestable for a Mensa member like myself). I've been hired twice by companies for work related to my experience and education. One filed bankruptcy right after they hired me. The other shipped off their design functions to India.

In this process, I've had my car repoed (I was only 50 days behind, with 9 payments left on a '00 automobile. The bank knew they could auction it for at least what they were owed; so it disappeared quickly). The good things are that I still have my house, and my wife and daughter are healthy and they haven't left me.

Big business MBA types (as a group) are short sighted greedy buttholes who don't care about this country. But engineers have reason to be optimistic. MBA types have no tangible skills (they can't make anything, can't provide any service, can't soothe anyone's ailments, etc.). RNs encountered a situation similar to ours in the 80s and 90s, where huge numbers of them were let go due to MBA powered downsizing. Now, experienced RNs can name their price (some making $50/ hour) due to the shortage caused by short sighted cost savings. In a few years, when products are desperately needed and manufacturing here will be necessary due to national security issues, the American engineers will laugh all the way to the bank.

As for those who say that "I see ads all the time for engineers", I say to them that these jobs have enormous numbers of applicants each. Also, in recessionary times (or, dare I say depression? In manufacturing, the declines in manufacturing output mirror the decline of 1929-1932. We are now at 1985 levels in manufacturing. This is a situation far worse than the 70s/ early 80s recessions) Only the crappiest companies are hiring. It stands to reason that if they are hiring in these times, these companies must be having a hard time keeping people. My job search has gotten to the point where it is comical. Hundreds of resumes sent out, only a few calls, and most of them come from companies far away. I don't want to sell my house, move to Wisconsin, and have that company file bankruptcy a week later. . . Many times I wonder if I have a tattoo (only invisible to me) that says "I have AIDS (or fill in the blank) and do not hire".

I've not taken any assistance from any government agency because I don't believe in doing it. My family has suffered greatly due to this pride.

To Rush Limbaugh who recommends that I start my own business, or I'm not looking hard enough, I say: With what money do I start a business? I can't borrow money based on my current income, and I have no savings because it has been already depleted during my job search. Possibly, Rush could back me in a manufacturing business with a small pittance from his $20 million/ month income. I'd guarantee him 20%/ year on his money against my house and land.
Pragmatist

[eno_]

You are spot-on. We cannot insulate ourselves from the global economy. France and other countries try, and their economies are the worse for it.

Nor should we try to insulate ourselves from India's elite. They are as good as our best, and if they are building companies here, we are better off. David Sarnoff was a Russian immigrant, Amar Bose is, I assume from the name, from India, and many other people who built great companies in the U.S. are immigrants and the children of immigrants.

As for mediocre IT seatwarmers hired by outsourcing firms, who cares? The companies being scammed by such outsourcing should mind their money more closely, or their IT is so bad now that is doesn't matter if they do a bad job with outsourcing.

If you want to make $200k/yr. in high tech, you better be damn good at what you do, and pick a new technolgy horse to ride every 18 months or you will be left behind. I have had consulting clients from Stockholm to Singapore. That could not have happened without the Internet and a global economy. I attribute about $500k in income in the last 10 years to easy access to any market. I would be that much poorer without such access.

[tom h]

Excellent advice, taxcontrol. And for those job seekers who are Christian, and for all Freepers, remember to have a heart filled with gratitude even if you don't get the job you think you deserve or the compensation you think you have coming.

[A. Pole]

I don't think these boys are lookin' in the right places for employment.

In the individual case "lookin' in the right places" might help. Even during the Great Depression some people got nice jobs. But if the whole economy is shrinking millions will be out of work. One clever or lucky individual will only grab the job from the someone else. This is a zero sum game and you cannot blame the general crisis on the indolence of those who lose the game.

[A. Pole]

To Rush Limbaugh who recommends that I start my own business, or I'm not looking hard enough, I say: With what money do I start a business? I can't borrow money based on my current income, and I have no savings because it has been already depleted during my job search. Possibly, Rush could back me in a manufacturing business with a small pittance from his $20 million/ month income. I'd guarantee him 20%/ year on his money against my house and land.

Rush is a clown. I listen to him, and when he says something especially annoying I switch to NPR. And sure enough after a moment I have to switch back. You cannot win. :(  Why the only choice is between crazed liberals and Dickensian free market fundamentalists?

[TomSmedley]

It's actually a little scary because civil engineering is a field where even a mediocre professional can be very successful.

Three engineers were debating the nature of God. Said the ME, "God must be a mechanical engineer. Contemplate the magnificent joints, sinews, and structures of the body." Said the EE, "No, God must be an electrical engineer. Look at the nervous system in all its intricate networks!" Said the CE, "No, God must be a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipe through a playground?"

;-)

[TomSmedley]

I've not taken any assistance from any government agency because I don't believe in doing it. My family has suffered greatly due to this pride.

Ditto. As a Christian, I think going "on the dole" reflects badly on my stated faith in a God who provides for His own. As an observer, I've seen what drawing unemployment does to people. The standard practice is to go into a holding pattern until the week before it runs out -- then desperately scramble for whatever is available.

The last time I drew unemployment was in 1985. God in His mercy has spared me that shame ever since -- altho I did run my credit card bills up after the last layoff!

[tom h]

TruthNtegrity: we're in the same business and it pains me to think that you can't find a job. Our industry is going to boom in the next 12 months so I'm hopeful that you can get back on the train and remain there until you retire.

If you're a Virginia resident there ought to be hundreds of jobs available, perhaps not at the right salary for you. I wish you well and hope that you have the fortitude to hang on until times get better.

[Jhoffa_]

I have been an electronics hobbyist for some time.. I am a programming hack also. (programmable logic for my projects and a little VB) I was gearing up to attend college (hopefully next year) for EE.

You guy's are scaring the crap out of me with these threads.

What would say to an aspiring EE?