“Six years of college down the drain.”
Today, the carefully ordered world of yours truly ( and that of my section of my company) was blown apart. In a situation familiar to many Americans-I am now facing an uncertain future-vis a vis continued employment here in Shopping Mall USA. That might be a blessing in disguise-but the bills are not going away in the mean time. Me, my co-worker, and about 40 other people could be :1) working for a new company, 2) working in a different place with my same company, 3) working in a different place for a new company or 4) pounding the pavement looking for other gainful employment. Once again we have been screwed-only this time, just like the pig at breakfast-I am totally involved.
My company is trying to do the best it can for those of us it can do something for-which will not be all of us. Its one of the things I like about my company, they don’t just forget about you when you become yesterday’s news. Nonetheless-their options became severely constrained by a rather boneheaded decision made today.
I won’t be on the street with a tin cup just yet – for how long is still TBA. But it nonetheless is going to make for a challenging summer. The possibility of this day coming has been on the horizon for about 7 months-its one of the reasons I am so strident about economic issues and why I despise these so called “champions of government austerity”. It may be just business to someone who is not in danger of getting laid off-but for those who are its personal. It is also why I am more concerned about the unemployment rate rather than the deficit.
“Something will turn up“-wonder how many times people have told that to themselves in the last few years? I found myself telling myself that today. Unfortunately-it doesn’ always happen as quickly as one would like for someone in my age bracket.
I was going to study for my course tonight-I think I’ll just burn my booze level down a couple of notches instead.
Anybody on the right side of the dateline want to see my resume? Please?
Glad to tell you there are tonnes of jobs available in this part of the world. Try a few of the job portals online and see if they work for you:
http://www.jobstreet.com.sg
http://www.monster.com.sg
http://www.jobsdb.com.sg
Ain’t working for me because I’m either too choosy or too greedy… I need to change my mentality soon!!!
Skippy,
Sorry to hear about that. I will keep my eyes out on this side. I heard from someone today that they are starting to build a new facility for the USN in Singapore. Not sure of the specifics, but I think you had a contact down that way, so if I were you I would check it out to see if there is any truth to that.
Maurice,
You have to find a way for me to make a cert with HR Southwest. I have been unable to break the code with them-and have become convinced that someone in the Yoko or Atsugi HR office has taken a set against me because its always the same: “not among the best qualified”.
This whole thing here has been pretty weird. First they forced us into a recompete two and one half years ahead of schedule, then after we resubmitted a very competitive bid they jerked us around -giving us the impression we were going to win-only to see it go to a company with a not so great track record. Something is not right.
WD,
I actually am on all three of those boards-but so many of those jobs want Singapore PR’s, which sadly, I am not.
Sadly our fields are too far apart for me to have anything to offer you aside from sympathy and empathy. Having “been there, done that” I know the road isn’t an easy one but it can end up quite well. Best of luck!
Skippy,
If I had the cipher key to HR Southwest I would use it myself. I am in the same situation with you. A job came up in Atsugi that I am doing now came back with the “not among the best qualified” but then three weeks later I applied for the REgional job at CNFJ that is the supervisor of the Atsugi positon and I made the cert. I still can’t figure that one out.
I’ll keep my eyes out and see what is coming down the line. One thing about here, they are really starting to adhere to the 5 year overseas rule, and many who thought that they would never have to leave and being told they must go. A pity since each PCS move costs $60K ($30K to send someone out/$30K to bring someone in). My office has only one stateside hire GS, and 5 Local Hires like myself. But as we did our POM 14, in the next two years we are looking at $240K in PCS moves. A clear example of waste, fraud, and abuse.
One other thing, they are starting to have a hard time in trying to fill some of the positions here in Japan since the March 11 earthquake. Many have left and did not have a desire to come back, and from what I am hearing not many want to come over here with the reactor situation.
I had the long talk with my SO, told her upfront that our time here could end in 2 years and hard to believe she seems comfortable with it. My supervisor told me about life in AZ, and if I have to go on PPP we are trying to make it there. SO looks everyday at homes in the area and is amazed at the amount of house one can buy in the states with reasonable prices than compared to what we pay in rent in Nippon.
If you come to the states-and want to leave government, call me. I can put you in touch with some folks in my company who would love to meet someone with your experience. I don’t like our government agency so much-but I like my company a lot. They are , even in these trying times, trying to do right by each of us. I think that’s unusual in this day and age.
If your SO loves big homes-they can be had here in Shopping Mall. Of course the down side is, you are living in Alabama.