Getting out of the cold!! Another Job Interview!!

[ViperMan]

Hey all,

Well, I never heard back from the job at Siemens - either they're in a Holiday Lull, or I just haven't received my "no thanks" letter in the mail yet.  Either way, I didn't really want it, so no sweat.

I had a mock-phone interview back on the 11th with one of our contracted companies.  The guy called all my references but I never heard back from him.  Turns out he emailed my private address and requested a personal interview.  I never saw it, but today he emailed my work address and resent his previous note.  I wrote back right away and apologized for not seeing his first note.

The company is going to fly me down to Jacksonville, Florida, lend me a rental car and put me up in a hotel.  How friggin' sweet is that?!?!  I probably won't be working in FL (I don't really want to) but they have contracts all OVER the country - pretty much anywhere I want to go, I can go.  It is possible though that they'll stick me in the Jacksonville office as a support personnel - I might do it for a few years to get some more experience, then look to head back North.  We'll see.  Either way, I have more options opening up.

I almost wish he'd just cover my gas money to take the Viper down - could really use some 60-degree cruising weather! 

Jeff

[nivvy]

You fly by the seat of your pants dont you jeff... 

[Moparal]

Flying and traveling sucks. My motel room bill for 2 rooms last 10 days was 2400 bucks, and the 2 plane tickets was 2200 bucks.  It really gets old. I left my truck in long term parking in Seattle for another 370 bucks.   I love being at home  

Will you be able to get them to cover moving expenses if you relocate?

[ViperMan]

If I work for Sauer, I won't necessarily relocate - I'll be doing the same thing I am now - basically have two homes.  We'll keep a full residence status in PA and be paid Per Diem per Federal Regulations.  However, the wife is going to try to get a job in the area I'm working at and we'll basically both work away from "home."  We'll basically downsize to a super-cheap apartment in PA and then get a nice place in [wherever.]  So I'll basically get paid to live away from home.  There won't be travel - no hotels or anything like that - just a temporary residence.

The thing is, with contract work, you might be relocating every 12 to 24 months, but you make BIG bucks.  If I can tolerate it for another year or so, then I can get enough clout to get a permanent job just about anywhere.  I know I can handle it if she can come with me - but I can't do distance from my wife anymore - it's drivin' us nuts.

What's the reward for it all?  Well, I bought a Viper - that's a start. 

Jeff

[Moparal]

Yeah, I am a contractor too, so it keeps me all over the nation.  but home for a month I think.   I actually only work 6-7 months a yr. so I dont average but 10k a month. It lets me be home more days at a time tho. I thought you got a loan for the viper?  I didnt know you just paid cash. My wife would freak if I started dipping into my savings like that. Yer a lucky guy and young enough to splurge at your age When I was your age, I had 1 superbird, 4 70 gtx's, 1   69 1/2 road runner, 2 chally verts and my favorite 72 cuda.  Oh and a 70 pink 383 rr I got for the wife. 

I hope you can get things worked out in your expertise where the permanent people that hire you on keep you as a permanent in one location. Which is a better economy, PA or Oh?   Having your family with you makes the job bunches more to cope with, so I'm with you.

[ViperMan]

Lol - no I didn't pay cash on the Viper.  I only wish...  And at my age I only have a used Viper, an old Cuda, and two daily drivers worth about $5 each.    lol!

Actually, the MOST jobs right now are in Texas, there's a bunch in Florida, there's a good handful out West.  Obviously there's coal plants all over the place, and they're all going to need these "scrubber" units within the next few years due to EPA regs, but with the economy falling apart, these companies are putting FGD/SCR construction projects on hold because they literally generate ZERO dollars - in fact they cost the companies more to run, and there is ZERO profit on them.  None, zilch.

So they're focusing efforts on NEW plant construction, NEW technologies, and new ways to generate profit, and saving the expensive jobs for better times.

There are actually a decent number of jobs in PA, but more engineering than construction.  Both pay a scheduler pretty well, but the Construction jobs are more fun, more detailed, more interactive, and thus provide a better overall experience.  The interview a week+ ago was for engineering.  This one in Florida is for construction.

Jeff

[Moparal]

I grind on coal scrubbers and adjust them at the coal mines and rock plant scrubber units