Unemployable

[Soñadora]

In the last episode...
Cargill (big company) let me go as part of a RIF. Got a severance and enjoyed my summer
Lift Brands (the guys who own Snap Fitness) hired me as an 'Architect' but I ended up just being a code slinger. I'm not bad, but I'm not 30 years old good. So I was let go from there.
Decided I was done with IT and figured I'd get back into engineering, prepared to take a significant (~40%) salary cut. A contracting company found something for me to do and a strange thing happened. Yes, I loved the work. No, I can't work for some dude in his mid 20s who is expecting a guy to be 'just' a drafter. It wasn't a good fit.

So lately I've been sort of floundering around. It's been nice having the time and getting stuff done on the boat. I landed a very temporary and very part-time teaching gig with a Community College here. That may result in something. You've seen my various ramblings about 3D printing and 'Micromanufacturing'. I think that idea has legs and I'm still pursuing it. But this is a building year. Over the years I've been providing engineering services to artists through an organization called the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (I'm on the board). In the past, I've been rolling any engineering fees back into the center. Lately, they are getting more commissions and I can see some possible (very small) income from that.

And you may be asking yourself, "how can he just screw around with these odd jobs? Doesn't he have two kids in college and a house and boat and stuff?"

God bless my wife. That's all I can say. It hasn't been easy for her these past 24 years being married to me. Lord knows I've tried to get out of it (indirectly or otherwise) enough times. She's stuck with me through it all. I've been humbled and that's a pretty good feeling.

I was very anxious when Cargill let go of me. That was a real blow in many ways. Then, trying to get back in at my vintage against others who are way more credible really struck a blow to my ego.

But summer is here in MN and that's just the best. We'll see where things go but right now I'm living the dream for reals.

[kdh]

Seems like good work hasn't gotten easier to find. Sounds like you have some worthwhile and fun interests. In the end what can we do other than live our lives and hope for the best?

My best wishes for your enjoying the summer to its fullest.

[TheOffice]

Rick,

I hope you find something fulfilling and profitable! In the meantime, go sailing!

Joel

[SemiSalt]

I had a mixed sort of career, and the dot com boom left me unemployed. Eventually, I got a job with a small company, about 35 full time employees at the time. The IT staff was an outside contractor, so when they hired me, they called me the CIO. So, I was C-level when needed for meetings, but otherwise the programmer. I didn't have to run the network, fortunately, but just about anything else IT-related was my responsibility. It turned out to be a really good job.

The best thing was that because the range of responsibility was broad, no one imagined I was the very best person for every task. Little companies can't afford the best person; they make do with a good enough person. I could advise on a wide range of issues because I had worked in a number of different IT shops.

When we advertised for a replacement for me (which we did twice), we only scared up a handful of candidates, and this was in the Hartford, CT market where you would have expected a lot of response from ex-insurance company types. With the unemployment rate low, it's probably a hard time for a small company to scare up talent.

[Olaf Hart]

Sounds like you are ready to have another go out there on your own Rick.

You just need to find a way to turn what you like to do into something every one else wants to buy...

[BeauV]

Rick, sorry to hear the story. There are a lot of folks who end up just fine after a bit of knocking about. I think you'll probably do just fine, it just takes longer as you get older. (I speak from personal experience about this.)

In case I haven't said it before often enough: Thank you for putting this Board up. I is a joy to use and wouldn't be here without you.

[JoeP]

Rick, I think I know how you feel about being laid off. When Delta riffed me after 31 years I was gobsmacked. Knowing your wide range of skills I am sure you will be successful in your endeavors.

[Jamie]

I haven't posted on this one because it's a tough one, and I'm not sure I have much helpful to say. Sorry.

Being between roles means you've not found your place - whatever that is - but there is a there, there: you will end up there, and you will kind of know it when you get there.

Of course, this sounds and feels like such bovine scatology when you're in the middle of it; it feels like it's maybe it's never going to come, or certainly not fast enough, and you have obligations and, gee; what are my classmate and former colleagues doing again? Crap. When you have free time, you are often not in a position to enjoy it fully. When you are position to enjoy it, then you often don't have free time. Unless of course, you've found work that feels like free time, in which case you've found your place. A complete tautology! Sometimes it's better just to drink a beer and stare at the sunset, unless you find yourself doing that too often.

These interregnum periods are always very precious and I see you filling it with time well spent.

[Slick470]

Sorry to hear that you are having difficulties finding a job that fits Rick. It sounds like you really like the work you were doing on the mechanical engineering side. I'd keep looking in that direction and try to find a good fit for you. I'm on the MEP side of things doing electrical engineering for buildings and have found that each company that I have come across does things in a different way. Some treat drafters as drafters and nothing more, others try to develop drafters, designers and other new employees into whatever they can handle in order to best fit the needs of the company. I think the smarter companies work within the latter model.

Anyway, best of luck in the search and enjoy the "free" time while you have it.

Edit: just thinking of skill-sets that seem to be scarce in my industry that you would probably be able to learn and add to your resume... learn Revit. A lot of companies in the Architecture and MEP+S engineering world are looking for people who know the program and can work with it, as well as create content for it. Just a thought.