Post by: K Frame on November 12, 2005, 07:29:04 AM
Trying to write the perfect resume?
That's making me feel panicky!
Post by: Guest on November 12, 2005, 07:56:57 AM
Post by: Art Eatman on November 12, 2005, 08:06:51 AM
, Art
Post by: Paddy on November 12, 2005, 11:48:23 AM
Post by: grampster on November 12, 2005, 11:56:42 AM
Post by: Sylvilagus Aquaticus on November 12, 2005, 12:37:27 PM
I'm not pessimistic (well, that's not entirely accurate) I'm prepared!
People who can coherently string concepts and ideas together are always in demand. You'll be fine.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Post by: onions! on November 12, 2005, 01:04:49 PM
That said,& I'm not intending to hijack(or attack) anything but geez,how many jobs have you guys had?I'm 35 & on my third.3,8,& 8 years.When my employer starts looking at applications those w/job changes every few years or less go to the bottom-just below those marked"np"(no pen-as in I didn't think that one would be needed to fill out an app).
Is the job market that different in other fields?
puzzled in Mi,jeffw
Post by: K Frame on November 12, 2005, 01:18:43 PM
I'm 40.
Since starting my professional career, I was 18 months with a newspaper, 3.5 years with NRA, out of work during a horrendous economy for about a year, with NFCU for 3.5 years, and now with SAIC for just shy of 7 years.
I don't think that's all that bad.
Post by: onions! on November 12, 2005, 01:37:47 PM
Post by: Paddy on November 12, 2005, 02:29:43 PM
Quote
but geez,how many jobs have you guys had?
I can't remember the exact number, somewhere around two dozen, including 15 years of self employment. You know going in they're going to schtup you, it's just a matter of when. I don't take job changes too seriously.
Post by: Felonious Monk/Fignozzle on November 12, 2005, 03:52:35 PM
Quote from: Mike Irwin
Jeff,
I'm 40.
Since starting my professional career, I was 18 months with a newspaper, 3.5 years with NRA, out of work during a horrendous economy for about a year, with NFCU for 3.5 years, and now with SAIC for just shy of 7 years.
I don't think that's all that bad.
I'm 43, and once I got on a stable career path, I was with one company (major appliance manufacturer) for 6 years; EDS for a year, SAIC (actually a partner company) for 4.I'm 40.
Since starting my professional career, I was 18 months with a newspaper, 3.5 years with NRA, out of work during a horrendous economy for about a year, with NFCU for 3.5 years, and now with SAIC for just shy of 7 years.
I don't think that's all that bad.
In today's economy, leaving is often the only way to 'create' a promotion or get off of an unfulfilling career path.
41mag, with all respect, your experience is more the anomaly these days.
Most people I talk to agree that the days of 30 years and a gold watch are gone forever.
Post by: ...has left the building. on November 12, 2005, 04:01:20 PM
Post by: Gewehr98 on November 13, 2005, 08:17:26 AM
I know what you mean about the perfect resume' thing, Mike. I'm struggling myself, and paying a firm $200 to write one that covers a 20 year military career in nuclear forensics, transport meteorology, airborne reconnaissance, and applied physics.
Post by: BrokenPaw on November 13, 2005, 08:17:51 AM
It depends a lot on the industry. In software engineering, where I'm at, there was a period (during the dot-com bubble's inflation) where switching jobs was just about the only way to advance your career; rather than promote from within, a lot of companies would just hire someone to be above you, even if the new person was equally or less qualified than you.
I've been in the industry for 12 years, now:
3.25 years at CSTI
0.75 years at Lockheed Martin WDL (left because they flat-out lied to me about what I'd be doing)[0]
2 years at E-Systems/Raytheon Systems Company
1 year at MKS Datafocus (I left/was terminated largely because my boss was a pusillanimous man-child)
1 year at ComScore (my entire R&D group was laid off for lack of funding)
4 years at my current company.
The guy who hired me at my present company was initially leery, because my Lockheed, MKS, and ComScore gigs made me look like a job-hopper, and it took a lot of convincing him that I left them not out of lack of willingness to commit, but because of untenable circumstance.
In computers, anyway, there's a fine balance to be struck; if you switch job too often, you're seen as a job-hopper, but if you stay in one place for too long, you're perceived as an unmotivated drone.
I'm sure it's completely different in a lot of other professions.
-BP
- In the interview, they told me I'd be developing new software in C/C++ on UNIX. Once I got the job, they told me that I'd actually be doing in-field maintenance and emergency bug-fixes on a byzantine system written in Fortran 77 (!) running on VAXen under VMS. In other words, a short, narrow road to dead-end-ville.
Post by: Waitone on November 13, 2005, 02:52:29 PM
Get yourself independent as soon as practical.
Post by: Guest on November 13, 2005, 06:43:28 PM
Post by: 280plus on November 14, 2005, 12:49:38 AM
Quote
Most people I talk to agree that the days of 30 years and a gold watch are gone forever.
My wife worked for a little company called "Aetna" (you may have heard of it) for 27 years. She started right out of HS. They sold out to ING a couple years ago and let her go shortly afterward. In the HVAC industry a new job every 3-4 years is the norm. I put up with it until I finally decided to employ myself. Suddenly I've had the same job for 7 years now and nobody is going to schtup me any time soon.
Post by: K Frame on November 14, 2005, 03:35:34 AM
Post by: 280plus on November 14, 2005, 04:32:16 AM
Quote
I'd be more than happy to stay with a company for 30 years.
Me too. Unfortunately today's average employer is more loyal to the almighty dollar and the "bottom line" than he (or she) is to the people that bust their chops for them. I employed myself because I developed the notion that noone but me had my best interests in mind. It's not "What have you done for me?" It's "What have you done for me LATELY?"
Post by: Leatherneck on November 14, 2005, 05:26:10 AM
TC (ex-SAIC employee)